Amen, Anon.

Fennel pollen? Please explain. I will confess: I'm among those that don't know shit.

Someone's getting an extra serving of snot rocket.

I just buy the alfredo sauce in a jar. No one complains.

Fennel pollen is best smoked. As in inhaled from a pipe, not as in "smoked sea salt," whatever the hell that is.

You're more than welcome to stop eating their food if it displeases your palette.

I think ill save my money and benedryl and eat at home!

So the humble thing to do, then, is post anonymous complaints on the internet about how one's own knowledge of cookery, and of "classically trained" cookery in particular, is superior to that on display in local restaurants?

@7 treehugger: You beat me to it for the win!

I think it's written by a coworker, not a customer

I used to be a cook. This I.A. may sound whiny to those unfamiliar with the restaurant industry, but believe me when I say that it's a completely fair assessment of what a certain type of young aspiring chef is like. Outsized egos, reliance on fancy ingredients, and a risible lack of basic cooking skills...Yup, sounds just like some of my coworkers. The chef I apprenticed with complained about this type all the time too. (Not that all my coworkers were like that though! There were plenty of honest, hardworking, humble ones who knew how to cook really tasty food, and those people are fucking royalty and live in my heart forever.)

@3 - well then apparently you have quite a future in food prep! Go forth and conquer (but remember to remain humble).

@12 Sea Otter: IA didn't sound whiny to me, either. Actually, I see both your point as well as treehugger's (@7).
There are some incredible chefs whose cuisine is truly to die for. Working in the restaurant business is indeed, a hard, stressful job! Kudos to you and others for doing it well.
Nobody should have to eat--or pay for---bad, over-spiced, under-cooked, and inedible slop conjured up by someone whose arrogance overrides his or her extreme lack of basic cooking skills. I think this is what @7 meant.
It's after the fact, doesn't matter now, and I have no idea who the chef was who prepared my order way back then, but I once had an abysmal New York steak like this, and haven't gone back to that restaurant since.

12 fucking nailed it. And sadly, that type is starting to outnumber real cooks in the restaurant industry. And, again sadly, the problem is particularly prevalent in Seattle. Probably because most of the truly talented aspiring chefs end up leaving for NYC, SF, Vegas, etc. The wage scale in this town for cooks SUCKS compared to other similarly-sized cities, so you have to be a sucker who's willing to work your ass off for peanuts just because you'd rather be poor in the PNW than killing it anywhere else. I know, because I'm one of those suckers.

Well said Anon. I feel your pain.

Alot of folks get into cooking now adays for all of the wrong reasons. They see it on TV and they all want to be rock stars. They see all of the sexy stuff happening at Bouchon or Alinea and they want to do that instead of focusing on the basics.

Whats that? You made a sous vide omelet?

Cool story bro.

I dont need an omelet though.

I need you to make a beurre blanc. I need you to break down this side of lamb...and I need you to do it consistently.

If you dont know; I NEED YOU TO ASK ME HOW TO DO IT, instead of winging it and deciding that you know better than anyone else does...especially people that have a 10 year head start on you.

Well said Anon. I feel your pain.

Alot of folks get into cooking now adays for all of the wrong reasons. They see it on TV and they all want to be rock stars. They see all of the sexy stuff happening at Bouchon or Alinea and they want to do that instead of focusing on the basics.

Whats that? You made a sous vide omelet?

Cool story bro.

I dont need an omelet though.

I need you to make a beurre blanc. I need you to break down this side of lamb...and I need you to do it consistently.

If you dont know; I NEED YOU TO ASK ME HOW TO DO IT, instead of winging it and deciding that you know better than anyone else does...especially people that have a 10 year head start on you.

Old saying: "When the cat's blind, the mice bark." Chef, this dude's talking to youuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Amen, Anon. I'm also growing weary of trendy new places serving concoctions of god-knows-what for high prices, all in the name of Trendy. Sometimes a steak is just a steak- no need to be 'smothered in smoked fennel cous cous ala bloated ego', thanks.

I used to have a cool Fennel shirt. But it was wool and when I washed it it shrunk. Now my little brother owns a cool fennel shirt.

All these ridiculous cooking shows have made EVERYONE think they're a 'foodie' and have some idea of what they fuck they're talking about. I could NOT go out to eat with the ex without him analyzing every fucking bite..."You know, this could use some Mediterranean smoked piper cub exhaust with just a dash of orangutan jizz, imported from Malaysia...". And having worked kitchens with chefs that had more ego than talent, I know EXACTLY what anon is talking about.

Oh, and allow my arrogant spelling/grammar nazi self correct the following: 'palate' (palette is something you use in painting, or a colour scheme), and alfredo and aioli are completely different. Aioli is basically garlic mayonnaise. Alfredo is easy to make, though. Butter, a little garlic, cream, boiled gently to reduce, hit it with Parmesan shreds, mix with hot pasta...

@22: STOP it! You're making me hungry!

The letter writer has also described half the bicyclists in Seattle.

The letter writer has also described half the bicyclists in Seattle.Most of whom are also food snobs who work in trendy restaurants for shit wages. My secret ingredient is genuine Columbia COCAINE and some good old fashioned MALT LIQUOR.

@Anon, yes, a little humility goes a long way.

@22, Aioli is garlic mayonnaise, but it's also one of the best pasta sauces of all time. Olive oil, red pepper flakes, capers, and an assload of garlic, toss on pasta and add plenty of freshly grated parmesan. Nummity num.

True cooking mastery comes with the simple repetition of the basics to the point where it becomes a part of you. Greatness doesn't come with the ability to correctly season a steak with salt and pepper and cook to the correct temperature just four or five times, but rather a THOUSAND TIMES. This goes for every basic cooking skill in the kitchen from julienning peppers to prepping simple risotto. This requires humility and the patience to work through the "mundane" tasks in the kitchen to gain consistency. It is this consistency that is the halmark of a good chef. To be a GREAT chef, one must start with this base and this base only, and ten explore coking with the more refined ingredients to explore a wider variety of flavors with the discipline necessary to do them justice.

One must do this under the guidance of someone far better than them to understand and accept the criticism necessary for their own professional evolution. This requires humility and discipline...something severely lacking in the Seattle food scene.

How fortunate we are that all of these seasoned, knowledgeable, and 'humble' gourmands have gathered together on one anonymous comment board on the internet to better pass judgment on other anonymous people who may or may not actually be cooks, foodies, etc. I have learned so much from you all that I never would've learned from reading six pages of an Anthony Bourdain book or watching the first thirty minutes of Ratatouille.

@26 - the dish you described is literally the ingredients of aioli minus the egg, with capers and red pepper added. So why bother with aioli at all?

Listen, chef dick; Aioli should fuck you in the ass, make you humble.

Funny the comments here re: cooking and foodies. I am a tattooer and believe me, it's the same thing- all these retarded tv shows on tattoos has made everyone an expert or become a tatter. Rock star, money, pussy? Hell yeah.
And girls that tattoo? Oh, man- even better gimmick.

At least with a bad meal, you can vomit it up and vow to never return, but those bad shitty tattoos? You're screwed.

Mmmm, aioli!