Sometimes the line between rude and plain old honesty and can get blurred. My family had this experience a few weeks ago while we visited the San Diego Zoo , which we truly enjoyed. With tired feet, we dragged ourselves into a restaurant thinking that we would enjoy a nice hot meal, the weather was on the cool side so this sounded great. We made a HUGE incorrect assumption that surely the San Diego Zoo , that hosts thousands of children each year, would have food allergy friendly safe foods and policy! Surely health conscious California would lead the nation in food allergy savvy behavior right? Boy was I wrong!
photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo
Normally, I work out the food way, way ahead of time, but we rushed out of the door on our trip and I did not. We always pack safe snacks and sandwiches for day trips like this so I wasn’t too worried as we drove to the San Diego Zoo that morning. We popped into a nice sit down restaurant and explained our situation to our server. She wasn’t fully sure what was safe and decided it was best to speak to the chef. She felt that the chef might be able to cook up some salmon in a separate pan. So far, so good I thought.
photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo
The chef came out and explained that utensils are used for multiple food items and therefore nothing would be safe from his kitchen. He asked how allergic was my son and we explained that he had anaphylatic food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and poppy seeds and dairy. Still not too bad I thought, at least we are having open and honest conversation.
Here is when the conversation took a downhill turn; the chef then went on that he can’t control who touches what. At this point, the film is running in my head of other restaurant experiences where the chef takes ownership and offers to cook the meal himself and to use freshly cleaned utensils, pots and pans. How did we end up in California, which I thought would be a food allergy heaven, in a restaurant with the most unaccommodating chef? I then told the chef that maybe this restaurant is not safe for my son and we need to leave.
photo courtesy of eliminate-creditcard-debts.com
The offer to leave somehow flipped a switch and now the chef offered to cook salmon in a separate pan for my son and serve it over a bed of mixed salad greens with oil and vinegar on the side. Then, as he walked off he said, “you do have Epi Pens® on you right?” and then disappeared into the kitchen.
We sad dumbfounded at his last sentence. At first it felt like he was going to do what ever he wanted in the kitchen and good luck to us. My son look terrified and we assured him that if felt unsafe then he does NOT have to take one bite.
At this point, we were trying to decide was he being flip or was he being realistic? Should we just leave and call it a day? The truth is that no restaurant or home kitchen (my own included) can ever be 100% safe as humans make errors. Period. So, was he trying to make sure we were prepared or was he trying to scare a 13 year old boy? Sometimes reality is scary.
As we pondered this entire encounter, the chef quickly re-appeared with a beautiful plate of salad greens and salmon that he cooked and plated himself-participating in every step. Then he checked back in to make sure all was well. My son felt 100 times better when the chef explained how the prepared the meal personally. We enjoyed a lovely meal and decided that he needed to work on his table side manner and should be trained regarding how to speak to food allergic customers and that we felt his own fear was shining through. In the end, he did the right thing and truly was worried for my son’s health and well being.
Now, a little bit of healthy fear is not a bad thing to me! I believed that his fear also pushed him to step-up and create the meal himself, over seeing safe practices. Needless to say, I’ve written to the San Diego Zoo pointing them in the direction of great downloads and information on training culinary staff how to address food allergic patrons.
You can find this information entitled, “Food Allergy Education and Resources for my Food Service Professional Friends” on the bottom of my Traveling and Eating Out page on this site. These links and downloads range from online training programs to slide shows all the way to “Welcoming Guests with Food Allergies” download created by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. Check it out and share some of these valuable links with your favorite restaurants.
All in all, the chef redeemed himself and reminded us that our work to educate restaurant workers is on our to-do list!
Happy dining~Caroline
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One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
We don’t eat out but I can imagine the pit in your stomach during this experience! I’d say the chef’s tableside manner was lacking but honesty is better than false promises of safety. I’m surprised SD Zoo isn’t more welcoming about food allergies though I recall a warning about how the animals may be fed nuts but that was at the Wild Animal Park. Legoland is supposed to be allergy friendly but mostly just for gluten & nut free folks. I’m rambling but most of all I’m glad your story ends well!
My stomach just dropped out and then I nervously over ate bread! Again, I was pleased how serious he did take it and better to be safe. I’m blogging on Friday about the most amazing experience at Sea World. They sell Divvies at the registers in the food service places!!!! It was incredible. My kids were over the top happy!