Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Was I in the wrong 😑 over food order at work

113 replies

Safarigiraffe · 05/09/2022 21:07

I work in a day nursery as a kitchen assistant & last week at work the Chef was away so I was on my own in the kitchen with hardly no help. Our menus work on a 3 week rota so as our supplier didn’t send in everything I had to work with what I literally had in. Some parents complained about the food as it wasn’t being followed day by day which my Boss told me about however I could only work with what I had & did go slightly off the menu. Fast forward to today the Chef had a go at me for going off the menu cos parents complained & apparently I did my own thing on the menu & also said that she was short on 2 lunches for this week cos I went off menu and used up what she was gonna use this week, I explained that it was because I had to work with what I had but she was having none of it. My Boss has sorted things out to get some things from another nearby nursery however am I in the wrong here considering the parents complained about me going slightly off the menu?

OP posts:
Rosebel · 05/09/2022 21:25

Don't worry, you obviously did your best. It sounds rubbish though. At the nursery where I work the manager or a spare staff member would have popped to the shops to get you what was needed.
Unfortunately some parents will complain because they pay a lot of money for nursery.
The chef on the other hand just sounds like an ass hole.

Blueberrywitch · 05/09/2022 21:26

I think it depends on your responsibilities - if it’s the chefs responsibility to order the correct items and they didn’t, then it’s not your fault and you should be praised for taking initiative with what you had.

if it’s your responsibility to order the food and you hadn’t, then clearly it was your fault.

if it’s the first option however and you did take initiative to solve a problem not of your making, and were told off, then that’s really unfair.

the best solution moving forward is to clearly clarify responsibilities ahead of time if chef is away, ask them exactly what they want you to do if the food isn’t in, so they want you to call them? Do they want you to write up a new menu and inform the parents?

nutellachurro · 05/09/2022 21:27

Aquamarine1029 · 05/09/2022 21:16

I'd be looking for a new job.

How dramatic

FrazzledFirefly · 05/09/2022 21:27

So you solved the problem by using your initiative and fed the children with what you were able to feed them.

No children were given the wrong meals (ie no vegetarians were given meat and no issues with children with allergies).

The parents sound precious! Maybe I'm an awful mother but I never paid attention to what my children eat /did eat each day in school /nursery - they could have been fed the same meals every day and I wouldn't have known...

I'd seriously consider changing jobs.

Oxborn · 05/09/2022 21:28

Sounds to me like you did a great job in the circumstances, I’m a primary school head chef and sometimes you can’t help going of menu, The children were fed that’s what matters, I’d b speaking to the boss about their lack of support in the situation. If you were my team member I’d of appreciated what you did in stepping up.

nutellachurro · 05/09/2022 21:29

YANBU

Even if it was your responsibility to order whilst the chef was away it's hardly a big deal

FrazzledFirefly · 05/09/2022 21:29

nutellachurro · 05/09/2022 21:27

How dramatic

Show quote history

Not dramatic. It's underlying a culture that doesn't sound healthy.

GuerlainHo · 05/09/2022 21:31

I’m shocked parents were complaining honestly

My Childrens school often change the menu and it’s the last of my worries. The kids eat and are happy - what is there to complain about?

sounds so pedantic - I would leave and find something else if I were you.

mynameiscalypso · 05/09/2022 21:31

Our nursery is often at the whims of their supermarket delivery so it wouldn't bother me at all. I don't even look at the menu to be honest. When they've needed an ingredient desperately before, they have made it into an activity for the older class and taken them to the nearest supermarket to buy it. I thought that was a very clever idea.

LookItsMeAgain · 05/09/2022 21:32

FrazzledFirefly · 05/09/2022 21:27

So you solved the problem by using your initiative and fed the children with what you were able to feed them.

No children were given the wrong meals (ie no vegetarians were given meat and no issues with children with allergies).

The parents sound precious! Maybe I'm an awful mother but I never paid attention to what my children eat /did eat each day in school /nursery - they could have been fed the same meals every day and I wouldn't have known...

I'd seriously consider changing jobs.

Add to that the OP doesn't appear to be supported in their decisions as the manager should have shut down any complaints in my opinion.

NoGoodUsernamee · 05/09/2022 21:32

Non issue! Sounds like you did what you could with what you had. Vegetarians got a vegetarian meal and you stayed as on menu as possible. 🤷🏼‍♀️ don’t sweat it op.

ISeeTheLight · 05/09/2022 21:32

You told your boss. As long as you took individual children's dietary requirement & allergies into account I don't see what you did wrong.
Surely parents understand that at the moment there are shortages everywhere. Some days you can't find any tomatoes in our local supermarkets, or they have no carrots. You work with what you have.

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 05/09/2022 21:33

Ffsmakeitstop · 05/09/2022 21:18

I would just be glad the kids were fed. Some people are arseholes.

Same.

ShirleyPhallus · 05/09/2022 21:33

Some parents are weird about the veggie children having quorn too much though so if you’re serving it multiple days in a row and those children are only in on those days then I assume that would be part of the basis of the complaint

As an aside, we pay £100 a day for our toddler to attend nursery. If the food wasn’t to standard I certainly wouldn’t just “be grateful” that she’d been fed! Tbh I expect scallops and truffle for that price.

Summerfun54321 · 05/09/2022 21:35

Tell them you’re sorry for the upset and could they provide you with a detailed plan of what you’re expected to do should the situation arise again.

RewildingAmbridge · 05/09/2022 21:37

I never know what DS is going to have for lunch or dinner at nursery until after the fact! If they have all 3 meals there it doesn't matter anyway, not like they'll have pasta for lunch then go home and have pasta for dinner (DS would love this and actually I'd have no issue with it anyway).
Sounds like the chef placed the order but the catering company didn't deliver. You told the manager and they shrugged rather than get you the missing ingredients. What else should you have done!?

ItsJustLittleOlMe · 05/09/2022 21:39

You weren't in the wrong, you did what you could with what you had. As a parent of a child at nursery, I would just be glad she was fed. Who has the headspace to spend time getting annoyed and complaining about this?

Mrsmch123 · 05/09/2022 21:43

Mehhh i couldn't care less if my boys nursery follows the menu. As long as he is fed then that's good enough for me. What did the chef want you to do....if there's a supply issue you can't magic up ingredients.

Original poster
Safarigiraffe · 05/09/2022 21:44

NO vegetarian child was given a meat dish and NO child with a dietary in place was given the wrong dish

OP posts:
MyNoseIsCold · 05/09/2022 21:45

Could you just ask for clarity on what the back up plan is for that situation, so you’ll know how to handle it if it arises again? Is the main chef following a system that you don’t know about?

DenholmElliot1 · 05/09/2022 21:46

Next time the chef goes on holiday don't offer to do their job, stick to your own and they will have to supply another chef, possibly from another branch or failing that agency.

Original poster
Safarigiraffe · 05/09/2022 21:46

Chef complained that I should have checked what was on the menu & told the bosses what wasn’t in however I just did what I could with what I had & clearly that was no way near good enough

OP posts:
MushMonster · 05/09/2022 21:52

I think the chef and parents are taking this far too seriously.
As you did not have the ingredients and your manager did not get them, but you still managed to prepare proper meals for the children, they should be thanking you.

Nameandgamechange123 · 05/09/2022 21:52

It sounds to me like you saved the day! Think no more about it.

MaryHoldTheCandleSteadyWhileIShaveTheChickensLeg · 05/09/2022 21:52

Chef complained that I should have checked what was on the menu & told the bosses what wasn’t in

Is it part of your job to check the stock and make sure you have enough of everything to cook what's on the menu?

Swipe left for the next trending thread