Overheard a sous chef say 'we don't need to taste, just plate it' and I almost walked out

I was staging at a place in Denver last month and the sous told the line cooks they could skip tasting because they were in a rush for a private event. Man, that hit me wrong. How are you gonna send out food you haven't even sampled? I get that Fridays are crazy and the tickets pile up, but I saw one dude dump salt in a sauce that was way too heavy already. Then later I saw the plates coming back with half the portions barely touched. I asked the sous if he tried the sauce and he just shrugged. Honestly, that whole night made me realize how many kitchens skip the basics just to save a few minutes. Has anyone else worked at a place where tasting wasn't a priority and it tanked the food?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_chen16d ago

I worked at a place in Austin where the chef made us taste every station's food before service, and he'd call you out if you skipped it. We had this one night where the new guy forgot to taste the hollandaise, and it came out broken and greasy on a big brunch rush. The chef made him redo the whole batch in front of everyone, and after that, nobody skipped tasting again. It only takes one bad bite to ruin a table's entire meal, especially when you're trying to get a good review or a repeat customer. So yeah, I think kitchens that skip tasting are just digging their own grave, honestly.

paul_burns16d ago

@simon_chen That story about the hollandaise is brutal but fair, honestly. Tasting every station before service catches stuff like salt levels or texture issues before they hit the floor. It's wild how many kitchens just assume everything's good without actually checking, especially with something as finicky as hollandaise.