The parsley garnish that comes on every plate is driving me crazy

I worked at a place last summer where the owner insisted every plate get a sprig of curly parsley. It didn't matter if it was steak or fish or pasta. One night I sent out 80 plates and every single one had parsley. I pulled the owner aside and asked why. He said it made the plate look fresh. But half the plates came back with parsley pushed to the side or dropped on the floor. Has anyone else seen places just throw parsley on everything even when it makes no sense?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancy_ross19d ago

OH FOR REAL. Parsley on EVERYTHING is just lazy plating if you ask me. It's like the restaurant equivalent of putting a bow on a garbage bag - doesn't make it better. Chefs need to learn when to LET a plate be bare.

the_tara18d ago

Ugh, that hits home. @nancy_ross you nailed it, it really is like putting a bow on a garbage bag. I once saw a server scrape a pile of abandoned parsley off a plate and just dump it straight into the trash by the bus tub. The chef saw it and still didn't get the hint. A garnish should add something, not just be a green sticker they slap on everything.

seth68315d ago

Does the owner honestly think people are eating that parsley? Because Ive watched grown adults treat it like a biological hazard, sliding it off their fork with a napkin. The worst part is when a plate comes back with steak sauce and grease all over the parsley, and it just sits there like a sad little witness to a crime. At that point its not a garnish, its a leftover you have to pay for. If they want green on every plate so bad, at least use something edible like microgreens or a single basil leaf. But curly parsley has that weird texture and bitter taste that nobody asked for. It feels like the restaurant is just going through the motions instead of actually thinking about what goes on the plate.