Asking for samples from the kitchen

[gfron1]

Lately we've had customers asking if they can taste this or that.  It started out as soups, which while a pain, was not terrible. Lately its sauces. Sometimes its a sauce like our house made ketchup or mayo, which is more of a pain, but still ok, but also the sauce that some of our meats is cooked in.

 

Is this normal?  Its starting to drive me crazy - one for the stop in work flow, but also the audacity. Am I off base...service with a smile

[Arey]

From your previous posts, I know you'd never give the most appropriate response, which in my opinion is "If you want samples go to Whole Foods, they have lots". I'm not in the food business, but think your big mistake was giving out that first sample.  How 'bout saying "I'm sorry our tasting menu isn't available today" unless it is available, in which case you tell the customer how much they'll enjoy it.

[Shelby]

It would never even cross my mind to ask for a sample at any type of restaurant.  

[pastrygirl]

It's not normal, and like Shelby, it would never occur to me to ask to sample the sauce a meat was cooked in, etc.  I might remember to ask a server if something is sweet or not, but needing a sample?  Not yet!

[gfron1]

I am in an odd town. My partner always says he's going to write a Mapp and Lucia style book of the characters around here.

[cdh]

Maybe it is that you're an odd restaurant in an odd town.  You're not providing the safe comfortable familiar options, so perhaps that emboldens folks to ask for a taste, and to bring their less adventurous friends along with assurances that they can taste before they buy.  Has anybody decided your cooking is just not for them after one of these tastes?  If not, they're probably helping you do more business.

[Arey]

I am in an odd town. My partner always says he's going to write a Mapp and Lucia style book of the characters around here.

Well, don't be a Georgie Pillson.  Be Lucia, and imagine the customer displeasing you as Mapp.   Buon appetito.

[chefmd]

Guilty as charged.  I asked for tasting from time to time.  Also happy to pay for it (they charged me a few bucks in Graffiato for pepperoni sauce).  I would also completely understand if the server told me that my request can not be accommodated.  In fact, I was told once that a certain element was only made to suffice for the dish it was served with and there was no extra.

 

Service with a smile goes a long way but reasonable guests will understand that you can not say yes to every request.

[gfweb]

This whole tasting thing strikes me as odd. Tasting a sauce without the meat is usually a mistake since a sauce is seasoned to taste right when a thin film adheres to a protein, not when sipped from a shot glass.

 

And how do you supply a pan sauce to taste without cooking the whole dish?

Edited October 25, 2014 by gfweb (log)

[Deryn]

Would never occur to me either to ask for a 'sample' in a restaurant, though I do query waitpersons about ingredients, taste and maybe even texture on occasion.

 

However, since you have a town full of people who now apparently think it is ok to ask for samples (and then tell their friends it is a 'freebie'), it seems you may now have a continuing, and even growing, issue on your hands. So, make $ at it.

 

How about doing a special event evening for just 'tasting' purposes on a seasonal basis (not a full tasting menu of your dishes) or offering a standard, on the menu 'side dish of taste samples from our seasonal/today's soups, sauces and condiments' or something to that effect? Or, if you have the means to 'preserve' in some way, make up small jars of the most commonly asked for 'tastes' and sell them in the restaurant. Or print up recipes for those items and either sell or just give them away if you can afford it. People should be able to get a sense of how they 'taste' through looking at the ingredient list and cooking method. OR ... just include those recipes as an appendix in your forthcoming cookbook! Make it 'commercial'.

 

If this is that popular a 'trend' in your area, it is costing you money and time, etc. Either people will stop asking for the most part, or you will be able to recoup your costs if they do.

[Tri2Cook]

I need to try this at a bar. I'm not really sure which bourbon I like, could I just have a taste of your 5 or 6 best? Well, those were all tasty but I think I'm good now so... Thanks!

[gfweb]

You could say that most of the sauces are made a la minute and really cannot be sampled without cooking the whole dish

[FauxPas]

I need to try this at a bar. I'm not really sure which bourbon I like, could I just have a taste of your 5 or 6 best? Well, those were all tasty but I think I'm good now so... Thanks!

