Vent: Line cooks keep calling everything aioli and it is not aioli

Watched a guy at my last spot in Austin label a plain mayo and sriracha mix "chipotle aioli" on a menu that printed at $900 for the run. Aioli is garlic and oil, that is it. If there is no garlic in the emulsion, it is flavored mayo, and I have eaten enough gray, gluey "aioli" to know the difference by mouthfeel alone. I get that guests like the word, but we are the ones who are supposed to know better. Does your spot let the front of house name the sauces, or does the chef get final say?

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leow907d ago

we are the ones who are supposed to know better" hits it, because the word aioli is basically just a price tag now. Call it garlic mayo and folks think it's cheap, call it aioli and you can tack on three bucks for the same stuff. Which is why I'd say chef needs the final say on sauce names, if the menu is just marketing copy then the line cooks are the only ones left who actually care what's in the bowl.

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drew7787d ago

Funny thing is I used to roll my eyes at the aioli upsell until I caught myself doing it at home, blending garlic into mayo and calling it "rustic aioli" to my guests like some kind of sauce con man. Point is @leow90 has it right, the name game is real and it works on almost everyone. So yeah, chef should own the names, but they should also have to stand behind them when someone asks what's actually in it. If the answer is "mayo and garlic" then say that and let the price stand on its own. A menu that lies just makes the line cooks look bad when the food is fine. The people cooking it care way more than the label ever will.

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