How often do you send thanks/compliments to the chef?
 

It's not something I'm in the habit of doing, being more of the mindset that an empty plate is a compliment already... However, I was recently (in an Italian restaurant on Guernsey) moved to ask the waitress to thank the chef, as the food was just that good (a perfectly simple dish, at that).

Is this something people here do at all? Often? Never? I've only really ever seen it on the telly, or half in jest...

Most chefs greatly appreciate such feedback -- understandably so. I've done it once in the past week (for a perfectly executed mussels mariniere followed by a good chocolate souffle) and the chef came running out of the kitchen, glowing with pride.

I often do, indeed I often leave a drink behind the bar. Why should the wait staff get all the tips when the person who has actually cooked my food gets nothing?

Thinking back, I have rarely done it -- while we do eat at places where it just wouldn't come up, there have been other times we have loved the food and could have sent the thanks to the chef. Thanks for the reminder, for future great meals.

Maybe 1 or 2 times...not often enough...and I agree, I shall file this away and try to do this more often, though i generally am not eating anyplace where the food is all that wonderful.

I think once or twice in hotel restaurants.......

I like the idea of a drink for the chef for later...might steal that if it's ok!!:confused:^;)

And the question is. . . .

"How often do you send thanks/compliments to the chef?"


Answer: Never more than once per meal.



Next question. . . .

:D

If the meal is deserving of an extra thanks other than an empty plate, I will leave a glass or two of wine in the bottle and ask the waiter/waitress to deliver it to the chef. Of the handful of times I've done this, I have once had the chef come out of the kitchen with a glass of wine to pay a visit.

Three good answers to that:

1. Your tip is how you hold the staff accountable for good service. To hold the kitchen accountable for good food, you send the food back when it isn't good and the restaurant eats, pardon the pun, the cost of that
2. You pay for the food in the prices on the menu.
3. They generally get a cut of the tips. The same isn't true when you give the tips to the kitchen instead of the wait staff
4. Cooks get paid a higher hourly rate/salary than does the kitchen.

Not often... but always when its fully deserved. Im a pain in the arse to please....

The chef probably didn't make your food.

The cooks in the ktichen generally do not get a share of whatever tip you leave.

The chef usually isn't paid hourly. The rest of the cooks are, and while they do earn more per hour than wait staff, they generaly make far less in total.

The 'chef' has paid his dues and is usually the one overseeing the kitchen and spot checks. He/she might have a signature dish that they don't want to share with others so they might prepare that personally. Otherwise its a staff that cooks your food or you'd be waiting forever.

But unless I want extra attention from other patrons who think I'm a snob, I will just tell the waiter the food was delicious, thank you. Also there are always guests who see in the movies and think they are big shots who ask the chef to visit their table. I chuckle when I hear the waiter tell them the chef appreciates the thanks but is tied up in the kitchen.

never done, but is a good idea for the future ^

in most of the european 2 and three star restaurants when we thought we had a spectacular meal, we have asked the chef for an autographed menu. we have never been refused.

we usually ask about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the meal. unless the chef is a shy chef, he will usually come out, stand by the table(never had one sit), and converse with us till the end of the meal. they will frequently ask if they can prepare something special for us. (we do not do desert, and do not ask, as there is usually a separate person doing deserts)

I think this went out of style years ago. In most restaurants almost all the help are not permitted to drink on duty.

MisterNice

I am SO stealing this!Now I have to go back to all those michelin guide restaurants.