Good chefs are known for being quite picky about how a client should feel about a dish that may have taken months, years, or even the whole...
Good chefs are known for being quite picky about how a client should feel about a dish that may have taken months, years, or even the whole career of the chef to perfect.
Gordon Ramsay won't give you ketchup. As the story goes, Marco Pierre White kicked out scores of customers who begged for extra salt or pepper. Alice Waters never agreed to requests for things that were out of season.
Philip Kim, who sells sushi in northern British Columbia, has his own strict rule: no more soy sauce.
A sign outside his Kitimat store declares, "We never serve extra soy sauce, rude people, or drunk people." The first rule is written in big red letters.
In a social media post from earlier this month that was meant to be the "last time we talk about this," Kim said that his rule was clear: "We never serve extra soy sauce, even if a customer offers to pay $1,000 for it."
For Kim, who has owned Sushi J for seven years, cost is not a factor in the decision. He stated it was based on a hunch about what customers want, and that "not a single person" who asked for more soy sauce in the early years of his firm ever became a regular.
"Why?" He wrote, "They thought my sushi tasted like soy sauce, not sushi." "It's important to respect their personal food preferences, but it's my job to serve my food the way it's meant to taste."
For a long time, sushi has been a culinary art that is all about striving for excellence. The Oscar-winning documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi helped that identity grow. In it, Sukiyabashi Jiro carefully controls how much wasabi or soy sauce is used with each plate of omakase.
Kim says he might lose clients who demand more, but he says they probably won't become devoted customers in the future.
Some people who saw the post said they "couldn't imagine being arrogant enough to tell my paying customers how they can and can't eat the food that THEY paid for."
Another person said, "This doesn't make me want to eat at your restaurant." A smile would bring in more customers.
Some people used the article to vent about their own food problems, such one person who said the proprietor of a sandwich shop "refuses to buy Parmesan cheese which I love on the Meatball subs."
Danny Nunes, a writer for Northern BC Buzz, wrote a funny piece about Kim's choice, saying that "desperate locals may resort to underground 'soy sauce speakeasies' where patrons can slip into dimly lit back rooms, whisper a password, and finally drown their spicy tuna rolls in forbidden salt water like their grandparents did."
Nunes sent a photograph with the words "No Soy Sauce For You" next to the stern "soup Nazi" from Seinfeld.
Kim said the argument was "over" and that he understood if the verdict had angered some potential clients.
"But I also get upset when my meal loses its individuality. He said, "It puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day." He also suggested a possible solution: "If you need more soy sauce, go to a different sushi restaurant."