Dietary Restrictions

[undersea]

I speak to each guest when I take the reservation and have carefully worded my question about diet. "Do you have any dietary allergies? Nuts, dairy, gluten?" We do not jump through hoops for preferances and if a true Celiac wants a reservation I tell them that I can not guarantee that there will not be cross contamination, suggesting that they bring their own food or find a larger inn that can cater to their specific needs.
Upon check-in, DH asks again about food allergies.
We currently have a woman who does not like "eggs" but who will eat quiche, soufflé and the such. At booking I told her that it is near impossible for me to make a breakfast for a group of people without eggs, that we would do our best to try to meet her needs, and I suggested that she could always skip the hot entree and have the home-made yogurt and granola with fruit from the sideboard. In fact, she has cleaned her plate every morning with a smile. And I was not turned inside out trying to figure out if she would leave hungry..

"I have not turned inside out"
That, to me, is the key. I do not want to tie myself up in knots concerning about breakfast, while at the same time, trying to be proactive and being able to deal with the gluten, allergy and dislikes. I see way too much angst here about people worrying about an upcoming mix of gluten-free, allergies and vegans. As I said a few times, my mantra for menu planning is eliminate, offer two choices and prepare trigger foods in separate stations.
I do not even want to thrust and parry about future guests. Too much worry.
Your point of cross contamination is significant though. I think that goes to ServSafe. Must clearly warn people about this possibility, I think, or else we are liable for a reaction.

 

[EmptyNest]

I speak to each guest when I take the reservation and have carefully worded my question about diet. "Do you have any dietary allergies? Nuts, dairy, gluten?" We do not jump through hoops for preferances and if a true Celiac wants a reservation I tell them that I can not guarantee that there will not be cross contamination, suggesting that they bring their own food or find a larger inn that can cater to their specific needs.
Upon check-in, DH asks again about food allergies.
We currently have a woman who does not like "eggs" but who will eat quiche, soufflé and the such. At booking I told her that it is near impossible for me to make a breakfast for a group of people without eggs, that we would do our best to try to meet her needs, and I suggested that she could always skip the hot entree and have the home-made yogurt and granola with fruit from the sideboard. In fact, she has cleaned her plate every morning with a smile. And I was not turned inside out trying to figure out if she would leave hungry..

"I have not turned inside out"
That, to me, is the key. I do not want to tie myself up in knots concerning about breakfast, while at the same time, trying to be proactive and being able to deal with the gluten, allergy and dislikes. I see way too much angst here about people worrying about an upcoming mix of gluten-free, allergies and vegans. As I said a few times, my mantra for menu planning is eliminate, offer two choices and prepare trigger foods in separate stations.
I do not even want to thrust and parry about future guests. Too much worry.
Your point of cross contamination is significant though. I think that goes to ServSafe. Must clearly warn people about this possibility, I think, or else we are liable for a reaction.
.

You can only do so much. You do what you can..they eat or or not. You are not a restaurant with an extensive menu. Do your best and that is all you can do.

 

[Madeleine]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

 

[Lee2014]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

Glad to hear from you!

 

[muirford]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.

 

[undersea]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.
.

Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth.

This sounds surprisingly like one of the govt's latest attempts at food pyramids

 

[happykeeper]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.
.

That's what we do. Big 12" plate- compartments or zones, always 5 fresh fruits, whole grains with GF subs, proteins with subs, vegetables that work (asp, local greens, tomato, avo) Lots of enjoyable breakfasts with very little angst.

 

[Madeleine]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.
.

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.

Yes, your breakfast. I thought it was a great idea. Lasted all of no days here. DH said I was making more work for him in order to cut down on the complaints I was getting in the dining room from people telling me they couldn't eat whatever was being served. Oh well. Back to hell. ;-)
I thought the portions I saw (quiche slice - about half what we serve) and a half waffle with bacon and fruit was nicely sized. I did SO want to reach in and push everything toward the center of the plate. It looked too much like a big + was drawn on the plate and everything was strictly assigned to its own quad. But I'm not a chef. I don't even play one on TV.

 

[muirford]

After reading everything here, writing about it for 10 years, etc, we are changing our breakfast to cover every eventuality.
There will be on the plate:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Fruit
• Bread

Eat what you want. If you've told us no dairy or no gluten or no meat, those things will either be cooked differently (leaving out milk and cheese as an example) or providing corn bread and veggie sausage.
The portions will be smaller than before as we are not buying bigger plates, but this should cure a lot of problems.
We still will not be buying one off items like almond milk or specialty foods, but we will have something on the plate you can eat.
We're too small to do a menu but this should cover most things.
Except, of course, the people who are never happy unless they've gotten exactly what they have at home. Can't help them, they should just stay home.
I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!).

