# Head Chef and Sous': Don't you hate when something great is disliked by FOH?



## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

So I made a really nice almond gazpacho, perfect chilled soup for a humid end of summer day. Did everything right and came together beautifully. Blanched and peeled some organic almonds, used some fresh garlic from the farmers market, added some really nice PX vinegar for some acidity, used Maldon sea-salt, utilized the wonderful homemade baguette for body. Topped with rainbow radishes on the mandolin, some estate grown olive oil from Greece and some chives. Done classically and filled with great ingredients, the flavors were balanced and it tasted like it should have, almonds! Uber fresh and vibrant, it was so clean and refined. It looked fantastic in the bowl with contrasting colors over a bed of velvet smooth white.

FOH absolutely hated it. Literally spit it out. I know my palate is good, that soup was awesome. Of course naturally they didn't sell any of it, I assume they didn't even mention it to the guests as we also had a hot soup offered as well. "Gross it tastes like almond-milk soup!" Yeah that's kind of what Spain has been doing for centuries and it's worked for them. "It's so light? Isn't there any meat or something?" No actually it's a light, chilled soup if you want chili there's a Wendy's down the corner.

Is it just me or doesn't this type of stuff drive you crazy?!?


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

I am currently running a white gazpacho on my menu where I work and I just find that it is hit or miss. It seems to be one of those things that you either like or don't like. I garnish mine with grapes, toasted almonds and EVOO and find that the grapes add a burst of sweetness that goes well with the soup. I tone down the garlic a bit too, only using one or two clovers per batch. 

But yeah, I love the soup but others seem to not like it. Don't feel bad, we've all been there.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when the FoH staff makes faces and shit when I am describing my specials or new menu items. How am I supposed to trust these people to sell the specials when they give off that air like the food is disgusting--they crinkle their nose when I do a foie torchon (or whatever), and lo and behold, we don't sell many of them. Customers pick up on body language and whether the server is "into" a dish, so it's no wonder that this stuff doesn't sell. They look at me like I am crazy when I ask them to stop making faces and shit when I talk about the food I make. Yeah, maybe you don't like liver or sweetbreads, but others might, and hey, I just spent a couple hours making this shit, so how about you show some respect. 

Yeah, I guess it drives me nuts too, lol.


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Someday thanks for the input. As far as lack of respect from FOH you have no idea what goes on in my place LOL, they are by far the most disrespectful and completely incompetent group of people I have ever seen. Guess that happens though when they have no management overseeing them.


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## ljokjel (Jul 1, 2009)

But a similar dish on the menu at my last job. 

The reaction was in a way similar. It was either or.

Those who liked it, loved it. Those who didnt, didnt at all. 

I guess people are just not used to those kinds of flavours.


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## kaiquekuisine (Apr 11, 2013)

Lol , i guess its natural not to be blessed with a good and comprehensive wait staff -_- . 

Not that i havent seen any , i just havent been blesses with any.


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## garball (Dec 9, 2012)

Is it truly a great dish if nobody likes it?

Not saying the soup was not in fact wonderfully prepared and tasted like it was supposed to, but who was it made for; you or the customer?

I think we have all made masterpieces that did not sell, but in retrospect, most of the blame falls on us for not cooking what we know will be popular whether we like it or not.  I lived in a place where you could put cream gravy on a breaded cow patty and sell it.  It took months of stubbornness and denial before I succumbed to the masses.  Once I started cooking what I knew the servers would/could sell, I couldn't keep a special in the kitchen.


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## rocket (Sep 9, 2013)

I agree with Garball. I'm a Canadian living and working in Bristol, so it's hard for me to swallow my pride and deep fry everything. Haha right now I'm just spending a lot of time observing.


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

garball said:


> Is it truly a great dish if nobody likes it?
> 
> Not saying the soup was not in fact wonderfully prepared and tasted like it was supposed to, but who was it made for; you or the customer?
> 
> I think we have all made masterpieces that did not sell, but in retrospect, most of the blame falls on us for not cooking what we know will be popular whether we like it or not. I lived in a place where you could put cream gravy on a breaded cow patty and sell it. It took months of stubbornness and denial before I succumbed to the masses. Once I started cooking what I knew the servers would/could sell, I couldn't keep a special in the kitchen.


Thanks for the input, great advice.

I am slowly learning that "dumbing down" the food for our market is difficult, it's slowly happening much to my cringing. As for the soup we didn't sell any of it so I got no feedback, I assume most would not like it but a handful would really enjoy it.

