Would you use your own classy gents folder at a fancy restaurant?

I was invited out for dinner in one of the nicer places in Seattle for Christmas a few years back. The gentleman who took my wife and self was well enough known that he had a favorite table, everyone knew his name, and as the evening progressed all of the different servers stopped by to pay their respects, the owner stopped by etc.. The present I gave my friend was the blade out of my own pocket, and the sentiment was well received. I had cleaned and sharpened it, and while it wasn't perfect, you would have to look hard to find blemish. He used the knife all night, and showed it to various staff members.

In my travels I have found that quality tends to appreciate quality.
 
After seeing a guy cut up some tatami mats with a sword, I thought, hey if I bring my favorite Bowie knife, maybe they would not mind if I suspended a piece of ribeye from a hook and wire in the ceiling and slice it with my bowie, or like they do with sisal rope. At least maybe if it is a Brazilian steak house, maybe I can slice off the meat off the stick. Now that would be a fun night out at the steak house!! So yes, I would bring my own knife to cut at a steakhouse. :D I actually wish I had one of my pocket knives the day we ate lunch out after church on Sunday, the brisket was very chewy with some fat, and I finally had to ask for a serrated steak knife to cut it, and that only did slightly better than the butter knife I started with. I wonder if I would have gotten a few odd looks from my Sunday school classmates, although they know I usually carry a knife.
 
I recall when Alain Ducasse first opened his eponymous restaurant in New York at the Essex House they had a portable display of Laguiole knives presented to diners who required one. It was intended for a squab dish.

I have no idea if anyone on staff ever sharpened them. Aside that, he still offers them at other restaurants he owns in France and elsewhere.

He used to present a similar pen display but claimed New Yorkers stole them.
 
It's a statement (of class, of authenticity, of folklore, whatever...). I can get what Alain Ducasse did there. However, a dull Laguiole is still a dull knife. It's a policy : knives must be dull, because...
I recently sharpened two sets of Laguiole styled steak knives for a private household. Solid build, good steel, good finish, 12 knives. First feedback I got was : " But they are way too sharp ! I cut myself while putting them in the dishwasher (or taking them out), or dipping them with all the usual stuff in the sink" (don't ever do any of that crap, by the way...) Fact is some people don't deserve (and don't actually need) sharp knives.
 
My comment about sharpening is because I had a couple of my ex-cooks working there and the subject never came up. I can still ask.
 
My answer is because I was very surprised by the attitude of professional cooks about their knives : many of them, seemingly, just hack away as long as it cuts somehow, others are almost religious with their knives. One of them is an amateur of japanese knives and he almost freaked out when I told him "Hey, I could polish them up to first grade without any metal loss..." The answer was : "No, no, no, I care for my knives myself. Nobody else ever touches them." Cool, I can get that. I would say the same.
 
Yep, the nice ones are always stolen.

Had a waiter standing behind a woman while she asked the rest of the twelve-top to pass her all the fish forks, shoving them in her purse.

At one hotel restaurant, using gratuitously priced tableware, management put up a large display in the kitchen with they prices of each piece below a carelessly broken item. When the employee theft skyrocketed they removed the display.

Just the thought of how badly the dishwashers would cut themselves would stop even the first mention of buying fine, sharp knives.

Don't get me started on Riedels. :D
 
The captains at The Quilted Giraffe in the 80s were on top of their game. Once, when a check was presented to a guest with an additional $350 on it he loudly objected so the entire table of six could hear. The captain leaned over to his ear and quietly said, "Sir, that's the charge for the silver Beggar's Purse pedestal in your wife's handbag."

It was later retrieved from one of the guest restrooms.
 
Very cute, I like that ! Can I say, Delicious ? I'm all in favour of confronting assholes with their assholery. First step for a better world...
 
I had a steak this weekend and all they provided was one of these
52159_large.jpg

That is all it needed the steak was so tender it was practically falling apart
 
Checking it up to war stories would be a bit bold... But, yes, memories a plenty.
 
Chefget said:
Yep, the nice ones are always stolen.

Had a waiter standing behind a woman while she asked the rest of the twelve-top to pass her all the fish forks, shoving them in her purse.

At one hotel restaurant, using gratuitously priced tableware, management put up a large display in the kitchen with they prices of each piece below a carelessly broken item. When the employee theft skyrocketed they removed the display.

Just the thought of how badly the dishwashers would cut themselves would stop even the first mention of buying fine, sharp knives.

Don't get me started on Riedels. :D
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At our peak in the early oughts we had $1500 of breakage and pilferage a month. Bernardaud, Riedel, Cristofle, the works. The freaking espresso cups were $90 a pop. Plus the saucers.

;)
 
I don’t get why people would steal stuff like that.

I mean, you could never really, truly enjoy it knowing that it was stolen.

I don’t get that mindset.
 
sabre cat said:
I don’t get why people would steal stuff like that.

I mean, you could never really, truly enjoy it knowing that it was stolen.

I don’t get that mindset.
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Sadly, I think far more people today would absolutely enjoy an item taken from a restaurant, because they'd enjoy the fact that it was something they "own" that they didn't have to pay for. Disgusting, really, but what can you do?
 
It is one thing to steal those big plastic red Coke cups that were everywhere in the 80s, maybe before then too but I'm not old enough to know that, which might have most cost than we think but comparative to fine dishware and silverware it is certainly nothing plus not like anyone who has them can hide the fact they swiped it from some restaurant as that was the only place you saw them.
 
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