Restaurants

A great example of how the best restaurants can handle even the toughest allergy challenges

by on November 15th, 2012

Regular readers of the AllergyEats Blog know that I am a huge fan of the Massachusetts and Washington DC regional chain Not Your Average Joe’s.

With 17 units in total, an AllergyEats allergy-friendliness chain rating of 4.8/5.0, a stellar reputation for accommodating all guests (beyond just those with food allergy needs), and with SIX of the top spots in OpenTable’s recent list of the 75 most kid-friendly restaurants in America, Not Your Average Joe’s has deserved all the praise I’ve heaped upon them.

 

A great example of how the best restaurants can handle even the toughest allergy challenges

 

I first met CEO Steve Silverstein about two years ago.  I was so impressed with his dedication to customer service, his willingness to be on the cutting edge of restaurant trends, and the chain’s reputation for allergy-friendliness that I asked if we could interview him for this blog.  I strongly recommend those looking for the right attitude in restaurant leadership read that entry from April 2011: “What makes Not Your Average Joe’s well above average? – Let’s hear from the CEO.”  Recently, when AllergyEats hosted the Inaugural Food Allergy Conference for Restaurateurs, Steve was one of three members on our Restaurants That Get It Right panel (along with Rich Vellante from Legal Sea Foods and Jim O’Brien from Jake’s Seafood).  In addition, a few other members of the chain came to the conference purely as attendees.

Fortunately for us, Steve and the Not Your Average Joe’s team are also fans of AllergyEats.  Along with co-hosting gatherings and tastings at their restaurants to welcome the food allergy and gluten free communities, many Not Your Average Joe’s restaurants proactively promote AllergyEats to diners who come in with special dietary needs.  By doing so, they help increase awareness of AllergyEats (which benefits all of us!) and they help improve their profile on AllergyEats since they’re confident diners will give them positive reviews.

Steve occasionally forwards me an email he’s received from a manager or diner that he thinks I would be interested in reading.  However, I’ve never been so impressed by one as I was with the email he forwarded me last week.  I told him I had to share this with all of you, and he obliged.  Please enjoy.  [Note: Bold and Italics added by me.]

“I wanted to take this opportunity to share a story with you all that occurred on Sunday November 4th between myself [sous chef Paul] and Guy [restaurant manager].  Around 8:15 a young lady came to our restaurant to dine with us.  Upon noticing her we realized that she was wearing a custom surgical mask and what appeared to be mittens.  After the party sat and was greeted by Christina [server], we were alerted to [the] fact that one of the members of the group had multiple allergies (in fact wearing an allergy bracelet).  Guy quickly greeted the table.  After about 10 min of speaking with the guest, Guy returned to the kitchen with a list of allergies that neither one of [us] had ever been presented with before. 

She was highly allergic to all forms of nuts, gluten, garlic, soy, parsley, cilantro, shellfish, potato, onion, berries, vinegar, wine, [maple] syrup, legumes, tomato, peppers, pineapple, ginger and a lactose intolerance.  After hearing that list I wanted to speak with her as I was nervous about any product that she could have, being near or around all of the items she was allergic to.  Anything that she could eat safely could not be in close proximity to any of the items.  After a lengthy conversation we came up with a menu of salmon atop a salad of mixed greens with goat cheese, seasoned and flavored with salt, pepper and lemon.  As you can imagine the steps we had to take to safely prepare this meal were many. 

First we ran a clean saute pan through dish[washer], opened up a fresh box of foil and carefully wrapped the salmon in the foil while in the walkin [freezer].  The next step was place the wrapped salmon into the pan and into the oven.  We then had to get a fresh tube of goat cheese, new box of greens, and two lemons (which we wrapped in foil as well, during plating process).  Next we ran a clean large pasta bowl through dish[washer].  At this point Guy and I plated this dish together.  Guy held the plate while I carefully built the item in the dish, changing my gloves between touching each item including opening the bag of mix and changing gloves to grab the mix.  At this point, the production was so large that the service staff was now in the prep kitchen just to watch this dish being built. 

We finally were finished and we presented the young lady with a great plate of food and she could not have been more grateful for what our restaurant had done for her as she could not remember the last time she had even gone out ot eat.  I checked back on her after a few bites.  She was safe and she thought her food was excellent.  I wanted to share this story because it says a lot about what our company does in regards to allergy awareness, training and operational procedures.  All of this being greatly heightened by our participation in the AllergyEats Conference.  This is just another small example of what we do for our guests at Not Your Average Joe’s.”

That’s commitment.  That’s knowledge.  That’s training.  That’s Not Your Average Joe’s.  And that’s the model for so many others!

Does this story impress you as much as it does me?  What are the first thoughts that come to your head after reading this?  Do you know of similarly amazing efforts by a restaurant staff?  Please click Comment or Reply below to share your thoughts and opinions.  We’d love to hear them!

Also, please help our food allergy and intolerance community by rewarding those restaurants that have acoommodated YOU well (and give a thumbs-down to those who have not) by rating any recent restaurant experiences on our core AllergyEats site at www.allergyeats.com or on our free smartphone app.  Rating a restaurant takes just a minute, but makes AllergyEats a more valuable tool for all of us.

