Brunch = leftovers?

[mmmgarlic]

I have a question for all of you Chowhounders. I've heard that when restaurants feature brunch on Sundays, it's a way to use up the leftovers that didn't sell on the weekend. Or worse, it's a way to use moldy meat and cheese that is about to be thrown away. I've read this in at least 2 chef memoirs. Does anyone think this is true about some of the nice restaurants that serve brunch? I almost went to Ad Hoc in Yountville on Sunday but didn't go because it was a brunch menu. Was I wrong to assume?

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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[Cherylptw]

I've worked in restaurants a long time & that's not always true. I've never worked in any place that sold food with mold or any such nonsense. There are some places that serve food past it's prime but for the most part, there's nothing wrong with the food at places who take pride in their ingredients. Now, keep in mind that restaurants are in business to make money & the food gets turned over into something else if not all used up at once (as in one night). But that don't mean it's no good.

But if you're scared to eat brunch, how do you know that the food you get off the lunch menu is not leftover from the earlier in the week? Or the dinner menu? Judge by the taste & quality of the ingredients not by the hyped up fear over something that may not be so.

[EWSflash]

What you said.

[MrsT]

I thought Ad Hoc changes it's menu daily. I went there two years ago and they had a website which gave you the "menu of the day."

[raleighboy]

Another note: If a restaurant has excess ingrediants and a changing menu, its naturally going to try to incorporate those ingrediants into its dishes to try to get rid of them. Just because they aren't wanted by the restaurant doesn't make them unworthy of being eaten. The number of restaurants that apply this philosophy to ingrediants already well past their prime is going to be much lower. There's definitely no way to know for sure, its just a matter of trust. And in that regards, no different from how we evaluate our trust for restaurants in other situations.

[buttertart]

If there were ever a restaurant I would trust not to serve leftovers or to be trying to get rid of unsold food as specials it would be one run by Thomas Keller.

[jfood]

Anthony Bourdin had a large influence on this opinion in his book "Kitchen Confidential"

[EWSflash]

Bourdain was looking to splash up the waters. Clearly, he's a superior writer, great TV show presence, and generally hot number, but you know what? He was trying to sell books, and is not above BRINGING IT FOR THE SAKE OF SOME SALES. I adore him, but if you take his book as gospel you should never go out to eat again for the rest of your life. Period.
Honestly, the guy had the first article he wrote and submitted to the New Yorker accepted for publication, and that alone is just plain freaky-talented-lucky.

[raleighboy]

The restaurant I work for puts as much, if not more, effort into the preparation of its Brunch menu and courses. Definitely not the attitudes or behaviors you're describing, though anecdote doesn't disprove.

[anonymouse1935]

This probably comes under the same heading as the chef who spits in the food of the diner who sends their food back.

If either is true and is not revealed about a particular restaurant, there isn't much the diner can do about it, now is there.

[ThirstyReader]

Restaurants are always trying to use up left-overs, and not just for brunch. The nightly "special" is often an attempt to sell through an excess of one particular item, before it goes to waste. The well-run places anticipate the need, and offer these specials at their prime. The lesser places may be more last-minute in this approach. I've cooked in both kinds. I would trust Ad Hoc in terms of freshness and quality of ingredients.

The real question regarding whether you were right or wrong about skipping Ad Hoc is: Where did you go instead?

www.thirstyreader.com

[mmmgarlic]

Thanks for everyone's opinion. I will still have to warm up to the idea of brunch. ThirstyReader: We ate at Mustard's instead because their lunch menu started at 11. They don't do brunch.