In “Kitchen Confidential,” Anthony Bourdain (rest in power) wrote, “Be prepared to witness every variety of human folly and injustice.” He was reflecting on his life in restaurants.
While it’s debatable (at best) to think that everyone at some point in their life should work in a kitchen or wait tables, one of Bourdain’s beliefs, for those who do, there is little doubt they’ll walk away with tales to tell.
Everything from the nearly transcendent—serving and drinking late into the night in a private wine room at The Cloister (Sea Island)— to the lesser-noble: making croutons from uneaten bread.
When Kimberley Nicole’s (@confecting) chef called for a team meeting, she could barely believe it was to talk about “people picking food off of customers’ plates.”
“Because why are you doing that in the first place?” she asked with rhetorical disdain in her TikTok video. It has now been viewed over 23,000 times.
Why shouldn’t servers eat food off of customers’ plates?
The chef talked about where he once worked, a regular, and an attempt by the staff to be nice. It resulted in a stomach-churning revelation.
“[A customer] was always coming in to get the scallops, but [the chef] noticed she would never eat the scallops, just the sides,” Nicole said. “And of course, people in the back are eating the scallops [from the customer’s plate].”
“Like, ew,” opined Nicole.
In the TikTok, Nicole is clearly at a mid-scale restaurant. The ceiling is blacked out, and the lighting fixtures are modern-ish brushed copper pendant lights. So it’s probably within the bounds of reason to speculate that the menu ranges from a hyperbolic burger to more lightly experimental fare. That is to say, safe enough for grandparents, interesting enough for visiting “cool cousins.”
Nicole continued, “The [chef] talked to [the guest], ‘Hey we can always get you the sides, you don’t need to order the actual scallop plate. And she said, ‘Oh no, I suck the juice off of the scallops, I can’t chew them.’”
At this point, Nicole’s mouth is literally hanging open in astonishment. “That is disgusting,” she says.
It would seem that viewers emphatically agree
Viewer Michelle wrote, “I wanted to die the first time I saw a coworker eat off of a customer’s plate.”
“I’m screaming,” commented another.
While Bee wrote that servers at their job do that, and though they “try not to judge, it’s still ‘yuck.’”
However, there is another side to the argument.
Writing for Vice, Becky Bergum admitted: “ Back when I worked in a pub, I’d routinely gobble up leftover chips, arancini balls, or half-eaten steaks.”
Her position is primarily one that targets food waste. “In the U.S. the National Resource Defence Council found that a shameful 40 percent of food produced, processed, and transported is wasted and ends up in landfill.”
To those concerned with germs (aka the real ick factor), she appeals to logic: “ You do realise other people have already touched your food in a restaurant? And probably quite a few of them too? Anyway, germs are good for your immune system.”
Bergum concluded that “it’s fine” to eat after strangers, that the activity just needs “ a rebrand.”
Yikes.
Dining out
Whether or not swiping leftover food off the next table is declasse and gross, or not, dining out is a huge part of life. The National Restaurant Association reported that in 2024, the industry was projected to contribute 6% to the GDP. It also reported that “63 percent of adults have worked in the restaurant industry, making it the nation’s training ground,” and one out of every ten Americans works in the sector.
Perhaps this is why in offices across the country, adults write their names on food stored in shared spaces in an attempt to protect it. Old (restaurant) habits die hard?
@confecting i’ve never thought to eat off anyone’s plate bc why tf?! Im good fam. Comment stories you’ve heard, Im so curious! #serviceindustry #serviceindustryproblems #bartenderstories #serverlife #fyp #funny ♬ original sound – Kimberly Nicole
The Mary Sue has reached out to Nicole for comment.
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