Posted by Mark on January 11, 1999 at 13:45:56:
In Reply to: Fishy situation...please read posted by Michael Knoff on January 10, 1999 at 21:16:17:
: Recently, one of our bartenders here in NJ went surf fishing, and his party caught several limits of wild striped bass. He promptly brought them to the restaurant to clean them, and he ended up giving the chef 3 of them. The chef and the owner/general manager decided they wanted to sell them as a special.I told them I felt they should take them home, and use them privately, that there could be legal ramifications should someone become ill from eating fish we sold them that had'nt come from a purveyor.The solution they came to absolutely disgusted me. The chef (a not so knowledgeable or well trained, older man) made the point that striped bass is a common game fish, that maybe we should call it something else.They (the chef and the owner/manager) decided they would run the stripers as CHILEAN SEA BASS !!!!So thats what we did.We sold the unassuming public something that was so far from what was advertised that it made me sick. I was furious!!! How could anyone consciously deceive someone into eating a falsely named food stuff, no matter what type?!!! I am sous chef of this kitchen, so I didnt say anything in front of the other employees that might indicate a lack of respect for my chef, but the next morning, I let them have it with both barrels.I would have quit on the spot, had I any alternative job options.This restaurant is , how can I say it without sounding like a prima donna, slightly below me in terms of where I've been , and where I'd like to go food-wise.If, God forbid, someone gets sick from this fraud, I will be first in line to testify in court.Has anyone here had any experience like this? How did you handle it? I am truly, for the first time in my life, at a loss.
I agree with Gerard. This IS an interesting conundrum. I once worked for a chef who kept a deer's head he intended to have mounted in the restaurant's freezer along with our product. I pointed out to him that surely this was a violation of health code and was told to tend to my own knitting. I was shocked that a certified chef would so casually dismiss a sanitation issue like this.I quit that job to work for a locally renowned chef who is well known for his game dishes, only to find out that a large portion of the venison we served was shot in his own backyard! Not only that, but his favorite hunting buddy was a certified master chef who used the venison in his restaurant as well.
Is this a serious offense? That depends on how you look at it. I had,(and still have) the utmost respect for this chef, and learned that as Gerard says, this product was treated better than it would have been by any of our local purveyors.
Case in point. Have you ever seen how a chicken slaughterhouse operates? I trusted my chef's abilities far more than I do those of a $6.oo per hour chicken gutter.
Cheers!
Mark