Customer feedback for the chef

[Catherine Iino]

I went to a lovely wine-tasting dinner last evening at a restaurant in Rhode Island. Two courses--a roasted quail and a braised short rib--were excellent. One course, a lobster risotto, was seriously oversalted and undercooked (actually, the rice was undercooked and the lobster was overcooked). When the chef went from table to table toward the end of the evening, I complimented him on the good courses and mentioned that the risotto needed work.

Do chefs want that kind of feedback? Was I impolite? I didn't want to be mean.

[GordonCooks]

Any chef worth their salt welcomes informed and accurate commentary of any type.

[Junior]

I do, if I am making mistakes or one of our cooks is, we need to fix the problem right away. I try to strive for consistency in our food. Most of my long time regulars are not shy at all about voicing their opinions about anything in the restaurant.

[DTBarton]

Any chef worth their salt welcomes informed and accurate commentary of any type.

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Agreed, with "informed" and "accurate" being key words. I'd also add calm and rational to the list. We've all run into people who are never satisfied or who are taking their bad day out on the dinner plate.

[Catherine Iino]

Absolutely. And I'm sympathetic to the chefs, who really don't know what the customer's background is and don't want to play to the lowest common denominator. And, of course, everyone would rather hear praise than criticism.