Kitchen Revenge: Chef and waitering confessions sought!

One hears that customer etiquette in the service industry is not always standard across the globe.
Some restaurant or fast-food customers are quite submissive; others very aggressive.
Some countries believe in tipping 10% or more; others find it strange.

But oh woe when rudeness is detected by overworked service staff.
The latest anecdotes I heard were of a waitress blowing snot into a pita dish served to a sexist, non-tipping customer.
And then the stories of the old army, and what they did to this one lady's soup.
She was a local starlette who supported the then war in Angola, and was hired by the defense force to entertain the troops.
What she didn't realize was that the troops at this kitchen hated the war, and every time she opened her mouth.
Let's just say it was a browner shade of pale when it reached her.
And then there was "the hidden struggle in the kitchen", and what the black staff did to the food every time Apartheid's ministers had a dinner, and the white chef was too-too-hic drunk to notice.
Steaks pulled through sweaty armpits was allegedly the least of it.

Generally, people in those industries are very careful still today where they eat, and how they treat the staff.
Most prefer open kitchens.
There is a closed conspiracy in such eateries.
Or is this an urban legend?
Do waiters and chefs really attack the food of unpopular customers?
Please tell me what you know.

Actually I think waiters and other staff who do this are wrong.
It's not the way to go.
OK, some work in really bad conditions, and occasionally spit in the sauce.
It's not really going to harm anybody.

I say always be wary how you treat the wait staff for they are the middle men/women between the chef and the customer!

A few years ago there was an incident were a family was served ice-cream laced with human excrement after they complained they couldn't hear a televised rugby league grand final over the pub's music.

Confirmed: Poo in ice-cream
Pub accused of serving ice cream contaminated with human excrement

So it pays not to complain...

reply to post by yizzel

Wow, that is intense, and they even tried to disguise it as chocolate sauce.
Oh my hat, that is just the worst I've heard.
It happened in 2008, is there any update on what happened to the offender?

reply to post by halfoldman


Just been searching for an update but found nothing new, maybe it's been settled out of court.

All we know is the hotel offered to pay them $5000 but the family refused the deal. According to the hotel's owner, the family is trying to extort 1 million dollars out of the hotel, the owner is claiming industrial sabotage saying the hotel also was a victim.

From Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
Perhaps not the filthiest or most life-threatening dive celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey attempts to save, but certainly the strangest.
A vegetarian restaurant in Paris run by a Scottish lady and a zany Brazilian chef.
That vegetarian food looks seriously off.
(As can be expected from Ramsay - strong language.)

There is an a form of abuse that happens amongst food service employees, though I never understood how some people can be so rude, when going out to eat, especially with people handling your food behind a closed doors. I was a waitress a long time ago in Brooklyn, and I never waitressed again after how rude many of the customers were.

I of course was not rude, as many waitresses and waiters work for tips mostly, but people get on some form of high horse when going out to eat that I just dont understand. I never personally did anything wrong to customers, but many of my fellow employees did.

Ever since then, if I go out, I make sure I always have a big tip for my waiter/waitress, as I understand.

Peace, NRE.

BTW, if you really want to know about the back room "shenanigans" in a restaurant watch the movie "Waiting".

Waiting-

Young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant collectively stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.

www.imdb.com...

What someone (might) do when faced with the worst of the worst of customers. Graphic

reply to post by NoRegretsEver

Awww, those chefs were gross!
Can't blame them too much though.
Nothing that could give anyone food poisoning (which is occurring a lot lately).
I suppose if that blonde waiter put some "alfalfa sprouts" on my food I wouldn't mind too much.

From World's Most Stupid Criminals (not sure what country).
Kitchen staff spit and urinate in food.

I recall a case where a lady constantly complained that her calamari was too tough.
After the third trip to the kitchen the lady went outside and urinated over them.
After that, the customer commented that it was the best calamari he ever had.
And that was a major restaurant group in SA.

Behind the Kitchen Door?
Investigation into top LA restaurants:


Is this what the reality stars, like the Kardashians, really eat?
Shudder.

Never been a waiter, but I used to sometimes catch a shift with a pair of right rsoles, one day I was so close to chinning the pair of them, I had to go and cool off in the kitchen. I came back with a freshly brewed pot if tea that must have tasted better for being made with teabags that I'd used to "de-sweat" certain places....not big, not clever, but it cheered me up no end.

I love this from the Ramsay clip:
Ramsay: How would you describe the food?
Waitress: Not particularly, spectacularly exceptional!

Interesting that things like spit and pubic hair are also used in African love spells.

Nevertheless, it makes me wonder about the food on the plates in reality TV.

A lot of people despise those "stars".

Years in restaurants, and I never saw it happen. Not saying it doesn't, but I think it is rare.

Personally, I always make an inconspicuous inspection of the premises before I try a new place, but what I am worried about is uncleanliness, which IS common.

reply to post by yizzel


I recall that incident at the Coogee Bay Hotel some years back.

What the wait staff did was a bloody disgrace and there's no words to describe what they did to those customers.

By saying that......from what I heard through the grape vine of a staff member from that hotel, this couple were incrediably rude and very very nasty to the wait staff that evening BEFORE they even received their food.

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I too did some waitressing many many years ago and unfortunately the behaviour of some customers (although a majority were pleasant) is just appauling to say the least. I always refused to serve them until they behaved and if they want to complain to management, it won't do any good.

In a majority of eateries, staff are usually run off their feet because management won't put on extra staff on a busy night but thats not to say there are some waitresses and waiters that are just plain lazy and lack the skill.

Re: Coogee Bay Hotel:
Oh do tell, or throw us a hint.
What did they do?

OK, I see now the Coogee Bay Hotel was where the ice cream and "chocolate sauce" incident described above happened.
There is a documentary titled When Chefs Attack, but unfortunately there are no clips on Youtube.
That is also rather disturbing.
Amazing how often people drop food and just pick it up and re-plate it, but there are some real sickos who add all kinds of body fluids to the food. I recall the general advice was to stay away from chowder (seems to be a US dish; we don't have that here). Apparently one can mix anything into chowder, and it's often made from leftovers.
Physical abuse and lovemaking (with naked butt-cheeks on the chopping boards) also seem relatively common in kitchens.