The Allergy Standard
Five steps that carry a guest’s allergy from the booking to the plate. Most mistakes happen in the hand-over between two careful people.
- Who
- Host, servers, the head chef and the pass
- When
- Every booking and every table, before any order is taken
- You need
- The allergen chart for tonight’s menu, an allergy flag in the POS
- Measured by
- Allergy question asked at every table
- Every allergy ticket confirmed by the chef
- Safe dish named as it is set down
5 steps
01
Ask early
Ask about allergies and dietary needs when the booking is taken and again at the table, before the order, at every table. Write it against the guest’s name and seat, never as a general table note.
Say this
“Before we start, does anyone at the table have an allergy, or anything you don’t eat?”
Common mistake Asking only when someone mentions a diet. The guest with a nut allergy assumes you would have asked if it mattered.
02
Check, never guess
If the dish is not on the allergen chart, or the recipe has changed, the server asks the chef before answering. Tell the guest what the kitchen will do, and never say ‘it should be fine’ about any dish.
Say this
“Let me check that with the chef now, Mr Okafor. I’ll be back within two minutes.”
Common mistake Answering from memory because the dish was safe last month. The sauce base changed on Tuesday.
03
Flag the ticket
Enter the allergy on the order with the seat number and the allergen in capitals, then tell the pass in person as well. A flagged ticket without a spoken word to the chef counts as an unconfirmed order.
Say this
“Seat 2, SESAME ALLERGY. Confirmed with Chef Bianchi, 20:14.”
Common mistake Trusting the printer. The ticket came out under three others and nobody on the line read the last line.
04
Name the dish
The allergy plate leaves the pass on its own, carried by the server who took the order, and is set down first. Name the dish and what it is free of, so the guest can stop you if anything looks wrong.
Say this
“Ms Haddad, your sea bass, made without any dairy, as we discussed.”
Common mistake Letting a runner ask “Who had the fish?” The safe plate lands at the wrong seat and nobody notices.
05
Stop if unsure
If anyone in the chain is unsure, the plate does not go. It returns to the kitchen, is made again from the start, and the guest is told about the short wait. Record every allergy on the guest profile.
Say this
“Your plate will be four more minutes. The kitchen is making it fresh, to be certain.”
Common mistake Scraping off the garnish and sending the plate back out. The traces stay on the plate, and so does the risk.
Your Allergy Chain
Write down who holds each link in your own restaurant. A box left blank, or one that says ‘whoever is free’, is where the next incident starts.
At the booking
- Who asks
- Where it is written
- Who confirms
- What the guest hears
At the table
- Who asks
- Where it is written
- Who confirms
- What the guest hears
At the pass
- Who asks
- Where it is written
- Who confirms
- What the guest hears
Fill it in with the head chef at Monday’s briefing. Each day one server walks a test allergy from booking to plate, and the restaurant manager checks that every box was followed.
The Standards Library.
No. 69 · Restaurant
The Pacing Standard
Five steps for timing a meal around the table, not the kitchen. A ten-minute wait that is announced feels shorter than five minutes nobody explains.
No. 70 · Restaurant
The Table Maintenance Standard
Five steps for the minutes between courses. When they are done well nobody notices them, and when one is missed it is what the guest remembers.