4 Things Everyone Should Know About Dining Out From A Celebrity Chef

If you know who Anthony Bourdain is you know that he doesn't hold back when it comes to everything in the kitchen. The celebrity chef explains what he thinks everyone should know before heading out to dinner. 

In an interview from 2001, Bourdain told Oprah Winfrey that when dining out, everyone should keep these ideas in mind, they could mean the difference between a great meal and one that turns out to be mediocre.

1. Restaurants recycle bread

“This is the first rule of classical cooking: Use everything; waste nothing,” Bourdain said.

Definition: your 'fresh' loaf of bread may not have just come out of the oven.

“Busboy sees a basket of untouched-looking bread, chances are he’s bringing it right back in the kitchen, turning it around and sending it out to you,” Bourdain said.

2. Brunch is a great way for chefs to use up leftovers from Saturday night's specials

Bourdain said he isn't a fan of cooking brunch so he likes to scare people away from it, but the benefits are that it allows chefs to charge $14.99 for two eggs.

“Brunch also offers the dubious benefit of being able to unload one’s little odd bits into cute dishes like seafood frittata, seafood salad vinaigrette,” Bourdain said. “These are traditionally ways of unloading little bits of leftovers from Saturday night’s special.”

3. And be careful ordering the hollandaise sauce with that brunch

Even though Bourdain says kitchens are cleaner than they have ever been, hollandaise can be risky because of the raw eggs in it.

“Because of the raw eggs in it, it can be very attractive to bacteria,” he said. “Any place that makes hollandaise should throw it out about every hour and make a fresh batch, otherwise it can hurt you.”

4. Avoid ordering seafood Saturday through Tuesday

“Most wholesale seafood markets are closed on the weekends. That’s Saturday and Sunday. Some chefs like to unload what’s left over from the weekend on their Monday customers,” he explained. “So ... Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you are more likely to get a fresher, more impeccable piece of seafood. That’s when I eat my fish.”

Bourdain finished by saying he isn't trying to scare people away from dining out(neither are we), he just believes an educated customer will have the best possible experience.

“I don’t want to frighten people away from eating,” Bourdain said. “We’d be really missing out if we didn’t fully enjoy the adventure.”

Bonus: Never order steak well-done

This should be obvious, but if it's not, always remember to order your steak slightly less cooked than you like. After a steak has been removed from heat it still cooks a little, so a well-done steak will become dry and too tough.