Over the last three days we’ve gotten several surveys back with complaints about the food.

This never happens. Our food is fucking awesome. Very rarely does the chef really mid the mark with something. I can count on one hand how many times since I started.

The common denominator in all of the complaints is not taking the chef’s recommendation on how to order the food.

The skirt steak: Gentleman complained that it was tough. Couldn’t cut through it. Either make sure it’s tender or don’t serve it.

A skirt steak is a very thin piece of steak cut. It is prized for its flavor over its tenderness. Our chef recommends no more than medium rare. Any more and the steak starts to get tough. This gentleman ignored the advice of the server and ordered it medium well. He was disappointed. The chef was not surprised.

Of course it was tough. He ignored the chef.

The pork chop: Guest complained it was undercooked. Was angry that it couldn’t be cooked more.

Many. Many. Many. Restaurants will cook pork to temp. Many.

We do not.

Our pork is cooked through and then finished on the grill.

The catch.

Our pork is cooked using a method called sous vide. French for in a vacuum. This is sometimes called low temp, long time cooking. Basically the item you are cooking is sealed in a plastic bag, and then placed in water. The water is heated and kept moving using an immersion circulator. The desired temp is set on the device and then the food is cooked slow over a long time till the center is heated to the desired temp. The cooking time can be over several hours. You literally put your steak, turkey, pork chop in a bag, in water then cooked for several hours.

When it’s reached the desired temp the item is usually finished on the stove. For example Adam cooks steak this way, then sears it on the grill on in an iron skillet. Perfect medium rare on the outside. Delicious char on the outside.

At one of my last restaurants we cooked turkey this way. Finished it in the oven to brown the skin.

We cook our pork chop this way.

However.

This cooking method, cooks the food through. It won’t dry it out. It also leaves the interior on turkey and pork a little pink. The meat is at a fully cooked temp, but the meat looks rarer than it is.

We got complaints about this at my last restaurant. And clearly this man was angry about it. And we won’t cook it more because in no time at all it will be dry. Trust me, it’s the most delicious, moist pork chop you’ll ever eat.

Filet: Guest called his well done filet a hockey puck.

A filet is sometimes two inches thick. To cook the center to well done the outside is going to be charred. To a avoid this the filet is often butterflied which cuts the meat almost in half so it’s a flat thinner piece. It’s not much better this way.

Some folks refuse to let us butterfly the steak. Some are unhappy that when the steak comes out well done it’s dry and tasteless. Because. The filet has very little fat. There is not far to keep it juicer. Want medium well, we’ll done? Order a New York strip. A ribeye.

All three times the guest was unhappy because they knew better and didn’t take the advice of their server.

So the moral of the story: ask questions if you don’t know the item or recognize the description. Then listen when the server gives you advice. The advice comes from the team who wrote the menu. They know how the item is supposed to be cooked to taste the best.

And don’t get angry when you don’t listen.