"Service, service, still more service!"

During his pirate career, Zeff endured many periods of starvation on the sea, leading him to fantasize about a restaurant that could sail to any seafarer in need. When a storm stranded him and the ten-year-old Sanji on a rock island, the ensuing months of starvation led Zeff to vow that he would open the restaurant himself if he survived—a vow that Sanji tearfully joined. After they were found and rescued, Zeff sold all of his surviving loot to launch the Baratie, with himself as owner and head chef, Sanji his first employee, and a policy of feeding any hungry visitor no matter how villainous. Over the next nine years, Zeff continued to hire cooks until the Baratie's staff numbered dozens. Fitting his own background, many of these cooks were brutes and outcasts—particularly Carne and Patty, a duo fired from hundreds of other eateries for their constant brawling. Even so, the Baratie gained much renown throughout the East Blue, with some patrons even finding its violence entertaining.