The meaning of a customer

[beefcheeks]

Originally Posted by Nick.Shu

isnt the customer the person who pays our way in life and gives what we do a meaning?.

Also it would be prudent to note that despite the fact that the customer may well know what they want, they dont always eloquently convey that fact to the chef.

all things being equal, it then becomes the chef's job to interpret that.

I agree. Customers do give our jobs meaning. They also continue to give value to gracious service and the inherent need to be pampered, just as royalty and the noble families of the past were.

In the days of Escoffier -father of the modern restaurant- wealthy patrons could dine as kings and queens, and notable socialites often had dishes named after them. Todays restaurants have come a long way since then. But I sense that even Freddie the Freeloader wouldn't mind having a plate of flapjacks named after him.

[redace1960]

nick.shu brings up an interesting point-the broken communication between the kitchen and the customer. servers, bussers and restaurant critics are lousy intermediaries and its a health code violation for me to come back to the kitchen-not to mention hazardous during full bore service! this is a subject for starting a forum of its own but i'll leave that for someone more eloquent.
p.s. can you imagine going in ANYWHERE and ordering the tuna casserole? much less one that was 'reinvented'? what if they left out the PEAS?