As for specials I know exactly what you mean, I know what my servers personally like and if I make something they'll like it will see like hot cakes. Put pesto or balsamic reduction on anything and it flies out the window. Truffles, brown butter, pommes puree ("too buttery and fattening!!") and beautiful duck confit simply will not move. FOH staff drives me crazy how their personal opinions influence our menu items and what type of market we are trying to appeal to LOL FML.


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## garball (Dec 9, 2012)

It can be a difficult lesson to learn. Being a successful chef doesn't necessarily mean you are cooking the best* food, but the correct food. It is, after all, just a business. That does not mean you have to dumb yourself down. Create outlets for your creativity and where your skills will be appreciated; competitions with other local chefs, food shows, private dinners, wine dinners, etc.

*_used as a completely subjective term comparing what you are cooking versus what you have to. Everything you create should be the best you can make_


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## jimmy lauria26 (Aug 24, 2013)

Thisis a tough call because most foh empoyees judge the taste on a personal level. Also familiarity with the dish being served. If your executive chef approved your dish that's when he or she needs to step up during pre-service. Not everything we prepare as chefs will be liked by everyone, but the employees should not judge your dish only your executive chef after all hes responsible for what goes out. then you must consider discipline by the foh mgr. the wait staff must not judge a dish just because they don't like it. After all I hate sweet breads, but ive served it.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Disagree. Your FOH staff should absolutely judge a dish. They have the single best vantage point to recognize what your customers like, better than the Exec Chef, better than the owners, even better than the GM and FOH managers. They are the people who are directly communicating with the guest. They are the ones the guests trust most to give unbiased feedback to. If you want to sell food in a restaurant, you need to sell food the servers support, and any cook that doesn't weigh their server's opinions of what the guest wants more than their own is cooking to feed their ego, not their guests. Many, many chefs have met their demise cooking the food _they_ wanted to cook instead of the food the guests want to eat.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Some of them.  Maybe the more senior ones.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

kuan said:


> Some of them. Maybe the more senior ones.


Good point. Not all your servers have been there long enough to really know your guests.


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## jimmy lauria26 (Aug 24, 2013)

I agree with your comment to an extent, true the servers do no their customers more then the back of the house, however, if the restaurant has a clientele for gazpacho soup and certain customers order the soup then the waitstaff shoud give an unbiased opinion on the soup not their own personel opinion. E.G. A customer goes into an Italian restaurant an orders tripe whether the waitstaff likes the dish or not it is their job to explain how it is prepared, cooked and served then let the customer make the decision. the response by the waiter should be " I PERSONALLY DONT LIKE TRIPE, HOWEVER IT ISPREPARED LIKE THIS, COOKED IKE THAT AND SERVED WITH THIS". This way the customer coud make an unbiased decision about the dish and thank the server for their honesty and professionalism.


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Good points everyone.

One thing I think should also be taken into consideration is no matter what I know server's personal opinions greatly influence what they sell to guests.

One server always seem to sell a certain dessert at a much higher clip than anyone else, also happens to be her favorite one. Another server almost never rings in a certain app and when asked about it she simply said "it's boring". Also if I put a new menu item out on the table for FOH to try and it gets good reviews I know it's flying out the window that night because I know they personally approve so they naturally advocate for it at the table.

This is has some good and bad to it like everything else. It still drives me nuts that hourly FOH staff who really don't give a f*ck other than how much money they're making that night have such an impact on our businesses. So hard to find good help!


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## foodslinger (Sep 24, 2012)

hahah...just be glad you aren't stuck with my servers! I'm sous in an old style steakhouse (dead animals on the walls, real fireplaces, and big ass dry aged steaks) where my best server is a truckers wife...however, 2 years ago we built a half a million dollar patio (all stone and wood, fire pit, giant stage,misters, 85 new tables) and we started hiring servers for, shall we say, more astetic reasons. So I dId black chillean mussels with a white wine garlic cream sauce dish...nothing fancy, but fancy for them I guess, because they came to me to ask where a "chill-e-en muusell" came from. With a perfectly straight face, I told them they came from the rain forests of antartica..."oh really?' i didn't even bother to correct them simply because most of them don't even bother to tell the specials to their tables...


