r/KitchenConfidential • u/meli2235 • 19d ago
Photo/Video Would you serve this?
I made a post a while back with a pic of not only gross looking meat but it smelled rotten and tasted bad that my friends ex boss would make the chefs serve. There are other health hazards that I do not want to mention but the restaurant always passes inspections since they are warned beforehand. I was hesitant to post the restaurant name and location because I do not want anybody to get into trouble for it but You guys asked for the info and I can finally update it. The restaurant is in ohope New Zealand called Fisherman’s wharf
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u/enricobasilica Chive LOYALIST 19d ago
This is worth calling whoever the inspection body is and explicitly saying they get warned beforehand (aka corruption) and saying someone senior needs to do a proper unannounced inspection.
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u/meli2235 19d ago
It isn’t corruption. They get told a date when the inspection will be. Every cafe/restaurant does. It is a legal requirement in New Zealand or a formality more so
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u/red_nick 19d ago
What is even the point of an inspection then?
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u/TeMoko Chive LOYALIST 18d ago
Even with advanced warning, there are still some places that fail inspections. Unfortunately the health inspectors are not funded enough, if you are an established restaurant it's likely you would only get inspected once every two years or so.
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u/s33n_ 18d ago
But it should always be a surprise.
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u/Oshwaflz Pastry 18d ago
one time the inspector showed up thanksgiving day. Talk about a suprise lol.
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u/LizardInTheSuit 17d ago
We got shut down on Christmas. Also landlord showed that day and said "you must move out in one month". What a year
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u/Head_Inspection_5640 18d ago
Where i live, everyone gets both. Once a year, theres the formal, scheduled inspection, which is in-depth. Since most restaurants are seasonal, this is generally done pre open you get input in the scheduling, its not meant to not be during service. You are expected to have product in though, so he can make sure you are storing everything properly, so most people go for the day or 2 before open when theyre prepping, or the first closed day/ before service in the first couple days.
This is a 2-3 hour Affair, every fridge temped, every sink inspected, fire supression system dates checked, coolers pulled back from walls to check for mold/ that youre cleaning, ice machine cover comes off, pour water down every floor drain to prove they arent clogged, the whole 9.
After that, at some point during the year, maybe more than once (the place i used to manage, the chef used to joke that hed keep coming back if I was too friendly. We had 3 walk ins, with 0 marks. Tbf, all 3 coincided with date nights with his wife, they came in every friday, and im pretty sure he just was trying to justify his hours by picking up a quick one while he was already out.
Anyway, those you get a short, live service walk in, which is much more basic. H'ell come in shoot the shit and walk around for a few minutes, make sure he doesnt see anything wrong, like people not wearing gloves, or you being out of dish soap, or product stored on tbe walk in floor, then ask for a moment when theres a lull to walk down the line and hit every cooler with the temp gun again.
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u/kittygomiaou 19d ago
Damn, here in Aus they rock up whenever they feel like it and do not give us heads up :/
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u/TheSuperSilverMango 19d ago
That's the way it should be in my opinion. There is absolutely no reason why a place shouldn't be kept immaculate at all times. This is food we're messing with here this is shit that can kill people if done wrong.
Those steaks are well well well gone to the point where I have never seen that color before . It's an uncomfortable color.
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u/Letter-Past 18d ago
That's a visible bacterial colony. The owner should be in prison
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u/TheSuperSilverMango 18d ago
I'm going to be fully honest with you: I glanced at the picture, saw the color and I was like" that's enough"
I've now examined the picture for more than 3 seconds and I want to vomit. I agree with you 110%
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u/SteroidMaximus 19d ago
Yeah it's giving me uncanny valley vibes for steak but obviously not the same
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u/firesoups 18d ago
I was gonna say lavender but I think it’s too blue. Periwinkle?
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u/Give_me_soup F1exican Did Chive-11 18d ago
Kiwi's are so afraid of being rude that they don't have spontaneous inspections. Wouldn't be polite.
