We asked (star) chefs about the strangest requests they have ever received
Chefs and restaurant staff sometimes receive remarkable and hilarious requests from guests. We asked (star) chefs about the strangest requests they have ever received themselves. Would you dare to ask this?
These requests range from creative and challenging to downright strange, but one thing is certain: they never make a chef’s job boring!
In the category: bizarre dietary requirements
A well-done yet juicy steak, a dish without salt that doesn’t taste salt-free, vegan foie gras… Our chefs can name a few more.
Niven Kunz (Triptyque*)
“A guest listed “chicken only” as a dietary requirement for dinner, so we suggested a vegetarian menu… however, it turned out that this guest really only liked chicken.. there was nothing we could do about that.”
Yuri Wattimena (YANO)
“No garlic and onion. I carried it out, but it wasn’t easy.”
In the category: unusual combinations
Spaghetti with chocolate sauce, fish sticks dipped in champagne or a burger without a bun, but with pancakes instead. All fairly strange requests, but the request Thomas Val received takes the cake…
Thomas Val (Wils*)
“I was once asked by a Danish couple if I knew anyone who sold drugs and if I wanted to go out with them after dinner. I politely declined that request.”
In the category: specific cooking methods
Grilling a steak for exactly 3 minutes and 27 seconds, pasta cooked in mineral water, frying an egg without breaking the yolk and without letting the egg white develop brown edges. Really, people ask for all of it. Just like these remarkable requests:
Marleen Brouwer (Noor*)
“Putting everything (cod, vegetables, etc.) in the blender and mixing it. This person had an issue with their jaw.”
Casimir Evens (Odile*)
“Wagyu beef, well done.”
Jord Althuizen (Black Smoke)
“A well-done tuna fillet, with the additional note that if I thought it was well done, I should cook it for twice as long. Well, I made it well done.”
Michiel Deenik (Visaandeschelde)
“My colleague Jord Althuizen asked me to prepare a pig’s head in our wood-fired oven for his staff outing at The Roast Room. Mission accomplished.”
In the category: personalization
Guests who want their name written in the sauce on the plate or a dish that matches the color of their outfit. Strange? Certainly, but really: it happens. Chef Leonardo was also taken aback when he received several sheets of paper listing requirements..
Leonardo Pacenti (Toscanini)
“I once received an allergy list consisting of four sheets of paper with the strangest requirements, such as brands of beer and types of wine from different regions.”
In the category: dishes not on the menu
Whether you want sushi prepared in an Italian restaurant because the guest loves sushi so much, or request a breakfast with eggs and bacon even though it’s 10 p.m. That’s still easy compared with the request chef Tim received.
Tim Golsteijn (Restaurant Bougainville* | Twenty Seven Hotel)
“To prepare an entire goat (in technical cuts). The guest is king, so we got to work!”
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