Food Pet Peeves & A Giveaway!
It's just one of those days. The last day of January and another winter snow covered Monday. It feels like Groundhog Day (which is actually Wednesday!).
No recipe to post, I'm just in the mood to complain.
I've been keeping a list of my food pet peeves, and I think today is the day that I will share them with you along with a great giveaway! (see, I am not that bitchy!).
Peeve #1. (and probably my biggest one). When a menu has a misspelled word or typo.
The word I see most often misspelled on a menu is MESCALINE salad. Mescaline is a hallucinogen, and I don't want to eat it with a vinaigrette. I want to eat a MESCLUN salad.
I have seen this numerous times, and it makes me not want to eat in the restaurant, though I always giggle.
(PS last week I saw BROCOLLI and COLLIFLOWER on a menu of a well known farm to fork restaurant! Isn't BRO-COLLI a bacteria you get from your brother?)
Peeve #2: Reheated pizza.
When you go in for a slice (and I live in NJ/NYC area, the BEST pizza around) and they give you a reheated slice that has been sitting there for hours.
Tastes like cardboard with some grease on top. Should be illegal.
Peeve #3: RUDE FOODIES.
When a commenter on my blog has something negative to say and they sign it ANONYMOUS.
Just sign your name at the bottom of the comment, what you are you afraid of? Chicken.
That goes for emails that I receive that read "I can't print your recipe" " or "How many portions does this serve?". How about starting the email with HELLO, PLEASE and ending it with a THANK YOU and maybe your first name. (no one will write to me ever again after this one!).
Peeve #4. When I am making a pasta dish that requires a cup of the pasta cooking liquid (to thicken the sauce), and I drain the pasta, forgetting to save the water! BAH!
Peeve #5. I have 3 friends and one brother, who insist on using HOT SAUCE or ask for a salt shaker before having tasted the food! When I yell at them, they say that "they are addicted to it!".
Peeve #6. Dirty restaurant bathrooms.
No soap in the dispenser and paper towels on the floor. This is an indication of a poor establishment, I don't care how good the food is.
Peeve #7. When someone invites you to dinner for 7:00 and doesn't start to serve the meal until 10:00 pm.
Can I take my dessert to go?
Tell us your food pet peeves and 2 random winners will win a copy of Heart of The Artichoke, the new cookbook by Chez Panisse chef David Tanis.
*and please don't sign in as Anonymous, without at least leaving your first name at the end of your comment! Then I can't find you!
Winners will be announced on Saturday.
No recipe to post, I'm just in the mood to complain.
I've been keeping a list of my food pet peeves, and I think today is the day that I will share them with you along with a great giveaway! (see, I am not that bitchy!).
Peeve #1. (and probably my biggest one). When a menu has a misspelled word or typo.
The word I see most often misspelled on a menu is MESCALINE salad. Mescaline is a hallucinogen, and I don't want to eat it with a vinaigrette. I want to eat a MESCLUN salad.
I have seen this numerous times, and it makes me not want to eat in the restaurant, though I always giggle.
(PS last week I saw BROCOLLI and COLLIFLOWER on a menu of a well known farm to fork restaurant! Isn't BRO-COLLI a bacteria you get from your brother?)
Peeve #2: Reheated pizza.
When you go in for a slice (and I live in NJ/NYC area, the BEST pizza around) and they give you a reheated slice that has been sitting there for hours.
Tastes like cardboard with some grease on top. Should be illegal.
Peeve #3: RUDE FOODIES.
When a commenter on my blog has something negative to say and they sign it ANONYMOUS.
Just sign your name at the bottom of the comment, what you are you afraid of? Chicken.
That goes for emails that I receive that read "I can't print your recipe" " or "How many portions does this serve?". How about starting the email with HELLO, PLEASE and ending it with a THANK YOU and maybe your first name. (no one will write to me ever again after this one!).
Peeve #4. When I am making a pasta dish that requires a cup of the pasta cooking liquid (to thicken the sauce), and I drain the pasta, forgetting to save the water! BAH!
Peeve #5. I have 3 friends and one brother, who insist on using HOT SAUCE or ask for a salt shaker before having tasted the food! When I yell at them, they say that "they are addicted to it!".
Peeve #6. Dirty restaurant bathrooms.
No soap in the dispenser and paper towels on the floor. This is an indication of a poor establishment, I don't care how good the food is.
