‘If you give an inch, they’ll take a mile.’- Chef Talks About Why Customers Shouldn’t Ask For Menu Items To Be Changed
The chefs I’ve known in my life tend to have VERY strong personalities…and the chef you’re about to meet definitely falls into that category!
His name is Pete and he posted a video on TikTok and sounded off about what really drives him nuts when he’s working in a kitchen…when customers have special requests and want things changed.
Pete said that reminds him of a children’s book called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and he explained, “If you give a mouse a cookie, then he’s going to ask you for a glass of milk. And if you ask him for a glass of milk, he’s going to ask you to, like, tuck him into bed, and it just goes on and on and on with more things that this one exception or this one idea gave him.”
Pete said that the “mouse” in his story was a customer who requested that only Pete cook his food at a hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
He said, “We had a steak on the menu, but he didn’t really like the mashed potatoes that came with the steak. So just as an exception one time, he asked, ‘Hey, would you be able to take some, some regular potatoes and just do, like, little roasty, little roasted potatoes for me?’ And we said, ‘Sure thing, buddy. No problem at all.’”
Uh oh…
Pete said next time the man came in he had more requests and he added, “We made that exception once because we had some leftover tenderloin from a function. But then my chef was like, ‘Well, this guy’s such a regular client. I guess we better get a couple tenderloins around for when he comes in, and we’ll cook them up.’”
Pete said the man kept requesting special items and he eventually was being cooked “filet mignon with a scratch-made demi-glace, roasted baby potatoes and baby carrots cooked in butter … none of which was on the menu.”
The chef added, “You’re really a mouse asking for a cookie, and we just can’t have mice in our restaurants.”
Check out the video.
@earlypete If you give a customer a cookie, they will ask you for a glass of milk – why restaurants really don’t like making exceptions ESPECIALLY for regulars #resturantlife#storytime#kitchenconfidential
Now let’s see how folks reacted on TikTok.
One individual summed it up perfectly.
This TikTokker brought up a good point.
And one viewer said it’ll spread like wildfire…
You’ll eat and like it!
No questions asked!
If you liked that story, check out this one about a Costco customer who got their cart stolen… so she hatched a plan to get it back!
