Had a friend who waitressed at a diner and they made her not only “recycle” uneaten pickles but also the small ramekins of coleslaw that also appeared untouched as well. Needless to say, I’m sure this was not isolated to that one diner and since coleslaw has a dairy element, being refrigerated and then out, and then refrigerated and out again, is actually kind of terrifying. Needless to say, I have never eaten coleslaw at any restaurant since, and if it happens to come with any meal I am served, I make sure to pour it out onto my plate after I am finished eating or stick something in it so it cannot be used again.
You’re a brave man for even taking one bite of a pickle!
People are better off not knowing what goes on in most restaurant kitchens. Ignorance can be bliss. I will often pick apart any bread/rolls that are leftover so they can’t be used again.
Between working in food service and seeing things that I really want to write about but just can’t, and watching shows like Kitchen Nightmares and Restaurant Impossible, it is truly amazing how more people do not 1) get very sick, 2) die, 3) have incredible diarrhea after eating out.
I know! Sometimes I think maybe we are too careful with respect to food safety. I know some “rules” have changed since I first worked in kitchens - so there must be some leeway. There’s a whole world that is much more lax than we are here in the USA.
When we were in NYC last week, one of the restaurants we went to always provides a copious bread basket (including bagels during brunch), all baked in-house. There was quite a bit left which they gladly let us take home along with other leftovers.
No, its not about leeway. The standards are actually higher now, I think, but vary establishment to establishment. Which chefs/managers are strict vs. which will tell you to pick up a piece of ham that fell on the floor, rinse it off in the hand sink, and save it for a rude customer. Did I slip that in there? Whoops. And regardless, they are almost always ServSafe certified, which I have heard from everyone I know who has taken it that its one of the hardest exams in existence. But anyone can take a test.
I’ve been gone a month. At a place to remain nameless. Can’t say its much better but I get to work with Justin and they are flexible with my lecture schedule, plus health insurance which can be rare in this industry.
I don’t want to derail this thread so I’ll stop there. I’d love to go on, in detail, about what I’ve seen and what I was forced to do, but I’d probably get sued. LOL
If there are two things, I think should be MANDATORY in this country they are:
1.) Everyone has to go to college, trade school or military after high school
2. Everyone has to work in retail / “hospitality” for 1 summer. ( or some period of time)
I think the public is largely clueless how rude they can be, intentionally or not. I also think if the public could see how things are “actually done” there would be a lot more understanding and sympathy for restaurants when they are “in the weeds”. This also includes food handling; I think people have a vast misunderstanding of how commercial kitchens actually work and how food is handled long before it hits the plate.
