Why does nobody talk about 86ing a dish you love?

Last Saturday we had a full house and the line was already backed up. I had to drop my braised short rib special at 7pm because we ran out of the veal stock I spent 2 days on. I told the server to apologize and push the pork chop, but two tables walked out anyway. It stung because that dish was my anchor, but keeping it on would have meant serving something subpar. How do you decide when to cut a favorite versus risk the quality drop?

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aaron74012d ago

Did you have any backup stock frozen or prepped ahead for that veal stock situation? Part of running a kitchen is knowing what you can stretch and when you absolutely must cut something, but selling a dish that isn't right does more damage in the long run. I think the real issue isn't the decision to 86 it, it's that you didn't have a plan B for the stock running out sooner. A good habit is to always keep a frozen batch of your base stocks so you can extend a special by a day without losing quality. If the numbers say you can't cover the cost of keeping that safety net, then maybe the dish was never a true anchor to begin with. But two tables walking out over one special tells me your regulars care about consistency, and that's worth protecting even if it hurts tonight.

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