Peeve #7. When someone invites you to dinner for 7:00 and doesn't start to serve the meal until 10:00 pm.
Can I take my dessert to go?
Tell us your food pet peeves and 2 random winners will win a copy of Heart of The Artichoke, the new cookbook by Chez Panisse chef David Tanis.
*and please don't sign in as Anonymous, without at least leaving your first name at the end of your comment! Then I can't find you!
Winners will be announced on Saturday.
Comments
Great list. I'm with you on all of them. How about when you're served and you thank the waiter. And then you get "no problem." Ahhhhhhh. I certainly hope it wasn't a problem that I came to your restaurant to spend money. What ever happened to "you're welcome" or "my pleasure?"
1. fake plants in a restaurant that are covered with a film of dust -i lose my appetite
2.when you order your food and it comes out cold or luke warm such as french fries and soup.
then you have to send it back and hope they dont spit on it!
3.when you are with a group and they bring the food out to one person at a time, but the time the last person gets their food, your
food is already cold.
jolie
My peeve is discovering I am out of an essential ingredient...when I have JUST come home from the grocery store. The flipside of this is coming home from the grocery store with 2-3 boxes of ______, thinking I'm so clever and efficient, and discovering I already have 4-5 boxes of _______ stored downstairs.
My pet peeve is when restaurants surprisingly substitute items for something that you ordered. "Oh, is this the sweet potato rosti?" "No, we were out, so that's some potato hash..." Please tell me ahead of time so I can decide if I still want the dish...
What a great post. Your readers/followers/fans' comments are all sooooooooo true!
I think my biggest gripe, not only in a restaurant, but anywhere, is "no problem". No, THE most annoying is "how are you guys?" I AM NOT A GUY!!! How about "Good evening"... or "Welcome"?
Very entertaining reading this morning.
Mil
1) TV chefs who insist nobody uses enough salt. Not everything has to be salty to be flavorful - not to mention giving your guests high BP!
2) Restaurants that float a gallon of dressing at the bottom of your salad.
3) Receiving an app at a restaurant with "meatballs" that I immediately recognized as lamb without that having been indicated (tons of people are skeeved by lamb - not me, just sayin).
4) Stores that only sell herbs in 50 gallon drums that can't possibly be fresh by the time you get to the bottom. I understand some things are used more frequently/universally, but random spices?!?
5) Free soda refills are nice, but ask before bringing me the 4th, 5th, 6th...I don't want to waste what they bring me, but I don't want to float home either!
6) Bloggers who post contests and say they'll pick a winner on a certain day then don't - or the next day, or the next. Sigh ...
My pet peeve is people who say, "I won't eat...or I don't like"...whatever it is I'm serving, without ever even trying it.
Like people who won't eat vegetables 'cause maybe as a kid they ate mushy canned beans, but to NEVER eat vegetables? That's just so wrong!
Another thing that hacks me off is to ask for something prepared in a specific way such as NO MAYO on a burger and for it to arrive with it on it.
Ramona
Pet peeves:
1. People who are unwilling to try new foods.
2. People who only eat processed foods.
Ling
I hate when you ask for chives and you're brought the largest tops off a discarded green onion, just chopped fine to try and disguise.
Or when I order my bagel, lox, and cream cheese, and the brat behind the counter- who's never lived a day in her life outside of Phoenix- insists on correcting me & calling it "schmear". Just give me my damn bagel.
Great post, Stacey ;)
I don't mind "shy" anonymous commenters, it's the RUDE commenters that don't sign their name that peeves me.
Stacey
My second is truffle oil in everything! Aren't we over that yet?!
Mary
1) inviting people over for a dinner party, where I ask before I even plan the menu for allergies, etc. . . only to make a million dishes and spend over $100 just to have one guest show up with her unannounced vegan boyfriend.
2) Feeling obligated to tip on terrible service, because the restaurant added 18% gratuity to my check. I'm more than happy to tip 20%, but when the service is horrid and I'm forced to tip more than the person deserves, I get very fired up.
Maybe that's it today! Cheers :)
One of my pet peeves is when "supposed" cooking authorities on supposed cooking shows, for example...who should know better... mispronounce words.ESPECIALLY the word mascarpone. They always want to put the R in the beginning and leave it off at the end! Like maRscapone! Ugh!