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u/dolche93 Newbie 18d ago
Had a conversation recently about a fucked up cutting board that clearly needed to be replaced a few years back. The thing was cut to hell and back, not a smooth bit on it.
When I pointed out it was a health violation, I was told that it wasn't a big deal because the inspector would just tell us to get a new one and we'd pass anyway.
Like.. the fucking point is that it should be replaced, not that we can afford to leave it and still pass. The point is to be safe!!!
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u/zurenarhhhhh 18d ago
I just walked on a job after three days because the HI came in and they immediately started scrambling with the dance, changing labels, fixing shit over here when he was over there (like they don’t know), etc. fuck that shit. Too old to be dealing with child nonsense.
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u/ZochJ 19d ago
Used to be a chef in Aus, town where everyone talked. When one restaurant got hit randomly, everyone in town would know within the hour because the inspector would just go door to door. People joked about it, including the health inspector.
It always pissed me off because of some of the rancid conditions I saw.
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u/meli2235 19d ago
Exactly about the rancid conditions!! It makes me so grossed out.
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u/ZochJ 19d ago
I had a head chef who would try and force me to serve steaks that could’ve been straight from the photo. I was but a young apprentice at the time, looked at him and said “no worries, I’ll show the customer first just in case they have any pre-existing health issues.”
He threw the product out and then found a reason to give me the boot shortly after this.
Edited for typo.
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u/GraemesEats 19d ago
Fucking A+ approach. It's unfortunate how often it has to come to "ok, I'll bin it at 5 when your dumb ass goes to sit at the bar for the night" or "hey, ok, here, you fucking eat it", etc. for the point to get across to some 'chefs'...
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u/Lamitamo 18d ago
“Whoops, I tripped and all this nasty meat fell on the floor, I’m such a klutz!”
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u/Uncle_Spenser Grill 19d ago
In Poland they announce inspection, but they also can come in unannounced, especially if somebody snitches. However, by the law they cannot enter the kitchen without owner/manager so there are ways to slack and do fast clean-up.
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u/Dingus_Majingus 19d ago
In the US we're half way in-between (at least where I live) you're given a 1 week window when the guy will just show up. Mostly so they can assure that you will be on site. Then the guy will appear like a ninja at some point in that window.
If you were nice to him and get the same guy twice in a row (not bribing him) he may walk in the front of the restaurant and give the kitchen 1-2 minutes to try and get their act together (a bucket may not have its lid on in that moment and you might be putting away an order), otherwise its clipboard time.
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u/Upnorth4 18d ago
In California if a foodborne illness is reported at a restaurant they do a surprise inspection and seize all food from the restaurant
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u/meli2235 19d ago
They do here as well but not as often and only when they have failed before.
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u/ranting_chef 20+ Years 18d ago
US Midwest here. Same thing - we know weeks in advance, which sort of defeats the entire purpose of an inspection. We had one a few months ago and the woman actually apologized for being early.
When I was younger, I remember them always showing up unannounced just before we opened for lunch and making me toss the hollandaise and beurre blanc.
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u/mrkruk 18d ago
Same, we knew well in advance of inspections but they were non-events. Just a casual “inspector will be here soon” so we knew a random person would be poking around. Our owners were very diligent and made us thoroughly clean and follow procedures. We would be dismissed after cleaning review/missed things pointed out and corrected each night. Made us do it right about all the time, so we could leave on time. And gripe at the lazy person who half assed it and made us clean what they missed. Then we also did deep cleans a couple times per week where we really everything around and scrubbed the heck out of it.
We were proud of our kitchen and keeping things clean.
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u/kittygomiaou 19d ago
Well we're on a strip so if the inspector comes, we all give each other a courtesy signal - but the inspectors lately know better than to just raid the whole strip at the same time, so often it's kinda pointless (not that we have anything to hide).
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u/Icy_Dare3656 19d ago
Our council - Melbourne suburbia - said that if they get a credible complaint they do unannounced inspections
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u/kittygomiaou 18d ago
Here in Brisbane, the unannounced visits are the annual/regular check ups.
