My [21M] girlfriend’s [21F] grandfather is a Michelin Star chef and is visiting. I am supposed to cook for them but I cannot cook.

A Reddit user shares their panic after agreeing to cook for their girlfriend’s grandfather, only to discover that he is a Michelin-starred chef. With no cooking skills and a strong desire to impress, the user faces a dilemma: should they attempt to cook, order takeout, or find another solution to save face?

The user’s love for their girlfriend and fear of making a bad impression add to the pressure. To learn more about their predicament and how they’re handling it, read the full story below…

‘ My [21M] girlfriend’s [21F] grandfather is a Michelin Star chef and is visiting. I am supposed to cook for them but I cannot cook. ‘

First of all, please do not judge me. Yes I am a 21 year old man, but look, I just cannot cook. Sure I can make something like \*very\* basic pasta, a boiled egg, etc… but I absolutely cannot make anything where you have to prepare multiple ingredients.

When I cook, the food dateis either done or its not done. I have no experience with “doneness.” I do have my redeeming skills, but cooking is just not one of them. I have tried following recipes word for word, but just have had no luck.

My girlfriend and I are both rising seniors in college, and I have my own apartment near campus where we will be meeting for dinner. When I agreed to make something, I thought I could just b**lshit something,

but then when I mentioned it to my GFs brother (who I’m friends with) he told me that their grandfather was awarded a Michelin Star some time ago. I asked my girlfriend why she didn’t tell me, and she said she didn’t want me to freak out. I never cook in college. I’ve always just relied on dining hall/eating out/Uber Eats.

I don’t even have dishes. The only thing I can possibly think of is that I know a fair bit about wine (as much as a 21 year old can know), so I could definitely get something good on that end.

I really, really don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Should I just push as hard as I can for eating out? Should I pull a Seymour and buy take out from a steakhouse or something? If I did do that, should I tell my girlfriend at least?

I’m sorry if I sound like I’m panicking. I just love this girl so much, and I don’t want to leave a bad impression on someone she’s very close with. Wow I even spelled Michelin wrong in my username. I’m just a big fan of Kitchen Nightmares and keep imagining this is gonna be like Gordon Ramsay or some s**t like that.

Update: So I read through a lot of the comments, and I talked about it with a close friend. We want to try a test run like I pondered in another comment. If the test fails, then we’ll have to just accept that I will have to say something.

So the plan we thought of would go like this: I will invite a professor (who’d we’d let in on the plan) and a friend of his who’s a foodie for dinner at my place with my friend under the guise that I just want to test my cooking.

We’ll order take out from a top nearby steakhouse, and keep it under heat lamps so that they 1) stay warm and 2) maybe slightly decrease in quality to make it more believable. I’d also have to buy some cheap steak and just throw it on my stove to get the “smell” in the air and have dirty cooking dishes.

I’d also have to memorize the recipe for a steak, and watch some YouTube vids to understand the nuances of jargon and cooking. Then we see if it works. I also have decent enough experience with wine (mostly red though not white) to be able to properly taste and describe without having to fake it.

If that doesn’t work, Plan B would be to do what some other commenters suggested and straight up tell him I’m not very experienced, and maybe ask if he can give a demonstration of some dish from his restaurant, and I’d happily pay for whatever ingredients.

My big reservation with this is that I don’t want to come off like I’m not trying for this, since that seems like it’s very low effort. He’s coming all the way from France, where he’s from (GF is French-American; just Incase anyone wonders), so I really *really* want to leave a positive impression.

I’m absolutely head-over-heels for this girl, so I’d like to leave the best possible impression. Oh yeah and it’s on August 17th so I’ll update after. Final update on this post: okay I’ll just make something. I’ll figure it out between now and then. I’ll make a new post updating on August 18th or sometime that week.

Take a look at the comments from fellow users:

smithk654 −  I wouldn’t try deception. That never works out well. Maybe try something simple but classic? There are a lot of fairly easy pasta dishes. I’m sure the grandfather isn’t expecting you to be Gordon Ramsey.

Birdamus −  Make a potato and then tell them that you found this crazy vegetable at the store and you’d never seen it before. Make them believe you don’t know what a potato is. This is a can’t miss strategy.

[Reddit User] −  He’s not expecting YOU to be a Michelin star chef. Don’t stress too much. Ask your girlfriend for help.

MemberMurphysLaw −  Dude I reallllllywouldnt try your plan. Dudes going to figure it out. You’re going to be called out as a l**r. Her grandfather is going to think poorly of you for a long time.

Literally just pick a recipe, practice it every night for a week, and when you serve it, just fess up and say,” I’m sorry, I’m not a great cook. This is what I’ve made, I hope you all enjoy.”

[Reddit User] −  Pot roast. Inexpensive cut of meat, low and slow in a crock pot. Hard to f**k up, just don’t over season it. Carrots, onions, potatoes, celery large chunks. Beef broth, red wine, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.

weallcomefromaway2 −  The steak plan is such a bad idea!! Omg there are so many relatively simple things you could make. A roast chicken? Burgers? Risotto? A pasta dish?

Mojiitoo −  Lmao wtf are you high or something Jesus making a whole post about how to strategically fake take out to make it look like your own cooking lmao with heating lamps and all. JUST SAY I CANT COOK WHAT GIVES jesus lmao

nighteyes282 −  bro you have until august?? why are you putting all this effort into lying about knowing how to cook and not just taking your two months to learn one dish??

[Reddit User] −  Honestly, make a kick ass hamburger. Believe me, I’ve worked with Chefs of that caliber for a good portion of my adult life. Here’s the thing that you don’t understand. He will not be expecting you to do anything fancy. He just wants to have a nice time with his granddaughter and her boyfriend.

Nothing more than that. So practice making a great burger, with a delicious cheese, maybe some sautéed onions and mushrooms, and a toasted bun. Nothing fancier than that. You can practice making a delicious burger. Cool them medium – pink in the middle.

Do a salad on the side, which is really easy to do and you can execute it in advance. For dessert, just do something store-bought from a really nice local bakery. Don’t ever try to be someone you’re not. He’ll appreciate your simplicity. Trust me.

livinghakunamata −  Don’t lie. Let’s say you order take out, pretend you made it and go through with your elaborate ruse. The grandfather enjoys his meal, then he’ll think you know how to cook. Your girlfriend ends up your partner for life, congratulations, you can now lie to her family for the rest of the time you’re together.. ​

Plan B sounds perfect. Let him know you’re very inexperienced with cooking and that you would like to learn something from him. Have your GF ask her grandfather if he would be interested in that (not all chefs like to cook outside their work, they sometimes just want to sit down, relax and enjoy a meal).

Get all the ingredients and set everything ready. Now you’ll also have a great opportunity to bond with him.