It is often difficult to know whether or not to order a special at a restaurant.
Specials have associations with being less than fresh, or somewhat inferior to the regular menu. In Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, he mentions that it’s probably not a good idea to eat fish on a monday. I would like to thoroughly discredit this myth. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and businesses, deliverys arrive at all days and times as required. This includes sundays and mornings. The old idea that Monday’s fish is from Friday and that’s somehow bad is totally outdated.
It now takes less time than ever to get product from field or ocean to table. Reputable wholesalers are under tremendous pressure to provide the freshest produce possible, which translates to less time in warehouses before it gets to restaurants and supermarkets. Specials are often an opportunity to try out new menu ideas before the full menu can be changed or to let junior chefs get their ideas out there without the commitment of a regular menu item. At very high end restaurants, as you may have seen on kitchen shows such as ‘Hells Kitchen’ or ‘Kitchen Nightmares’, getting a special on the menu can be a higly motivating reward to junior chefs and cooks. They are also a way for restaurants to cut costs, as specials may result from a wholesaler giving a deal on surplus product. Again, this isn’t because the product is spoiled or old, it is because they are trying to clear it out because they don’t want it to become less than fresh.
Specials are also a great way for restaurants to take advantage of exceptional seasonal produce with no home on the menu. Items such as chanterelle or bluefoot mushrooms have very short seasons, so unless a restaurant changes their menu more than once a month, it can be difficult to use these tasty treats. A turkey special the day after thanksgiving isn’t necessarily yesterday’s leftovers reheated. It might be that on the thanksgiving menu, they used only the white breast meat, and the special is turkey thighs, or it’s possible they expected 100 reservations for that night, ordered accordingly and only got 70. This leaves 30 portions of perfectally fresh raw turkey and no use for it.
Specials can also offer exceptional value. When an expensive item is over ordered, and can only be kept for a few days, such as lobster, using it on a special, and using a lot of it on each plate, can be a great way to get back the money spent on it.
These rules don’t necessarily apply to every special, every time, but I hope that they have made you less scared of ordering them.