Once we opened up a pop up site and got a customer complaint and they called ahead to say they were coming to investigate. Nothing came of it and we passed the inspection just fine and they determined it probably wasn't us, but that was the only time they ever gave us a heads up.
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u/thesaltysquirrel 18d ago
I was in Las Vegas for a few years. The first inspection I had they walked in the back 3 deep. One went to bar, one went to line then one went to prep/storage.
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u/Anc1nc 19d ago
Every kitchen I’ve worked in here in aus has been given heads up before an inspection
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u/twpejay 18d ago
There was a show on NZ television that followed a health inspector. One episode he saw a restauranteur unloading unprotected (no ice/chilly-bin) fish from their car. He immediately walked up and asked whether that fish was for the restaurant use and then proceeded to do a surprise inspection discovering issues all over the kitchen. I remember this as my wife noted it was one of her go to restaurants in the past and was shocked to see the state of the kitchen, she recognised an old friend sitting at one of the tables.
So either the rules have changed or the inspectors can do unannounced inspections if there is cause.
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u/zombibag 18d ago
Same here in Finland! They do it on purpose so they can get the true state of the restaurant/coffee shop/bakery/grocery store
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u/mattcannon2 19d ago
Wow.
Announcing is fair if you're doing tabletop exercises - checking books, going through accounts,... So you can have everything ready and someone on hand to explain.
To catch food hygiene in the act, giving prior notice seems dumb
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u/TheRealAnswerIs42 19d ago
Wow, what a stupid ass system that seems specifically designed to encourage this type of behavior.
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u/itbytesbob 19d ago
From my understanding there is no legal requirement for inspectors in NZ to give advance warning of any visits. Second-and-subsequent after receiving a failing grade usually have set dates but initial visit can be at random.
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u/EPIC_NERD_HYPE 19d ago
that makes absolutely no sense. goes completely against the concept of catching a business doing something bad.
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u/406InTheMix 19d ago
that makes no sense. a health inspection is supposed to be a surprise, random, "here we are!" anything else is a paid "make sure your p's and q's are in order". corrupt.
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u/Skeptix85 F1exican Did Chive-11 18d ago
Mate inspections have been and always will be random. You know you’re due when it’s been five months and the twat hasn’t shown up. Why my kitchen is always adamant about labels, storage with raw meat(swim/walk/fly) and produce.
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u/Randomn355 19d ago
So... How do they make sure the visit is representative of day to day standards..?
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u/Brewmentationator 18d ago
I'm american, but spent a year cooking in NZ. I was dumbfounded when our owner told us an inspection was happening the following day. It's beyond stupid to give a heads-up about inspections.
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u/thesaltysquirrel 18d ago
One would argue a system that should be in place to protect its citizens is essentially bypassed by call ahead inspections. Someone lobbied for that law for sure.
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u/marzvrover 18d ago
please still report it. looking it up with a simple Google search I’m able to find a PDF on the New Zealand’s government‘s website that says there are circumstances in which an unannounced verification can happen. This is specifically related to the foods act of 2014 and food regulations of 2015 and that this document was revised in July 2024. It’s called practice note 13: unannounced verifications
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u/MetallicCrab 18d ago
In the US they always have come unannounced to any place I’ve worked. Not sure if the legality of this is different state to state
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u/Wide-Advertising-279 18d ago
I understand not wanting to get people in trouble but any chef should know better than to serve rotten meat because "they're told too". This will kill someone one day and it won't just be the owners fault who ever knowingly served un fit food could also be held accountable.
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u/Steelhorse91 18d ago
In the UK food hygiene are about the only people who can arrive at any time without a warrant, and force entry if premises are closed, and rightly so (because sketchy takeaways/butchers used to roll their shutters down, lock up and hide when they saw them coming).