 

Though I've found a few bars that will accommodate a surprising amount of tastings. Mind you, we still ended up leaving quite a bit of cash in their till. I remember the Bandon Dunes Scotch Bar as being especially generous. 

[djyee100]

I've never asked for food samples at a restaurant, and it would never occur to me to do so. A couple times when dining out I was uncertain about which wine by the glass to order, and the server offered to give me samples. I declined, because I didn't want to be bothered and I was willing to wing it.

 

Since you've already started giving free samples, and the word is out, I suggest that you back away graciously from this policy. Perhaps decide on a few items that you are willing to let people sample, e.g., the soups. Everything else can be No, because it is too difficult for you and the kitchen, and/or too costly, and you should tell customers that. Right now people are asking for these samples and they don't realize what it's like for you to dish 'em out.

 

You can also stop giving samples altogether, and tell customers the truth: it was OK when there were only one or two requests, but the whole matter has gotten out of hand and you can no longer do this as a regular policy.

 

When I'm uncertain or unknowledgeable about a dish at a restaurant, I ask the server. Comments like "this is absolutely delicious!" (sell, sell, sell) are unhelpful. Servers who tell me enough so I can imagine it--ingredients, cooking method, flavors, texture, even richness--are very helpful. Comparing the dish to something else I may have tried is also very helpful. Perhaps more attention from your servers so customers can rely on their descriptions and no longer ask for samples?

[Deryn]

gfron ... In the interests of educating your waitpersons well enough to be able to tantalizingly describe both standard and special dishes, do you always have a 'tasting' for them in the back before service begins? If not, perhaps educating them would help them to describe dishes/sauces/condiments, etc. suitably well to diners so that no one would ask for tastings (or not be dismayed too much if a sample were denied in future)?

Edited October 25, 2014 by Deryn (log)

[Edward J]

Ahh samples...

 

Running a chocolate place, I get very indignant customers if I don't have a sample tray right by the cash register.  Mind you, it's only the "seconds" that get chopped up into bitty pieces for samples, but still...

 

"Samples?  Maybe you could try at the bank, I'm sure they must give samples away".....  Not.  Don't think that would work.

 

If you have house mayo and ketchup, why not package it into a "sampler pack" for, say, $10.00? "Yes you can sample our house made sauces and condiment for only $10.00!" 

[timothy john]

That's normal and customers are being customers. They just want to taste your own product because its new to them. I work in a restaurant all day, I probably get about 10 to 20 tasters for customers. Some of them even asks for alfredo sauce tasters or clam chowder tasters. Also, you dont need to cook a whole dish to cook a sauce, you obviously have a sauce on a side that you put after cooking the proein. If you think about it, yes tasters will cost quite a bit in the long run but if customers liked it then, they will order it and come back for more. But if they dont like it then they'll tell you what to improve on. You cant be annoyed, lazy or say that its difficult to make a sample sauce or soup, you gotta remember that you work in a restaurant and you pre much serve people.

[Tri2Cook]

That's normal and customers are being customers. They just want to taste your own product because its new to them. I work in a restaurant all day, I probably get about 10 to 20 tasters for customers. Some of them even asks for alfredo sauce tasters or clam chowder tasters. Also, you dont need to cook a whole dish to cook a sauce, you obviously have a sauce on a side that you put after cooking the proein. If you think about it, yes tasters will cost quite a bit in the long run but if customers liked it then, they will order it and come back for more. But if they dont like it then they'll tell you what to improve on. You cant be annoyed, lazy or say that its difficult to make a sample sauce or soup, you gotta remember that you work in a restaurant and you pre much serve people.

