Last week I had lunch with a colleague at a bar and grill-style restaurant close to campus and ordered a burger. The server asked me how I wanted it cooked and I replied “well done”, the quick and easy response, and a bit of a cop-out on my part.

The server prodded me a bit, saying that they use really high quality meat and sort of dared me, or at least nudged me, to reconsider something like medium well. Taking this as an opening, I asked her if the kitchen had a thermometer and if they could cook my burger to 160F. I’ve asked this question before at other restaurants (sometimes to the dismay of my dining partners) and have been given a “yeah right” and chuckle – even though the 155F for 15 seconds or 160F guideline is in the FDA food code (my first encounter with this was while playing golf with Doug at a food safety conference).

Our server looked at me a bit weird, said she figured they had a thermometer because they have “pretty good kitchen staff” and would ask.  She came back five minutes later and said that the line cook had a thermometer, they use it all the time, and it would be no problem to get a 160F burger.

While the server didn’t really steer me in the right direction, the kitchen got it right. One of the difficulties in creating a good food safety culture in a food service setting is the disconnect between the serving staff (who don’t always seem to know much about risks) and the kitchen staff (who are doing most of the risk reduction).