Dear [name of establishment...may be revealed later if there's either a meritworthy or non response]
On Sunday 18th August, I was one of a party of six adults and one toddler,
booked under my daughter’s name Claire I think, who enjoyed a meal there in the
late afternoon. I say ‘enjoyed’ with no intention of irony. The setting was
great; the occasion, relaxed; and the food, good...in all but one respect.
Before I describe this, please be assured that I’m not looking for any personal
gain here, except the satisfaction of letting you know something was not right,
then you can endeavour to prevent it from happening again.
My main course choice was sirloin steak, which the gentleman serving us
said was from cattle of the Hereford breed, reared locally. It was more than
disappointing and I am more than concerned about the detrimental impact that
serving such poor specimens surely has on the Great British Public’s view of
ordering steak when eating out. My specimen was poor in two important respects:
(1) It was terribly badly cooked. I’d ordered medium rare, which indeed it was.
But (i) the steak offered no evidence that it had been seasoned before cooking;
and (ii) the fat strip was pale, cool and more or less raw. (2) Before it got
near the grill, the steak itself should have been rejected by your chef and
returned to your supplier on account of a thick strip of gristle between muscle
and fat, running the entire length of the steak. If your kitchen team looks at
what’s left on plates when they return to the kitchen, the evidence was plain to
see. What really narks me is that both these factors are avoidable.
“Why didn’t you raise this at the time?”, you may be wondering. Because of
bitter experience that giving such real time feedback in the past has ALWAYS
spoiled the occasion, no matter how diplomatic I have been in offering the
feedback and no matter how well handled it’s been by the establishment. As I
said up top, we all enjoyed the meal very much. For my part, your calamari
starter was good and chocolate dessert, divine. Even now, I purposely haven’t
shared my dissatisfaction about the sirloin with any of the party.
Part of my reason for taking this seriously is that I have an interest in the good name of native breed British beef, and steak in particular,
in my work helping to promote a future rival to you, www.yourperfectnightin.co.uk. Of
course, this is not a competitor in the conventional sense; but it does offer an
‘eat in rather than eat out’ proposition. Perfect Night In steaks are from
pasture-reared Aberdeen Angus-cross cattle, and if they ever send out a steak with
gristle like the one you served to me, I’ll be mortified. Also, in addition to
being an eager home cook of limited skill, I have worked 10-15 hours a week in a hobby-job (in
addition to full-time self-employment) for a while as a commis chef in one of
the best eating houses in the Shrewsbury area. It’s like getting paid to attend
cookery school, and if I ever serve up a steak with gristle, or as poorly cooked
as the one you served to me, I’ll be mortified.
I hope you detect that my intentions are genuine. It so happens that www.yourperfectnightin.co.uk is
based on a small farm in north Gloucestershire, which I visit regularly to plan my work with the owners.If you’re interested, I would be delighted to
drop in on you at a convenient time with a couple of their Angus sirloins for you
to taste, not because I want you to buy from them, but because I’d like to chew the
fat with you about steak and British beef, dining out and dining in, etc.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely
Phil Christopher
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