Beef with Starboard

Restaurant workers blasted a hedge fund’s elaborate menu of cost cuts for Olive Garden, charging that employees would foot the bill.

Starboard Value LP startled investors last week with a 294page presentation that pressed Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants to slash spending on myriad items, including the practice of offering unlimited breadsticks.

But it was Starboard’s ideas on cutting labor spending that caught the eye of worker groups, including recommendations to eliminate prep cooks from the kitchen and force wait staff to do jobs previously done by bussers and food runners.

“We’re people, we aren’t assets to be sold off,” said Steve Gazzo, who has been employed by Olive Garden for the past six years.

Officials at Starboard, which is looking to replace Darden’s entire board at the company’s Oct. 8 shareholder meeting, didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.

In its presentation last week, Starboard said Darden’s Olive Garden restaurants and LongHorn steakhouses could save as much as $36 million a year by reducing the ranks of prep cooks and outsourcing it to suppliers.

“The Olive Garden and LongHorn menus appear too complex with too many items, making it inefficient to prep and make entrees,” Starboard griped on page 117 of its presentation. “Increased complexity also drives more effort tied to training of staff.”

Separately Thursday, Darden said in a statement that Starboard’s hyperdetailed demands amounted to “micromanaging” that could hamper the company’s search for a new CEO.