Here's what drives me nuts- when I visit a blog or cooking website that allows you to give a recipe a rating and commenters will rate a recipe 5 stars after they've made 15 substitutions or changes. No! While I like reading suggestions from people who've tried it, I want to know what the original recipe rates not what it would be if I changed this, that, and the other.
My additions (if I can leave more than one):
- bad service is bad enough, but when Management makes it clear they don't care that it is bad is, I think, much worse. "We don't care if you don't come back."
- self-proclaimed "foodies" who claim to love ethnic foods without understanding them. ex. Folks who claim to love Chinese food but think Americanized garbage like "general tso's whatever" and fried rice are what to get, or go to a Japanese noodle house and only order teriyaki or, again, fried rice. There are versions for any ethnic food.
- "EW! How can you eat that?" (Well it involves my mouth and my tummy...) I'm sorry that you don't want to try squid/eel/shrimp in shell/sashimi/buffalo/duck/goose liver/whatever, but at least be an adult about it, ok? Double hate if you're eating food I've cooked when you say that.
- people who get upset when a restaurant doesn't offer free bread [or similar]. (I don't eat with these people a 2nd time.)
- 1-note-chef restaurants. I'm sensitive to basil - it makes me sick but doesn't actually kill me. I went to an Italian restaurant where every single dish had a crapload of basil in it, even the ones that didn't list it as an ingredient. I've been to restaurants where nearly every dish had green peppers in it, and I've seen sushi houses where everything but the nigiri had avocado in it.
Ok, I'll stop ranting now. :-)
Being in the middle of a recipe and realizing I'm missing a key ingredient and having to run out to the store at the last minute....
my own fault...mise en place! Duh!!
I do have a tiny, small, little pet peeve for Midestern sensibilities (and it's snowing here right now), which is yes, I cook a lot of Italian, thank-you. I do not cook "Eye-talian." Whew. Glad to get that off my chest.
One of my new pet peeves is PICKY EATERS. Don't get me wrong, most people have something that they will not eat, but it annoys me when grown adults won't eat avocados or spinach because they're green. Not liking food after having it cooked/prepared PROPERLY is one thing, but not giving it a chance seems childish. Also, picky eaters take the fun out of cooking when you have to radically change recipes to satisfy them. I think that most picky eaters are really missing out!
Former picky eater,
Randi Lynne :)
I tried to leave a comment before - but it seems to have disappeared in a big black hole - so if I am repeating myself - please delete.
My pet peeves are as follows:
1.when I hear chefs/commentators and the like refer to a dish or way of eating as "healthful" ..... the correct terminology is "healthy" ....
2. what is the obsession with eastcoasters referring to pasta sauce as "gravy" ..... I am sure all the nonnas in Italy are curling at the toes with that reference !! I would love some insight.
Keep up the great blog.
happy eating
Gourmet Goddess
I could go on .... but not too sure how long our comments can be :-))
1. Going to a friends for dinner and they invite 10 but only have enough food for 5. Really I am not a pig but one time we were invited for chili and when we got to pot of chili it was empty.
2. Other peeve is those picky eaters, sharing a pizza of just cheese is just boring.
Biggest pet peeve- parents who let their kids scream and cry at a restaurant. I get that sometimes kids get fussy, but please take them outside until they calm down.
Cool giveaway.
My biggest pet peeve is people who won't try anything - How are you ever going to enjoy a new taste, a new adventure if you just won't try it!
I do have to admit guilt in one of your pet peevees. I often have people come over earlier than when dinner is ready. It is almost entirely job related, but every once in a while it is just due to lack of preparedness.
Or...when you are still eatting and they ask if you need a to go box!
Dont rush me!
Here are a couple of my peeves
My server is clearly in the "weeds" having been over seated by the hostess and the rest of the staff is standing around with their fingers up their noses while I suffer without even a glass of water.
I live in a quaint town and we don't have many culinary delights. You’ve most likely been here for antiques. My local grocery stores think natural and organic foods are a "specialty" section like ethnic food. I went on a mad rampage one night looking for nitrate free bacon for my pregnant sister in-law.