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Brandon ODell said:


> Disagree. Your FOH staff should absolutely judge a dish. They have the single best vantage point to recognize what your customers like, better than the Exec Chef, better than the owners, even better than the GM and FOH managers. They are the people who are directly communicating with the guest. They are the ones the guests trust most to give unbiased feedback to. If you want to sell food in a restaurant, you need to sell food the servers support, and any cook that doesn't weigh their server's opinions of what the guest wants more than their own is cooking to feed their ego, not their guests. Many, many chefs have met their demise cooking the food _they_ wanted to cook instead of the food the guests want to eat.


I disagree most strenuously.

The Chef SHOULD know his clients from the very start.

Sure a brand new Chef taking over has to learn his customers like and dislikes.

But to say that servers, who know nothing about food other than there own personal tastes,

should have Carte Blanche to tell the kitchen what to cook is, IMHO very wrong.

Servers are there to serve, not to judge the Chef's food.

Educating you staff is key.

If they snicker at pre-service, call them out and ask why. Put them on the spotlight and ask them why.

Have they ever tried this before?

Then how can they judge it without even tasting it?

You are very wrong. The kitchen rules NOT the servers.

BUT...............OTOH................. far out creations in a location where something like that is not the norm, should be worked out and understood before being created.

Almond Gazpacho might work in La-La Land but not in southern Kentucky as it were.

Know your clientele before you start being creative.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

FOH personnel are the _sales staff_ of a restaurant and, for a successful restaurant, require adequate training to sell what the kitchen produces as well as provide feedback to BOH as to what the customers enjoy and want.

Inadequate training of FOH staff can be the death knell.

Whether a FOH or BOH staff member personally enjoys a particular dish should be irrelevant, what the customer wants is what generates the income to pay the bills.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

PeteMcCracken said:


> Whether a FOH or BOH staff member personally enjoys a particular dish should be irrelevant, what the customer wants is what generates the income to pay the bills.


Exactly. A good chef will and should be able to tell when a dish is a clunker, either by taste or by guest feedback. If lincook's FoH had sold the gazpacho, and plates were coming back full and people weren't eating it...then he would know that the dish didn't work for his clients, even though he made it well. Not because the foh refused to sell it because they thought it was "gross" or something.

FoH are good (sometimes) for relaying guest feedback on dishes and being on the front lines, but it isn't up to them to guess or decide what a guest wants based on their own personal taste.

But seriously, I want to scream sometimes when they make faces when I talk about the new sweetbreads dish or whatever. And when they describe my halibut special as "hake" and wonder why we don't sell any.

I don't want this to turn into a rant on the FoH though.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Someday said:


> ...I don't want this to turn into a rant on the FoH though.


Hm, perhaps a rant on who is responsible for _untrained FOH personnel_ might be worth exploring? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

That would be the longest thread in chefTalk history.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Chefross said:


> I disagree most strenuously.
> 
> The Chef SHOULD know his clients from the very start.
> 
> ...


"But to say that servers, who know nothing about food other than there own personal tastes,

should have Carte Blanche to tell the kitchen what to cook is, IMHO very wrong."

No shit. That's why I didn't say that. If you are going to disagree, disagree with what I said, not what you imagined I mean.

I do agree the chef SHOULD know his guests, but you can only get so familiar with your guests from the kitchen. You don't see the look on their faces as they take the first bite. You don't hear the "under their breath" remarks they make while they think no one is listening. You don't see the amount of food left on the plates. You don't see their facial expressions and body language when they are suggested certain dishes. You can't be there when the guest is leaving to see if they are content or not content. You can't know how enthusiastically they like or dislike certain dishes. Your servers see all those things, much, much, much more than any chef and even more than any front of house manager.

Does that mean they should be telling you what to cook? No one suggested or inferred that. What I did infer is that the server is the expert on what your guests like and don't like. They have far more direct interaction with the guests than anyone in the restaurant. If you don't give your server's opinion serious consideration, the chances you make food that doesn't sell goes up exponentially.

I think your statement that "The kitchen rules NOT the servers" is very telling. Putting out food that your customers like isn't about "ruling". Even putting that word into the conversation tells me you view servers as adversaries instead of partners. Taking serious consideration of the server's opinions isn't letting them "rule" you. You should be viewing them as your most valuable tool to learn not only what your guest's like, but what they would like to see on the menu. You shouldn't be viewing them as someone to "rule" over.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Brandon ODell said:


> "But to say that servers, who know nothing about food other than there own personal tastes,
> 
> should have Carte Blanche to tell the kitchen what to cook is, IMHO very wrong."
> 
> ...


Please Chef.

I ask you to re-read your second sentence.....

"Your FOH should absolutely judge the dish."

What does THAT infer to you?