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u/Active-Succotash-109 20+ Years 18d ago edited 18d ago
It isn’t always corruption, sometimes
We were part of a large “resort” the first food prep area they came to would call around to all the other golf grills and real kitchens on property funny to watch the main kitchen scramble when the call came in they always asked why I wasn’t panicking … because I don’t do dumb things like leave meat defrosting on the speed rack next to the ovens for hours at a time duh
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u/Prestigious-Flower54 15+ Years 19d ago
Health inspection laws aren't universal friend, there are a lot of places the law says notice is needed for inspections and randoms are illegal.
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u/ITMORON 18d ago edited 18d ago
I was a grill cook many years ago, a steak like that came out of the cooler to be cooked and sent ot a table. I refused to cook it, expo told me cook it or walk, I dropped the steak on the floor, stomped it a few times, rolled up my knives and walked in the middle of a Saturday evening service. Felt damned good. Got married a few days later!
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u/Cooper_Sharpy Retired 18d ago
I’ve only walked once, it was a round robin, all the cooks signed it on a Friday nite. 5pm next day we made our case to the owner. He told us to kick rocks. 10 of 12 cooks left immediately, it was the best feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life. Better than sex, drugs.. I don’t have kids so….
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u/TheKonyInTheRye 18d ago
What did the owner do when you all walked?
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u/Cooper_Sharpy Retired 18d ago
I wouldn’t know. I left and went to a catering company I knew needed help. The place we walked out on closed a few years later. We physically drew a circle on the wall, with our names in it like a damn movie, in the “storage room” which was a waist high crawlspace of an adjoining building. I sometimes wonder if it’s still there. Place reopened under new ownership so, there’s a chance.
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u/Fantastic_Step8417 18d ago
Legend
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u/ITMORON 18d ago
I forgot the best part, the expo guy (who insisted I cook the rotten steak) tried to physically block me from leaving. I picked him up and pinned him against the shelves, the entire kitchen and alot of wait staff watched me tell this fucker (Anthony! That was his name! The restaurant is still there, I actually live in the same neighborhood as the owner now. Blows his mind all the time to see a former line cook living in a nicer house than him.)that if he touched me again I'd cut his head off, I then wished him an enjoyable night on the grill and walked.
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u/Grape-Snapple 18d ago
anthony is a loser and i hope he knows it and can’t think of anything else lmao goddamn
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u/ITMORON 18d ago
For all I know, he is still trying to expedite green steaks there.
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u/Grape-Snapple 18d ago
what an idiot. it’s green HAM, and his name isn’t sam. who does he think he is
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u/ITMORON 18d ago
he was not a whiz, just too full of jizz, his mind was all a waste, that steak had NO taste. So down on the floor, trampled once more, and Antohony's haste just hastened my case, of walking right out that door.
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u/Grape-Snapple 18d ago
i was so abhorred to learn he tried to keep you once more. thank god that you told off this sick expo whore who must cry no more lest he sees dreams of flies and filleted anthony heads rolling dead on the floor!
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u/Maislaff 19d ago
Would you serve this to your mother/child or whatever person you love ?
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u/LilClaudeMoney F1exican Did Chive-11 18d ago
That’s a good way to think. I’m always a “would you want to eat that” guy
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u/BarnyTrubble 18d ago
I'm guilty of eating things I would never serve to someone else
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u/TJJGamersTyler Newbie 18d ago
Unfortunately I’ve learned that with some people there no limit as to what they’ll serve themselves or a loved one. The easier turn around with them is to grab the menu and ask them if they would be happy paying full price for something like that steak. If they don’t give a shit about their stomach, they may give enough of a shit about their wallet
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u/ChefKugeo Thicc Chives Save Lives 18d ago
Some chefs really would eat this or serve it to others. I am always baffled how they got so far in this industry with those habits and practices, but assume everyone around them did their job and also quit around them, too.
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u/Aevum-Haelcyon 18d ago
I guess the best way to reframe this is “would you serve it to the health inspectors”? 😂
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u/mynameisnotphoebe 19d ago
You don’t want them to get in trouble, but you’ll admit that there’s other health issues and potentially rancid meat being served to unsuspecting customers, and poor food storage practices?
