Kitchen Guy

From the KG Blog: Send it Back!

Posted by Chef Jim on June 13, 2010  |  Comments Off

I grew up in the eastern part of the United States and, like many regions of this country, we had our own names for sandwiches and other kinds of food. For example, a submarine sandwich is called a grinder in New England, a hero in the Midwest, and so forth.

Where my mother grew up, a grilled cheese sandwich was often called a toasted cheese sandwich. So that’s what we called it at home. I remember asking her if there was a difference when my high school cafeteria posted grilled cheese on its menu. And she told me then that there was no difference.

Fast forward several decades to the present day to a restaurant that shall remain nameless because I would like to continue going there. Their lunch menu lists a sandwich as follows: “Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomato on your choice of breads.” So my mother, after perusing the bill of fare, closed the menu and ordered a “Toasted Cheese Sandwich with Bacon and Tomato.”

The waitress duly noted her order and placed it with the kitchen. About 10 or 12 minutes later, the waitress delivered a sandwich of unmelted cheese, bacon and tomato slices between two pieces of toasted bread.

As the mother of a culinary professional, she knows that if something comes out of a restaurant kitchen and it is not cooked correctly or to her liking, that it gets sent back. I actually have encouraged her – and everyone else who asks – to do this. If you don’t, my theory is, how will the kitchen staff know that they got your order wrong? And if you are displeased with what you got from the kitchen, you’ll probably tell friends and family of your negative experience which may influence whether or not they go to that restaurant.

The waitress took the sandwich back and in a few moments reappeared with the original ticket and showed it to my mother, in order to prove that she had communicated to the kitchen staff exactly what she ordered. Wrong move. A polite – ahem – disagreement ensued, with my mother asking for a copy of the menu and pointing out that this is what she had ordered; that it was not a special order; and it was a listed menu item.

You see where this is going, don’t you?

She eventually got the grilled cheese sandwich with actual melted cheese as well as the bacon and tomato, as advertised.

In every restaurant kitchen I’ve run, I always made it a point to look at the plates that came back to the dish washing station from tables that had just been cleared. If I saw a plate with more than half the food uneaten, I always made it a point to go to that table and ask if the food was not to their liking.

If the diner told me that the food was not what they ordered, expected, or liked, I would ask why they wouldn’t send it back to have it made to their liking. And I always offered to make it right, either with a new dish or a complimentary meal for a future visit.

More often than not, the person would say that they didn’t want to cause a scene or make trouble for anyone.

Every cook that I’ve trained and every waitperson I’ve hired gets the same lecture from me: Remember who the customer is. It’s not you. It’s not the kitchen. It’s the diner. And if you’ve made something or served something that they don’t like and you see that the plate has uneaten food, be proactive and offer to make it right.

As you might imagine, I eat out a lot. And I see too many plates of food going back to the kitchen uneaten. So by means of this column, I hereby give you permission to send back your food if it’s not right. How else will the chef and the kitchen staff know? Negative comments about restaurants far outnumber positive. Word of mouth cuts both ways. You don’t want the buzz to be negative.

Believe me, any chef worth his whites wants to know. We don’t want to serve food that you don’t want to eat. And why would you meekly pay for it if you didn’t like it?

And if you own or run a restaurant and you see my mother come in for lunch or dinner, fear not. Just give her what she orders. She’s a very lovely, entertaining woman. And she tips well, too.

Follow me on Twitter @KitchenGuyMT

From the Kitchen Guy Blog: Dining Alone – Part Two

Posted by Chef Jim on March 14, 2010  |  Comments Off

Looks like I struck a nerve – again. My topic from last week, expressing annoyance at snippy restaurant greeters who look askance at solo diners and feel compelled to say, “Just one?” provoked a great deal of response.

I love it when my e-mail inbox overflows with comments about the things I write.

For instance, a single woman in New York wrote to me, “I’ve fought a long and hard battle over this one, but it seems to be a losing one. In any event, I’ve no compunction whatsoever in telling a host or hostess, “No. (I said) one. Not ‘just’ one.”

Another New Yorker wrote that they believed most hosts/hostesses have probably never thought about the connotation of the way “JUST one” sounds – although it would be a good idea if they did. I still think it’s a training issue and that most of these youngsters don’t give a damn about connotation.

A colleague in France reminded me that patrons dining alone are asked, “une seule?” which, literally translated, means “one alone?” Nevertheless, to those who understand the language and its nuances, it still means, “just one?”

