Hi. My folks have hired a chef to help out with their menu, and I think
they're being scammed and I hope someone around here can point me in the
right direction. This chef has made a few strange comments that I don't
believe indicate his prowess as a chef.

To give some insight, my folks are about to open a Greek Restaurant (they
had one before, but closed down to move to a new location and get a fresh
start). Their menu is established, but they hope to gain the benefit of a
chef to help trim the rough edges on their menu design. They hired him to
work on prep and menu design, not to be a line cook.

Anyway, one staple in Greek cuisine is Spanakopita. it's a spinich pie type
thing. My folks insist they use only fresh spinich for a richer flavour.
This individual argued that you should not waste your money, and it doesn't
make a difference if you use frozen spinich. Is he correct? I feel that
fresh vegetables have more flavour than frozen.

Furthermore, this "chef" believes that fish should never be grilled. I'm no
expert in fine dining, so I hope someone around here could tell me if he's
correct? I've had grilled Marlin before and loved it. He insists all fish
should only be pan fried, steamed, or poached. Personally I quite like
grilled Salmon. He insists it comes out too dry.

And the last thing this guy said was frozen fish should not sit thawed for
more than four hours or it goes bad. My folks take the Salmon, thaw it out,
and marinade it for a day in the fridge and then serve it. Now in the old
restaurant, they operated for five years without any major health violations
or incidents. This might be a fallacious appeal to perpetuitiy, but I think
he's just plain wrong. I mean, you can have chicken sit in the fridge
overnight in marinade, cannot the same hold true for fish?

If someone could answer me these three questions, I'd really appreciate it.
this guy's a goof, and I think he's going to take my folks for a ride. I
guess in a way it's like your mechanic telling you what's wrong with your
car - you believe him until you get a second opinion. I guess I'm just
looking for some opinions on these matters.

Thanks so very much in advance for your help.