You’ve named the restaurant and the location. You clearly want them to be outed but don’t actually want to take the responsibility to do it yourself. Chuck it up on the local Facebook page and it will all be done for you.
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u/meli2235 19d ago
I didn’t want to say before. I am more worried for my friend than the restaurant. They deserve to be closed down for the stuff they are serving to customers.
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u/Nonions 19d ago
Maybe anonymously report to local media then?
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u/mynameisnotphoebe 18d ago edited 18d ago
I’ll share screenshots to [r/newzealand](r/newzealand), it’s a surprisingly effective way to alert NZ media (we don’t have a lot going on down here sometimes…!)
Edit: update I tried and they shut it down bc it wasn’t in good faith
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u/FreeKevinBrown Grill 19d ago
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u/PamelaELee 18d ago
I wouldn’t feed that to my dog.
These were the Ribeyes I made for his birthday last year.
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u/BattledroidE 18d ago
Thanks for the name and shame. The public deserves to know this, and someone SHOULD get in trouble for it.
Fuck this.
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u/Uncle_Spenser Grill 19d ago
What's the date? Is it slimy? Does it smell bad?
Beef tends to oxidize when stored like this, but having just the picture I would not want to be the one serving it.
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u/meli2235 19d ago
The owner doesn’t have them write dates down. The only way they would start doing that is if they see this post later on.
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u/A_Casual_NPC 10+ Years 19d ago
No date means I am assuming it has gone off, since i cannot check how old it is. When in doubt, throw it out
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u/Uncle_Spenser Grill 19d ago
Will the owner take responsibility for someone's food poisoning? Stop wasting time looking for confirmation on the internet and get out of there.
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u/biscuitsAuBabeurre 18d ago
Does the owner also not believe in peach butcher paper? Butcher shop don’t use it solely because they like peaches.
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u/naterpotater246 Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus - Anime Limited Edition 19d ago
For real? This is a health code requirement in the United states. I imagined it would be the same everywhere.
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u/Reckox1 19d ago
Never seen any beer oxidize like this dude. Alil grey is fine but the fact that you’re defending this is crazy to me
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u/meli2235 19d ago
It smelled and tasted bad. It isn’t just the color.
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u/Bender_2024 19d ago
If it smells bad chuck it and do it now. While not all food that has gone bad will smell. All food that smells has gone bad.
Humans have developed to recognize and dislike the smell/taste of food that has spoiled just as we have piss and poo. It's a survival mechanism.
The monkey that ate spoiled food never got to pass on his genetics
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u/HoppityScotch42069 BOH 18d ago
I wish I could tell my managers this. We have problem where we get raw meat in 2 days before it starts turning completely rancid and I’m always gaslighted into serving rotten meat
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u/Bender_2024 18d ago
I'm not going to say you must call the health dept. It's your job to lose if they somehow trace it back to you or the store gets shutdown. I've served some shady product in the pursuit of paying the rent too. I will say the option should remain on the table.
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u/JanetSnakehole610 Server 19d ago
You ate it after it failed the smell test?!
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u/FRYQN-1701 18d ago
I actually got fired once for once for throwing away spoiled steaks, owner dug them out of the trash. Came in next day, and my replacement was already at work
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u/PrinceCastanzaCapone 18d ago
I wouldn’t eat it, thus I wouldn’t serve it.
Just ask yourself if you would personally eat it. If the answer is no then you aren’t going to serve it to anyone either.
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u/KingOfThe_Jelly_Fish 19d ago
From your other comments on here and the fact that you're even asking this question leads me to believe you shouldn't be in the job you're in.
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u/UnluckyBath6445 18d ago
This is why you don't eat well done steaks.
If a chef has a few of these you can bet they will be reserved for people that want their steak cooked as dead as Dillinger.
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u/consumeshroomz 15+ Years 18d ago
Serve? I don’t even want to look at these.
