Chefs, waiters and hospitality professionals weigh in on the age-old conundrum: when is it OK to complain? And how can you do it nicely?
Sometime before the last Sydney lockdown, I was in a local cafe, staring down a pretentious bowl of chickpea-centric vegetarian fare I’d had countless times before. But that day I took a bite and all I could taste was salt. This had never happened before. I had a few more mouthfuls, hoping the rest would be fine, but the whole meal was uncomfortably salty.
I didn’t know what to do. I’m not one to complain about food unless it is genuinely inedible. On the other hand, I’m friendly with the owners of this cafe, and I thought maybe the kitchen should know, so it wouldn’t happen again. The whole thing got me thinking about the public dining social contract. When are paying customers justified in sending a meal back? How should they do it so nobody spits in their replacement meals?
