Sur commande is a French term meaning cooked to order — the dish is prepared fresh after the customer orders it, rather than being pre-cooked and held warm. It is the mark of a kitchen confident in its timing and mise en place, and it appears on menus to promise freshness: a steak sur commande is grilled when you ask for it, not reheated. The trade-off is waiting time, since nothing is ready in advance, and the kitchen must be organised enough to fire dishes in sequence without chaos. In an era of batch cooking and hot-holding, the phrase signals craft and care. Diners who value food at its peak accept the wait as part of the experience.