Restaurant Tips: Behind the Menu and What Goes On Inside the Kitchen Scences

Working in the restaurant business for 15 plus years, there is a few things I think you should know....

For the past 10 years I have been an executive chef, working in fine dining atmosphere's, surrounding myself in exotic ingredients and fast paced kitchens. Have you ever wondered how the food is prepared, or why in the hell it took an hour when you see only 10 other customers in the joint?

Or how about when you send your plate back twice and the kitchen just can't seem to get it right? How about this one, you go to your favorite restaurant, you know exactly what you want because you order it every time you go, and the dish arrives it looks a little off and the flavors of the menu item taste completely different.

Better yet, just as you sit down, or have been sitting for some time gazing at the menu, your waitstaff rambles of some menu items that are not available. I know the feeling. Maybe even more so than you, I find myself in a bittersweet situation, for I know how much it really costs, how it was prepped and scared silly when it comes to my table completely different.

Dead Restaurant Walking

Ah, the forever wait in a dead restaurant. Now I would hope one would realize when you walk into a joint that is standing room only with a 20 plus minute wait, you know your food may take a while.

There are a few ways to subside the hunger pains like sipping on wine, cocktails, or club soda.. It the budget allows, order a salad to hold you over, this usually only takes about 15 minutes to prepare, and keep you hunger and patience at bay till the main course arrives.

Now back to the dead restaurant theory... for some reason in the cosmic restaurant universe when the restaurant is dead, the line cooks seem not to have any urgency. "Eh three orders no big deal," is usually the mindset of a line cook during the slow time. They are likely in the back prepping for the rush, not paying attention to the orders coming in, and when the ticket is fired, they take their sweet time in executing the order.

BELIEVE ME, this is just one of my biggest pet peeves as an executive chef. If you find yourself in this situation, just tell your waiter you have to be some where in 45 minutes, this does work, just keep on your waiter if they too are slacking in urgency.

That's Not What I Ordered

"My usual doesn't look or taste the same."

There are a few aspects to this common issue. One is a new cook in training was left to fin for himself/herself and is flying by the seat of their pants trying remember how to cook the dish with no proper training, bless their soul. Or you were subjected to a disgruntled cook who's care factor went out the window and does not properly prepare the order, another pet peeve. Another factor that is common in a kitchen is when the prep cook who did not follow a recipe or did not understand the procedure for a recipe that is used on the cooking line. Then are times when the grocery truck trumps the delivery order and the kitchen is stuck with an off key item, and attempts to incorporate the subbed item, hoping you, the consumer, will not notice, but you do.

From the Kitchen to your Table

I must give a generous nod to the kitchen crew for their hard repetitious work day after day. A chef may create the menu layout, ingredients, flavor profiles, and train their staff accordingly, but it is the prep cooks, dishwashers, and line cooks that are the real conductors on the daily. They usually begin the day sorting through the delivery setting aside foreign items the crazy chef ordered, and damaged goods that did not survive. They gaze over what needs to be prepped for the day, maybe the next, and begin the 10 hour task. Recipes in hand and prep station stocked, the melody begins.

Take a simple Caesar salad, sure it took about 10 minutes to get to your table although in reality, it took about half the day to prepare. In most high end restaurants the components of the menu are scratch based, meaning when the house needs mayonnaise , it is made in house, not by Kraft.

Same theory applies with croutons, freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, shocking the romaine leaves in ice water to give it that cool crisping crunch,and all the while gauging how much to prepare with out over doing it. Some nights only 20 salads will be orderd, while other insanely busy nights the restaurant can sell out, running out house made dressing, using all the romaine ordered for that day. That's the thing about restaurants, you never can tell which way the night is going to lead you. I always found this intriguing, the eye of the beast, the missing magic 8 ball, just when you think you have your bearings, that is usually the time the restaurant god's slam you back in to place.

How Much?

It may shock the guest in how much they really pay when ordering at a restaurant. Let's take your favorite upper end steak house, even though you may have experienced some of the above inconsistencies risking the $49.95 dollars it costs, you remain loyal. Ever wonder what the costs is for the restaurant? Although take in consideration other expenses, light bills, cooks wages, waiter's wages, insurance, plate breakage, waste etc. I feel obliged to enlighten the consumer, because you are usually paying 50% to 85% mark up of what the dish actually costs.

For example at $49.95 a Fillet Mignon steak really only cost the restaurant at the most, (if done right) $10.95. Yep that's right you pay about 4 times the cost. Pasta is even crazier, a $12.95 pasta dish runs about $2.95 at most. Here is a brief breakdown on how that is. When you purchase groceries at the store you buy at a retail markup, which can be anywhere from 20% to 35%. A restaurant can purchase the same item at wholesale cost, markup from 12% to 18%. This is because they usually buy in large quantities, the consumer has this access too, it called Cosco, Sam's Club, Winco's.

Now when a restaurant is loyal to a certain product and/or distributor they can strike a merchant cost deal, and this is a golden ticket for any restaurant for the markup is between 8% to 10%. There is a place where the consumer can find this merchant deal, it's called your local farmer's market. Not only are you saving money, you help your local economy, and health.

Why you may wonder I decided to open the door to the public on the secret world of us, the restaurant crew, education and perhaps some understanding. This profession can be tiring of the mind and body exactly at the same time. In order to survive this profession, it must run swiftly through your veins, and pound inside your heart.

Happy Eating