A new viral comedy video lampooning the many ways customers annoy restaurant servers has several viewers thinking: Wait, is this about me?
TikTok creator Chef Scubes (@scubeskitchen) posts “cooking and restaurant comedy” videos to his account, which has more than 600,000 followers.
A recent TikTok post, titled “Things you hear in restaurants you wish were made up,” has accumulated 3 million views and almost 418,000 likes.
@scubeskitchen Things you hear in restaurants #chefscubes ♬ original sound – Chef Scubes
In the video, Chef Scubes plays a server vexed by silly questions from customers (all played by the creator in various costumes).
One diner pronounces filet mignon as “fill-it mig-nahn.” Another asks about the difference between a 8-ounce and 11-ounce steak. And when a customer requests dairy-free mayonnaise, the server explains that the eggs in the condiment aren’t actually dairy.
But the next scenario left many viewers scratching their heads. Two customers order filets — one medium, one well-done. The server asks the latter, “Would you like yours butterflied?”
The diner asks his companion, “Did you get butterflies on your steak, Bob?” The server laughs in disbelief.
But a lot of commenters related more to the diner than the server in the situation.
“To be fair… the butterflied steak might not be common knowledge,” one user wrote about the confused customers. They added, “Although [one] could just ask what it is.”
Another commenter confessed, “Fr I’ve never heard of that and I’ve worked in a restaurant for three years.”
“I mean I have an idea of what butterflying a steak could look like based on context clues but I’ve never actually seen it,” a third said.
“OK I’m embarrassed cuz I love filet mignon but did not know about butterflying,” someone else admitted.
One helpful viewer explained the cooking technique to potential restaurant customers: “It’s when the chef slices the filet through the middle and opens it up, making it much easier to cook it to well-done without charring the outside.” Someone replied, “I’ve been a chef for almost a decade and you explained it better than I ever could.”
According to culinary website Tasting Table, “Butterflying a piece of animal protein is essentially cutting it in half horizontally, but not all the way through. The cut stops about three-quarters of the way in, so you’re left with what is effectively a hinge. You are then able to open the piece of meat and lay it flat. This method cuts the thickness of the piece of meat in half while still keeping it intact as one piece, resembling a butterfly’s wingspan.”
In the case of a filet mignon, Tasting Table reports a butterfly cut “will resemble two connected circles.”
Commenters had another bone to pick with the video. At the end of Chef Scubes’ skit, the server encounters customers who wants vegan Caesar dressing. The server explains that their dressing isn’t made with anchovies like normal recipes, so it’s already vegan-friendly.
Several users were quick to point out that it’s not just the anchovies in Caesar dressing that makes it a hazard to vegans—it’s the eggs and the Parmesan cheese, too.
The Daily Dot reached out to Chef Scubes via email.
