SoVerySoft
No fat no flavor
Last year I posted this on eGullet and it turned into a long debate, so I thought I'd bring it here and see if you've ever had experiences like this.
I was out to dinner at a new local seafood restaurant. I ordered crab cakes for my dinner because the week prior I was there and tasted my friend's crab cake appetizer, and they were the best I had ever tasted.
However, I was disappointed with them this time. They did not taste the same as last week. They were salty and had much more breading, altho the (sparse) pieces of crab in them were large and tasty. And there was no peppery kick to it like last week.
I did ask the waitress if there was a different recipe for the dinner than the appetizer, and of course there wasn't. She mentioned that they were probably breaking in a new chef.
After our meal the owner of the restaurant (she owns it with her husband, who is the main chef), came over to see how our dinner was. I mentioned that the crab cakes were just okay, but that everything else I've had there has been great. She apologized and said that next time her husband would make them for me and I said, that's ok, I would probably just order something else.
A few minutes later, while we were looking over the dessert menu, she returned...with the CHEF...who had with him a plate with 4 uncooked crab cakes. She said he wanted to talk to me. I was kind of embarrassed, so was smiling nervously and she said "see that smile? that's how we want all our patrons to feel" (but I was smiling because I was mortified! )
Anyhow, the chef pointed to the crab cakes on the plate, and proceeded to tell me that there is no "filler" in them, only the jumbo lump crab meat. (By filler he said he meant some other fish, or inferior crab. When I mentioned filler, I meant the breading, which there was LOTS of.) The examples he brought out to me still had quite a bit of breading but did seem to have more crab meat than the 2 I'd gotten.
He said only he and the owner make the crab cakes, and I was feeling very uncomfortable. Maybe she told him I thought they were breaking in a new chef (which was what our waitress told us)? I know she was trying to make it right, but I felt like I was being challenged...so I was pretty uncomfortable.
She did say we could choose any desserts we wanted from the menu, on the house. So we did - and only mine was comped. We just paid for the other, it wasn't a big deal, but we thought she meant we could both order dessert. (She did look at my friend as she was offering the dessert, and he also had the impression that we could both order one.)
Anyhow...it was an adventure, but I would still go back, as I like the place, like the food, and I understand that she was trying hard to make sure I was happy, even though it pretty much had the wrong effect on me.
So, I am wondering if anyone else has ever been confronted by the chef when they expressed disappointment in a dish, and if they were confronted, would they return to the restaurant?
I was out to dinner at a new local seafood restaurant. I ordered crab cakes for my dinner because the week prior I was there and tasted my friend's crab cake appetizer, and they were the best I had ever tasted.
However, I was disappointed with them this time. They did not taste the same as last week. They were salty and had much more breading, altho the (sparse) pieces of crab in them were large and tasty. And there was no peppery kick to it like last week.
I did ask the waitress if there was a different recipe for the dinner than the appetizer, and of course there wasn't. She mentioned that they were probably breaking in a new chef.
After our meal the owner of the restaurant (she owns it with her husband, who is the main chef), came over to see how our dinner was. I mentioned that the crab cakes were just okay, but that everything else I've had there has been great. She apologized and said that next time her husband would make them for me and I said, that's ok, I would probably just order something else.
A few minutes later, while we were looking over the dessert menu, she returned...with the CHEF...who had with him a plate with 4 uncooked crab cakes. She said he wanted to talk to me. I was kind of embarrassed, so was smiling nervously and she said "see that smile? that's how we want all our patrons to feel" (but I was smiling because I was mortified! )
Anyhow, the chef pointed to the crab cakes on the plate, and proceeded to tell me that there is no "filler" in them, only the jumbo lump crab meat. (By filler he said he meant some other fish, or inferior crab. When I mentioned filler, I meant the breading, which there was LOTS of.) The examples he brought out to me still had quite a bit of breading but did seem to have more crab meat than the 2 I'd gotten.
He said only he and the owner make the crab cakes, and I was feeling very uncomfortable. Maybe she told him I thought they were breaking in a new chef (which was what our waitress told us)? I know she was trying to make it right, but I felt like I was being challenged...so I was pretty uncomfortable.
She did say we could choose any desserts we wanted from the menu, on the house. So we did - and only mine was comped. We just paid for the other, it wasn't a big deal, but we thought she meant we could both order dessert. (She did look at my friend as she was offering the dessert, and he also had the impression that we could both order one.)
Anyhow...it was an adventure, but I would still go back, as I like the place, like the food, and I understand that she was trying hard to make sure I was happy, even though it pretty much had the wrong effect on me.
So, I am wondering if anyone else has ever been confronted by the chef when they expressed disappointment in a dish, and if they were confronted, would they return to the restaurant?