I heard from a divorced woman who said this happens too often to her. “I guess the response could be: ‘Better alone than with you…’ Ha!”

Or this, from a reader in the Midwest: “Respond, ‘I prefer dining with someone who has the ability to answer all my questions quickly and intelligently.’”

This one is my favorite of all of the responses. It comes from an old friend in Washington, D.C. She wrote, “I once went to a hostess and I said I’m alone. She didn’t ask for my name. That’s because she thought she knew me, since I go to this restaurant quite often. Then, as tables became available, she called people’s names. She got to the name ‘Malone’ and no one showed. It finally dawned on me that she thought I had said ‘I’m Malone!’”

I also received this response from a man, who noted, “But they really do look at you with surprise or pity or disdain, sometimes, when they say, ‘Just one?’ They never say, ‘Just two?’”

Others turned the question back to me. They wanted to know what I think should be said. My response: How about a simple: “Good evening. May I help you?” Or – “Would you like a table in the dining room or would you prefer the bar?”

By coincidence one of my culinary industry magazines contained an online blog on the very same subject. Written by the editor of the magazine, she called it, “The Best Dining Companion.”

She provides a very good guide for restaurant staff in the way a solo diner should be treated. Recounting a recent visit to a restaurant, she chose to dine alone at the bar. The visit, overall, she reported, was one of the more pleasant dining experiences she’s had largely because of the way the bartender, who also served her dinner, conducted himself throughout the evening.

Her points: “(first) Don’t judge. For starters, there was no sad look and inquiry, ‘Just one?’ Believe me, I’ve had more than my share of sympathetic, slightly mocking looks from hosts and bartenders who seem to view dining alone as a sign of a crippling social disorder, rather than the peaceful engagement it truly is. I’m OK dining by myself. You should be, too.

“Second, get things started quickly – a beverage of some sort right away, a set-up of a placemat, silverware and napkin, and by all means, a menu. Third, keep an eye on things from a distance – don’t hover, but don’t let me feel abandoned.”

Fourth, know when to jump in. The writer did engage in conversation with others nearby, but the bartender knew to come to her rescue when someone else was clearly bugging her. And finally, know that personal service can pay off. This bartender earned himself a very nice tip because he knew exactly the right way to handle a single diner.

One reader asked of me, “Do you report these incidents to engage in a teachable moment?”

By all means, yes I do.

From the Kitchen Guy Blog: Just One?

Posted by Chef Jim on March 7, 2010  |  Comments Off

My wife and I have done a fair amount of traveling, together and separately. When she’s on a solo trip she usually chooses to do room service rather than go to a restaurant alone.

I, on the other hand, like going to restaurants, and when I travel, it’s fun for me to discover new and interesting eating places. Occupational hazard, I guess.

In the heyday of the expense account business trip, especially in larger cities, you used to see men and women eating by themselves. It was all part of the travel experience, especially if there were no clients to see.

I don’t mind eating by myself, but here’s what I do mind about it:

When I walk into a restaurant and approach the podium where a “host” or “hostess” has charge of seating patrons, I’ll usually signal with my index finger that I’m dining alone. Most of the time, though, I’ll say: “Table for one please.”

So can you tell me – is there a chapter in the restaurant host/hostess handbook that commands an announcement to all in the restaurant within earshot: “Just one?” or “By yourself tonight?” If I’ve already signaled or said that I need seating for one, why is it necessary to broadcast the fact?

Equally annoying is the moronic stare at a single diner and then asking, “How many?” Yes, it can be a legitimate question if you haven’t said or signaled anything, but it really is up to the diner to let the host or hostess know if they are a single or if others are expected. The person at the podium should greet you and ask if you have a reservation or how they can help you.

I am not uncomfortable eating alone in a restaurant, but I know many people who are and who really don’t want to have it reinforced by some pompous twenty-something, that they are, in fact, alone for the evening. Some people are embarrassed by it.

Places that take or require reservations rarely commit these gaffes. But even they have a not-so-subtle way of showing others that you’re alone when they seat you at a table that has been set for more than one and then send someone to clear off the excess tableware.

I’m sure this all may seem nitpicky to some of you reading this, but if the restaurant accepted your reservation for one, why not have a table that’s set for one? That’s not rocket science.

A single diner should not be looked at or treated like an anomaly. A single diner’s money is just as green as the party of four or six.

