Pub chef refusing to cook for allergies

[Allergyissue87]

Very odd experience yesterday, my son has a nut allergy and we eat out once or twice a month. Generally we get shown an allergy folder or directed to an app to check and given a quick warning about cross contamination and all fine. I know the level of his allergy and am happy to take a small risk of cross contamination etc, otherwise he could never have a meal out.
Yesterday we went to a chain pub, have been before with no issues, asked if we had any allergies, told the woman at the till yes a nut allergy, we've checked the allergen info and happy with risk of cross of contamination etc. All fine, ordered, paid and sat down with our drinks.
Then about 20 minutes later a chef came to the table to tell us he can't cook for us as there is an allergy and our order shouldnt have been taken. I was really confused, wondered if it was a new chef etc, I explained I'd checked the allergy info on their website, it doesn't contain any allergens and I'm aware of the small possibility of cross contamination but not an issue for his level of allergy, and he's eaten it before and all fine. But no, he was adamant he cannot serve food due to this allergy, he was apparently the kitchen manager and would not risk making a child ill, couldn't explain further than that and went back to the kitchen.
I went back up to the bar and asked for the manager, a young assistant manager gave me a full refund and apologised but still couldn't give me a real explanation.

I'll most likely complain through their online form as we wasted about an hour by the time we had got our refund and left, with 2 hungry children, and my son who now doesn't want to eat anything not homemade as 'the man said I'll get ill'.
Am I being unreasonable to expect to be served?

To clarify if my son ate a nut, or something containing nuts he would be unwell and need an epipen, but has been fine with previous incidents of his food touching nut-containing food etc and there wasn't actually anything containing nuts on the pub menu.

The problem is, if your son did have a reaction, the chef and chain would be liable. We live in an increasingly litigous society. Im not surprised he said no. Especially as it was a kid.

I'm with the chef on this.

But why did you even mention it if you had already taken the decision that you were happy with the risk? It’s like you made a decision, but also wanted to mention it so that if your decision was wrong, and your son was badly affected, that you could hold the restaurant responsible?

Because she was specifically asked by the staff member, who made a note of it and then took the order. Should she have lied?

I dont blame the chef tbh. Didn't want to take a risk with an allergy that's bad enough to declare it. I don't see how you'd have grounds for a complaint at all.

I would mention it because I would be fine with products that come into the restaurant with a may contain warning, but would want the kitchen to be aware they should give the area a wipe down if they make peanut butter sandwiches or brownies or cook with satay sauce there, for example.

It's the day to day risk mitigation families with allergies live with.

This.

You have passed the responsibility to the chef by declaring the allergy and then you are annoyed when he makes his own risk assessment.

You think its ok to take a booking and an order, discuss the allergens when taking the booking and the money and then kick them out?

Its shockingly bad hospitality behaviour. If they don't want to cater for allergies that needs to be made clear on the website and when booking, not after your customers have traveled, been seated and had their money taken.

My daughter has a nut allergy and I would not risk cross contamination!
if u had to use an epipen that is a serious reaction ! U should not be taking those risks !! If on the other hand he doesn’t have a serious reaction then u wud b ok but if he has epipen he must have serious reaction !
You don’t get given epipen for nothing and u don’t use them for non serious reactions

It's shockingly bad hospitality behaviour. If they don't want to cater for allergies that needs to be made clear on the website and when booking, not after your customers have traveled, been seated and had their money taken.

Yes it should definitely be clear on the website.

Genuine question - if fear of litigation means all restaurants and professional kitchens take this approach would you be ok with your daughter never eating out again? For her whole life?

Pretty bad set up for a restaurant combined with awful customer service.

Do complain further.

I assume she’s 2 years old or similar.

You’ll feel a lot more relaxed by the time she’s 18.

YANBU, OP, but I wouldn’t have wanted to eat there.

There were no nuts in the ingredients in the meal you ordered or indeed, in any of the other meals on the menu… and the chef wasn’t confident your child could eat his food? Sounds like someone with a poorly managed kitchen. I wouldn’t have been worried about allergens - I’d have been worried about food poisoning.

Any decent chef will be happy to say that they have not used in any nuts in the dish, and as far as they are aware, the ingredients are all fine, but they have bought in X, Y and X and cannot guarantee there is no risk. Not ‘no food for you because I’ve lost control of my grubby kitchen.’

The communication could have been better but, OP, I would trust the person who has actually been in that kitchen.

I have a child with a very mild nut allergy (manifesting as eczema, very unpleasant but not deadly) and it would not occur to me not to trust the chef in this case, or insist that I know better.

Well that wouldn’t be up to me we wouldn’t have a choice !!! Tbh my daughters life is more important than risking cross contamination for a meal out she is 21 now and we have managed to never have a reaction since the very first one she had it is doable ! She is now an adult and she is in charge and she doesn’t ever take risks because using an epipen also can come with risks x

Nor would I. They might be doing a new dish with peanut oil or nuts in it. A dish with a dairy ingredient. Chef can't help the out of date website

Sometimes life happens, suppliers change labelling, things run out and are replaced with a different brand temporarily - or staff raise awareness to corporate and are ignored and then put in the position of having to refuse or take on the responsibility personally to feed someone something they know may not be safe. Unfortunately the world isn't perfect and that applies to hospitality too.

It's disappointing and it's inconvenient, and yes worth an explanation more than the OP got as to why this time, the allergy couldn't be catered for, but it's not a life changing and traumatic experience and won't do anyone any lasting harm - this over reacting and making out like what is an inconvenience is such a massive big deal and 'shocking' is ridiculous.

She is 21 years old

Okay. The pub is being unreasonable and it is discriminatory. Particularly if what you say about no nuts being on the menu (however I imagine there are hidden nuts and bought in ingredients where traces etc are and provenance and handling around nuts can’t be known)

However the last section of your opening post is unreasonable: allergies are unpredictable - needing an epi pen is a big deal and reactions and rebound reactions are also unpredictable and dangerous.

For those saying they're with the chef, thing is the chef is working in a chain restaurant that advertises as accommodating allergies. If he, personally, doesn't feel safe doing so then he needs to work elsewhere.

When you take a job, legally required accommodations aside, you accept the employer's working conditions and requirements. If you can't work within their parameters, then don't work there.

being 18 will actually become much more dangerous- due to going to Uni, going out and peer pressure, sharing kitchen, etc.

Most people have absolutely NO idea what the realities of living with a severe anyphylactic allergy is like- for the person and the family.

To be honest if it was my son, I wouldn’t take the risk anyway. If an epipen is needed, then the allergy is very real, and could escalate at each and every contaminated site. Probably the person who took the order was only prepped for either a negative answer, or a positive answer, not something in between. If op had confirmed ‘yes, son has allergy’ without the ‘but’, maybe they would have said they couldn’t accommodate due to the chef preparing food in areas which may be contaminated by nuts. But as Op confirmed the allergy and said she had made the decision that it wasn’t important at that particular restaurant, it may have thrown them a bit as to whether this took away any risk to the restaurant.

A lot of websites aren't handled in house and God are they tardy amending things even though chef has reported to management who have requested an alteration in the description. The website guys so busy chasing new business you're on the back burner every time if you outsource