Oh man, you know I'm gonna have a field day with this one. That article is written like some over-sensationlist drivel but there's a few valid points. I'll go through the list:
![[Image: article-2363861-1AD11242000005DC-465_634x412.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/07/15/article-2363861-1AD11242000005DC-465_634x412.jpg)
1. Well I fucking hope so. That means the chef or cooks are actually tasting the food before it goes out. In high end restaurants they have a stash of plastic tasting spoons that they use once and then throw out. In my kitchen we keep the tasting spoons in scalding hot water. So yes, okay, you might get a few microns of one of my guys' saliva (or if you're lucky, mine) but we all breath the same air and if you ever use a public bathroom you're inhaling vaporized shit from someone else's digestive tract. Get over it.
2. From a food cost perspective, true. Same with pasta. But good pizza is incredibly labor intensive and requires a ton of storage. That's not cheap.
3. Not if you buy the shit that I do. Good quality veggies just keep getting more and more expensive.
4. Depends on the restaurant. This is a pretty good strategy actually. The REAL "fuck you" is wine-by-the-glass. Most restaurants don't have the equipment or know-how to properly preserve wine over a couple days, so they charge PER GLASS what the entire BOTTLE costs them to reduce losses. Sometimes even more. I've known places that buy the bottle for 7-8 bucks and then charge $12-14 per glass. You actually save money by buying the more expensive stuff, where the markup is around 1.5 times. A typical markup is 2.5-3 times.
5. Depends on the restaurant. I would never serve second rate anything. When I run specials it's to showcase something that's seasonal or rare. Any good restaurant does the same. If you're going to places that have a ".99" in their pricing, yeah, avoid the specials. Surf and Turf for 12.99? Pass.
6. No shit. Why wouldn't they? Not just rude customers but customers that stiff on tips. Restaurants are like someone's home. If you go to someone's house and piss on the rug, think they're gonna want you back? Just because you pay doesn't give you the right to act like a piece of shit.
7. No shit? What do you expect, for the server to tell the customer the truth? That the saute cook didn't show up to work because he's a recovering addict and his wife called to say he was booked at 3 AM?
8. Unfortunately, true. Most people don't know the difference so someone ordering a $14 syrah might not get that syrah, but a glass of the $8 syrah.
9. I wouldn't eat at a place that had wine under a spotlight anyway. What is this, 1992?
10. Maybe in the UK or in a hybrid nightclub/restaurant. Again, don't go to these places and they'll go out of business and these stupid lists will stop getting published.
11. Bullshit. How is a menu designed for a woman anyway? I've personally designed dozens of menus and I don't give a fuck how a woman reads it. What, women read top to bottom whereas men read bottom to top? Stupid.
12. No, there are desserts that are meant to be split because it's a great way for the pastry chef to showcase something special like "Apple Pie for 2" or "Grand Marnier Souffle for 2"
13. Maybe, if they're failing or again, operated by nightclub owners. Good restaurants are operated by honest, hardworking people.
14. Good restaurants don't have "bad tables", and if anyone gets them, it's customers that are being rude assholes that don't tip. Looks have nothing to do with it, and the people that get the best tables are the ones that spend a shit-ton of money. 90% of restaurants have better things to do, like making money, than give a shit what you look like, as long as you're not dressed like a slob.
15. That's a bold statement. Michelin is a bit outdated and caters to people who just want "pretty" food as opposed to "tasty" food. There are many, many chefs in the world right now that have actively banned Michelin inspectors from their restaurant, opting out of the politics and asskissing involved with earning a Michelin star.
16. Bullshit, never seen this in any restaurant I've worked. If you're eating in some bottom-of-the-barrel diner that's on their last legs, yeah stuff like this might happen.
17. At least in L.A., the flake rate is very high across the board.
18. Not as much as it used to be. With the current celebrity chef culture and glorified image of kitchen life, many more workers are taking it seriously. It's not the shitshow it used to be. That said, I've done my share.
19. True
20. I'm surprised it's that high. Most women are useless crybabies in the kitchen. It's the rare cookie that can hang.