I don't know... I cook in a restaurant 10-12 hrs. a day, 6 days a week and I'm confident Rob puts in a lot more time than I do being as it's his restaurant he's working in. Lazy is not a word I would associate with Rob. I think getting annoyed because customers are constantly asking for and expecting to get free product is perfectly valid. People seem to get a sense of entitlement when in restaurants that they don't get anywhere else they spend their money. Try getting almost any other type of business to cooperate when you walk in 3 minutes before closing time and then sit there talking with your friends for 30 minutes after you complete your transaction. Try getting almost any non-food related business to give you free items "just to see if I like it". Try talking to the staff at almost any other type of business the way customers feel it's okay to talk to waitstaff. If something quick can be accommodated like shooting a bit of a pre-made condiment or sauce on a spoon and the restaurant feels it's in their best interest to do so, that's fine. But stopping service (not all restaurants have a line... when I'm cooking at work, it's just me) to make a tiny portion of something for a free taste is entirely excessive in my opinion.

[gfron1]

I kiss a lot of ass and I love it! I am in the biz because I enjoy serving folks. Ask any of my customers, read any of my reviews. At dinner I visit with 100% of the tables - no less than 5 minutes. And yes, Larry, unfortunately I've averaged 70 hour weeks for the past 3 years...that's not counting the time at home doing my book keeping. My original post was one part bitching and two parts seriously asking if this is something that happens elsewhere.  I just have never walked into a restaurant and even had the most brief of moments where I thought to ask for a sample - not at a McDonalds, not at French Laundry. It just strikes me as unusual. And like Larry, I'm mostly a one man show so it does stop flow which means its impacting the other customers - sometimes its just a few seconds, sometimes more, but always its a mental disruption. I accommodate. I smile. I curse something to the effect of "Just eat it, you'll like it, and if you're that unsure, order something that you're more sure of."

[gfweb]

You might pick one dish to sample a day. Just that dish... as an amuse.

[scubadoo97]

You might pick one dish to sample a day. Just that dish... as an amuse.

Excellent. Then they have to come back in for another sample

[lindag]

You might pick one dish to sample a day. Just that dish... as an amuse.

I think that idea is pure genius!  Problem solved.

[rotuts]

but have them ask anyway,

 

no ask-ey, no taste-ey

 

but then you've trained them like dogs

 

[gfron1]

Today was the first request since this little discussion we've been having. Our soup of the day is a Tunisian goat - been selling great, but very slow day. Customer comes in for late lunch, hears the soup special and asks for a taste. She was the only customer. I sent it out and then my server and I talked through this...which I now share with you for context for the strategy we're going to try.

 

Too busy to do samples - obviously not

Sauces or scratch and portioned - she wanted soup

Soup - no justification other than we don't want to and are trying to stop the practice

Soup sample got sent out - "Ooh, I don't like this"***this becomes very important to decision

Why not have a $1 portion that we can send out of anything? Might piss some off, might disuade others

Time and expense is my concern, the $1 dish would address that for me...suggesting that its more the money than the time

what if we just say no to condiments because they are "portioned" for the sales, but allow soup at the $1?

***The customers who request samples will 90% of the time reject the dish one they taste it because they are picky - this is why they're asking.

What if we piss them off and they never come back...we're talking about a very small group of people but...never good to lose any.

 

Final: The servers have to be able to explain succinctly why, so we put on the menu "Sample requests can not be accommodated due to time and portion restrictions. Thank you for your understanding." When a customer asks for a sample, the server responds, "I'm very sorry but as the menu points out we're not able to do that, but I can tell you that the ketchup is really good - lightly spicy with fresh tomato flavor." - being specific to the flavor.

 

So what do you all think of this? There are times when we could sample but it seems like its all or none - consistency. I love the reminder above that servers have a responsibility to describe the food in a way that gives the info that the customer needs.

[Deryn]

gfron - Sounds as though that is a very good solution. It won't take long before the locals who probably initiated the 'asking for tastings' practice adjust to the new policy, and even if they are a little put off at first they will be back I am sure (since on the whole they obviously do like your food). I doubt 'out of towners' will see not being able to have samples as anything too unusual.