You are very proud of your restaurant and you've been in the business for many, many years. You have an excellent experienced, award-winning chef who devises his dishes using his skills, his training, his experince and that je ne sais quoi, that flair that you just can't put your finger on. He has trained his team to perfection and with every service, you hear accolades and appreciation from your dinner guests.
The couple order two of your finest entrees and you are looking forward to seeing their reaction. The chef, always a genius, seems to be better than ever tonight and produces two truly magnificent meals.
You watch happily as the server sets the plates in front of the diners.
Your guests sniff their plates and, without warning, the woman gets her handbag and takes out an array of herbs, spices and seasonings. Without any deliberation or discussion, they begin to sprinkle coriander on this, rosemary on that. They squeeze lemon juice and take out a bottle of tomato ketchup.
You look over towards the kitchen door where you see your chef who is in despair. All his experience, all his training, all his skills ... covered in tomato ketchup and a random selection of herbs and spices. The carefully created dish is now something he wouldn't even serve to his dog.
What on earth can you do? These people are destroying your chef's perfectly created dish. That sauce for the veal involves a complex stock which take three days of simmering and infusing. You believe in using only the finest ingredients and the Dover sole was flown in fresh this morning.
But these people are paying and you're restaurant isn't the cheapest place on earth....
But worse is yet to come. The diners call you over "Please return these dishes to the kitchen" says the chap "Ask the chef to recreate these dishes but please have him add tomato ketchup and coriander to the sole. With a good amount of black pepper please and have him garnish it with M & Ms. As for the veal, please add a substantial amount of rosemary, some A1 sauce and for the garnish, we'd like a fried Mars bar."
Ridiculous? Yes, of course, it's ludicrous to take the work of an experienced, highly-trained individual and, as an amateur, add your own fingerprints. It's like owning the Mona Lisa and giving her a moustache and silly glasses.
You DO agree, don't you??????
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