What would you have done?

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TheBeachHouse

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It’s too late for me, but what would you have done? Woman comes to breakfast and corners hubby. “I know you’re serving French toast today, but could I have two fried eggs?”
I said, “ we are serving eggs tomorrow!”
She said, “I have a very strict diet, so could I have two fried eggs?”
I asked what kind of diet and she repeated that she wanted two fried eggs. I said, fine and asked, in butter?, oil?

She said, “oh,no, no butter.” I said, “tomorrow we are making omelets. Can you have milk? “ “No!”

Fine. I made her two fried eggs in a non stick pan and said to my hubby, “ that’s not a diet, it’s an order. I still don’t know what she is avoiding besides dairy.”
 
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Now that I think about it, sometimes, when someone’s diet restrictions are so numerous, we all say, well, what CAN you eat? Maybe she was going the simpler route.
 
I have and would have just fried the eggs . I would have asked about the omelet planned for the next day. I probably would have asked at that point if there were any other diet restrictions so we can ensure good breakfasts for you.
 
Just two rooms here, so that would be a yes on the eggs.
 
I’ve actually had to tell guests we were not planning on making individual servings of eggs so we used them all in the French toast batter.

The biggest problem with doing this is suddenly no one wants what you’ve prepared, they all want what they want.
 
Since I just have 3 rooms, it IS easier to adjust on the fly, however - the entrée IS cook's choice based in diet info given. Her Hubs mentioned that his wife was diabetic when brining in the luggage Saturday. She says she cheats on vacation. I have been using substitutes up to a point. this morning being their 20th anniversary, instead of muffins I made them a gingerbread as their anniversary cake. I told him it was made with sugar so she could feel she had cheated BUT it did not have frosting that a regular cake would need that would not be good. I straddled that fence.
 
One time I made French toast, someone asked for an egg fried and when I turned around to hand off the egg around there were about 5 people standing behind me with plates in hand for their eggs. Ever since I now do scrambled eggs with French toast.. makes for a busy breakfast for an old innkeeper
 
Let me tell you what I've done that has not worked and how you did much better than me :) . I've said, sure, just let me warn you, we do have a small fee for special orders. That's how we first handled it. NO ONE IS HAPPY WITH SMALL FEES FOR SPECIAL ORDERS. It is very effective in reducing special orders...but not for customer happiness. Don't do this. What I do now, oh, sure no problem, my pans are occupied, but if you don't mind waiting until I cook the other breakfasts, then I will get those eggs cooked for you. A small inconvenience is worth the happy customer, if you can do it. If you can't, then oh my goodness, if only I had known last night, we are out of eggs today, but tomorrow, I would be happy to do those fried eggs for you. That's what I do.
 
This morning, I was informed that I should make them a bid harder, and flip them once.
I broke a yolk and served them anyway.
The she made a reservation for next summer!
 
Would have made the eggs. When they ask for them over easy, I call them "ruined eggs". I keep a nonstick crepe pan on the stove at all times. Amazon.com: Starfrit 10" Multipan: Crepe Pan: Home & Kitchen but it's usually a lot cheaper here.... about U$13 or so. I have a few in stock.. if one's non-stick goes... I can just move to the next. Great for omelets and such as the edge is thin.
 
So far, I have done egg bake & maple venison sausage, the power was scheduled to go off at 8 AM so made a Ham, cooked apples, and cornbread egg sandwich to go, scalloped potato roll, pancakes with WV maple syrup and bacon, and today a breakfast burrito. He came down for her coffee this morning and asked what was on the menu - then he said she does not like burritos. told him it was not lettuce & tomatoes - refried beans (he grimaced so I said it will not be a lot) , ground beef, sour cream - he said on the side? & I said just a tad for moisture, sweet salsa - on the side, acid reflux (turns out she had a pepperoni roll yesterday with spicy pepperoni - THAT caused the reflux, not the sweet salsa!!))? OK, scrambled egg, and cheese, I made 2 in case she wanted more. She ate one, said she loved it (did not add either salsa or sour cream which was fine but she did add cheese) and said she wanted the other to take with for lunch. I had also made a small chocolate cake for his parent's anniversary today. Tomorrow French toast by request - so I have to bake bread today! This is getting to be tiring. Sigh.... Four more breakfasts - 3 with other people.
 
Am I misreading? Are you saying that most of your guests wanted eggs, so you stopped serving eggs?
So Chefs Choice of the day is individual crustless quiche with zucchini and cheddar cheese. Choice of alternative is scrambled eggs, yogurt parfait or oatmeal. Majority wanted scrambled eggs. So we took scrambled eggs off the alternative menu.

The alternatives are meant for allergie or diet issues. Not for mom’s diner choices. 😂
 
I always hard-sell the main item ("Can I tempt you with some amazing strawberry waffles this morning?") and after 9 years I can read a guest's face, and if that's not lighting them up, I'll offer, "If that's not something you'd like, we can always do eggs to order."

Now if I could just convince some of them that "eggs Benedict" is not a way to cook eggs to order.
 
We tried that for a short time. Majority asked for eggs. We quit.
I'm sure you have put quite a lot thought into this, but if most of your customers want it....don't let your interpretation of what good food is get in the way of what customers want. I struggle with this too. I live in a country where fried hotdogs are a popular breakfast side dish (instead of bacon or sausage). What do I do, I buy great quality hot dogs :)
 
I always hard-sell the main item ("Can I tempt you with some amazing strawberry waffles this morning?") and after 9 years I can read a guest's face, and if that's not lighting them up, I'll offer, "If that's not something you'd like, we can always do eggs to order."

Now if I could just convince some of them that "eggs Benedict" is not a way to cook eggs to order.
Hahahahaha
 
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