Why It's A Big No-No To Ask For Salt When Ordering A Fancy Steak
If you'll be dining out and put a premium on what others think, you may want to study up on the dos and don'ts of restaurant etiquette before you go. Some rules have to do with not inconveniencing restaurant staff, like not asking for a table at a sit-down restaurant right before closing. Less obvious strictures may be culture-based, like the Japanese restaurant etiquette rule that involves only pouring sake for others. (Solo diners may feel free to ignore this.) Other advisories may have to do with the chef's feelings, including some of the things you're advised not to say when ordering steak. One example would be avoiding the seemingly innocuous request for salt.
Why can't you request that your steak be salted? Aren't most meats typically seasoned with this ingredient? Yes, steaks are usually salted, but when it comes to high-end dining, the chef will have already seasoned the meat to what they consider to be perfection. As a result, they may consider your request for salt an egregious act of rudeness, especially if you haven't even tasted the steak yet.
What if you still want to add salt after tasting it?
No matter how top-notch a chef may be, everyone's seasoning preferences differ. I tend to like fairly high amounts of salt myself. That being said, when I'm eating out, I don't ask for salt for the entrée for fear of being side-eyed by the server (much less facing the wrath of an angry chef). I'm also going to taste the meat before sprinkling salt on it, but if it still seems lacking, I'm remedying that deficiency.
I first check the table for a salt shaker, but if the restaurant is too fancy to put such a plebeian seasoning on its tables, I summon the nerve to request salt for the vegetables. I make sure, however, to salt my steak only when no restaurant staffers seem to be looking my way. With this compromise, I get to eat my steak how I want without hurting anyone's feelings.
Yes, I respect the chef's opinion, but even some chefs admit that they're there to please the customers, not the other way around. As Michelin-starred French chef Alain Passard told the Financial Times, "I put aside my own concerns when faced with a client who orders a dish cooked a certain way or asks for a certain seasoning." While I don't consider myself a demanding diner, as long as I'm the one paying for my steak, I'll be the one who determines how much salt it needs.