This quaint town also has one gem a fabulous little Italian deli/grocery. I added up my credit card bill and I have spent quite a pretty penny on fresh mozzarella, store made sopressata and prosciutto balls. I am on a first name basis with the butcher and kiss him good-bye. I special order suckling pigs and porter house tails for summer bashes. I have been really busy the last few months and decided to stop in to get my man his favorite sandwich. Paper thin eggplant fried, fresh mozz, roasted red pepper, and prosciutto with Balsamic on a hard roll. I along with the 85 year old woman (whom I don’t) know were denied our sandwiches by the owner. (Not my butcher) The owner told us it was new year’s day and they don’t make sandwiches they are too busy. I haven’t been back since. There were a total of 4 customers. There were 5 people behind the counter and There 4 more prep cooks downstairs along with my butcher who offered to make my sandwiches!
My two biggest peeves would have to be 1) Hot food that isn't. If it is supposed to be served room temperature - great. But if it is supposed to be hot...I want it HOT. Same thing on the cold foods (think Shrimp cocktail...must be COLD!) 2) Dirty restaurant windows...yuck. Even worse if you don't notice until you are inside and seated and the sun in filtering in through the fingerprints/nastyness on the glass. YUCK!
Peeves:
1)when the waitress predictably says "enjoy" - i appreciate creativity... can't we do better than enjoy?
2)sticky tables at restaurants, even if it's not a "nicer" one, a little wipe down is appreciated. the forearm stick when you first sit down- the worst.
3) (bonus) asking someone to bring something and they bring something else on the whim... suddenly you need a veggie and have too much bread, or you were planning on complimenting their dish with yours and you have to give the "ooooh! no problem, this looks good!" :-/
And please, please, please if you have children, leave them at home when you're going to a nice restaurant. Unless, of course, the kids are capable of sitting quietly through the meal. It ruins my experience to have a child shrieking in my ear at the table behind us. Do parents simply tune it all out?
Thanks for a giveaway!
#1. Chefs on tv that are vegetarian haters and who refuse to cook 1 veggie dish on their show. Darn you James Martin.
#2. TV chefs who come in from the outside and start cooking without washing their hands first. Nigella, you know who you are.
#3. The biggie. Being called madame. Now do I look like I run a brothel? Ma'am is fine but not madame.
One of my food pet peeves is when I order something at a drive thru and don't bother to check - only to find when I get to the office it is not what I ordered.
How about this: Those people that think they know it all about food and once they find out you know something too, they want to out-food you! It's like dueling foodies...and once I feel it coming on, I'm out of the conversation. It's all good, you eat your food and I'll eat mine!
Phewww...that felt kind of good to get off the chest!
#1. (as Steve said): The use of "no problem". Drives me crazy. Whatever happened to the reply, "you're welcome"? Or even better, "my pleasure", or "certainly". "No problem" is a negative response. I didn't realize I WAS a problem in the first place! So, don't be offended if MY response is: "you're not an idiot!" After all, I'm telling you that you are NOT an idiot! Idiot.
#2. What is it with the overuse of certain prepositions. i.e., "plate up", "strain out", "reduce down". When you are reducing a sauce, the liquid is going down! When you strain something, all the liquid does go out! Oh - Typos, misspellings and BAD grammar!!!!!
#3. Bratty children in restaurants whose parents' attitude is "love me/love my kids". Last week at a local restaurant the 3 elementary school age kids were bouncing off the walls and the father was in his own world ignoring them. The rest of us - 6 tables were exchanging looks and glaring. Even after a man "shushed" the little girl, the father didn't discipline her. After 45 minutes of this nonsense, I complained to the manager who wimped out and suggested they move ME. I refused. After he spoke to the father, the man was furious and demanded the restaurant comp their meal, which they did. Unbelievable.
#4. My nephews who refuse to eat my mother's gourmet meals and holiday dinners, bringing their own Tyson chicken tenders (won't eat Banquet brand!). And who get up from the table 5 minutes after we begin eating saying they are finished, but return soon after whining about when desert will be served. We weren't raised that way, so I don't understand why my sister allows this behavior in her pre-teen sons!
#5. Guests who inform me before coming to dinner that they "don't like basil, raisins, garlic, etc". Stay home and eat your canned soup. And those who invite me to a dinner where salad consists of iceberg lettuce with an army of bottled salad dressings and stale, boxed croutons.
Other than THAT, nothing bothers me! haha. Lisa
Vegetables cooked beyond description is one of my pet peeves. Obviously not fresh and have been cooking all day.
