More restaurant rows

[Mrs Woman]

I would post the link but it only links to Scottish Herald home page, so here it be. Tsk, customers, who do they think they are?!

(edit) I have deleted the copied Herald story as requested by Andy. Pesky copyright! The link is in Kikujiro's post below, anyhoo

[Kikujiro]

Here's the link to the actual story (vs. Herald homepage), and here are the Daily Record and Scotsman articles on the same subject. May I take this opportunity to point y'all to the newish Google News Service, which scours thousands of news sources worldwide and instantly found the above from a search on 'Gordon Ramsay'? In fact, this could be an endless source of new topics; just type in your favourite chefs and restaurants and see if anywhere worldwide has some new gossip on them ...

On the story itself, members will note that according to the Scotsman's rather lengthier account, the guy didn't complain about his 'undercooked' pigeon (sounds like they did it properly to me, but hey) until well after he'd polished it off and was trying to get tricky about the dessert options on the set menu.

A spokesman for GR may not have commented to the Herald, but the man himself responded to the Scotsman as follows: "The question I have to ask is, if this man did not like his pigeon, why did he eat it all before making a complaint?’

"This guy, who owns restaurants I have hardly even heard of, complained that he would have to pay extra for cheese even though it was not on the set menu. Then he started getting very abusive to the maîtr d. He was upsetting other customers so David came out of the kitchen and told him to leave immediately. As far as I am concerned, we don’t ever want him back. David was right to do what he did.

"This man was just trying to throw his weight around and I don’t see why my staff should put up with this."

He added: "As far as calling David hot-headed is concerned, I hope he is. He works in premier restaurants and his job is to strive for excellence.

"But David is from Glasgow and down to earth. My advice to Maurice Taylor is don’t mess with him."

Edit disclosure: now the Scotsman link actually links to the Scotsman, and not the Record

[macrosan]

Great find, Kikujiro Just goes to prove that there are three sides to every story ... or should that be seven ?

[Mrs Woman]

pardon me for breathing, I was merely passing on something that I had seen. I don't have time to go round picking up all sides of the story

[macrosan]

Hey, Mrs Woman, don't get sensitive My post wasn't remotely intended to be critical of your post. You picked up on a story and posted it... that's great. Kiku found out some more and posted it ... that's also great. That's the way this board works, and that's how we all learn a bit more.

[Mrs Woman]

sorry, I guess I was being over sensitive. Having a bad day

Thank god I'm off to the pub later

[Kikujiro]

Hey, Mrs Woman, don't get sensitive    My post wasn't remotely intended to be critical of your post.

For the record, neither was mine; not in the slightest.

[Mrs Woman]

gosh I do feel a fool now.

Anyhow, back to the story. After reading the Scotsman version, this bloke who complained does sound a bit of a pompous git. Indeed, if something is 'wrong' with the dish and you wish to complain, it seems commonsense to do it before you've eaten it.

[macrosan]

One of my friends, as a joke, complained to the waiter (at an excellent restaurant in London) that his steak had been overcooked. Now you have to understand that we had all finished our meal and he had cleaned his plate so well that they could have put the plate away without washing it, and he had a broad beam on his face when he made his jocular "complaint". Unfortunately, the waiter didn't get his sense of humour and went scurrying off to bring the maitre d' over. Well, my friend didn't want just to admit he was joking, so he earnestly repeated to the maitre d' that he was totally dissatisfied, his steak had been overcooked although he had asked for rare steak. The maitre d' asked him why, in that case, he had finished eating the steak before complaining and my friend replied "I continued to eat it in the hope of finding a rare portion inside". The maitre d' looked at him hard for several seconds, then finally burst out laughing and told the waiter to bring us liqueurs on the house

[Andy Lynes]

mrs Woman - thanks for finding this story and for editing your original post. Can't be too careful about these things!