I'll have a BLT - no bacon, lettuce or tomato

I'll have a BLT - no bacon, lettuce or tomato
Janny Hu, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, May 6, 2010



It's the first rule of thumb when it comes to the hospitality industry - the customer is always right.

But what happens when that customer wanders into a high-end restaurant expecting a fabulous meal, without meat, fish, wheat, nuts or dairy?

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"When people come to Pizzaiolo and say, 'I don't eat wheat or cheese,' I'm like, 'Why did you come to a pizzeria?' " Hallowell says.

It's a question chefs are asking more and more as diners become increasingly picky about what they want - or don't want - on their plates.

No gluten. No salt. No dairy. No wheat.

No peanuts. No seeds. No fat.

Whether it's someone following a vegan or macrobiotic diet, someone allergic to wheat or nuts, or someone who simply doesn't like mushrooms or eggs, there's a new wave of special requests being made that go far beyond leaving the salad dressing on the side.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/06/DD6B1D99FQ.DTL&type=food#ixzz0nBD0cmdf

to leave out ingredients because you don't like them, is stupid.

that your body is allergic to. People can die from peanut residue I've heard.

as a vegetarian for the past two decades, I've been dragged to some places where I have no choice but to order off menu. My dad loves to take me to BBQ joints and similar places where even the water has bacon (somewhat of an exaggeration), so sometimes I order off menu, but I'm also never an ass about it having worked in food service for over a decade myself. It's kind of annoying because when I was cooking, I had no problem making things to order, but I've heard some chefs/cooks get really angry, even if the request is completely normal and easy because it breaks their routine.

For example, I don't like mushrooms. That means that I would not choose to order anything with mushrooms in it. I may ask if they can leave it out if it is something that may be added as a separate item. If it isn't, and it is something that I really want, I will pick the mushrooms out. However, I would not go to a place that specializes in serving mushrooms. I don't know if there even is such a place, but if there was, I wouldn't expect them to make me something with no mushrooms.

I know a lot of people have allergies to certain things, and asking if it is possible to leave something out is fine. But you have to be reasonable. And there are some things that they can't guarantee aren't going to be there. Restaurants prepare a lot of things in advance, and sometimes they can't guarantee that a sauce can't be fixed. But don't go to a pizza place and expect something with no wheat and no cheese.

I have a couple of nasty food allergies, one of which has put me into the hospital.

People like me need to do one major thing: learn to cook. I did.

Restaurants and dinner parties are different. In a restaurant, I order things on the menu I know I can eat. I avoid places that specialize in things I can't eat. At dinner parties, I simply don't eat anything that will make me sick and I don't comment about it, either.

I think people use allergy to cover everything from "this will kill me quickly if I eat it" down to "I don't want to eat it but I don't want to hurt your feelings" to "I'm so special the world has to revolve around me". I understand the medical reasons, not only are there people with real life-threatening allergies but there are those who take medications that don't get along with some foods, or who have to limit certain foods. But there are also the people who claim to have X syndrome based solely on their self-diagnosis, or just want something nobody else has. These are the ones the OP is ranting about.

and even vegan. When it gets to gluten free, raw diets or simply overly picky people, I can understand why places cannot do it. It slows down their service and/or they simply don't have the ingredients to accomodate the customer.

Like they said - why go to a pizzeria and say you can't have wheat or cheese? Go somewhere else!!

I once worked for a woman who routinely rented private jets (she and her father were partial owners of the jet fleet) for family travel. It's been five years, but I still remember the drill...

No milk products for the daughter, no soy products or garlic for the mother. The toddler requires sliced fruit, including bananas, which cannot be sliced until just before takeoff. A vegetable plate for each, with hummus dip. Apple juice for the children, and the sparkling water du jour for the adults, with plenty of lime and lemon wedges. Then there were specific lunch and/or dinner requests. An SUV with two kiddie seats to meet at the airport...

and how many times did the plates go untouched? Being rich means you can act like a rock star and your entire life becomes one little "rider" after another.

Because the car and driver service wanted to charge them an extra $300 because they had to pull the specific SUV style from another fleet upstate... naturally THAT was my fault! Jeez. And it was also my fault that I didn't know the wife had a step-brother who owned the hotel, not her blood brother... everyone knows her blood brother... so when the hotel called wanting to see if the husband would consider a different room, I used the blood brother's name... gosh, what an idiot I am. :eyes:

I lasted 18 months... I don't work well under classism. I'd worked for billionaires nearly a decade prior to that job, and not one treated me like that.

