Why does store bought celery taste different than restaurant celery?

i disagree with the comments made in the previous reply but i suppose it depends on what kind of restaurant you are talking about.

generally, i would say that responsible and continuously successful establishments in the business are able to obtain fresher and often better quality produce than what we get at the supermarket. this is due to many reasons such as the buying power of the restaurant purchasing larger volumes than the mum buying for a family of four, better storage capabilities, more involved cooking or preparation methods…

i’m not sure what you find better in the restaurant celery as compared to store bought, but there are 2 more points i can bring up which might result in marked difference in the produce: unless your store runs an arrangement with local producers, their celery is liable to be pretty old. the restaurant may get their celery from the same suppliers but they have space and storage constraints and have to turnover the food stores at a much quicker rate. most supermarkets or grocery stores have their own coldrooms or chillers where they can store produce for longer periods after receiving the produce from their suppilers (if the celery you have with your wings is that tasty, you can bet it doesn’t stay long in the restaurant chillers between their purchase and sale).

Secondly, (and this comes back to my intial point about responsible and continuously successful establishments) restaurants which are successful or produce particularly well received food tend to have more stringent practices i quality control. a store will lay out their wares and the consumer can take it or leave it and probably end up getting something else too/anyway. the restaurant will recognise that if they don’t impress every single time, the customer is likely not to return. the direct relation between what goes on the plate and what goes in the cash register in an obvious confrontation every night. thus most chefs look for the freshest foods availible to them. it is not uncommon for deliveries to be rejected by reputable restaurants for failing quality standards. and from the chef’s point of view, the fresher the food, the harder to make a mess of it.

as i said earlier in my post, there are many reasons, but i hope that what i have shared here helps in your search for answers.

oh and the restaurant probably would have pre-cut the celery and stored it in a container of water in the fridge, resulting in a fresh,cool, juicy crunch.