Fishing on Sundays

[Drive-by Critic]

I have a question pertaining to Ms. Paris' experience. Wouldn't a restaurant that knows it will be closed for two days, and probably not able to obtain key ingredients for a fair number of dishes on Saturday, want to devise a different menu for the following day or two? I admire the way Mr. Hengst answered Ms. Paris, but explaining why they couldn't get fresh fish doesn't explain why, knowing that this would likely be a problem, they didn't develop an alternative menu without fish or seafood dishes...

Generally it sounds like a place worth trying. I really don't mean this to be critical. It is a sincere question.

Ellen

[monavano]

Also keep in mind Mr. Hengst's reference to the A. Bourdain book "The Nasty Bits". Apparently, it's not advisable to order fish on a Sunday. Or in the least, don't expect the epitomy of freshness and availability.

[Drive-by Critic]

Also keep in mind Mr. Hengst's reference to the A. Bourdain book "The Nasty Bits". Apparently, it's not advisable to order fish on a Sunday. Or in the least, don't expect the epitomy of freshness and availability.

Understood. But that's on the customer side. What about on the house side? They surely know about this supply issue better than do customers. So why wouldn't they plan for it? They plan their menus to take account of what's available, fresh, and, in some cases, local. So wouldn't that planning include not having a menu that's heavy on fish/seafood (or other stuff) that you know you can't get/get fresh over the weekend? Isn't that part of the expertise that goes into owning a restaurant and planning a menu?

[Dave Pressley]

Understood. But that's on the customer side. What about on the house side? They surely know about this supply issue better than do customers. So why wouldn't they plan for it? They plan their menus to take account of what's available, fresh, and, in some cases, local. So wouldn't that planning include not having a menu that's heavy on fish/seafood (or other stuff) that you know you can't get/get fresh over the weekend? Isn't that part of the expertise that goes into owning a restaurant and planning a menu?

Are you saying that restaurants that serve seafood should switch to a non-seafood menu on Sundays just because the seafood is a day old? That's a little outrageous. Restaurants run out of seafood on Sundays. It's a good thing. If they have plenty, chances are that it will be served Monday...or Tuesday...or whenever it gets too stinky to ignore anymore. Part of the expertise of running a restaurant is knowing what options are feasible. Simply serving day-old fish until you run out on Sunday nights (traditionally a slow night anyway) and telling your guests that you are out of the fish until your fresh Monday delivery comes in is the best option for all involved.

[Waitman]

Also keep in mind Mr. Hengst's reference to the A. Bourdain book "The Nasty Bits". Apparently, it's not advisable to order fish on a Sunday. Or in the least, don't expect the epitomy of freshness and availability.

Bit of a tactical error on Elias' part as the response reads -- I'm sure it wasn't meant that way -- as though he were saying, "as you know from Bourdain, by Sunday night our fish is smelly and nasty, so you're better off not buying it." I think he the might have meant to say something along the lines of "fish is extremely perishable so we err on the side of caution in ordering, lest by Monday evening we are stuck with fish that does not meet our high standards, so sometimes we run short Sunday night ."

[Mark Slater]

Guess what. There are fish purveyors out there who deliver on Saturday and Sunday.

[rappahannock]

We can get fresh fish delivered seven days a week. Even out here in the hinterlands!