Sunday, June 22, 2008

Not What I Ordered

It escapes me how prosciutto can be so often misspelled, in Italian restaurants, no less.

If I had a dollar for every typo I've found in a restaurant menu - well, I could hire a personal chef.

While it may not be your strength, communicating your offerings with the respect your customers deserve by composing a menu that is correct is simply part of the job as a chef or restaurateur.

Sometimes, when perusing a particularly badly edited menu, I find myself more distracted by the errors than the foams and reductions that should be catching my eye, instead.

It's heartening to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way.

3 comments:

fishwithoutbicycle said...

That's funny!! I was in Panama a few years ago and much hilarity ensued over the English translations of the menus. Fair enough English wasn't their native language, but we were still amused when dishes were prepared with "a refreshing touch of chef" or with "species sauce". I'm hoping they meant spicy sauce.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Fish. Yes, I was just talking about simple typos - translations are a whole other matter!

I am certain that there are French waiters who've regaled their friends with tales of my requests for a refreshing aperitif of milk (le lait), rather than the Lillet (le Lillet) that I really wanted. That extra syllable spelled the difference between understanding and ridicule.

Anonymous said...

I'm right there with you sister!