Kate Fenoglio, Bon Appétit’s production manager, was having a perfectly good meal until she found herself face to face with something alarming: an oyster squirming in its shell. “My waitress screamed when she saw it,” says Kate, who was informed by the kitchen that a pesky little crab was animating the bivalve. Shaken by this sight, she sent it back.
Of course, a dish moving when you expect it to be staying still is an extreme dining experience—and one that without question warrants sending it back and asking for a redo. But there are plenty more common, less black-and-white dining situations that may leave you wondering whether or not it’s acceptable to flag down a waiter. Whether your meal was undercooked, oversalted, kind of cold, or flat-out meh, there are lots of reasons you might want to send a dish back.
It’s fair to want to get your money’s worth, especially since dining out feels like an investment these days. But if you, like me, consider yourself non-confrontational to a fault, sending food back can be a scary prospect. For guidance, we interviewed a restaurant owner, a chef, and a host, who all agreed that there are right and wrong times to send food back. Even for the shyest among us, there are times when you can send a dish back graciously—and without becoming known as That Customer. Here’s what to know.
It just doesn’t taste very good
You ordered the lobster risotto. Your friend recommended it, and when is lobster ever the wrong choice? Alas, when you dig in, it’s mealy and sort of chewy—not luxuriously creamy. You paid a good $42 for this, and you’re starting to sweat whether or not to tell your nice waiter; after all, she re-upped the free bread without you even asking.
“Some people might be embarrassed to let the restaurant know what they don’t like about [a dish],” says chef Ian Graye of Pietramala in Philadelphia (one of Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2023). But Graye says it’s actually constructive feedback for the kitchen. If a diner told one of Pietramala’s staff that a dish was a smidge too salty for their liking, the kitchen would remake it with their preferences in mind—and that information might come in handy as cooks work to fine-tune dishes for the next set of diners.
Be as specific as possible when raising your dissatisfaction: Don’t just say “I didn’t like it” and expect the waiter to employ some special sixth sense. The more context you give, the more helpful it’ll be for the kitchen, and the better chance there is that you’ll be satisfied with how they remake it. If you still don’t like the dish on second try? Well, it’s probably time to tough it out.
There was an unlisted allergen in the dish
It can be daunting to speak up at a big dinner with friends to alert staff that you have an allergy—but it’s important to leave nothing to the imagination when it comes to your health concerns. “Be loud about it and make it known when you sit down,” says Mia Corbett, a host at Locanda Vini e Olii, an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. Risk-taking is fun when it comes to dating or overcoming your fear of heights, not when it comes to your allergies.
#Send #Dish #Restaurant
Kate Fenoglio, Bon Appétit’s production manager, was having a perfectly good meal until she found herself face to face with something alarming: an oyster squirming in its shell. “My waitress screamed when she saw it,” says Kate, who was informed by the kitchen that a pesky little crab was animating the bivalve. Shaken by this sight, she sent it back.
Of course, a dish moving when you expect it to be staying still is an extreme dining experience—and one that without question warrants sending it back and asking for a redo. But there are plenty more common, less black-and-white dining situations that may leave you wondering whether or not it’s acceptable to flag down a waiter. Whether your meal was undercooked, oversalted, kind of cold, or flat-out meh, there are lots of reasons you might want to send a dish back.
It’s fair to want to get your money’s worth, especially since dining out feels like an investment these days. But if you, like me, consider yourself non-confrontational to a fault, sending food back can be a scary prospect. For guidance, we interviewed a restaurant owner, a chef, and a host, who all agreed that there are right and wrong times to send food back. Even for the shyest among us, there are times when you can send a dish back graciously—and without becoming known as That Customer. Here’s what to know.
It just doesn’t taste very good
You ordered the lobster risotto. Your friend recommended it, and when is lobster ever the wrong choice? Alas, when you dig in, it’s mealy and sort of chewy—not luxuriously creamy. You paid a good $42 for this, and you’re starting to sweat whether or not to tell your nice waiter; after all, she re-upped the free bread without you even asking.
“Some people might be embarrassed to let the restaurant know what they don’t like about [a dish],” says chef Ian Graye of Pietramala in Philadelphia (one of Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2023). But Graye says it’s actually constructive feedback for the kitchen. If a diner told one of Pietramala’s staff that a dish was a smidge too salty for their liking, the kitchen would remake it with their preferences in mind—and that information might come in handy as cooks work to fine-tune dishes for the next set of diners.
Be as specific as possible when raising your dissatisfaction: Don’t just say “I didn’t like it” and expect the waiter to employ some special sixth sense. The more context you give, the more helpful it’ll be for the kitchen, and the better chance there is that you’ll be satisfied with how they remake it. If you still don’t like the dish on second try? Well, it’s probably time to tough it out.
There was an unlisted allergen in the dish
It can be daunting to speak up at a big dinner with friends to alert staff that you have an allergy—but it’s important to leave nothing to the imagination when it comes to your health concerns. “Be loud about it and make it known when you sit down,” says Mia Corbett, a host at Locanda Vini e Olii, an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. Risk-taking is fun when it comes to dating or overcoming your fear of heights, not when it comes to your allergies.
, When Is It Okay to Send a Dish Back at a Restaurant?