I have a pet peeve. Food that is not served at the proper temperature! If I am at a function like a wedding or party where there are a lot of people the food is generally made ahead of time, stored and re-heated before it is served. Many times the food that should be HOT is NOT!! It is usually tepid to room temperature.
As I see it you have three choices. Choice one: Ask the wait staff to take the plate of food back to the kitchen and re-heat it. Choice two: Just eat it anyway even if it doesn’t meet your temperature standards, or Choice three: don’t eat it at all and starve until you can get something edible. Well, I have done all the above at various times.
Last evening I went to a function where the food was all cold even though it was not supposed to be. So what did I do? I skipped dinner and left hungry. It was a buffet and nothing was done to rectify the situation. Frustrating to say the least.
I will never do that again. I will say something next time. Not only does cold food that should be hot pose a risk to food safety it can ruin the entire dining experience.
I once went to a wedding where by the time the ice cream sampler of three supposedly spectacular ice creams were served each flavor had melted into the other leaving a pool of mess! It was NOT pretty. There was nothing I could do as a guest but chalk it up to poor organization in the timing of the serving of the dessert. Of course when the bride’s mother asked me how I liked the ice creams, I lied and said that they were delicious.
All right, I know that this is a nothing problem compared to the REAL problems in the world, but it is an issue that should be addressed.
Thanks for letting me vent!
Chef Gail