As you might imagine, restaurant code words allow staff to communicate without having to openly explain their meaning. But codes aren’t just used to specify notes about customers. It’s also an easy way to quickly communicate important information. Rest assured, visits from the health department always deserve codewords.
“You don’t want them to know that you’re warning the whole restaurant,” Michael Cecchi-Azzolina cooked to the tasting table. [for] When the Ministry of Health came in, it elaborated, “If in doubt, throw it away.” If the temperature is 40 when it should be 42, it’s not a big deal, but the thermometer comes in and it says [could be] $300, $500, $1,000.” What words describe the visit from the Ministry of Health? Cecchi-Azzolina admits to using “tsunami,” “chicken liver,” and “clay.”
According to Cecchi-Azzolina, critics are treated with the same codewords, and for the same reasons. “I want everyone to know that this is a big moment for us. [because it could] Bad reviews and bad health tests cost me a lot of money. ”
Michael Cecchi-Azzolina’s book Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’ is available from Macmillan.
