'10 Things I Hate' With Michael Voltaggio

'10 Things I Hate' With Michael Voltaggio
Jason Kessler•

Life is filled with wonderful things and terrible things. During interviews, however, we pretty much only get to hear about the wonderful things. Ten Things I Hate is a chance for people in the food world to get things off their chest. We ask them what they hate, they give us a list. Next up: Michael Voltaggio.

You know Michael Voltaggio. He's a brand-new Food & Wine Best New Chef, the winner of Top Chef Season 6, and chef of ink. in LA as well as ink's sandwich-slinging cousin ink.sack. But just because he's a successful dude doesn't mean things don't stick in his well-coiffed craw. Voltaggio has a lot on his plate, but there's always room for a little venting. Here are 10 things that Michael Voltaggio hates:

  1. Yelp...even though I use it when I travel
  2. When servers ask the guest, "How are 'we' enjoying things tonight?" when they're not sitting at the table.
  3. When restaurants either close before the advertised time or break down the restaurant around you when you're there late. At least leave the music on and the candles lit.
  4. It bothers me when servers count tips in view of the guest. Not to mention that money is dirty.
  5. YES, MY LIFE HAS CHANGED SINCE TOP CHEF. My life has changed since breakfast...
  6. When cooks stage somewhere for a week and their chef bios say "formerly of..."
  7. "Farm-to-Table"? Why not "manure-to-manure"? (Shout out to chef de cuisine Cole Dickinson for this one).
  8. I miss hospitality. We are still in the service industry.
  9. I'm not a fan of alcohol consumption at work. Even though we work in restaurants, we are still at work and other professions don't allow it.
  10. I feel that people should taste their food before putting salt and pepper on it, or even asking for it before they've tasted it.

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