A decade before being named the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award winner for Best Chef: Midwest, Gerard Craft had two experiences at his first St. Louis restaurant that help explain why he now speaks so openly about mental health in the restaurant industry: He came close to collapsing in the kitchen.
That perspective is now shaping a public conversation Craft is helping to lead in St. Louis.
On Monday, Craft’s Niche Food Group will host “Hands for Mental Health,” a luncheon at Pastaria in Clayton, that will bring together prominent chefs and restaurateurs as they discuss how to break the stigma around mental health in the hospitality industry and offer resources to those who need help.
“I had had a couple panic attacks in the kitchen, and neither of them were during stressful times,” Craft said. “I had heard of depression but I had never heard of anxiety, and it was just something that wasn’t discussed in kitchens. I don’t know if it was because it was a stigma or what, but it just never seemed to come up.”
Talking about mental health isn’t new territory for Craft. Over the past several years, he has written and spoken candidly about his personal experiences navigating mental wellness. He’s been intentional about discussing such struggles in the context of mental health’s importance for everyone. But he’s also highlighted industry-specific pressures — like real-time, constant judgment and the ceaseless push to level up.
“In this business, we’re constantly asked, ‘What’s next?’ That’s the thing that people ask me the most: ‘What are you doing next? What’s new?’ We don’t often feel like we have time to step back and sit down and just relax. And if we’re somehow relaxed at a certain point, we feel like we’re not doing enough,” Craft said.
Another challenge is the blurring of personal and professional identity.
“Trying to separate yourself as a human being and just a restaurant can be really difficult,” he said. Industry awards, he added, have a way of feeding self-doubt. “‘Are you good enough?’ I think everybody battles with that in some way,” Craft said. With recognition from organizations like the James Beard Foundation, “it just happens to be on a very public stage.”
In addition to Craft, the luncheon will feature a panel of top St. Louis chefs and restaurateurs including Kevin Nashan, Nick Bognar, Loryn Nalic and Brian Schuman.
A portion of proceeds from the program will benefit NAMI St. Louis, which will also be onsite to connect attendees with mental health resources.
“It’s usually the people that are the strongest, that smile a lot, that you should probably be the most worried about,” Craft said. “So I think it’s really, really important that we start this conversation, to tell people that there is help out there … resources that don’t necessarily cost money and that they can access right now and people they can talk to.”
To hear the full conversation, including Gerard Craft’s thoughts on changes in restaurant kitchen and dining culture, as well as practices that can support mental health in the hospitality industry, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or YouTube or click the play button below.
Leading St. Louis chefs unite to spotlight mental health in hospitality
Related Event
What: Hands for Mental Health luncheon
When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 4
Where: Pastaria, 7734 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, MO 63105
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.