I worked in restaurants that did this, nice ones too.
Anthony Bourdain even wrote about it:
“Recently, there was a news report about the practice of recycling bread. By means of a hidden camera in a restaurant, the reporter was horrified to see returned bread being sent right back out to the floor. This, to me, wasn’t news: the reuse of bread has been an open secret—and a fairly standard practice—in the industry for years. It makes more sense to worry about what happens to the leftover table butter—many restaurants recycle it for hollandaise.”
He’s exaggerating for effect. No one would read an article about how a kitchen is really just a boring workplace.
I’ve never known or heard of a restaurant reserving “used” table butter or bread to another table, though I’m pretty sure the practice does happen. You need only notice how many people lick the butter knife to know how wrong that is.
Bread taken from a table is usually thrown away, since at the end of the night restaurants usually have more unused bread leftover than they can turn into croutons or breadcrumbs.
I worked in restaurants that did this, nice ones too.
Anthony Bourdain even wrote about it:
“Recently, there was a news report about the practice of recycling bread. By means of a hidden camera in a restaurant, the reporter was horrified to see returned bread being sent right back out to the floor. This, to me, wasn’t news: the reuse of bread has been an open secret—and a fairly standard practice—in the industry for years. It makes more sense to worry about what happens to the leftover table butter—many restaurants recycle it for hollandaise.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-this
He’s exaggerating for effect. No one would read an article about how a kitchen is really just a boring workplace.
https://www.bonappetit.com/columns/the-foodist/article/do-restaurants-reuse-bread-and-butter