Comments

    Author:
    Jennifer B
    Written:


    This is a great example of what CAN be done! Although it’s an atypical experience in restaurants in general (even those where the owners and CEO’s are very food allergy aware, since trickle down from owner-manager-server is inconsistent in chains), I truly believe your site and your efforts will make experiences like this become a more common experience for diners with food allergies. Imagine if and when experiences like the one you describe above become the typical dining out experience for an individual with food allergies-wow! That’s exciting!

    Author:
    Summer Plum
    Written:


    First, let me tell you that I just happened to be eating breakfast & the tweeting linking to those post just happened to be at the top of my feed. The mere chance I saw this is amazing.

    I am that woman. We decided to go to Not Your Average Joe’s because it was near my friend’s home, they love it and eat there often, and after extensive research they were the other name that kept popping up beside Legal Seafood (where I ate out safely during my visit in spring). I was excited and hopeful to add another restaurant to the list of places I could safely eat when visiting Boston (I currently live in Charlotte, NC).

    When I was first diagnosed with my extensive allergies last fall, then had to cut all gluten & legumes as well once we realized I was still reacting to them, it has been nearly impossible to eat out because no on takes my many complicated allergies seriously OR they refuse to serve me out of fear. My list is very, very long – those are the highlights listed above. I wear a mask because the simple smell of onions can give me an asthma attack, and I wear gloves most of the time to protect myself from accidental skin exposure – people touch so much stuff in a day and don’t realize, but my skin does when it come in contact with something that’s been cross-contaminated.

    I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the attentiveness to my allergies, the sincere effort put in by all of the staff that worked with our meal and beyond thrilled with the dinner I was presented. Not only was it safe, it was delicious.

    As someone who has worked in the food industry for over a decade on every level from restaurant to producer and wholesaler, I know exactly how easy it is to mess this stuff up. I rarely eat outside my own kitchen, or my own cooking, for that very reason. The careful attention I got, and now know exactly what happened back in the kitchen, makes me deeply grateful they took the seemingly crazy levels of precautions to keep me safe.

    To be honest, while we sat at the table we giggled a little that my meal was gonna be talked about… it was probably putting all their allergy training to the test. I am glad that they shared it internally, and with this site, so that others can see that they take allergy safe cooking seriously. If they can serve me a safe meal, they can serve just about anyone a safe meal.

    I am not an easy customer, I get that, but I am a loyal one – I will happily be eating at Not Your Average Joes again, perhaps with a call ahead to warn them I’m coming. Hopefully they’ll open on in Charlotte, I’ll happily be the first customer in line.

    Author:
    Susan C
    Written:


    What a wonderful story! The staff handled this woman’s allergies in an extremely professional and safe manner. Kudos to Not Your Average Joes!
    My son is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, treenuts, shellfish, sesame, olive and beef and we are very fortunate to live in a town with a Not Your Average Joes! We don’t dine out often, but this is one of the only restaurants where we feel safe brining our son for a sit-down meal. The manager and chef always come out to speak with both our son and us. They prepare a safe chicken breast for him and always check on him during the meal. One chef even spent extra time chatting with him about his allergies. The staff has always taken his allergies very seriously and I am extremely grateful to be able to go out to dinner with my family and know that my son is in well trained/informed hands. Keep up the great work NYAJs!

    Author:
    Lisa Giuriceo
    Written:


    Thank you so much for sharing this story. I can not wait to share it with the members of the food allergy support group for parents that I lead. It is just wonderful that a chain like Not Your Average Joe’s exists. I am going on their website right now and I want to find one where I can make a reservation to take my food multiple food allergic child to. This is just great.

    Author:
    Juliane
    Written:


    Yes, I was very impressed with what the staff did for the customer. What surprised me was that she showed up at a restaurant with so many intolrerances without alerting the restaurant before her visit. I admire their willingness and ability to accomodate her, but I do think as persons with allergies or intolerances need to do some of the work, too, as in calling ahead to make sure the restaurant has the time and resources to make sure we have a pleasant experience.

    Author:
    Allison
    Written:


    I have never heard a story so amazing! I am a teen living with food allergies to milk, eggs, beef, peanuts, lamb, sesame, carrots, strawberries, nuts, and fish. I started a blog a few months ago with my experiences of living with food allergies. But with this long list of allergies, when I go out to restaurants, I have a salad with just lettuce, with a dressing of oil and vinegar, and if I’m lucky and they don’t fry them in peanut oil, french fries. Once I return home, I have to make some sort of main dish that will actually satisfy the food I had eaten as a meal. I wish Not Your Average Joe’s was in NJ! They should come here next!

    Author:
    Kathy Alexander
    Written:


    My pa/tna daughter just told us tonight that she would like to visit Washington DC. As usual this caused high anxiety because it’s difficult to travel and dine out with food allergies. I had not heard of this restaurant before but after reading this story I think that maybe we can actually vacation somewhere besides Disney and eat out! What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing. We’ll see you soon!

    Author:
    Laura
    Written:


    What a wonderful story! I think giving a restaurant a heads up about special food needs is a courtesy that is helpful for all of us who need to make special requests. Call between lunch and dinner, or around 10:30 in the morning. Restaurants aren’t so busy then and have the time to pay attention.

    Author:
    Maureen
    Written:


    So happy to hear this and will definitely try this when we are in dc next.. Will also look to go when we are at the next FAAN teen conference next year… Will advertise to the group!

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