A Growing Trend
At Highland Lake Inn and Resort in Flat Rock, North Carolina, the biggest shift in dietary needs is how many more there are, said Michelle Bailey, executive chef of Season’s at Highland Lake, the resort’s year-round restaurant.
“When I was starting out in the restaurant business, it was something you encountered once a week, and now it’s something you encounter once or twice a day,” she said. “I think part of that is people are becoming more conscious of what they’re eating; we see a lot more gluten-free, more low-sodium diets, and we see people eliminating refined sugar from their diets.”
To accommodate groups, Bailey and the resort staff start by asking the planner or group contact about allergies and restrictions because “the sooner we know, the better we’re equipped to deal with it.”
Season’s now offers a gluten-free menu to guests and has several dishes on its regular menu that meet other dietary needs. For meetings or events at the resort, Season’s can make one of the meal options gluten-free if there are several requests, or if there are only one or two special meals, the kitchen can prepare those plates individually, Bailey said.
“With the gluten-free menu, it lets them trust us a bit more because it lets them know we’re thinking about that before they come in the door,” she said.
One group that comes to Highland Lake every year has quite a few dietary needs and preferences across the board; in those cases, the staff will label each dish.
“We go so far as to put labels out on the buffet to list every single ingredient for every single dish,” Bailey said. “It gives them peace of mind and reduces the 20 questions.”
With the growing number of allergies, intolerances and special diets, it can be easy to fall into the trap of shrugging off someone’s melon allergy or gluten intolerance. But it’s important to remember things like Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and anaphylactic shock.
Each dietary restriction can range from a personal preference to a deathly allergy, but meeting planners and venue staff should treat every dietary request as a life-or-death situation.
“We take all of those things very, very seriously — you have to,” Bailey said, adding, “I think we have to be stewards of food and good communicators.”