To me it screams that I am not in control of what I can and can not create because it has to pass the FOH test first.

First and foremost as a culinarian I should already know what will and won't work.

I don't need nor expect server's opinions.

I respect their communicating the customers opinions.

Educating the wait staff is very important.

I view servers as being sales people and do not take them for granted or "rule" over them.....(although I have worked with all kinds of servers from all walks of life)


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Saying that FOH staff should judge whether they think a dish is good or bad is NOT saying they have control over what you can and cannot do. That is a dramatic jump both of logic and my words. Reread the rest of what I said. Nowhere did I infer that your servers should be deciding what is on the menu. What I did say is that any chef that doesn't use the best resource he/she has for guest feedback, the servers, is greatly increasing the opportunity for putting out unpopular food. The chef simply does not have the same opportunity to interact with the guest as the server does. No one in a restaurant does, nor should they be expected to. That's a server's job. As a server though, their input should be sought and valued.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Brandon ODell said:


> Saying that FOH staff should judge whether they think a dish is good or bad is NOT saying they have control over what you can and cannot do. That is a dramatic jump both of logic and my words. Reread the rest of what I said. Nowhere did I infer that your servers should be deciding what is on the menu. What I did say is that any chef that doesn't use the best resource he/she has for guest feedback, the servers, is greatly increasing the opportunity for putting out unpopular food. The chef simply does not have the same opportunity to interact with the guest as the server does. No one in a restaurant does, nor should they be expected to. That's a server's job. As a server though, their input should be sought and valued.


Chef, I DO agree with you, in principle, as reality never parallels our best intentions.

You can't make a server say or do anything against their personal biases no matter how much you try.

Here's an example.....

We have a small Mom and Pop restaurant here that serves breakfasts and lunch. Closed by 2:00 pm.

Cook wants to run a Santa Fe omelette with red beans and rice and cheese inside. (It's really good....)

Servers are within earshot of customers talking about the dish and that they would never order something that gross.

You don't think that has an effect on the customers menu choices?

Again, I reiterate that the feedback should come from the customers THROUGH the server, not the server pre-determining the food themselves.

I believe we could carry this thread on for a while.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

You know what helps?  What helps is not making the FOH feel like they are outsiders.  You need them, they need you.  It's not that they are untrained, they are very capable people and each one of them has it in them to do great things, you just need to brig them ito the fold and make them part of your team, and you need to get on their team.

So next time you prepare chilli mussels, bring them into the kitchen before you even start.  Show them the seafood tag, explain that it's from South America, fire it, plate it, taste it.  Get feedback first and then give feedback.  Takes time out of the FOH, but maybe for the whole five minutes they're watching the kitchen.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

kuan said:


> You know what helps? What helps is not making the FOH feel like they are outsiders. You need them, they need you. It's not that they are untrained, they are very capable people and each one of them has it in them to do great things, you just need to brig them ito the fold and make them part of your team, and you need to get on their team.


This is gold and the attitude that will yield results. At preshift if FOH has issues with a dish, simply ask them why. Be sure to do so in a manner that is not defensive nor derisive. Continue to do the same throughout shift and whenever the issue comes up.

When it comes to light that employees dislikes are merely personal tastes, it is your time to educate them that personal tastes should not enter into a professional's work place persona as everyone's likes and dislikes are different and to let personal opinions effect your effiency as a professional is deterimental to the team and it's goals.

If you want people to join your team, first ask yourself what type of team you would like to join. For me, Kuan's team would be attractive.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Generally, a chef interviews potential BOH staff. the same should hold true for FOH staff.

An analogy, if you own a car dealership selling, say, Ford, you'd create problems hiring a salesperson who really likes Chevrolet!


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

For me, it is not really the personal taste that drives me nuts...we all have them. Some people like certain things...no big deal. The problem I have, at least sometimes, is the attitude that seems to accompany the dislikes. I really don't care if you don't like sweetbreads. What I care about is if you can tell out guests about the sweetbreads dish without conveying that you hate sweetbreads or think they are "gross" or whatever. 

You don't have to like Ford in order to sell a Ford. All you have to be able to do is to describe to a customer what is good and special about the Ford and why you might buy it. Whether you love Chevy or not should be irrelevant. 

I read somewhere that humans communicate more through body language than words, and I have a hard time not thinking that some guests pick up on the server's distaste through body language. 

To use the OP example, not everyone will like the white gazpacho. But the server's refusal to sell it or tell the guests about it due to personal taste it really unprofessional. Who knows...maybe one of the guests eating at his place went to Spain when they were a teenager and that soup might bring back memories when they ate it then. Maybe a regular is feeling adventurous. 

