I have an interview with a manager in Fulin Asian Cuisine, one of the restaurant where this population was significant.
Me: What are the components of employees here in term of race and ethnicity?
B.L: It's about 50/50 of American and Asian. There are about 50/50 Asian who are coming here recently and growing up here. Most of the immigrant Asian here are chefs and couples are servers. We're doing a Chinese asian cuisine, so it's a necessary to have excellent, expertise in traditional Chinese cooking who still have the traditional tastes rather than those who grown up here, they are already assimilated to American culture, therefore, their expertise in cooking wouldn't be at great.
Me: What are some difficulty in training new server especially with Asian immigrants group?
B.L: There are some difficulties but it wasn't impossible. For the chefs, it's not too hard for them to learn since they don't do much communication and interaction with customers. They are more focus in the kitchen. For the server, the priority for the training is the language. They are not fluent in English so it makes it difficult to learn the menu and serve customers who are mostly American. Secondly I would say the cultures are different. To keep the restaurant in a professional business, we need to train the new people to serve in American style which is more polite, straightforward and respectful.
Me: What are some learning process and time wide for new servers?
B.L: It depends. Usually it takes them couple weeks to get used with the work tasks and to learn the menu. After that couple weeks, they will serve under manager's attention to gain experiences and to get familiar with the jobs. They will be assigned to work in less area than other servers. If they have any concerns throughout working, it's a great time to learn and adjust those mistakes if there are any.
Me: How are these employees interact with others?
B.L: Most of the immigrants group, they are really quiet and isolated in their own group. But overtime, they become more open, and interact more with others in term of learning, helping each other out, and friendship wide. I can tell that when they are more open to the environment, the faster they will learn things around and it becomes handy in working environment also I think it would help them to be more interactive in new community.
The interview was ended right when the restaurant started to get busier because it's opened for dinner. The manager was really friendly and welcome. He told me if I need more information or if I need any help toward this project, I can come back anytime, just let him know in advance.
I think interview was very constructive. You asked some really good questions focused on getting to the roots of the Asian culture here in Middle Tennessee. I feel the manager did a good job of not just giving you his perception of the culture among those that work inside the restaurant, but he also explained to you aspects of the culture outside the place of work. I thought when he mentioned how often times these groups become isolated before they start to branch out into their surrounding community was a valuable prospective to have when writing up your paper. It is helpful that he was so willing to assist you on this project and has invited you go come back. Maybe consider interviewing some of the employees and see if you can get some interviews from some of the chefs that have recently moved her. Good job!
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