Food Allergy?

Post Date
Categories
Food Blogs

Being allergic to pine nuts, and therefore having to stay away from pesto as well, Eve is always suspicious of any green sauce on her plate.  Last night at a lovely restaurant on Martha's Vineyard many of the entrees said they came with pesto.  So we told our server of her allergy.  No pesto please.

Her dish came with some green sauce and she pointed it out to our server who came back and said, sorry, yes it is pesto.

Now how does that happen?  Clearly she did not bother to tell the chef of the allergy or surely he would have said the dish had pesto in it.  This is the second time this has happened.  What then is the point of alerting your server to a food allergy, I would like to know?

Eve and I have been debating whether it is the fault of the restaurant for not listing pesto as an ingredient on the menu considering other dishes did, or of the server for ignoring our alert.

On a positive note, I ask her sometimes to guess our server's name, which is often printed on the check.  Eve asked for a hint.  It starts with an "I"  I said.  She thought for a moment and then said, "Ivona."  IVONA?!   How did she come up with that?  Of all the "I" names....and she was correct!  That cost me a $100 bet.  I have to learn to stop betting Eve.

Comments

Fred Klein

Joanne does not like it when I ask the name
Corey Bearak

Some so-called professionals refused to adjust to the needs and suggestions of others; that includes chefs. Sometimes more that art matters. Just because you created something -- even a restaurant dish, offers no excuse to adjust when and where it makes sense; that refusing to revise something you create for a client.
And as a P.S. Received a message from the ol' triple C* who advised that replies and posts by any blogger to their own blog counts not at all in that nefarious who garners the most comments "contest"; thus CCC ruled out my two comments and tribal co-leader's FIVE. That puts us in a tie so we may have circle back from time to time to see if others come back to either post (both exist on Facebook with links to the respective Gotham blog spot.


*comment counting commissioner
Rona Gura

Corey, for some reason I thought that there was an exception to that rule, i.e. when Fred comments on his own blog.
Don, as for your blog, I am, actually, kind of surprised that it only happened to Eve twice. Just lat night I was at a restaurant and I complained that a piece of fish on my plate was too overcooked to eat (I never complain). When the bill came and I was charged full price for the inedible fish, my husband was surprised and spoke to the hostess about it. The waiter claimed he was never told. We didn't contradict him because, up to that point he was a good waiter but, logically, who else would I mention it to? I am finding the days of waiters being professionals who do it for a living are over and now most waiters and waitresses are just doing it while waiting for a position in another profession.
Corey Bearak

Rhona,
Just we do confirming letters and emails where I judge it matters. I will make sure the recipient of my message gets its; many times people just acknowledge even though they truly did not hear the message. Very unprofessional but frequent practice. I sometimes will ask for a hire up just to get past initial confusion that may make things difficult later

As to the comment rule I never notice it policed but I welcome knowing it's already exists and applies.

Submitted by Janet_Adler on Sun, 09/22/2013 - 02:42

Permalink
Janet Adler

I learned my lesson at the Savoy in London. Looking down at my salade I spotted a fly. Very quietly I beckoned the waiter and told him. He picked up the dish and as if he was speaking to an idiot he declared...In England Madame, we call that a caper...I responed that in America we have capers too, but remarkably ours don't have wings. Knowing what they do in the back of restaurants when people complain..I just send it back, and tell them not to add it to the bill and have dessert. Trust me you don't want to eat what they replace your dish with...in the best places!
Tessa Marquis

"Ivona"? As in :"I Von(t) A new entree".
No excuse for ignoring customer requests. No excuse for arguing with the customer. No excuses At All.
I just had breakfast in New Orleans and gave an extra 2 cents via the Comments section of the credit card receipt. Very famous chef. I told him where to go to taste better biscuits (Mother's) and better coffee (anywhere). The organic eggs were great so I told them that as well.
Nancy Schess

We are very attuned to food allergies in my house since Jaclyn has celiac. We have found some dining out experiences satisfying, so to speak, while others very frustrating. That said, over time we have decided that you can tell very early in the meal whether the restaurant "gets it" about allergies.

Submitted by Liz_Saldana on Sun, 09/22/2013 - 23:30

Permalink
Liz Saldana

I'm highly allergic to strawberries and always ask before ordering. While I say it with some humor they seem to remember the phrase "anaphylactic shock ruins an evening". We always ask the names of our servers and introduce ourselves. Though it surprises some people at first, they do seem to appreciate it when you address them by name during the time you're there.

Submitted by Lucas_Meyer on Mon, 09/23/2013 - 06:06

Permalink
Lucas Meyer

Some years ago, my uncle and aunt were out to dinner with friends at a super-upscale French restaurant in New York. As my aunt finished her main course, she realized that there was a cockroach in her food, and she called over the waiter. And then the owner came over, as well. Instead of being gracious, the owner haughtily asked her, "Is madame a New Yorker?" To which she replied yes. "Well, I am sure then that madame has had experience with roaches in her own kitchen, no?" And here's what she said: "Why yes, I have had roaches in my kitchen, but I seldom serve them to my guests."

Add new comment

About text formats

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.