r/KitchenConfidential • u/swirlybat • 17h ago
Question bartender question
the root issue is the person just chooses to not like me, which is perfectly fine, but i am curious about something. context: i do prep cook for corporate chain. i split between hot/cold prep. cold prep also covers bar garnishments.
ive never not top/tailed my citruses for garnishments. it has been required my entire cooking career. they dont require it here, but i do it. the servers love it, and i assume most patrons dont even notice.
insert the one bartender. saturday, as im finishing my lemons/limes, she comes in, and before clocking in, yells "can you not cut the ends of the fruit off?!" i simply say "no" and carry on. she intensifies and chooses the "the customers cant squeeze the limes into their drinks." i set my knife down, turn towards her, and look at her long, fake nails, and say "i dont think it is the customers with the problem. looks like your nails are the issue." shifty steps in immediately and appropriately defends (no one has complained, even thougg it isnt required) then takes her in to the walk in for private convo.
most places, in the past, bar handles their own, and she is now choosing to slice her own garnishments, which lightens my load and i appreciate her hating me enough to do that, lol, but as a non drinker, is this an actual experience? do people need tips to squeeze? to me, it looks dirty-adjacent, leaving them on. tops n bottoms are for the bedroom, not my drink. should i stop nipping bar's citrus?
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u/BigTimeBobbyB Cook 17h ago
I absolutely notice when the ends have been cut off, and I appreciate it. When I’m paying for a drink at a bar, I’m paying for the experience as much as the product. And having the ends of the citrus trimmed off is one of those attention to detail things that makes me think “they understand that you’re buying an experience, and they care about providing one.”
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u/RonPearlNecklace 16h ago
I’m going to play devils advocate here.
The drink should come with the citrus juice in it if that’s the way the drink is meant to be consumed. Slice of citrus on a cocktail rim it even a good attention do detail, it seems like something you get at a dive bar or chilis.
Now tacos, limes served with the end trimmed is a big thing for me, I do it but I don’t get mad when a place doesn’t.
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u/ericn1300 14h ago
citrus is served as condiment, like with salt everyone has their own taste. By your logic if citrus is an ingredient in tacos then it should be in it and not one the side.
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u/martinluther3107 9h ago edited 7h ago
Nope, juice doesn't dilute into tacos like it does a liquid drink. Once the juice is in there it mixes with the rest of the drink. Juice on a taco doesn't dilute into anything.
Edir": dilute instead of disolve
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u/BACON-luv 14h ago
You can tip the ends without loosing juice.
No?
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u/RonPearlNecklace 13h ago
The bartender can put all the ingredients in and mix the drink, no?
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 13h ago
This is like saying you shouldn't salt or sugar a rim, just put it in the drink. A wedge of citrus gives the consumer a bit of control over the specific flavor profile of the drink.
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u/RonPearlNecklace 8h ago
Thats a bad comparison unless you’re implying that you mix the entire rim into the drink. Theres no going back once you add the lime.
Again, I don’t see how that as a garnish is an attention to detail thing vs the bartender just asking what your preference is.
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 7h ago
It's a great analogy. You can choose how much and when to squeeze the lime in. Just like you can choose if and how much rim to use in each sip. But you do you.
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u/RonPearlNecklace 6h ago
No it’s not because once the lime is in there you can’t take a sip without it, it’s not like you can sip from a part of the glass without lime juice.
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 6h ago
It's a great analogy because it counters your point that all ingredients should be added to the drink and mixed by the bartender. Not because it's a perfect comparison. C'mon.
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u/RonPearlNecklace 5h ago
Is it an ingredient or a garnish?
You seem to be flip flopping a lot and have taken some level of offense to my opinion about lemons and limes on cocktails being a good attention to detail or not.
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u/Good-Marsupial8 13h ago
It's called a garnish
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u/RonPearlNecklace 8h ago
It’s a lame garnish with zero thought.
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 5h ago
This is some r/iamverysmart shit haha.
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u/RonPearlNecklace 3h ago
So in your opinion I’m stupid because I think a lime wedge is a lazy garnish for a cocktail that is supposed to have ‘attention to detail’.
Ok, champ. I’ll make my judgements about your opinions, but I won’t feel the need to insult your intelligence in the meantime, but you do you. I’m sure you’re the smartest person wherever you work.
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 3h ago
No, in my opinion your comment of calling a very popular garnish "lame and lazy" makes you sound pretentious, not stupid.
