Josh, how do you feel about substitutions/modifications? I'm not talking about cases in which the restaurant encourages it on the menu, which, as a vegetarian of many many years, I certainly take advantage of from time to time.
I'm talking about "I'm not used to eating [dish] with [ingredient], so I'd better have them leave off the [ingredient]."
Josh, how do you feel about substitutions/modifications? I'm not talking about cases in which the restaurant encourages it on the menu, which, as a vegetarian of many many years, I certainly take advantage of from time to time.
I'm talking about "I'm not used to eating [dish] with [ingredient], so I'd better have them leave off the [ingredient]."
I am generally anti-substitution but it's not a bright-line view. If there's something you're allergic to and the dish will still work without it -- e.g., you want the sesame seeds left off the topping for a crudo -- then go ahead and ask for that. But in general I think you should trust the restaurant's judgment on flavor, and if the thing you're trying to avoid is sufficiently central to the dish, you should just order something else.
Oh yeah, allergies are an obvious exception. People should absolutely ask to substitute for something they're allergic to.
I agree 100 percent about trusting the restaurant's judgment. So what if it's a combination you haven't seen before? They surely haven't put it on the menu at random -- maybe TRY IT rather than automatically rejecting it.
This is an increasingly big pet peeve of mine. Why go to a restaurant at all if you don't want to see how they make food? Gah!
Josh, how do you feel about substitutions/modifications? I'm not talking about cases in which the restaurant encourages it on the menu, which, as a vegetarian of many many years, I certainly take advantage of from time to time.
I'm talking about "I'm not used to eating [dish] with [ingredient], so I'd better have them leave off the [ingredient]."
I certainly know how *I* feel.
I am generally anti-substitution but it's not a bright-line view. If there's something you're allergic to and the dish will still work without it -- e.g., you want the sesame seeds left off the topping for a crudo -- then go ahead and ask for that. But in general I think you should trust the restaurant's judgment on flavor, and if the thing you're trying to avoid is sufficiently central to the dish, you should just order something else.
Oh yeah, allergies are an obvious exception. People should absolutely ask to substitute for something they're allergic to.
I agree 100 percent about trusting the restaurant's judgment. So what if it's a combination you haven't seen before? They surely haven't put it on the menu at random -- maybe TRY IT rather than automatically rejecting it.
This is an increasingly big pet peeve of mine. Why go to a restaurant at all if you don't want to see how they make food? Gah!