What REALLY happens in restaurants?

I recently read a magazine article that offered definite dos & don'ts for restaurant diners and I was curious about what the professionals REALLY think. The author of the article is a chef himself.

Here we go,
1. Skip the fish on Monday... why?... it's been there from as early as Thursday.

2. Avoid the mussels... he had a bad mussel once and doesn't suggest tempting fate.

3. Beware of brunch... he claims that Sunday brunch is basically leftovers from Friday & Saturday. He also very adamently suggests that you avoid hollandaise sauce because it is "a veritable petri dish of biohazards".

He has a few other ideas that he shares but in the interest of time & space I won't share them.

Am I doomed to forever have this cloud over my conscience and a fear of brunch forever?

Hey dude , you have to understand that there
are all kinds of people on this planet and some are to cheap to throw out food when its needed . Know your restaurant & your friends.

[Greg]

Welcome to Cheftalk, romey! The article you read is the short-form precursor to a book. The author's name is Anthony Bourdain, the title of the book, "Kitchen Confidential". Definitely recommended reading! Look for posts on this site from "qjwin625", it's the same guy.

Uh-oh - I have a sneaking suspicion that I know who Romey is . . . welcome, Romey! She's a wonderful cook in her own right with some terrific ideas. Now I'm gonna have to watch my P's and Q's . . . but I'm looking forward to her contributions.

[shroomgirl]

I think we had a Brunch thread run on Restaurant Raves.....some said that loeftovers occurred at brunch....others felt it didn't.
Brunch is such a wonderful meal.....I'll still go whether it's got a bad rap or not.

Welcome Romey! I hope you make it down to the new comers log in.

its all in the managment, i have worked for many who wouldn,t throw a thing out and i ve worked for those who wouldn't let you keep anything....so it all depends is the best answer I can think of

p.s. I read an article on car crashes and I tempt that fate everyday

it is interesting what happens behind the scenes in the biz.

i have worked in places where the owners got crazy if you threw out a half packet of sugarand then there are those who don't watch what they are doing at all.

it's always interesting. i learn alot all the time. i should probably write a book on all that i have seen.


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[quote]Originally posted by romey:
3. Beware of brunch... he claims that Sunday brunch is basically leftovers from Friday & Saturday. He also very adamently suggests that you avoid hollandaise sauce because it is "a veritable petri dish of biohazards".

Would you evey order eggs benni on Sun. morning when you could eat the Sunday Brunch Buffet? Somebody always does!

[Nick.Shu]

some interesting comments there - IMHO this is how i would approach/answer those questions;

1) - depends on the supplier - in this day and age, is the fish frozen, how long has the trawler been at sea, who and how the fish is handled etc.

2) - Bad mussels, well it would take quite a harsh and vicious case of food poisoning to turn me off anything and i try anything atleast twice.

3) Sometimes in some restaurants ppl dont know their product or commodities. I personally believe and enforce a particular standard that i would never go under - in order to control costs, i would introduce a extra (brunch) menu utilising existing mise en place.

[Live_to_cook]

Seems to me the basic question is: which restaurants can you trust to NOT serve you bad/borderline seafood and other produce?

Clearly there are many places that would never do such a thing. Then again, I have eaten in more than a few that didn't seem strangers to the idea.

It's probably a big part of the reason I became such a home chef, so to speak. I trust me to throw out the bad mussels, for sure.

TO CONTINUE ON WHAT CHEF TO LIVE BROUGHT UP,
THE IDEA OF TRUST IS VERY IMPORTANT! ANY
CHEF WHO WOULD SERVE BAD, AND KNOWINGLY BAD,
FOOD TO SOME HAPPLESS GUEST IS NOT WORTH THE
TITLE OF CHEF! HOLLANDAISE IS A CLASSIC SAUCE THAT SERVES A PURPOSE AND IF TREATED WITH RESPECT DOES NOT POSE A PROBLEM IN MY MIND. BUT THE TRUTH OF BUYER BEWARE ALSO CARRIES THE IMPLICIT TRUST IN THE SKILL OF THE CHEF. JUST HAD TO GET THAT OFF MY CHEST!