Personal taste shouldn't factor in.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Someday said:


> For me, it is not really the personal taste that drives me nuts...we all have them. Some people like certain things...no big deal. The problem I have, at least sometimes, is the attitude that seems to accompany the dislikes. I really don't care if you don't like sweetbreads. What I care about is if you can tell out guests about the sweetbreads dish without conveying that you hate sweetbreads or think they are "gross" or whatever.
> 
> You don't have to like Ford in order to sell a Ford. All you have to be able to do is to describe to a customer what is good and special about the Ford and why you might buy it. Whether you love Chevy or not should be irrelevant.
> 
> ...


Finally!!! Eureka!!


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

Chefross said:


> Servers are within earshot of customers talking about the dish and that they would never order something that gross.
> 
> You don't think that has an effect on the customers menu choices?


We can't have a discussion about it if you continue to put words in my mouth, or attributing thoughts to me I haven't stated, so stop.

The fact is that you cannot remove any employee's personal taste out of the equation. You can't do it in a kitchen and you can't do it with your service staff. What you can do is quit thinking, "The kitchen rules NOT the servers!" and start giving their feedback the respect it deserves. The biggest factor on their opinion of your food is not going to be their taste buds, its going to be the customers they come into contact with. If the customers like certain dishes, the servers are going to think those are good dishes, regardless of their personal taste. That's how servers are wired. Like every other human, they are programmed to be influenced by the opinion of those closest to them. In a restaurant where the kitchen doesn't respect the service staff, that's not going to be the case. In the kitchen, you get to work closely with the kitchen staff and teach them what to look for in dishes, and even how to judge flavor, texture and plate composition. You have the opportunity to influence them. You have to give your servers the same level of respect you give your kitchen staff. By your comments, its obvious you don't have that level of respect for servers. If the servers are making insensitive and uninformed remarks about the food, its because you have the same attitude toward them likely. Your the manager. Its your job to set the tone.

Just as the service staff has to sell the customers on the food, the kitchen has to sell the service staff. Being thin-skinned and confrontational isn't the way to sell your food. Thinking you're the king and "The kitchen rules" isn't the way to sell the servers on your food. If you don't get the servers on board, you don't get the customers on board.


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## garball (Dec 9, 2012)

Someday said:


> To use the OP example, not everyone will like the white gazpacho. But the server's refusal to sell it or tell the guests about it due to personal taste it really unprofessional. Who knows...maybe one of the guests eating at his place went to Spain when they were a teenager and that soup might bring back memories when they ate it then. Maybe a regular is feeling adventurous.
> 
> Personal taste shouldn't factor in.


So, it is best to make a pot of soup that might have the chance to please one customer after having to force it through the sieve of your service staff? Or, make a soup that the majority of people (customers and staff) will buy? Of course, you never know until you try, but don't get your emotional panties in a bunch when you fail


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Someday said:


> For me, it is not really the personal taste that drives me nuts...we all have them. Some people like certain things...no big deal. The problem I have, at least sometimes, is the attitude that seems to accompany the dislikes. I really don't care if you don't like sweetbreads. What I care about is if you can tell out guests about the sweetbreads dish without conveying that you hate sweetbreads or think they are "gross" or whatever.
> 
> You don't have to like Ford in order to sell a Ford. All you have to be able to do is to describe to a customer what is good and special about the Ford and why you might buy it. Whether you love Chevy or not should be irrelevant.
> 
> ...


My thoughts exactly. (How did this thread get so far off topic by the way?)

I wouldn't put anything on that I don't think most of my guests would enjoy IE the white gazpacho. Would it be something most of my guests would know or be familiar with? No, I don't think so. However, the point of the post was that I know my guests would like it if they tried it, especially given the very hot and humid day it was. It frustrates me that I can not get my FOH to sell it or describe it table-side because their own personal opinion overrules me (the sous). They will not do their job at pushing an item to guests that would pleasantly surprise them and would enjoy and say "hey that chilled white soup we had last summer at that place was great lets go again this year and see if its on the menu again".

