What is a well known 'public secret' in the industry you work in that the majority of outsiders are unaware of?
What is a well known 'public secret' in the industry you work in that the majority of outsiders are unaware of?
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Restaurants are 100% more disgusting than your own kitchen.
It really doesn't matter which one unless it's like super high end. And you've almost definitely eaten something that was dropped on the floor.
I was a chef for 10 years and worked in multiple kitchens. This just isnt true. At least its not a blanket rule.
Ive worked in cheap places with immaculate kitchens and posh places with grotty kitchens and vice versa.
Its luck of the draw sometimes but ive never EVER served food that fell on the floor or witnessed it happening.
I think you have likely worked in some bad places.
I concur. I've been in restaurant kitchens and most of them were more sanitary than the average home kitchen. They almost always have better ventilation, and they are cleaned regularly.
It's important to remember that the food is only as clean as the grossest person who had access to it. I was genuinely surprised at some of the shit I would see when my cooks thought I wasn't watching them, especially during prep
Like i said. Its not a blanket rule. Some places are bad. Others are good. But i was responding to someone who said all restaurants are less clean thatn your home kitchen which is verifiably false.
Worked in commercial refrigeration for 10 years. Even the super high end ones are almost always disgusting....
And the inside of the ice maker is probably about as clean as the floor drain.
I've read enough horror stories about this that I have started eating out much less. With friends or partner to have fun sure, I don't want to give up or reduce my social life (even then I try to pick "safe" food, and definitely cooked food), but unless I am like super tired or really didn't have a second to go buy groceries, I will cook my own food and not order take-away any day of the week. At least I trust what I am cooking.
Something I'm aware of but try not to think about
I ate at a place once and when she came with the bill the waitress had randomly taken the appetizer we ordered off the bill. She didn't forget it, it was zeroed out. We hadn't complained or had to wait a long time or anything so I've always kind of wondered if something happened she didn't want to tell us about...
I think the previous owners of my house would give them a run for their money. Even apart from parts of the fridge and range being broken, I'd have seriously considered tossing them just because of how disgusting they were. I don't like tossing things that still work though. So while I wasn't keen on spending over a thousand to get them replaced, I'm probably much better off for it.
I honestly don't know how they could stand it being that dirty. Everything was caked. I even had to give the pantry a scrub down before I could paint it.
Same here! Our whole kitchen had at least 2 sets of owners worth of grease and grime coating everything. The people before us only owned the house for a couple years, but I don't think they cleaned the place even once. We spent the first day of homeownership scrubbing all the nooks and crannies of just the kitchen. The outsides and tops of the cabinets are still a bit sticky, but we're hoping to replace them soon. One of the burners on the stove was absolutely encrusted with burned stuff, the bottom of the fridge drawer had tons of dust and crud, and the walls were covered in handprints, food splatters, and misc. grime. Bleh!
If Gordon Ramsay's nightmare kitchens taught me anything, it's exactly what you said.
That might be true where you live, but that's definitely not true here in Europe.