In a society of tricky dietary restrictions, who’s right?
Wvancouver is a very accommodating city
hen I sit down for lunch at a new French restaurant in Vancouver, I notice a line at the bottom of the menu: “Requests for substitutions are politely declined.”
Uh oh, I think. Most dishes on the menu include red meat (which I’m allergic to), and there is only one vegetarian dish. Even the fries are cooked in beef tallow. Without the option for substitutions, there isn’t much here I can have. It’s a problem I face all too often when going out to eat.
Anthony Bourdain famously called vegetarians “a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.” I have often wondered if chefs secretly think that of all dietary limitations—especially since it’s near impossible to determine a restriction from a preference.
Chris Lam, chef and owner of Straight and Marrow on Powell, takes allergies very seriously, ensuring there is no contact or chance of contamination. In return, he hopes that diners are honest with him.
“It is quite frustrating to see patrons try their friend’s or partner’s dishes when they stated they had an allergy to a certain ingredient,” he says. “If it is indeed a preference, then it might be wise to select a different dish if that stated ingredient is integral to the overall composition of the plate. People pay good money to get a taste of a chef’s creativity; it makes sense to be able to experience it as it was intended.”
Even 20 years go, dietary restrictions weren’t a topic of conversation in the kitchen. These days, though, restrictions and preferences are increasingly common. Diners who choose to spend their hard-earned money at a restaurant certainly deserve some level of accommodation. But are we taking things too far? Is it the restaurant’s prerogative to reject dietary restrictions requests to protect
the integrity of their menus, or is the customer always right? Should we expect the restaurant to adapt to us, or are we as consumers going to need to check our entitlements at the door? As with most things, the answer lies in balance.
“I do think that Vancouver, throughout the years, has evolved in so many ways,” says Alan Older, head chef at Smitty’s Oyster House on Main, “and one of them is being able to serve and accommodate people with certain preferences and restrictions—even to a point that it’s not strange or surprising to see a menu with gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan options.”
Many of the chefs I speak to agree that this is a very Vancouver-specific scenario.
“I think in general Vancouver is a very accommodating city,” says Cody Allmin, co-founder of Mount Pleasant’s Michelin-starred restaurant Published on Main. “We try to make sure that everybody feels comfortable or welcomed. I think it’s just our nature as West Coasters.”
Still, Allmin understands those who are enforcing stricter parameters.
“I know that some people have put their foot down and they’re not going to accommodate anything,” he says, adding that he believes the shift is being driven in part by restaurants chasing accolades like a Michelin Star. Restaurateurs and chefs want to make sure they’re putting their best plates forward.
“People are a little bit more firm around what they’re offering guests because they want to make sure it’s the best possible version of something,” Allmin explains. “When you’re trying to build something around dietary restrictions, sometimes you’re making concessions that might make the dish not as good as it could have been.”
Behshad Zolnasr, executive chef at C|Prime on Burrard, tries to steer people away from certain dishes before making substitutions.
“Of course, being a chef, one of the last things I want to hear is someone changing a dish. With that being said, dietary
restrictions have become part of the restaurant industry, and are important to us as well,” he says. “Most modern chefs nowadays design menus that offer some options for all guests and are willing to make small substitutions as long as the integrity of their dish is held.”
But there are some changes he just won’t make.
“For example, a dish with a cream sauce, I won’t allow a substitute for a tomato sauce,” he offers. “It may seem small, but the integrity of the dish is compromised at that point. I’ll often communicate to their server to recommend a different dish to suit their needs.”
For Published on Main, multi-course set tasting menus and chef collaboration dinners make it hard to offer substitutions—which is why the restaurant has a robust à la carte selection.
“We have 31 items on the à la carte menu,” Allmin explains, “specifically so that we can have certain items that can be offered for different dietary restrictions.”
There’s no one-size-feeds-all approach to cooking or to dining. Restaurants have the right to decide how far they’ll go to accommodate guests, and guests have the right to decide where they’ll spend their money. On both sides, all we can hope for is respectful discourse. GS