I am not saying untrained, arrogant, rude and palate-less FOH is the case in most restaurants (I've worked in some places where we had an awesome FOH staff who would shut up and listen and do their job at pushing items and making money for everyone) but at my current place with no FOH management servers are their own bosses and have no intention of making the place better whatsoever.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

garball said:


> So, it is best to make a pot of soup that might have the chance to please one customer after having to force it through the sieve of your service staff? Or, make a soup that the majority of people (customers and staff) will buy? Of course, you never know until you try, but don't get your emotional panties in a bunch when you fail


You apparently failed to understand what I wrote. Maybe the soup is a hit, maybe it is a dud. But how would anyone, chef included, know that unless the service staff tells the guests about the soup. In the OP's example, the servers seemed to not sell the soup (indeed, even going so far as to not tell the guests it even was a special) because they didn't like it and thought it was weird. My point was, it shouldn't be up to the servers to decide, it should be up to the guests. If the chef tells them to offer a special soup, it is their obligation to tell the guests about it, regardless of personal taste.

You have no knowledge of what my emotions are, so please don't talk about my panties.



> My thoughts exactly. (How did this thread get so far off topic by the way?)
> 
> I wouldn't put anything on that I don't think most of my guests would enjoy IE the white gazpacho. Would it be something most of my guests would know or be familiar with? No, I don't think so. However, the point of the post was that I know my guests would like it if they tried it, especially given the very hot and humid day it was. It frustrates me that I can not get my FOH to sell it or describe it table-side because their own personal opinion overrules me (the sous). They will not do their job at pushing an item to guests that would pleasantly surprise them and would enjoy and say "hey that chilled white soup we had last summer at that place was great lets go again this year and see if its on the menu again".
> 
> I am not saying untrained, arrogant, rude and palate-less FOH is the case in most restaurants (I've worked in some places where we had an awesome FOH staff who would shut up and listen and do their job at pushing items and making money for everyone) but at my current place with no FOH management servers are their own bosses and have no intention of making the place better whatsoever.


Yeah, that sucks dude. Hang in there. My best advice would be to slowly try and build their trust by showing them what you can do. Bringing them on your side is a much better tactic than trying to fight tooth and nail with them to do their jobs. I know it sucks, because I've been in your position before (kind of am now, though not as bad as what you have it seems), but it seems the best course.

It sucks too, because I make that soup too (a good version, too, I might add  ) and I know it is delicious.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Good grief....

That the FOH is thinking this dish is weird and are rolling their eyes during the pre-service huddle may be a red flag that the guests that frequent your place may not be ready for such a sophisticated dish.

So send the soup out to EVERY TABLE ....as a complimentary amuse bouche and instruct the server to mention that this little spoon of goodness is one of the specials of the nite.

mimi

If a mod is reading this maybe we need to add some wait staff (pro and no) to the forum.

It would be nice to have another POV at times like this.

m.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

flipflopgirl said:


> Good grief....
> 
> That the FOH is thinking this dish is weird and are rolling their eyes during the pre-service huddle may be a red flag that the guests that frequent your place may not be ready for such a sophisticated dish.





flipflopgirl said:


> So send the soup out to EVERY TABLE ....as a complimentary amuse bouche and instruct the server to mention that this little spoon of goodness is one of the specials of the nite.


This is a win/win situation that enlightens all involved. The guests get something new and exciting that provides them with the opportunity to expand their palates and the best part is that it is *free!!! How cool is that**!* Plus they will probably tell their friends about the experience. Can you say "word of mouth advertising" for the restaurant and the best part is that it is *free!!! How cool is that**!*

Now comes the real kicker though. The wait staff will pick up on the reactions of the guests and will begin to open their parachutes a bit and maybe even begin to trust the kitchen when it comes to new items. Because I spent a few years as a waiter, I know the mind set, even if the wait staff don't like the dish, an amuse bouche will make for a more happy guest, a more happy guest will make for a more happy tip, a more happy tip will make for a more happy wait staff, a more happy.... I think you can see where this going. It is all cause and effect. Cause and effect initiated by a positive action.

Thanks flipflopgirl! and the best part is that the advice was *free!!! How cool is that**!*


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

flipflopgirl said:


> So send the soup out to EVERY TABLE ....as a complimentary amuse bouche and instruct the server to mention that this little spoon of goodness is one of the specials of the nite.


Yes. This is perfect.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Just a comment....

Until 2 years ago the hubs would not eat anything unless it was cooked to death.

We attended a tasting on vacation and the first dish was a beef tartare topped with a horseradish ice cream.

He almost panicked when it was placed before him....

I gave him the "you will sleep on the floor if you don't try it" look.

Tiny baby portion placed on the tongue.

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif

Had to protect my portion.

mimi

He now prefers his steak medium but won't complain if it is a bit closer to medium rare.

m.


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