Top Adelaide chefs wage war on fussy eaters making life even harder for restaurants still trying to bounce back after Covid

If you don’t like it, don’t come. That’s the blunt message of several top Adelaide chefs who say fussy eaters are making life even harder from a sector still reeling after the pandemic.

Leading Adelaide chefs have called on fussy eaters to stop asking for changes to dishes without a legitimate reason.

As hospitality venues return to full capacity, SA food icon Simon Bryant said diners need to put their trust in the restaurant and allow chefs to focus on what they do best.

“If they are legitimate dietary or religious or ethical concerns then that is fine … I love the challenge,” Bryant says in a wide-ranging interview appearing this weekend in SAWeekend.

“But if they are just ‘me-isms’ then that is a lack of trust in me.

“Our job is to make you feel special … to leave you feeling better than when you came. To reinvigorate you, to nourish you. So if I’ve asked all the right questions about what you do and don’t eat, then please trust me to feed you properly.”

Bryant, who acts as a consultant on new restaurant projects, estimates 15 to 20 per cent of orders come with changes requested, meaning the chef has 20 per cent less time to spend concentrating on other guests.

Duncan Welgemoed, the award-winning chef behind popular East End restaurant Africola, agreed kitchen staff have enough on their plate without having to deal with picky customers.

“If it’s a (personal) preference, then we absolutely don’t do it. We’re pretty draconian that this is the dish, this is how it’s meant to be eaten,” he said.

Chef Simon Bryant in his Brompton kitchen Picture: Tom Huntley

“This is a restaurant that uses garlic, that uses chilli, if you don’t want those things, then don’t come to our restaurant.

“However, we cater for any and all dietaries under the sun. Without even questioning.

“What does annoy us if when we do go to all that trouble for someone who’s allergic to peanuts and then they go, ‘Oh well, actually a little bit of peanuts is fine’.

“Then you’re like, ‘F**k you’. You just wasted our time.”

Joel Stephens, head chef and part owner at Peel St restaurant Bread and Bone, has just introduced a new menu at the venue and said diners had wasted no time trying to alter dishes.

“It does get a little frustrating. Day two of the new menu and we already had people trying to change stuff,” he said.

“I just spent a month designing, tasting (the food) and straight away, before even trying it, they want to make changes. It is disheartening.”

Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive Ian Horne said while he would be happy to let Bryant curate a meal for him, not everyone was the same.

Top Adelaide chef Duncan Welgemoed in his restaurant, Africola. Picture Matt Turner.

“Not every chef or cook seeks to a create gourmet designer eating experience every time but are more focused on what the customers want at any point in time,” he said.

“This is why no doubt the customer selected the particular venue to dine in the first place. It’s horses for courses and, of course, budgets.”

Welgemoed said the pandemic had forced eateries to shift their focus and diners needed to adjust.

“As an example, some have moved from a la carte to set menus, so people should just respect that and be happy with that, and try and enjoy the experience as curated for them,” he said.

“People should trust a new offering post Covid, that’s something I’d encourage more people to do.”