There’s A Nut, But It’s Not In The Food
(We’re serving a table of 30. In each set of dishes, there’s one labelled “no nuts”. The first starter labelled no nuts is a prawn cocktail, so I don’t bother specifying one as no nuts.)
Patron: “I ordered my prawn cocktail with no nuts. Are you sure there’s no nuts in this?”
Me: “Positive, madam. The prawn cocktail is made without any nuts at all.”
Patron: “I don’t believe you. Go and get it remade, and make sure there’s no nuts in it!”
(I walk back into the kitchen and go to the chef.)
Chef: “Is something wrong with that one?”
Me: “No, she just wants one that doesn’t have any nuts in.”
Chef: “But there’s no nuts in the Prawn Cocktail anyway.”
(Not wanting to waste a perfectly good dish, I take the same cocktail back out to the customer, albeit with some extra cayenne sprinkled on top to differentiate it. Not surprisingly, she’s delighted.)