No substitutions allowed?
A few weeks ago I was having a team lunch at Dish Dash, and my coworker (let’s call her Ashley) asked the waiter, “Can I get the tabsi falafel, but substitute the eggplant for the mushrooms?”
It seemed like an innocuous question, but it felt cringeworthy because I personally think substitutions are tacky. Apparently the waiter was also confused by the request, and all but said no.
Ashley tried again, “Can I get the sambusak veggie, with a side of mushrooms?”
The waiter gave her the same blank stare, presumably because “a side of mushrooms” wasn’t on the menu.
After the waiter walked away Ashley declared, “As somebody who used to manage a restaurant, I’m just confused why they couldn’t make that simple substitution.”
I laughed, “As somebody who used to manage a restaurant, do you like it when people order off-menu?”
Ashley responded, “Ted, there are two types of people in this world: people who like people, and people who don’t. I like people, and want to make customers happy, so if that means they order off-menu, so be it.”
I replied, “I love people, but I’m also a rule follower. If it’s my restaurant, I want you to order off the menu that I prepared for you…and if you want something else, you can go somewhere else.”
I went on to explain that if you’re coming to my restaurant, you’re paying for me to give you food that tastes good. Substitutions could change that, and I wouldn’t want anyone to have a subpar experience. Furthermore, if you want your food prepared differently than how I intended, then maybe you should just cook it yourself.
If that alienates customers, then they can vote with their wallets and go somewhere else. I recognize that not everybody is like me, but I’m curious to know —
- Are you a rule follower or rule breaker?
- How do you feel about substitutions and ordering off-menu?
Even though I cringed inside when Ashley was making ridiculous requests talking to the waiter, I love that we got to express our different opinions and remained friends afterwards. Obviously I enjoy talking to people who think similarly to me because clearly they’re onto something 😉, but often it can be so much more fun talking to people who are different, and then writing about it. And who knows, maybe sometimes I learn that I’m the one who’s being tacky.
I trust the restaurant to know how to make tasty food, and I trust myself to know what I do and don’t like, so there’s enough room for arguing a balance that substitutions are a good thing, but then again I’m a rule breaker.
Hey Ted! It’s been a while! I read your entries, but this one was particularly interesting.
Personally, I never asked for substitutions because of wanting to try the food as it was intended to be ordered and prepared. However, with that said, I remember a very strong message I heard while watching top chef that resonates when I read this.
In the earlier seasons, there was a very strong protest from the chefs when they were required to cook for certain audiences such as kids. One the chefs even said that they don’t like to cook down for children. Another chef said, they’re not willing to cook with ingredients that are not up to their quality standard because their customer asked for it.
And I vividly remember what Tom (the head judge) said to them. “We are in the business of making people happy.” I think both standpoints are equally important. While we should enjoy the food as was intended to be received, sometimes customers may ask for substitutions that the chef should be glad to prepare if it’s within their capability. Would the scenario be different if they had a food allergy? Food for thought 🙂
I don’t agree with your colleague about liking people or not lol. You can not like people and still be a damn good chef that’s also accommodating lol.
I really like how you dive deep into your thoughts with these posts. Very insightful!
Thanks for reading and commenting! Also…for the life of me I can’t remember you Daniel…so maybe ping me and remind me which Daniel you are? IG / Twitter @ seriouslyted…
I’m the one who’s staying at Mr Jungs place. If that rings a bell? The Korean guy.
Ah yes! I remember now…thanks for reading and commenting!