No Substitutions Please

Flip the coin. Because substitutions are a pain-in-the-ass and disruptive to the flow of service. Working in a restaurant is much like being on a fast-paced, non-stop assembly line.

There is an incessant stream of orders and a very narrow window for you to churn out your link in the chain on time. Your particular steps in the process are not that varied but they are overwhelmingly repetitive and relentless.

To adapt, the mind habituates to the task. Chefs and servers work on "automatic" most of the time. Your seemingly simple request to substitute onions for the tomatoes on the salad sends ripples through the previously seamless flow.

The server must retain your request on paper or in his memory. He or she must then inform the cooking staff. The cook must retain that information until the time comes for him to prepare your dish.

Finally, he must enact a different set of motions to implement the change. And your request is one drop of water in a sea of tasks, (and other special requests), being performed simultaneously.

Even a simple alteration is deranging to this rehearsed concentration. Think about how many times you've asked for extra lemon with your tea, no mayo on your sandwich, or this instead of that and didn't get it.

You're left wondering why they can't remember such a basic command. It's because they're so used to not doing it that way.

Some solicitations are even more complex such as asking for an ingredient that the restaurant has, but is not on the menu. Inevitably this product hasn't been prepped since there was no anticipation of using it.

Now it must be fabricated, (washed, trimmed, cut, etc.), in order to prepare it for cooking. These requests definitely throw a monkey wrench into the assembly line.

Now other guests may receive their food later because of your special needs. Finally, there are requests that just can't be done on a moment's notice such as whipping up a bordelaise sauce.

• page 2 of 3
• previous page
• next page