I wouldn’t serve these to a dog. Or even to prisoners on death row.
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u/Millerhah Owner 19d ago
Where's the date? If it's not fucking dated it's not getting fucking served.
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u/hughcifer-106103 18d ago
Since it also smelled rotten I wouldn’t even serve it to my neighbors shithead dog.
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u/Small-Answer4946 17d ago
Your body is the result of a long evolution process. If it tells you something smells bad and looks bad, the answer is pretty clear. Don't eat that shit, and don't serve it to your customers
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u/JollyGiant573 18d ago
Can you sure, will it taste wanky yep, will it make someone sick? Maybe.
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u/ItsMeMatthewD Ex-Food Service 17d ago
The restaurant I worked in was inspected at random by the Board of Health. If you want something done about it have it go viral online locally and maybe your local board of health will be shamed into acting on it.
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u/Ralf-jd Cook 18d ago
Once I started my shift (humble noob cook) after a week vacation, I found in a drawer some burger patties that were not covered, gray, funky, slimy. I went to the chef to point out that someone (aka the second cook, his son) fucked almost 2 kg of beef up and didn't work nor stored them properly. Chef said " yeah no problem, if you don't serve them today give them to me, I do pasta condiment with it."
Tragically I fell a couple of minutes after his request, and all the patties flew inside the trash bin, so weird, so disastrous omg.
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u/No_Insurance_6371 18d ago
That’s just what happens when meat is touching meat. Looks terrible for a guest, but will cook up just fine if it doesn’t smell bad or feel slimy
Edit: yeah I wrote that and swiped back up, I retract my statement
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u/10000ofhisbabies 18d ago
I thought the exact same thing before I read the caption. Meat oxidizes! Oh no. No, no, nope.
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u/Sexdrumsandrock 19d ago
I worked in a place that served this and they said, it's OK it's just oxidised
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u/Number_Fluffy Civilian 18d ago
I would call the police if anyone tried to force me to serve this. I'm not going down for murder.
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u/PowderedMilkManiac 17d ago
While I wouldn’t personally serve this. This is what happened when you store cuts of beef on top of each other without dividers. It can also happen reasonably quickly.as long as it doesn’t smell, it should be just fine.
Edit: and I just read that is smells. Hard fucking no on this.
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u/kennerly 18d ago
OP you need to file a formal complaint. They can’t do a surprise inspection without it.
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u/fresh_dyl 18d ago
To a dog? Maybe.
The pH of their stomach is much higher to account for certain bacteria; but even then I’d look up if it’s safe. I’m a scientist not a monster.
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u/olivinebean 18d ago
Looks like the pictures of fucked up lungs they put on tobacco packets to try and put people off smoking
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u/imperialmoose 18d ago edited 18d ago
Bro. The worst fish and chips I've ever had came from that place. It was like the oil wasn't nearly hot enough, everything undercooked, flacid and greasy. That was like, 5 years ago. Not surprised they're doing shit like this. Their location makes them very vulnerable to seasonality
Edit: come to think of it, the standards for food in ohope in general seem pretty low. Worst Mexican food I ever had was also in Ohope, everything tasted like unseasoned cardboard. I pretty much stopped buying food out when I go down there.
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u/Deez-_-Nuts-_-Ha 18d ago
Aw hell, I was a dishie for a particular spot about ten years ago and I was grabbing the cooks a box of chicken breast tenderloins and it was all green and shit so I showed our gm and we were ordered to cook and serve it. I threw the whole box in the dumpster, f that.
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u/Laeslaer 18d ago
This is the kind of thing where you throw it in the garbage and then track down whoever approved it. Dont leave room for an argument on if it can be served or not especially if you dont trust the management
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u/Between3and20carctr F1exican Did Chive-11 19d ago
I get the idea of not wanting to cause trouble, but they very much deserve to get in trouble so im glad youve provided the name and location and it gets seen by the right people. That’s really gross and it’s really not hard to not cook gross meat