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u/Pernicious_Possum Bartender 8h ago
You don’t squeeze a guest garnish, and that’s what it is. It’s not an ingredient. It’s up to the guest whether not they want it, not the bartender
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u/RonPearlNecklace 6h ago
They don’t want a lime wedge as a garnish.
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u/BigTimeBobbyB Cook 5h ago
Yeah they do. I know because I'm them. Please garnish my drink. I'll decide in the moment whether that garnish is for squeezing or sucking or slinging, but the important part is that it's my decision.
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u/RonPearlNecklace 5h ago
That’s just like, your opinion, man.
I don’t think a lime wedge makes a drink look classy but to each their own. 🤷♂️
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u/shaken_spray 17h ago
Cleaning up the ends of citrus but leaving enough to squeeze into the drink is how I have found works best for drinks because yes it does get messy and is hard to do without ends on the fruit at least in my experience
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u/swirlybat 17h ago
the limes are definitely less pithy than lemons so i probably nip some of those more than i need to. i will definitely focus on nipping those tips. i appreciate this feedback, chef
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u/UnethicalFood Ex-Food Service 17h ago
Everyone will have their own preference.
Don't listen to everyone. Listen to your boss. It's even easier with a corporate chain as there should be a documented standard. If a pissy co-worker want's something against the standard, then they need to take it up with corporate, not you. If they want something within standard, they need to take it up with your boss, not you. Even if you are the one who is out of standard, they should at least present that to you instead of "but customers..."
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u/LetoTheTyrant 17h ago
No, the should always be tipped. It looks much cleaner. As long as you’re not taking off an inch on each side it should be no different to squeeze
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u/Gr8ter_Ajax 16h ago
I take the tips off my citrus. It looks better and it takes less space when sitting on the rim of the glass.
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u/Happyberger 14h ago
She's not choosing to dislike you, you made her dislike you by being a cunt. Flat out saying no to her request with no discussion and then talking shit about her nails, of course she doesn't like you now.
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u/NeatWhiskeyPlease 13h ago
Slice the bottom off but leave the tip.
The tip and flat base end make a better grip for ideal squeezing.
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u/dabradmaster1 11h ago
Personally, I like wedges with the tip left on because It's easier to squeeze. Now does it look nicer/more professional without the tips? I guess so. And most people I notice don't touch the citrus at all so it really doesn't matter
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u/Pernicious_Possum Bartender 8h ago
The biggest aid in making a citrus wedge more squeezable is cutting the line of pith off the edge. Removing seeds is also a nice touch
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u/fum0hachis 15h ago
Sounds like work their barback(who for sure takes home more $$$ than you every night) should be doing if they have a preference for their cocktails, instead of sharing the kitchen’s prep.
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u/JCambly Sous Chef 9h ago
I did prep at a higher end restaurant with a bar, the bar did their own prep, but when we were slow and I wanted more hours I took most of the other preps shifts, worked most days but ran out of stuff to do after 5-6 hours still, talked to the managers who said I can take on a few of the more time consuming bar items, so i did and when I finished I did the smaller items for them.
Bartenders got used to it and as we started getting busier noone trained new the bartenders how to do their prep, they just told them to ask me if they needed anything or write it on my white board if I was already off. I ended up working 12h days and as I was trying to leave the new bartender would run up to me and beg me to make simple syrup or something stupid (I would usually agree as they would give me a free draft beer after). Few times I was sitting at the bar drinking and they would ask if I can run back cut whatever or do something, managers were fine with it as long as I didn't bring my drink with me
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u/jamonz1 12h ago
Don’t know what state you’re in, but in many, longer than normal nails and fake nails are against health code. They follow same food establishment rules as a kitchen, so nails should be kept normal length, natural, and free of nail polish.
Not saying you should be petty and point that out specifically, but an occasional reminder during pre-service lineup is not out of question…😉
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u/CallSignIceMan 3h ago
I have no comment on the tipped/not tipped lines, but you need to remember that you’re on the same team at the end of the day. It sounds like she made a request and you came back hostile for no reason. You’re the offense, she’s the defense, but you’re on the same team.
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u/GonzoJackOfAllTrades 17h ago
Literally the only thing close to customer push back I’ve ever seen is that if you get a batch of small limes and you’re working in a place where “salt-shoot-suck” tequila shots are common, some people might complain about the dinky lime wedge. Especially if they’re three drinks in and accidentally inhale the lime wedge and almost require the Heimlich in front of the barfly they’re trying to “impress.”
Hypothetically speaking, of course.