when restaurants refuse substitutions

I think it's a very arrogant position to take for a business who is customer oriented. While I think my narrow omissions like discussed in the article should be accepted without question I don't think a diner should completely redesigned an entire menu item.

I completely agree with the quote from one of the posters in the original article:
“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton

If your are that picky about your food you should just eat at home. While I agree with changing a salad for fries or things along those lines I dont think a kitchen should have to alter a dish for every diner that comes in the door. I may be a bit jaded as my last kitchen gig was at a country club. Pretty much captive diners that kinda owned the place as they did pay quarterly food minimuns. But a lot of them demanded ALL kinds of changes to dishes. A real pain in the a@#$#.

Annemarie
I think your previous post stated what I was saying. If you have all these food issues then eat at home. As far as no set-up on a burger, I agree. Things like that should be a non issue and in fact a money saver for the restaurant. Why order a dressed burger and then throw away the toppings. Just my opinion.

TRUST YOUR CHEF*






*barring food allergy of course

As a chef, substitutions kind of suck because I have worked hard to create balanced, flavorful dishes. I used to plan menus with what I would call "The Chick Dish". It was almost always a safe choice for picky eaters. It usually involved some sort of non theatening, middle of the road pasta, crab cake or chicken thing.

But for me, I guess it really depends on the kind of place it is.
I was a chef/owner that had the spent the money on an establishment the likes of Momofuko, Moto, Aliena or any of the places mentioned in the article; that are on the very creative edge of modern fine dining, and have a back log of reservations of people dying to get in, then YES! I'd wholeheartedly agree and encourage a "No Substitutions" policy.
If you don't like how it's prepared then order something else. If nothing on the menu strikes your fancy, you obviously don't get it and don't belong here. Feel free to dine elsewhere so other people can enjoy what we are trying to accomplish with our techniques and flavor.

If I was running a run of the mill, family dining, burgers, pasta and $15-20 entrees kind of place that specializes in carry out or turn and burn volume, I wouldn't care two sh*&s if you wanted strawberry glaze on your french fries as long as you paid for it and and left promptly so I could turn your table to seat the rest of humanity waiting by the door at 7:30 on a Friday night.

As far as allergies go, Most people I've ever encountered with an actual deathly allergy to nuts, gluten, shellfish or raw onions , really go out of their way to let the kitchen know that before they order. I've had people call and ask me before they came in to make sure that any thing harmful will not be in their dish that evening. I have no problem accommodating those requests.

But on the other hand, the supposed "lactose intolerant" person that drags me out to the table and insists that I cook their dish without delicious butter or cream and then proceeds to order a dish of ice cream for dessert, makes me want to break things.

As a chef, substitutions kind of suck because I have worked hard to create balanced, flavorful dishes. I used to plan menus with what I would call "The Chick Dish". It was almost always a safe choice for picky eaters. It usually involved some sort of non theatening, middle of the road pasta, crab cake or chicken thing.

But for me, I guess it really depends on the kind of place it is.
I was a chef/owner that had the spent the money on an establishment the likes of Momofuko, Moto, Aliena or any of the places mentioned in the article; that are on the very creative edge of modern fine dining, and have a back log of reservations of people dying to get in, then YES! I'd wholeheartedly agree and encourage a "No Substitutions" policy.
If you don't like how it's prepared then order something else. If nothing on the menu strikes your fancy, you obviously don't get it and don't belong here. Feel free to dine elsewhere so other people can enjoy what we are trying to accomplish with our techniques and flavor.

If I was running a run of the mill, family dining, burgers, pasta and $15-20 entrees kind of place that specializes in carry out or turn and burn volume, I wouldn't care two sh*&s if you wanted strawberry glaze on your french fries as long as you paid for it and and left promptly so I could turn your table to seat the rest of humanity waiting by the door at 7:30 on a Friday night.

As far as allergies go, Most people I've ever encountered with an actual deathly allergy to nuts, gluten, shellfish or raw onions , really go out of their way to let the kitchen know that before they order. I've had people call and ask me before they came in to make sure that any thing harmful will not be in their dish that evening. I have no problem accommodating those requests.

But on the other hand, the supposed "lactose intolerant" person that drags me out to the table and insists that I cook their dish without delicious butter or cream and then proceeds to order a dish of ice cream for dessert, makes me want to break things.

Nice!!

Referring to part of what Dan said cuts to the real nuts and bolts of the issue. ANYONE who has been on the line on a weekend trying to push out 250 plus covers at dinner will sh%$ a brick when a special request comes in. If you haven't lived it you got no idea. People think someone is in the back just standing around waiting to do a special order just for them. If you are cooking in a good restaurant you're usually in the weeds from about 7PM on. Thats the real world. There is just no time for picky eaters.

I've always been of the opinion that OMITTING something that is just put in (like say broccoli in a stir fry) is one less thing you have to grab on the way to make it. Plus I'm just going to pick it out and leave it for your bus boy to throw away.

I ask for things to left out of dishes from time to time but rarely ask for substitutions unless the server advises they can. I'd say that honestly is about 1 in 25 times.

I would equate special requests to people who rubberneck at accidents. Nobody thinks its a big deal until they look behind them at the hour long delay. Someone has to take extra time to ring in, modify the order, and doublecheck the special request. One or two isn't a huge deal, but in the middle of the rush when time is crucial, it backs up the queue even more.

If you don't like how it's prepared then order something else. If nothing on the menu strikes your fancy, you obviously don't get it and don't belong here. Feel free to dine elsewhere so other people can enjoy what we are trying to accomplish with our techniques and flavor.

This.

Same way with allergies, if the dish contains something you are allergic to, don't order it. I wouldn't want to risk the kitchen forgetting not to put "X" in a dish they have made a million times with "x" in it.

i disagree with your statement "if you are picky, you should eat at home"

Annemarie,

My experience is there's really no sense even asking for substitutions as 9 times out of 10 someone's going to screw it up anyway.

Why order a dressed burger and then throw away the toppings.

Substitutions is a wide ranging arena. Cheese is a big one for me. I normally order anything that has cheese put on top, or at least in amounts that would disgust anyone who popped in from 1975 in a time machine, to be dialed back. Or in the case of burgers, omitted. Somebody tell me why you have to ask for cheese to be left off something that's not called a "cheeseburger". Isn't that why the word "cheeseburger" was coined, to distinguish it from a normal hamburger regardless of how else it is constructed?

But my amazement regarding many of the posts is economic. I always hear how important it is to use every molecule of kitchen ingredients as effectively as possible for the bottom line, or even survival, of the business.

This leads me to believe the posters who disagree with allowing ingredients to be left out are not the owners.

And if anyone knows of an establishment that has refused to leave out an ingredient on request, I wish you'd post the name so I can cross them off the list of places we'd consider. Even if I didn't ask for something to be left out I still wouldn't want to patronize a place that refuses this to a customer

And if anyone knows of an establishment that has refused to leave out an ingredient on request, I wish you'd post the name so I can cross them off the list of places we'd consider. Even if I didn't ask for something to be left out I still wouldn't want to patronize a place that refuses this to a customer

LaRosita.

here's a restaurant that isn't accommodating towards a customers request...
Harvest. owner ivor wouldn't budge. i just sat there and my dining companion and i were like, we'll never go back. i wasn't the recipient, but it didn't matter. what an attitude he had.

Out of curiosity, what was being requested?

antonia, it's not for me to say, since it wasn't me. i respect this persons privacy.

AM,
I don't see how mentioning the substitution requested is putting your dining companion's privacy in jeopardy, since you never named this person. It would also give other byters some basis to form an opinion about Harvest's refusal.
Redwinger