What all of this is really about is that restaurants are supposed to be in the business of hospitality. It’s also about training staff or the lack of training of staff. It’s also good manners.

The restaurant business is not an easy one, though it may look like it is to some. Margins are generally low. Turnover is generally high. Staff training all too often gets pushed to the bottom of the list of things to do and restaurateurs sometimes think that people they hire for the host/hostess position don’t need to be trained in hospitality.

Oh yes they do.

And at the top of the list in the training handbook should be: Never look at a customer and announce, “Just one?”

Blog Topic: Napkin Notes

Posted by Chef Jim on February 20, 2010  |  Comments Off

It makes me nuts when bars and restaurants use black cocktail napkins because I can’t write things on them – someone’s contact info, an idea that popped into my head, a thought about the very place I’m in.

So over the years, whenever white cocktail napkins are available, I’ve collected a bunch of these “napkin notes” and while some are impossible to decipher and others have contact information for people whose names I no longer recognize, there are those that have some thoughts and impressions I thought I’d pass on to you.

Noisy restaurants. From what I read in a recent Wall Street Journal, it’s all the rage in restaurant design to use flat, hard surfaces, open kitchens, little or no carpeting, plain tables with no cloth – all the stuff that makes a restaurant very noisy. Anything that helps dampen noise is absent, because to some, noise equals success. I experienced this firsthand in a new restaurant in Sint Maarten last month, and while the food was really excellent, the decibel level made the experience less than enjoyable.

Audiologists will tell you that 80 decibels is when sound becomes uncomfortable for the average human and it’s even lower as people age, so I’m wondering why restaurant designers think that it’s okay that two people have to scream at each other in order to be heard while trying to enjoy a meal?

Here’s another: Restaurants with undertrained staff. I learned early on – at the very first restaurant I worked in – that no wait staff were permitted to work in the dining room until they knew the menu backwards and forwards, including the ingredients, preparation methods, etc. They also knew that the proper way to serve wine is (a) present the bottle to confirm the selection; (b) cut the foil and use the corkscrew to remove the cork and present the cork; (c) leave the wine glass on the table – don’t pick it up – and pour a small amount to be tasted; (d) when signaled that the wine is acceptable, pour the wine for the others at the table first and the selector last.

Tipping. Having worked as a waiter, I know the importance of tips. I also think I know how to earn a tip. And while I know that many wait staff depend on tips to earn a living, I am mystified by certain behaviors. “Do you need change?” is the most annoying presumptuous question a waiter or waitress can say and it almost always leads me to respond, “Yes, if you want a tip.”

Tipping. Part two. Since when does pouring a cup of coffee deserve a tip? Since when does self-service require a reward for the cashier? When I see a container labeled “Tips,” I am repelled. Tips are supposed to be earned. They are not an entitlement. And while I understand that many states’ labor laws allow restaurants to pay their workers below minimum wage with the expectation that tips will supplement their income, there should be no presumption that a tip is automatic or deserved no matter what.

Menu Spell-check. For goodness sake, every word processing program in existence has spell-check, and while it’s not foolproof, you’d think that menu writers would give their creations a second look. I hereby exempt all Chinese restaurants from this, because it’s actually part of the entertainment. But in furtherance of my observation, I would like to invite all of you who read this column/blog to send me your favorite menu misspellings and bizarre descriptors.

Here’s a starter for you: I was at a restaurant in Israel, and there is a Bedouin delicacy made from sheep’s eyes. On the menu it said, “Lamp Balls.”

Under-pour/Overcharge. I’m back on the wine thing again. A 750 ml bottle of wine should yield about 5 glasses, according to restaurant service norms. That’s 150 ml per pour. Translated into English, that’s about five ounces each. I’ve noticed a number of restaurants with a standard 3.5 to 4 ounce pour. Considering that in many restaurants wine by the glass sells for anywhere from $7 to $15 per glass, that’s bald-faced overcharging.

Beverages are where the profits are made in the restaurant business. You’d be stunned to know how little it costs to pour an average glass of soda pop. (Okay, it’s about five cents – which is why I’m astounded when I see people pay $2.00 or more for a fountain drink and load the cup to the brim with ice.) Back to wine: Most restaurants use what’s called a triple keystone to price their wine, which means that whatever their wholesale cost, the retail price is three times that amount. Break it up by the glass and it’s even pricier.

Bottom line: Give me a proper pour and I promise you a proper tip.