How Do You Handle Food Allergies?

[Montelago]

It is a shame that people with food allergies are sometimes treated so poorly, as if they asked to have celiac disease. The problem is that so many people lie about it just because they don't like it and want to make sure that garlic, or whatever is not in the dish. The best approach I have found is to talk to the customer and ask them exactly what they would like me to prepare and how. I do not force them to order off the menu and try to change it to accomodate them. That way, I am in control of how the food is prepared and know that it will be safe. I wish more chefs did this. I am never so busy that I cannot help a customer with special needs. That would be like telling a customer with a physical handicap that I don't have room for their wheel chair in my restaurant. It makes me angry.