Cookaholics Bulletin Board

My mom is back from Florida to live with me for the summer. She flew in yesterday and when I got home from work, she offered to take me out to dinner. We go to Luckys Steakhouse and we are seated in a booth and I have a view of the pick up station of the kitchen. There are only a couple of tables in the dining room that have this view. In the kitchen, I can see two shelves below the counter that hold the water glasses. While I am sitting there, I see a shorter employee use the bottom shelf as a step so he can reach a plate on one of the higher shelves. I am about 20 feet away and I can see the smudge of dirt on the shelf. I mention this to my server to let her boss know and that somebody needs to sanitize that shelf. She comes to let me know that she did tell her boss, but for the whole time that we sat there, nobody wiped off the shelf. You just have to wonder sometimes!

At my restaurant, I can tell you (for my part) we are hyper-focused on sanitation. The absolute last thing we want is to make anyone sick.

Amy

That gives me the skeevies, Todd.

My son worked at Wegman's deli, and they were psychotic about cleanliness. They had to practically sterilize the whole department. That's why I still go there.

Consider calling the health department or whoever governs restaurant sanitation (on everyone's behalf.)

Todd,

Is it just Michegan, or do you go to the worst restaurants?

Don't they have Yelp in Michegan? Seems like you could avoid a few of these ...

Of course, I just ate at Naan & Curry in the Tenderloin last Tuesday. You have to walk past the kitchen to the ... bathroom. Let's say I'm glad I'm a guy. Also, the kitchen was very authentic. As in India-authentic. Bare unsealed concrete floors, improvised plastic basin prep areas.

The SFBFA got on their case ... for unsanitary draperies. So they removed the curtains.

Still, I didn't get food poisoning, so whatever.

I'm just one of those people who having worked in Food Service for 25 years notices things in restaurants. My friends hate going out to eat with me for this reason. My biggest pet peave is when I see a server or worse yet a cook touch their face, nose or hair and then handle your plate, glass or food. The next time you go out to a restaurant, count how many times you see the servers touch their face or hair. I think you will be surprised.

Given the things I've eaten in my life, I'll pass on that scrutiny and gaze into my darlin's eyes!

It's not just you, I watch this stuff all the time. I'm in the "don't fluff you hair and hand me my silverware, plates, napkins, bring my drink" category. It really gets me when they handle money at the pizza place and turn around and make pizza. And yet, kind of freaky......I still go there. Hopefully the oven burns off the germs.

I have seen the drive thru order taker at Tim Horton's take my money and then handle my bagel. I refused it and asked her to wash her hands and do another for me. Her manager came over and appologised. How many people do not say anything.

Yup, I've seen it at the pizza parlor too.

If I was to sqeemish, I would never be able to eat out. And, we travel all over the US it's everywhere, not exclusive to Michigan.

Fuzzy quit pickin on us Michiganians!

Laurie

The worst I've ever seen was a bartender picking his nose. This was at a wedding reception at a very posh restaurant. We've never been back there and it was about 40 years ago.


Then there was the girl at the grocery deli making a couple of sandwiches for me. She had a terrible cold and runny nose. About half way through, she put her arm up to her nose and wiped it on her "chef's" jacket. I told her I had changed my mind, that she should go home until her cold was gone and then I told the store manager. It was a brand new super deluxe store and this was their grand opening.

fitzie