I've noticed more and more restaurants serve dishes with whipped and mashed veggies (celery, artichokes, etc.) instead of potatoes or rice or polenta. Is this simply for variety's sake or is it to accommodate the low carb craze?

I haven't seen whipped and mashed veggies often, other than carrots. What I have seen is a larger variety of vegetables and smaller portions of potatoes. I think when people are trying to cut carbs, they just ask the waiter for no potatoes and maybe a little more green vegetable.

When we ask for low carb we tend to get a bed of spinach or a side of broccoli as an option.
South Beach has a pureed califlower recipe which I think does work as a substitue for mashed potatoes as far as texture. I am glad that restaurants recognize that we would want to substitute a veggie for starch. I haven't noticed a lot of mashed veggies at restaurants though. Instead more polenta . Texas is usually behind California in trends.

No real reason... a puree of vegetables tastes pretty different than a solid vegetable. It's more for a texture / balanace/ taste thing on a dish. That'd be my best guesstimation. I haven't worked in a kitchen were we take into consideration "fad diets".

A bit off topic, but can I tell you I find the 'Atkins-friendly' labels that foods and restaurants are taglining their offerings with somehwat annoying. Even more so, I find the 'low-carb' labels annoying and humorous as well, like 'Low Carb Bread'.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

Mrs. Null-
For us the answer is both. I had a table last night (while you were at my restaurant) that wanted our Kobe, but wanted it with the puree that is under the salmon with the cherry relish that is on our lamb (because of the low carb craze). The chef blew a gasket and refused. They got Kobe with the menu accompanyments all on the side. Chefs are like artists and do not want their food creations to go out in any other way than they envision it. All the chefs I know HATE fad diets. Damn artists!

I can see winebrat's point, when a chef creates a dish everything is suppose to flow together. When someone wants to change it and does not like it they think it is the chef's fault.

nail on the head!!!!

I remember when I ordered my Audi a few years ago and was customizing the assembly they could not sell me the electric adjust seats because I opted for the 4 cylinder turbo over the slower 6 cylinder non turbo motor. "That is how the factory designed it and that is what you get". I went no further begging with the dealership and finished customizing what the factory specs allowed. Things are designed a certain way for a reason whether you understand them or not.

It's not about being an "Artist". The reason why we (Chefs / Cooks) hate it when we get a funky ticket is because it's disruptive to service, annoying, and usually the "improvised" plates are hideously bad.

There's a reason why a dish is how it is. It's because it works. Don't "be the chef" and come up with your own dish at a restaurant. We only curse and mock you in the back.

Hombre - Curse and mock me all you want. I won't hear you. And I'll get the dish I want. As long as nobody spits in my food or donates a stray hair, I'm perfectly happy to be cursed and mocked while eating something I want to, or should, eat.

I love having chefs prepare for me what they will. I am a happy gastronome. I love virtually all food. I enjoy new experiences and combinations. I have never, ever requested a dish to be prepared in a different way.

I agree with Lilac. They'll do it my way. If I find duck with a fruit sauce on the menu and another dishg with green peppercorn sauce, I'll always request the green peppercorn sauce with the duck.The chef may think the fruit sauce works better, butI don't, and I consider myself a far, far better judge of what works for me than the chef.

Not all chefs have such a negative attitude towards a special request, certainly not those wanting to please the patron. I know many chefs, some of whom come out and either sit stand and talk with us, often enjoying a taste of our wine.

Like TJ, I'm happy to let the chef do what the chef does. Other than the occasional "no tomatoes on that sandwich," I'll eat it as it comes.

I certainly see why a customer might make a special request, but...

If you are cooking with 50 tickets in front of you during a saturday night rush and something comes in that requires you to get sides from 2 other stations in the kitchen, the customer better be prepared to wait (hey, it beats hair and spit).

My favorite would be when some idoit server would come into the kitchen when it was very busy and ask the (very, very tempermental) chef about the possibility of some bizarre substitution. Even funnier, I guess, was when they tried to sneak some just-plain-stupid thing in by asking the cooks directly instead of putting it on the ticket, as in: "I forgot to put it on the ticket, but can you just make that a side of lobster salad instead of a baked potato?"

raybanz brings up another point - food cost.

The menu is priced to a Food Cost Percentage. Each dish is already broken down into how much it costs to plate, and what the profits are of each plate. That is another HUGE reason why Chefs hate it when somebody orders an item with substitutions. It messes up more than what you realize.

I think you should let the chef cook they way he wants to and if it does not agree with you order something different next time or go someplace else. I do not like going to dinner with people who feel a need to change the menu around for an assortment of reasons. A few months ago for a friend’s birthday we went to a Moroccan restaurant with about ten people. The person who arranged the event preordered a feast of food with a wide range of items. Now as we are about to eat, two of the people are asking that their food be prepared with no meat of any kind, no garlic, no onion, and no eggplant. Why did they come to a Moroccan restaurant, why not just order a salad from the market or at least call ahead and see what the restaurant could do for them instead of disrupting everyone’s meal. The whole point for me is to try new and interesting things.

I think any reasonable request by the patron should be honored. Now defining reasonable becomes the issue. IMO substituting any green vegetable of the Chef's choice for a starch is reasonable in my book. if the Chef doesn't consider that reasonable please feel free to tell me and I will happily leave the restaurant and dine elsewhere. Pretty simple.

I agree that reasonableness is the key. I can see substituting one side item or a sauce that's already been prepared for another dish on the menu. I find it embarrassing, however, to be at the same table w/someone who looks over the entire menu, sees something wrong with every selection and then asks for something special to be made for them. "I don't eat this and I don't like that. Could you make me something else instead?" That kind of talk makes me want to crawl under the table.

I will generally eat what the chef prepares. If something doesn't meet the needs of my palate, I usually select somthing else. I personally cannot stand bell peppers. A pepper with no heat is just plain blasphemy. I will ask if they can be deleted from certain preparations but I don't insist on it.

I do think that the chef should make some accomodation to the wishes of the customer but where to draw the line is a good question.

But don't you think that when a patron is maying good money, they should have their dish prepared the way they want it? I'm not talking about places like Chili's and TGI Friday's. I'm talking about nice restaurants where the bill usually comes to over $100 for a couple.

You know I love Christian's dishes, winebrat, but sometimes I think certain substitutions are perfectly reasonable and he shouldn't be so touchy. The patron you mentioned is not an example of a reasonable request. However, asking for asparagus instead of broccoli rabe (when asparagus is on the menu with another dish) is perfectly reasonable. Perhaps the patron should have simply ordered the Kobe with no potatoes and not the Kobe with puree instead of potatoes.

An UNreasonable request is one in which a special sauce must be made - for example someone asking that their marinara sauce be made with no onions. The kitchen should not have to prepare a special batch of sauce to accommodate one customer.

Of course, I rarely ever order anything exactly the way it comes. I'm high maintenance. :P