Should Restaurants be doing more to inform us

It began with a tweet. We asked the following question; what do people expected from restaurants during 2011? We had numerous similar responses from people along the lines:

•    better value (good quality food better priced),

•    higher level of service (better service like we get abroad – which really depends where you are “abroad”)

•    new cuisine? (whatever that meant)

•    sustainable food source (e.g. fish such as dab)

•    Offers & more offers

 

and then this tweet from Issi Gane (@issiwissy)

 @realtimeseating clear labelling of what is suitable for people with allergies - e.g. 'contains gluten'

 

The issue – clear labelling on menus

 

Now it turns out that Issi has Coeliac Disease meaning that she can't eat any gluten. This really impacts on where Issi eats out.

We thought this was a good & valid point to discuss and opened up the issue to all our followers on twitter.

Like most subjects the easy solution is to say that all restaurants should clearly label all their dishes but now imagine how large a menu would become if we did this for gluten, wheat, dairy intolerants and then caffeine and so on. So it was unsurprising that one of the very first responses was from a restaurant rubbishing the idea. Fair enough it would make their menu a nightmare but the reality of the situation is that like Issi there is a lot of people (and I mean a lot including my wife & daughter) who suffer from a gluten, wheat, dairy allergy and although in my wife’s case it’s not life threatening if she does eat something that she shouldn’t she is violently ill which in anyone’s book is not a great eating out experience.

 

So what could be the solution?

 

•    A number of people recommended training of FOH (Front Of House) staff is the solution, but the nature of this business is that there is a high turnaround of FOH staff (yes we agree that there are restaurants that have a low if not a zero turnaround of FOH staff but they are not the majority).

•    The Customer asking FOH staff who if unsure would communicate with Chef to get guidance (at the peak of service can you see this “communication” taking place?)

•    Labelling menu for gluten, wheat & dairy (being the ones most people mentioned)

So clearly not one solution but the mere fact that people, restaurants, chefs and FOH staff all contributed to this discussion the majority wants to address the issue and find a workable solution.

 

But this discussion lasted about an hour on twitter so by no means did we explore all the possibilities, so my question to you is what would you like to see happen if you are a sufferer or a chef or restaurateur?

 

P.S One thing that everyone was unanimous about was that we don’t want government stepping in and start dedicating what we should be doing …. Please no

 

 

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