Does anyone tip the cook at a restaurant?
A friend told me that it is not unusual.
After one particular outstanding meal, I decided to try it.
The Chef personally came out, thanked us, and made a special dessert for us.
So, is it unusual and does anyone here do it?
(No, I’m not a cook. I burn water)
depends (and no incontinence jokes here please)
At a sushi restaurant, it is customary to also tip the sushi chef (if you got sushi as well). I’ve also seen in a diner type place “tips for the cook” jar by the register. In addition, at a local Mongolian BBQ (where you pick out your selection of raw ingredients and then hand it to the folks at the grill to cook for you), not only to you tip the waitress (who brings your drink and a bowl of rice) but you’re also expected to drop a tip into the tip jar for the cooks (who put on a show)
So, in a variety of circumstances, yes, you’re expected to do so. In the standard sit down restaurant, no, although often the server will tip out the cook/busser etc. HOWEVER, if the cook has done something special for you (made an unusual substitution for example), it would be a nice gesture and would virtually guarentee no fingers in your food next time. 
Okay, here’s a followup question in the same thread – HOW do you tip the cook?? Do you ask the waiter to give money to the cook? Do you speak to the manager and slip him the money? Or perhaps excuse yourself and poke your head into the kitchen and ask to see the chef? It sounds like a smart idea, especially for meals with extenuating circumstances, but I’m just curious how one would go about it?
For the person who DID it, what did you do? You say the chef actually came out to your table afterwards … does that mean you tipped the chef prior to the end of the meal? I usually pay the bill and leave, but I suppose if you were having coffee he’d have time to come out. Just curious.
For the places with jars for the cooks, it’s obvious. Otherwise, I have handed the tip for the cook to the server with instructions. The cook, then has always come out and acknowledged it. or at least that’s how I’ve done it…
{Okay trying this again, kept hitting the wrong button. decaf today was a !really! bad idea.)
My dining companion and I tip the cook directly. On one occasion we have asked the waitress have the cook to come to our table when he wasn’t busy, my DC handed him $10 for an excellent meal and cooking the steak medium well, not various shades of pink (as usually happens to him). The guy was embarrassed but pleased, and evidently scored some brownie points with the general manager and regional manager (unbeknownst to us, seated two tables away. The cook was employee of the month a couple months later, and employee of the year for that year. A little encouragement can go a long way.) If the restaurant is very busy, we will give a tip to the manager to be given to the cook, and the cook will stop by to acknowledge us. In all, we found that by tipping the cook as well as the server, we get excellent service and food, as well as being remembered the next times we walk in. Especially helps when we go to a new place and one of the servers recognize us froma different restaurant. They tell the cook that we tip, and we get a great meal (found this out afterwards from a couple of server friends).
WRING - thanks for the forwarning on the sushi and Mongolian BBQ places. I like to know these things ahead of time.
BTW - I am not a cook, but my dining companion is - hence the knowledge of what it’s like to drudge over a hot stove, and willingness to acknowledge an excellent meal. I attempted to make Silver Dollar pancakes and ended up with bits of small change.