The collaborative process between guests and restaurants is critical in successfully eating outside the home with special dietary requirements. As outlined in the chart above, this process is comprised of two primary components—the planning effort and the continuous interaction throughout the dining experience between the two parties. The planning effort from both the guest and restaurant perspective focuses on education and is completed prior to any interaction between the two parties.

Guest Approach to Eating Outside the Home

1. Educate yourself about eating outside the home with specialized diets
a. Read applicable materials:

• Review books, publications, restaurant reviews and awareness programs
• Research the Internet and other reference materials
  

b. Talk with other individuals dealing with specialized diets:

• Become a member of applicable associations and organizations
• Participate in support groups and discussion forums

c. Attend educational sessions:

• Participate in associated conferences
• Participate in cooking classes to learn more about food preparation
• Hire a personal chef for consultation

2. Assess your dining comfort level for the meal
a. Identify your safety factors:

• Determine how you feel physically
• Assess how safe you need to feel

b. Based upon your previous needs and experience, evaluate what cuisines are low risk and high risk
c. Assess specific cuisines:

• Determine what type of cuisine satisfies your comfort level and tastes
• Identify your desired level of complexity in food preparation
  

3. Identify your eating options and preferences
a. Determine what type of establishment and atmosphere you prefer:

• Fine dining establishment
• Family-oriented restaurant
• Fast food/quick service establishment
• Carry out/take away

b. Assess what type of cuisine you prefer:

• New and different
• Familiar with menu items
• Understand preparation considerations

c. Determine if it is most important to go somewhere:

• New and different
• You have eaten before and know the safe items
• Gluten and allergy friendly
• Featuring a specific gluten and allergyfree menu
• Where people know who you are

d. Select your restaurant

4. Determine the level of pre-planning effort desired
a. Conduct research as necessary on:

• Cuisine ingredients and preparation
• Restaurant menu options

b. Determine the best time for your reservation or meal:

• Decide to walk into a restaurant when convenient
• Reserve a time that is convenient
• Reserve a time that is typically not crowded based on access to the people who can help you as well as your level of comfort

c. Determine the level of communication and interaction necessary with the restaurant prior to your meal:

• None required
• Review menu on the Internet
• Call ahead to discuss dietary requirements

5. Communicate your special dietary needs with the restaurant
a. Determine your approach to explaining your dietary needs:

• Vulnerable to anaphylactic shock
• Following a medically prescribed diet
• Have severe food allergies
• On a specialized diet

b. Initiate your first contact with restaurant

• Go to restaurant without prior communication
• Prior to walking in the door, call ahead during non-peak times and discuss menu options with restaurant professionals
• Pre-order your meal based upon your comfort level

c. Discuss requirements with the restaurant staff and based upon their knowledge of specialized diets, potentially request a manager or the chef, as needed, to help ensure a safe experience

6. Order your meal
a. Determine reference materials required to order meal:

• Assess if a restaurant card or other materials outlining dietary requirements should be given to your server based upon your comfort level or language considerations
• Refer to your notes, books, cuisine passports, quick reference guides, translation cards and foreign language phrase books as needed

b. Discuss the menu with the restaurant professionals:

• Ask the appropriate questions to determine meal choices based upon cuisine, dishes and preferences
• Explain your concerns to the restaurant professionals
• Realize that if the restaurant is extremely busy it may be best to keep special requests to a minimum

c. Place your order:

• Request special food preparation
• Confirm your order with restaurant professionals

7. Receive order and appreciate your meal
a. Confirm your order upon delivery:

• Reiterate your special order request
• Receive dish and assess preparation

b. Enjoy your meal:

• Accept the dish
• Request dish be returned if special request is not met

c. Relax and appreciate the dining experience:

• Compliment the staff on attention to detail if your special requests are met
• Include a generous tip for good and conscientious service
• Frequent the restaurant again based on experience

8. Provide feedback on your dining experience
a. Provide constructive feedback to restaurant professionals on your dining experience
b. Recommend the dining establishment to your friends and family
c. Notify applicable restaurant awareness programs of your experience

Restaurant Approach to Handling Special Dietary Requests

1. Educate staff about potential dietary requirements
a. Conduct training for management and staff on:

• Specialized diets and requirements
• Interacting with individuals who require specialized diets

b. Obtain certification from appropriate organizations and restaurant awareness programs
c. Talk with other restaurants dealing with specialized diets
d. Monitor training effectiveness and guest feedback

2. Identify restaurant-specific ingredients and preparation techniques to be potentially modified for specialized diets
a. Identify common food allergens and associated ingredients
b. Assess what areas of food preparation specific to our kitchen contain common food allergens
c. Identify which menu items are naturally free of specific allergens
d. Explore potential modifications to menu items based upon specific allergens and ingredients
e. Determine possible crosscontamination required in our kitchen
f. Identify what ingredients and areas of food preparation cannot be modified

3. Understand guest’s special dietary needs and discuss menu
a. Discuss guest’s dietary conditions:

• Vulnerable to anaphylactic shock
• Following a medically prescribed diet
• Have severe food allergies
• On a specialized diet

b. Discuss menu items and safety factors of dishes:

• Which menu items are safe based upon requirements
• Identify which items can be modified to be safe

c. Discuss which menu items must be avoided
d. Confirm menu items and preparation with chef based upon requirements

4. Facilitate accurate understanding of the order and special requirements
a. Determine if the special order is understood by the cooks under the chef ’s supervision
b. Assess and factor in language considerations with the kitchen staff
c. Determine the feasibility of executing special requests based upon how busy the kitchen is
d. Assess if order can be prepared as requested
e. Follow-up with guest if a change to the order is required

5. Ensure fulfillment of special order
a. Confirm with the chef if special request can be handled
b. Monitor fulfillment of special request
c. Re-confirm order with kitchen staff prior to delivery

6. Deliver meal
a. Deliver meal to guest
b. Confirm their special dietary request when the meal is delivered
c. Handle sitution if meal does not meet the guest’s expectations

7. Follow-up with guests about service and ensure satisfactory dining experience
a. Follow-up with guest to ensure meal is satisfactory
b. Provide guest feedback to manager and chef as needed

Excerpted from:
Let’s Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free

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Intention of these materials.
Let’s Eat Out! Your Passport to Living Gluten and Allergy Free, is intended to provide information useful to people living with food allergies and specialized diets. AllergyFree Passport™, LLC as the authors, and R & R Publishing, LLC as the publisher of these materials (collectively “we”) have made reasonable efforts to make sure that the information provided is accurate and complete. We believe that factual information contained in these materials was correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. However, we do not warrant or guarantee that any of the information is accurate or complete.
We assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions or typographical errors contained in this book. We expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained herein, as well as responsibility for any liability, injury, loss or damage, whether it be actual, special, consequential, personal or otherwise, which is incurred or allegedly incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of the use and application of any of the contents of these materials. The information contained in these materials should not be viewed as medical advice. Questions regarding specific food allergies, specialized diets, drug and food interactions and anything related to a specific individual should be addressed to a doctor or other medical practitioner. Kim Koeller & Robert La