The customer isn't always right

[Raleigh Chopper]

Anyone remember Won Kees? They didn't take any shit. I was told "If you don't want Heinecken you go elsewhere" when daring to ask what alternative lager they had.

I asked if it was possible to actually sit on the same table as my wife.
The waiter told me to fluck off we are busy.

 

[Petunia]

I'm allergic to kiwi so if I fancied the dessert which had kiwi, I would ask to have that excluded. If the chef felt that would ruin the integrity of the dish and ignored my request, because they know better, then I would die (assuming I didn't notice the green devil fruit). I also would never go back to that restaurant.

I guess it would be a little difficult to return........

 

[looney]

Seems a little harsh. ............. It's not like the television and Ramsey's histrionics, .

My experience working in Kitchens as a kid was that was the rule not the exception.

 

[The Spanish]

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Steak is a rubbish cut of meat anyway and way over-rated. Anyone who orders it should be able to specify exactly how they want it (dead or alive) and eat it accordingly. If the cook doesn't like it, that is tough - as will be the steak.

 

[looney]

Actually, while I'm here can I congratulate the OP. This opening post seemed at first to be the least likely of any I have read to gain any traction. How wrong I was as it has turned into a most enjoyable read. There was clearly subtle methodology in the opening gambit. I have particularly enjoyed the interventions from the NSC chefs.

Its about knowing your audience on a public forum. How deeply divided, stupid, ignorant, tribal and stubborn they can be with a splash of anecdote by Tradesmen and "victims". You should try it, start a thread Cyclists V Motorists and state which group should be Pedestrians. Guaranteed 20 plus pages of high drama, rants and tears.

 

[BadFish]

Although i disagree with the idea that chefs (top quality chefs at least) should cook the food the way the customer wants (ultimately the chef is the one that knows the best perimeters for any given dish). You don't buy a painting from an artist and tell him to take out all the red bits because you don't like red.

It must be said that if there are perimeters for a given dish then they should be clearly presented on the menu. If the chefs thinks that cooking a steak well done will ruin that piece of meat then that option should be clearly not offered giving the customer the choice of choosing something else.

 

[Yes Chef]

My experience working in Kitchens as a kid was that was the rule not the exception.

The point I was making was that of the chefs commenting on this thread, we would all do what the customer wanted with their steak - well done, blue, or stick it in the toaster. Not doubting the OPs story, but the context is important - if the steak was a bavette, flat iron or hanger then having it cooked well done would result in a chewy unpleasant dinner. It could have been legitimate advice.

Kitchens have changed admittedly. When I started out there was a vague air of menace should anyone mess up, and waitresses were verbal punch bags, but things have moved on, and I don't tolerate anyone acting out. Good recruitment helps.

And, sorry if I'm going on, but of the dozen steaks I sold tonight everyone asked for medium rare, apart from 1 medium sirloin - with no coercion. This thread made me take specific notice.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

The point I was making was that of the chefs commenting on this thread, we would all do what the customer wanted with their steak - well done, blue, or stick it in the toaster. Not doubting the OPs story, but the context is important - if the steak was a bavette, flat iron or hanger then having it cooked well done would result in a chewy unpleasant dinner. It could have been legitimate advice.

Kitchens have changed admittedly. When I started out there was a vague air of menace should anyone mess up, and waitresses were verbal punch bags, but things have moved on, and I don't tolerate anyone acting out. Good recruitment helps.

And, sorry if I'm going on, but of the dozen steaks I sold tonight everyone asked for medium rare, apart from 1 medium sirloin - with no coercion. This thread made me take specific notice.

Agree with this. At the end of the day the chef can only advise how best to have the steak (or any dish for that matter) prepared, but if a customer really wants to sabotage a meal then that's their prerogative.

I don't miss being a chef

 

[dazzer6666]

Agree with this. At the end of the day the chef can only advise how best to have the steak (or any dish for that matter) prepared, but if a customer really wants to sabotage a meal then that's their prerogative.

I don't miss being a chef

Spot on. A decent waiter will gently suggest to Sir or Madam that if one likes one's steak cremated and all the taste removed and replaced with grey stringy shit, then perhaps a hangar might not be the best option........

