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How to answer the question "Is this fresh today?"

sugarseattle

By sugarseattle
in Restaurant Life

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sugarseattle

sugarseattle

Posted
Posted

Obviously, we all know the reality of restaurant life. Sure there are restaurants that make every single thing fresh daily. We bake all our breakfast pastries, cookies, mini desserts and of course cupcakes daily. But the reality is certain products like deli salads might be able to live a 3-4 day shelf life and still remain delicious. We have almost 75 products we produce daily between two very talented bakers. I don't want to lie to my customers, but I certainly don't want to steer them away from a delicious product just because it wasn't made fresh that morning.

 

Here are some options I'm considering:

 

1. The white lie. We bake everything fresh daily.

 

2. The honest but telling too much. We believe our deli salads taste delicious over a 4 day period. This one was made two days ago.

 

Thoughts?

 

Stephanie Crocker

Sugar Bakery + Cafe

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Some things are better a day-old.

 

I'd be truthful.

 

"we bake everything fresh daily, but some things like potato salad or coleslaw may be a day or two old."

  • Like 2
Deryn

Deryn

Posted
Posted

Bakery items are made fresh daily, as are any items where freshness is key to enjoyment. The flavours of some deli items and salads however benefit from longer storage after cooking.

  • Like 3
gfron1

gfron1

Posted
Posted

I just asked my server what she says. Her response, "The chef puts those out fresh every morning." I responded, but there are day olds in the front of the line of cookies. And she responded, "yeah, but I don't know where the day olds end and new ones start."

 

Not sure I like that answer, so this turned out to be a good impetus for us to talk about the issue.

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Chef, Bulrush & Squatters in St. Louis, MO

BBC Write-up

Smithsonian magazine story

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted (edited)

As long as it's quality and it tastes great why should you have to emphasize the grossly over-used "baked fresh daily" non-sense or make some awkward statement to explain that it's a couple days old???

Let the food do the talking.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)
  • Like 2

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

I just asked my server what she says. Her response, "The chef puts those out fresh every morning." I responded, but there are day olds in the front of the line of cookies. And she responded, "yeah, but I don't know where the day olds end and new ones start."

 

Not sure I like that answer, so this turned out to be a good impetus for us to talk about the issue.

Good to have servers that defend the honor of the joint. I value loyalty highly.

 

But prevarication is reflex with many people. Would that honesty was the default position, but that's rare. A coherent and honest answer must be crafted and supplied to the servers.

  • Like 1
IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
Posted

I think I would go with something like.."Just like your own homemade salads, we find that letting the flavors meld for a bit, enhances the flavors."  No need to say how long that "bit" may be. 

  • Like 1
Edward J

Edward J

Posted
Posted

"We bake fresh daily"

 

And you DO. 

 

It's just that some items were baked yesterday or the day before.  But it's not like you fire up the oven and only bake once a week

 

 

Why do some customers ask that question?

 

-Some are "trained" to ask, and if the answer is "no" , the training kicks in and they want a "day-old" price

 

-Some are lousy conversationists, and "is this baked today" is the same as asking "how much did you pay for that purse/car/condo? "

  • Like 1
Jeannette

Jeannette

Posted
Posted

Iowa Dee is right on with the explanation on letting' flavors bond" to perfection. 

 

When you have a lot of menu items it's so important to make sure things are fresh!

 

Having a few reliable noses and taste buds can be a very BIG help.

 

It's too easy for a lazy person to just rotate and stick it back in the case. All it takes is one customer to complain about something not being fresh and word will spread.

 

Opening and closing managers/shift leaders can really prevent that.

 

If your staff is afraid to taste or smell they shouldn't be in the business in the first place.

 

Baking - we all know your life span on these items is short lived-maybe you shouldn't offer so many!

 

Sometimes being known for a few specialties can bring in the masses too.

 

I'm always leery of a menu with too many items!

 

Why put yourself or your employees in that position of having to explain?

 

Some things taste better a day-old- for sure...

 

If no, don't try to produce and prepare too many of those items. I say avoid uncomfortable communication with your customers the business is tough enough.  .

 

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