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.
.

I saw a nicely plated breakfast like this on vacation and figured we can do this, too. I'm expecting a fair amount of waste but I guess after 11 seasons I have to accept this as COB. (Actually, I'm going to ask the former innkeeper there about the waste and what would she do differently!)

At my most recent innsitting job, we did this kind of breakfast, and I have to say that it did make the dietary issues a lot easier to deal with. We still had a fruit starter, but you could easily have combined it onto one plate. Four quadrants on the plate - they were big square plates - with meat in one, eggs in another, carbs in the third and a garnish in the fourth. Just make smaller portions so you don't overwhelm with food (which our chef couldn't get a handle on). If you make pancakes, make silver dollar size; if you make scrambled eggs, allow 1-2 eggs per plate instead of 2-3. Two quiches feed 16 people instead of 12.
for the known dietary restrictions, we left off the problem food and upped the portions of the rest. For the surprise restrictions - well, they could usually eat something on the plate so it wasn't so bad.

Yes, your breakfast. I thought it was a great idea. Lasted all of no days here. DH said I was making more work for him in order to cut down on the complaints I was getting in the dining room from people telling me they couldn't eat whatever was being served. Oh well. Back to hell. ;-)
I thought the portions I saw (quiche slice - about half what we serve) and a half waffle with bacon and fruit was nicely sized. I did SO want to reach in and push everything toward the center of the plate. It looked too much like a big + was drawn on the plate and everything was strictly assigned to its own quad. But I'm not a chef. I don't even play one on TV.
.

I thought the portions I saw (quiche slice - about half what we serve) and a half waffle with bacon and fruit was nicely sized. I did SO want to reach in and push everything toward the center of the plate. It looked too much like a big + was drawn on the plate and everything was strictly assigned to its own quad. But I'm not a chef. I don't even play one on TV.

I can't remember if I was cooking or if it was our newest chef. I made that meal often; my other favorite was baked oatmeal served in a ramekin, scrambled eggs and sausage. I was one of those kids that didn't like my foods to touch each other - so that weirdness is less about being 'cheffy' and more just my own idiosyncrasy. Kristin is from a French restaurant and she really allows a lot of white space on the plate.
Sorry your chef didn't like that so much. I found it much easier, as long as I was still only do one item to order, with the rest hot holding in the oven. The 'no naked eggs' person gets a whole waffle; the 'gluten free' gets gluten-free toast instead of a waffle. It gets challenging on longer than two day stays - but that was infrequent for us.

 

[Morticia]

One more for the road...guests with multiple ops to tell us about restrictions. One of them has been sitting, talking for an hour. He pulled some stuff out of the guest fridge, sat down and ate it. 9:30 rolls around, I ask about the other half. "Oh no, no breakfast. There's so much they can't eat."
So, in the hour you've been sitting there you couldn't have mentioned this? So we could have cleaned the kitchen an hour ago?
They are headed to another inn I know so I'll be letting them know to ask, pointedly, if the guests are going eat or not.

 

[Morticia]

One more for the road...guests with multiple ops to tell us about restrictions. One of them has been sitting, talking for an hour. He pulled some stuff out of the guest fridge, sat down and ate it. 9:30 rolls around, I ask about the other half. "Oh no, no breakfast. There's so much they can't eat."
So, in the hour you've been sitting there you couldn't have mentioned this? So we could have cleaned the kitchen an hour ago?
They are headed to another inn I know so I'll be letting them know to ask, pointedly, if the guests are going eat or not..

One more for the road...guests with multiple ops to tell us about restrictions. One of them has been sitting, talking for an hour. He pulled some stuff out of the guest fridge, sat down and ate it. 9:30 rolls around, I ask about the other half. "Oh no, no breakfast. There's so much they can't eat."
So, in the hour you've been sitting there you couldn't have mentioned this? So we could have cleaned the kitchen an hour ago?
They are headed to another inn I know so I'll be letting them know to ask, pointedly, if the guests are going eat or not.

Ha ha ha, silly me. Guests ate everything today. Nothing was off limits. Silly innkeeper.

 

[Skamokawa]

Was just feeling grateful for no unusual requests then a possible 4 day fruten glee no scrambled eggs booked. No problem, but I did use the question I learned from this forum - "What do you normally eat at home" Love that question, saves so much guess work!

 

[undersea]

Was just feeling grateful for no unusual requests then a possible 4 day fruten glee no scrambled eggs booked. No problem, but I did use the question I learned from this forum - "What do you normally eat at home" Love that question, saves so much guess work!.

What do you normally eat at home, for breakfast.