I get annoyed when you order a 3+ course meal and all the courses come together (soup, salad, app and entree). Or when I'm invited for dinner, not a pot luck, and I have to get the meal going myself. Oy!
You are hysterical! I'm with you on all those, especially when I bust my tushy to have a meal ready when folks are invited to my place at a particular time and I show up (on time because punctuality is a disease with me) and the meal prep hasn't even begun. Thank you for a great blog - I check it almost daily and try to replicate a great deal of your posts. Have a great day.
Thank you,
Rebecca
You hit on my top pet peeves with adding seasoning to food before tasting. If food is made properly there is no need for a salt shaker on any table. I purposely leave them off the table when I have company.
The second one is misspelling. Gee if your not sure use a dictionary and the third you touch on being "rude". Internet usage has done a great job of people forgetting their manners.
You said, it well. Thank you - more people need to start saying it "OUT LOUD".
Have a super day. I really enjoy your blog.
Caryn
I hate it when businesses are not considerate enough to check their spelling. Hate lack of cleanliness. Hate just hate wilted and old lettuce served as a "fresh salad". Hate cakes in bakeries made from mixes (I used to work for a bakery that made all their cakes from mixes), or dense, over-sweetened desserts.
Maybe that is why I hardly ever go out anymore!
My all time biggest food peeve has to be when someone says, "I don't like that" and they've NEVER EVEN TRIED IT!! See how upsetting it is to me? Even my 8 year old son says, you can't say you don't like something until you've tried it... you never know it just might be your new favorite thing! Good training eh?
Oh and....
Thank you for such a great post :o)
Cheers!
Lisa
That's my pet peeve.
Enjoying your posts.
Thanks
Leticia
Entertaining list. I've strained an excellent( possibly excellent )stock into the sink rather than into another pot. Would have paid $ to have seen my face post that tired error.
I dislike waiting for dinner but have also had occasion to arrive for a 7.p.m.dinner at 7:05 p.m. and people were seated eating ! Yes, I was five minutes late - finding the PERFECT bunch of flowers for the PERFECT vase I was giving- felt like taking it home with me - but jeez - time for a relaxed drink,glass of well chosen wine or even tiny nibbles makes me purr nicely.
Love your blog and recipes. Cheers, Ann
I'm sorry for being anonymous.
1. Not knowing what, if any dishes have peanuts in them. It's more in going to buffets than anything but with all the allergies out there, that should be a priority.
2) Asking me if I'm ready for dessert when my entree plate hasn't even cooled down at the table. My response is usually that I'll let you know when I'm done (said with a smile) though odds are that I'll be asked a few more times before then. Ack, overload ...
1) Adult friends who say, "I'm a picky eater" and you have to think about where to dine because of it. Worse yet, if they come to your house, then it's a nightmare come true. What's up with that?! They ought to be spanked.
2) I, too, don't mind eating late at a party, but when it starts getting served at 10:00, then you're right, they missed the boat. Ask us for dessert instead.
I could go on and on, but I have 20 inches of snow to shovel. Chicago truly got blasted last night!!!
My second pet-peeve is unkind waitstaff.
Thanks for the opportunity to win David Tanis' book!
As for rude foodies-- ROTFL!! I've thought of turning off the ANONYMOUS comments are okay feature.
I find menu typos all the time. So far, I'm the only one who couldn't spell RASPBERRIES, until you taught me how. I'd say I laugh anytime I see "RE-GRAND OPENING" banners, instead of Grand Re-Opening".
Vent more often. It makes me laugh.
I would LOVE that cookbook!
My pet peeve is when you invite people over for a dinner party and they arrive more than a hour late. Worst yet is if they are late and are bringing an appetizer.
Great post!
My biggest pet peeve is when restaurants don't fully describe a dish and then are surprised when you ask if it is the right one when they serve you it. I once ordered Greek sliders at an Americanized Greek restaurant, thinking I love mini burgers and Greek flavors. The menu made it sound like there would be feta and olives – delicious, right? When I got the plate it was three burger patties on a plate, no buns, no sauce ... and no olives or feta. The owner tried to explain that’s what the menu said it would be.
My other pet peeve (which is my own fault) is discovering leftovers or open ingredients in the back of my fridge that I could have used but have now spoiled. I hate waste.
2. Spelling and grammar mistakes on the menu.
3. When I run out of French fries before I run out of burger, lol. I always feel like asking for just 1 or 2 more French fries.