[NYVette]

In my past life, on occasion, I had professional reasons to visit the owners of all types of restaurants. Often I would be in the kitchen with the owner. It was not uncommon for a restaurant to have a beautiful dining room and disgusting kitchen. Of course other restaurants had immaculate kitchens. But how can you tell? One time I witnessed a chef opening an oven full of steaks. He would use his hand to squeeze each steak. None of this was the reason for my visit but I had to ask why he did this. His answer ..."that's how you can tell well done from rare and everything in between...rare is still soft, well done is firm." Silly me, I thought they knew how long the steak was cooking. I don't want my steak determined with a personal touch. Many kitchens have wooden slatted floor coverings which allow a little "give" for employees on their feet for hours, this also allows food scraps to fall through so they aren't stepped on creating a slippery mush. In a different restaurant I saw a chef drop a piece of meat on the wood slat covered floor, pick up the meat, put if back on the fire a few seconds, then onto the plate. Both of these restaurants are fairly upscale. I have many more stories. One of the cleanest....Burger King. Burger King franchise regulations require every night after closing the entire kitchen is hosed down and wiped clean. That doesn't mean BK is the best...just that in my experience I found them to be always very clean. If anyone from LI NY remembers Milleridge Inn they can be happy knowing that their kitchen truly sparkles.