Escoffier On Line

Kitchen Staff Can Make or Break an Evening

By Kathy Hester

We all know that a bad server can ruin a guest's evening. We've even talked about how other front of the house staff can leave an impression that stays with a guest longer than your dinnerware choice. But most of the time, we don't think much about how a kitchen's attitude can actually effect the diner's experience.

I'm not even talking about how bad attitude in the kitchen can show up in the actual quality of food served or a smudge on a salad served on square dinnerware . I'm talking about how a chef's attitude can bleed over into the entire kitchen and out into the dining room.

I had an experience that happened almost five years ago. It takes something really big to stick with a guest (especially me) that long. My friends and I made a reservation at a well known restaurant. We came in first thing since we had a party of 10 and we didn't want to put a kink in their Saturday night business.

The woman whose birthday we were celebrating did not eat poultry or red meat of any kind. There was one fish dish that she liked, but it had pork in the pasta sauce that was the side for that dish. The other fish dish had no added meat, but was a type of fish that she knew she did not like. There was no vegetarian choice listed on the menu at all.

She asked the waiter if she could substitute any of the sides that did not have meat in them or even steamed veggies and was told no. They could leave the sauce off the pasta and serve it plain next to the fish or leave off the side completely. In fact, the waiter was encouraging her to get the fish that she told him she did not like, which was a problem waiting to happen.

My guest was almost in tears and I mentioned it was her birthday. I also asked if vegetarians were served at all there. The waiter went back to the kitchen and said she could have dish x which is the one dish they serve vegetarian. Dish x was not something you go to a high end restaurant for, much less spend thirty dollars on.

We were still the only table in the restaurant and the entire kitchen staff, led by the chef, paraded out to stand in front of the kitchen door staring at us. I had never seen anything this rude done to a table of guests in all of my time in the service industry.

At this point, we decided as a group to leave. We went to an old favorite of ours. Their staff not only fit us in without reservations on a Saturday night, but provided us quick appetizers at the bar tables while we had our short wait. Can you guess which place we rave about and bring friends? It's fine to have a chef's ego, but it should not paint a bad feeling on the guest's experience. After all, if you run all the guests off, chances are your restaurant will close.

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