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Pittsburgh rare - a steak that has been heated to a very high temperature very quickly, so it is charred on the outside but still raw on the inside. Had my first one two months ago when I was there on business, lovely. You would have probably been shot if you had asked for a well done steak in that particular establishment.

 

[BadFish]

Pittsburgh rare - a steak that has been heated to a very high temperature very quickly, so it is charred on the outside but still raw on the inside. Had my first one two months ago when I was there on business, lovely. You would have probably been shot if you had asked for a well done steak in that particular establishment.

Not heard of it being called this but this is how i attempt to cook my own steak although i feel i can never get the temp high enough. I used to live on a beef farm and can categorically say that the steak i enjoyed on a very regular basis at that time was the best i have ever had. I more or less take it or leave it now and don't order one unless i am convinced it is going to be of good quality and i am feel particularly flush, which is rare.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Pittsburgh rare - a steak that has been heated to a very high temperature very quickly, so it is charred on the outside but still raw on the inside. Had my first one two months ago when I was there on business, lovely. You would have probably been shot if you had asked for a well done steak in that particular establishment.

My American friends say that the Pittsburgh owners are cheap and don't want to discard the burnt steaks.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Many years ago, my friend and I were dining at the Gun Inn. Similarly to your dad, he likes a well done steak. He sent his back twice to the consternation of the waiter who was evidently nervous about asking the chef to cook it some more, in his reluctance to send it back, he tried to argue. In the end, he came back saying the chef was crying in the kitchen. Although I love rare steak myself, it's ridiculous that my friend had all of that performance in order to enjoy the meal that he, after all, was paying for.

I believe that chef was Gun Inn for you.


http://giphy.com/gifs/ben-tattoo-giant-cD7PLGE1KWOhG/fullscreen

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

And while we're more or less ON the subject...

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...-despite-having-all-ingredients-2013073177440

Pretentious cafés won't do full English despite having all the ingredients

ABOVE-THEMSELVES cafés are refusing to offer a fry up, even though they have all the ingredients on their pretentious menu.

Researchers found that overly self-conscious café owners are offering artisan sausage baps, locally-sourced bacon baguettes or free range scrambled egg.

However they will not put these ingredients together on the same plate, because they think this would be somehow demeaning.

Professor Henry Brubaker, of the Institute for Studies, said: “Increasingly, cafe owners are choosing to separate traditional breakfast ingredients because they want to distance themselves from ‘the masses’ and maybe get used as a location for a Culture Show interview.

“For Christ’s sake, get over yourselves. Put it all on a plate you absolute idiots.”

Tom Booker, manager of Mode 19 Café, said: “You can have sausages in hand-cut local bread, some eggs done ‘your way’ or a salad thing with bits of bacon crumbled into it.

“I suppose you could buy them all, then pick out the worthwhile bits and put them on a plate. But don’t ask us to do that ourselves – it’s not about you the customer, it’s about us and our vision of being cool.”

Professor Brubaker added: “Also, when places stop serving breakfast at a fixed time, why do they do that? Surely they have facilities to make meat and eggs hot at any hour.”

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Professor Brubaker added: “Also, when places stop serving breakfast at a fixed time, why do they do that? Surely they have facilities to make meat and eggs hot at any hour.”[/I]

I know this is a spoof article but my local has a very small kitchen and cannot run two menus at the same time. Arrive before 12:00 and you can have breakfast things. After and it's the lunch menu.

 

[The Clamp]

MASH London. Those that know, know.

 

[TheJasperCo]

Love how this post sums up the first post...

It goes on to be a 150+ post binfest on the subject of the perfect steak.

 

[Yes Chef]

I know this is a spoof article but my local has a very small kitchen and cannot run two menus at the same time. Arrive before 12:00 and you can have breakfast things. After and it's the lunch menu.

Yup, 10 am Sunday morning and it's Yorkshire pudding time - we only have 1 oven

 

[vegster]

It depends where you are, if you're in a beefeater or harvester, knock yourself out tbh If I was in either of those I would probably lean towards well done. But in a real restaurant that as someone mentioned above has a reputation to uphold these chefs are proud of their produce and its flavour and when you cook a steak well done it just eradicates all flavour from it.

Steak has flavour ? new one on me....I thought that's why you are usually offered mustard or horseradish or even peppercorn sauce with it.