Diners vs. Chefs: Whose Taste Should Prevail?
To the Editor:
Re “Have It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won’t Have It” (front page, March 5):
Although there are many more important subjects that are news, the idea of fussy chefs and difficult customers prompts only one question not covered in the article: What of the diner who is attending the dinner session for a special occasion or a business meeting who is there for other reasons than to savor the fare of the artistic professional?
There is always one poor soul with a cup of consommé and copious amounts of wine because the menu cannot accommodate him or her.
Sometimes, you cannot just get up and leave. To ask that a whipped-cream garnish not be put on a dessert is not extreme. It did cause an eye roll. You cannot eat around foods or pick them out.
The customer may not always be right, but rest assured, the customer remembers.
John Dominic Barbarino
New York, March 5, 2011
The writer is a private chef.
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To the Editor:
As someone with food allergies, I resent the implication that any diners would deprive themselves of a fine dish just to obtain better or more personalized service. But even if that is occasionally true, why do some chefs insist that it’s their way or the highway?
After all, when I buy other goods or services, I have a choice of price, color, model, accessories and so on. While I can understand the challenges that face restaurants in serving numerous customers at one time, there are many great chefs who are only too happy to accommodate their clients.
Recently, I experienced the worst example of restaurant discrimination. I requested that a salad be served without blue cheese, since I am allergic to dairy products.
When both the waiter and the maître d’hôtel averred that it couldn’t be done, the chef actually came from the kitchen to argue with me, asserting that he could not make the salad without the cheese, and why didn’t I just order a different salad?
This came after he had already refused to substitute a plain baked potato for one with truffle butter. Needless to say, we left immediately.
It seems that the public has raised chefs to such a lofty level that some have forgotten the purpose of their profession: to serve!
Dena F. Lowenbach
South Orange, N.J., March 5, 2011
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To the Editor:
Re “Have It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won’t Have It”:
As the owner of a small gastro-bistro in the South of France, and not a purist, I wouldn’t have it either. We create dishes, culinarily and visually balanced, and are not willing to change them on the whim of a patron. My mixed berries dessert is with crème fraîche, vanilla sugar and Meyer lemon rind, period. Any change or omission would kill the dessert as planned.
As the poster reads at the entrance of our kitchen, “Le client est roi, le patron est dieu!” (“The client is king, the chef is God!”) Eriq Aeschlima
New York, March 5, 2011
Re “Have It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won’t Have It” (front page, March 5):
Although there are many more important subjects that are news, the idea of fussy chefs and difficult customers prompts only one question not covered in the article: What of the diner who is attending the dinner session for a special occasion or a business meeting who is there for other reasons than to savor the fare of the artistic professional?
There is always one poor soul with a cup of consommé and copious amounts of wine because the menu cannot accommodate him or her.
Sometimes, you cannot just get up and leave. To ask that a whipped-cream garnish not be put on a dessert is not extreme. It did cause an eye roll. You cannot eat around foods or pick them out.
The customer may not always be right, but rest assured, the customer remembers.
John Dominic Barbarino
New York, March 5, 2011
The writer is a private chef.
•
To the Editor:
As someone with food allergies, I resent the implication that any diners would deprive themselves of a fine dish just to obtain better or more personalized service. But even if that is occasionally true, why do some chefs insist that it’s their way or the highway?
After all, when I buy other goods or services, I have a choice of price, color, model, accessories and so on. While I can understand the challenges that face restaurants in serving numerous customers at one time, there are many great chefs who are only too happy to accommodate their clients.
Recently, I experienced the worst example of restaurant discrimination. I requested that a salad be served without blue cheese, since I am allergic to dairy products.
When both the waiter and the maître d’hôtel averred that it couldn’t be done, the chef actually came from the kitchen to argue with me, asserting that he could not make the salad without the cheese, and why didn’t I just order a different salad?
This came after he had already refused to substitute a plain baked potato for one with truffle butter. Needless to say, we left immediately.
It seems that the public has raised chefs to such a lofty level that some have forgotten the purpose of their profession: to serve!
Dena F. Lowenbach
South Orange, N.J., March 5, 2011
•
To the Editor:
Re “Have It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won’t Have It”:
As the owner of a small gastro-bistro in the South of France, and not a purist, I wouldn’t have it either. We create dishes, culinarily and visually balanced, and are not willing to change them on the whim of a patron. My mixed berries dessert is with crème fraîche, vanilla sugar and Meyer lemon rind, period. Any change or omission would kill the dessert as planned.
As the poster reads at the entrance of our kitchen, “Le client est roi, le patron est dieu!” (“The client is king, the chef is God!”) Eriq Aeschlima
New York, March 5, 2011