Oh, and no denim. No denim for anyone in the family, nor anyone they employed. Not even for the gardner, who had to wear khaki pants and polo shirts. I kid you not.

Check out how many people all through the InterTubes use the word... hillarious...

You had be going for a split second too!

:rofl:

Remember Pee Wee... "I meant to do that!"

:rofl:

Denium
A reoccuring message board phenomenon which has a knack of attempting to become cool. Often makes mistakes in doing this, by adapting names which involve "X-treme" or bullshittery to a similar effect.

Also appears to be very protective about it's identity when two different boards interact, and tries to make sure it's not recognized by either side.
"Oh, hi Denium."

"Man, you're such a fucking Denium."

"I just banned a Denium."

"Deniums! Deniums everywhere! They're driving me mad!"

"Aren't you that Denium from that other board?"

"You sure are acting like a Denium."

of one of the many funny stories I heard as a child while listening in on the adult conversations between my extremely amusing aunts...

One day one of them called for a pizza...gave the order and said, no sausage, no peppers, no onions, no anchovies, no this, no that...

the order is given and the person on the other end says, "Uh, do you want sauce on that?"

All the aunts got a big charge out of it. :7



The story about one of them finding a dead mouse in a bakery-bought blueberry pie was funnier.

beurre blanc without butter? Tony Bourdain says he's gotten that order before. :eyes:

The only thing as dumb as raw foodists is the idea they pay for the privilege of eating raw food.

If they proved tomorrow that eating only raw food would make you live to 300 what would be the point since you would never have a decent meal.

and arranged. Not just cut up carrots

Sorry, I'm not going to pay someone to arrange my bean sprouts in ikebana fashion.

They just fudge the temperature a bit and call it "warming."

i.e., I stay home and cook.

Sprinkle a little oregano on top and call it a day!

But I won't go somewhere unless I can pre-count the carbs. Chain restaurants are actually very easy for me to go to. Just look on their websites for the carbs. Then factor out how much short term insulin to take for the meal.

still true

I wait tables and am constantly shocked by what customers expect us to do. I am not talking about reasonable requests like no butter/oil, no tomato, dressing on the side, no cheese, no nuts and that sort of thing, allergy questions.... I am talking build-your-own-entree type stuff. Making up dishes completely off the menu and expecting the guys on the line to do it... and then often grumbling because it isn't exactly right. WHat the f*ck do you expect? We have a huge menu, complete with vegetarian AND vegan items and even daily specials... our guys are trained to make those things, not *your* things. Some days are very trying that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8

:rofl:

Bwaa haa haa haa!

I don't expect restaurants to be able to accommodate every request but as long as the customer is polite about it they shouldn't get upset that a customer asks.

It's a lot easier now. I don't buy groceries, but I do have to take my IV pole everywhere I go. The pole turned out to be an asset when I went skiing last winter, but my IV bag froze, so that was a bummer.

What does food taste like?

You can march in like a rock star and demand something that meets your exacting specifications, or you can 1)call ahead, and mention you have a restricted diet and ask if they can accommodate you, or 2) quietly ask the server to recommend something that fits the restrictions. I've found the latter approaches work better, especially if you're willing to be a little flexible.

I arranged a luncheon for a large crowd recently; one of the attendees sent in a long list of things she couldn't have for various reasons. I turned it around and asked her to suggest a meal that would meet her requirements, which she did. This made her happy that she was listened to, and made the chefs happy because they had something concrete to work from.

In Fayettenam there used to be a steakhouse called Great Plains Cattle Company. IIRC they got closed over taxes because the restaurant was always full of people and was very popular. Anyway, I went in there once and was having a very nice meal when what sits down at the next table? Two vegans.

Vegans have the perfect right to their lifestyle, but check it out: everything served at Great Plains Cattle Company had meat in it, except maybe the iced tea and I'm not sure about that. The salads had meat. The rolls had meat. Most beer is made with meat--they use gelatin to settle the yeast to the bottom of the vat--so they couldn't even sit there and get drunk. You PROBABLY could have gotten the salad made with no meat, but what's the point? Just the name of the place screamed, "if you're vegetarian or vegan go somewhere else." But they were very vocal about the lack of vegan dishes on the menu before they stormed out in a huff--I think they did it on purpose.

If you've got some sort of dietary restriction that precludes eating everything a restaurant makes, whether it's veganism or gluten intolerance, perhaps it's best you don't go there.