I think this is an underutilized resource. From time to time I’ve asked a restaurant’s chef for advice and I’ve never been disappointed.
Last night I ordered a pizza to go at the bar (my Monday literature discussion group meets at a bar) . I wanted something different, so I asked Arnell if he’d make me what he’d make for his family if he were taking a pie home. It wasn’t on the menu, but I ended up with a green pepper, spinach, capers, bacon, and something else pizza with a cheese blend he likes. It was awesome.
The first time I took my gf out to dinner, I chose a place where I was friends with the chef and the owner. As we were looking at our menus, my date asked me for recommendations. I asked her if I could order for her and she agreed.
I went into the kitchen (with the owner’s permission) and asked the chef if she could make us a meal that would impress my date, and she was thrilled to help. We ended up having a many-course extravaganza. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. The chef joined us for after dinner drinks and kitchen chat
Anyone else do this sort of thing? IME the chef has always enjoyed helping.
You can not praise the chef for the food, or the wait staff for the service too many times.
The Italian place we just discovered has an appetizer that is just bread (a mini-loaf) with mozz and a sprinkle of parsley served with their home-made marinara. OMStarsAndGarters, it’s outta this world. We’ve asked them if they’re thinking of putting toppings on it (maybe as an entree) and they are considering it.
I do it all the time. And it doesn’t matter if it’s one of my regular spots, or a new one. Chefs, bartenders, waitstaff are great resources for trying what’s best on the menu, or knowing what can be done that’s not on the menu. If you had a special last week, that is no longer listed with the specials, they might be able to still do it for you this week. I’ve done that successfully a number of times.
More often than not, I’m eating at the bar, and I’ll almost always ask the bartender what wine he would recommend to go with the food I ordered. If they have a sommelier, they’ll send him or her over. But usually the bartenders are pretty good.
I ask a lot. I used to be a vegetarian, and ofter order veggie stuff now, and that’s a standard question. Often times I get a generic answer, but sometimes get a really good recommendation.
Also, “waddya think I feel like having tonight” can return pleasant surprises.
Most chefs I’ve known were under too much stress to have to deal with customers, too. I leave them alone out of a mixture of pity and self-preservation.
Heh. Having cooked in a restaurant for a living, the chef/cook thing is something I dealt with. There were two 3 man lines, so six of us cooked at one time. I was the only one without formal training. The restaurant had an executive chef who made major menu decisions, but was not present day to day and never actually touched the food.
Sorry about that. I’ve never worked in food service myself, but my wife worked as a sous-chef (pastries) at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan back in the day, and I picked up a lot of the terminology - and nitpicking - from her. That was a major operation, though, and I’m sure smaller places have a much less formal hierarchy.
Something to consider, I think your intentions have caused you to take a action which may have a opposite effect of what you desire. While they are busy, such things as asking, showing appreciation and involving them personally may bring a ray of light into their detached world of impersonal cooking. Many chefs desire to make the eater happy by their creation, that’s why they got into it, but too many have gotten stuck as cogs in the wheel. You may just make the chef’s day. Though that all depends on the situation.
Sometimes I’ll ask for something to be prepared however the chef prefers (a piece of fish, for instance)…I’d rather not take a stab in the dark if I can have it the way the professional would have it himself.
Once we took my five-year-old to a restaurant for his birthday and sat at the kitchen bar where he could watch the staff in action. The head chef asked him about his likes and dislikes and made him an off-menu dinner…the bartender brought him a special virgin cocktail…they whipped up some custom ice cream and fresh fruit for his dessert…he was generally treated like a king. One of the best restaurant experiences of my life!
When I want a cocktail, I often ask for bartender’s choice. THey will ask me a couple of questions (which spirit, do you like spicy/sweet/etc.) and I get something they like to make.
Off of a menu, I will often ask how the chef recommends a dish be cooked (often regarding the “doneness” of meats.)
If I am having real fun, I might ask for off menu on a slow night (steak tartare for example).
When I really love a dish, I will ask the waiter to pass on my compliments to the kitchen - and have had a chef stop by my table to listen to my gushing.
Going to one of our favorite Italian restaurants tonight. Anyone living near me probably knows the place and the wacky woman who owns the place and makes the meals. She is known for dropping “F bombs” on a regular basis as she strolls through the restaurant, talking with her customers.
I once asked her about a pasta, sardine, pine nut, dish that I love. She looked into it and told me that with 24 hour notice she’d prepare it for me. So we arranged it and it was a fantastic night. When we were leaving, she brought me three takeout portions, saying her regular customers would never eat it.
I went to a fancy-pants restaurant with a group of friends. It was one of those seven course meal type things.
The problem was, it was all seafood. Outside of Long John Silvers, I don’t much care for seafood.* So I asked the waitress to ask the chef if he could make my stuff not seafood.
At the time, I had no idea what he would be serving me. I just knew it wasn’t going to be seafood. I was not disappointed. The main entree was a lamb dish that was absolutely divine.
*Had I realized the place we were going to was a seafood joint, I wouldn’t have come.