ARGH! Special Needs

[sachi3679]

DD I had to deal with multi issues a couple weekends ago. I was a nervous wreck, can't think of doing that 5 nights.
I have a GF, sugar free, dairy free couple next weekend. And another no soy.
And this weekend a 3 night regular which has always been GF. Served her meal this am which had an oats/brown sugar topping and she told me she could not eat the topping. Hubby did not mention no oats or corn meal. Rice seems to be about the only grain she can eat. Tomorrow I will return to the basics with her..

While oats are gf, most types of oatmeal are not because of processing. Unless she just doesn't eat oats period.

 

[Lee2014]

We usually only get GF issues. One lady when the couple check-in said that she was GF so she won't be down for breakfast. She got so excited when we said that we had GF muffins and cereal in our kitchen. She had brought her own food. She was the first one to breakfast and out we came with her food! It made her day not to have to fix her food! Totally on vacation for once!

 

[undersea]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives

 

[Morticia]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

Eliminating food from the menu for people who self diagnose dietary problems means I'll be down to serving bananas, except most people don't like bananas.
Think about serving 16 guests who all need something different. Now think about having a kitchen the size of a closet to do that in. No place to store all the different food items guests *must* have.
Same guests who go out for lunch and have the exact thing they couldn't eat for breakfast. It wears on you.
Like I said, some people are very good at planning healthy, nutritious meals that meet every dietary requirement. I'm not that person. Not for 16 separate guests. Every day.
If it's an allergy, ok I'll work with you. If it's a fad diet then bring your own food.
We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.
We think about doing a menu every year at this time. Then we realize the insanity involved in attempting to do that with the resources we have. Including ourselves as a resource. We're just not good at short order.

 

[gillumhouse]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

Please, when it comes to things like dealing with breakfast problems, do yourself a favor. We are trying to be polite, but do NOT refer to us as being ungracious when we have an issue with foods at breakfast. You are not in the trenches yet. You have not ASKED a guest when the reservation was made if there are any dietary restrictions or requirements. Told no, confirmed in the Confirmation letter that you were told no diet restrictions or requirements and then as you serve pumpkin muffins and peach bread pudding be told, "I can't have cinnamon". Or prepare a beautiful fruit dish with among other (not inexpensive) fruit is a lovely, ripe mango and be asked, "Is that mango? I cannot have anything that has touched mango." I guess she never thought we would know what a mango was in this backwater.
THAT is what we get upset about. That and the ones who say they are GF because some talking head on TV says she feels SO much better since she stopped eating wheat. But they are the same people who emptied the cookie jar meant for regular guests.
You have a real allergy - tell us and we will attempt to work around it. However, say you have 4 rooms, 2 people per room and each one has a different problem - real or imagined. Good luck fixing that breakfast. Real, we usually bend over backwards - to the point of shaving strawberries to remove seeds for someone with Crohn's which is totally different from peeling a blueberry on demand.

 

[happykeeper]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

I do think for those that are getting ready to open or are in the early stages of operations, developing a brand around your ability to accommodate varied diets is an important asset. We are a serve all diets inn. It is a brand that many inns actively prosper by.
Your point about focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems is a basic tenet of our locally sourced philosophy. One way you may accomplish this once you get going is to compartmentalize your meals in ways that allow you to quickly adjust one section without having to alter the remaining areas. We serve a lot of fruit, so that is an easy adjustment. We have alternate starch options that can substitute quickly for folks who forgot to mention something. It helps that we are not heavily wheat based with our starches.
We are mostly unprocessed from scratch locally sourced and our experience would suggest that is a brand worth building. You will need to have certain things that can make those switch outs easy. Overall, I think you are on the right track if it's a brand you want to focus on. You'll want to give that some thought as the time approaches to open since it does require a different mindset.
In all of that is a story.

We just had a mom and daughter in. The daughter was a little slow to warm up to our breakfasts since she is a little less adventurous. Her mom was a member of the CPC. I felt a little kinked over it and there was a small bit of kitchen chatter before I snapped out of it and saw it from her perspective. She was having a great stay, knows that she is not that adventurous, didn't want to make a fuss about it, was gracious and complimentary, and never once put it on me. I made it up in my head that she might be putting it on me. Just had to stop myself. Turned out that she ate better as the meals went on and loved staying with us and will be back with her husband next year.

 

[Skamokawa]

One of the top ten best pieces of advice I've taken away from this forum: "Ask them what they normally eat". That has 'saved my bacon' a time or two.

 

[Skamokawa]

Have you asked what they usually eat? You're right, the combos are a killer. We have one coming up that I think is a group that booked individually. Among them: no gluten, no dairy, no corn products. Before the no corn booked I was planning corn muffins.
Everyone is getting gf soy products that weekend. 3 nights. Hope no one has a soy allergy they forgot to mention.
And guests may think they are being helpful by telling us they prefer Almond Breeze to Silk Almond but that's not the case. ;-)
Maybe this year we'll consider turning down reservations for multiple nights for people with dietary needs too far off what's normal for us..

They actually TELL you what fake milk to buy for them? Sorry, we just buy one brand, if you have a preference, bring it along with you. And it's whatever fake milk we have in the house... but I can guarantee you that it won't ever be soy, because we don't like soy milk.
.

They actually TELL you what fake milk to buy for them? Sorry, we just buy one brand, if you have a preference, bring it along with you. And it's whatever fake milk we have in the house... but I can guarantee you that it won't ever be soy, because we don't like soy milk.

Yes. And 'organic only'. We get told certain brands all the time. I don't buy them. But it's another one of those million tiny cuts.
.

Oh. We actually have a charge for organic only. It's $15 per breakfast.
I can buy a steak for the price of organic tomatoes in the winter.
.

That is our normal extra breakfast charge.

 

[JBloggs]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives

We have a shellfish allergy in this family as well, oh the hours and nights spent in the ER.
We have a second allergy here that seems to be in everything for color, bell pepper. More hours and nights in the ER.
So when our daughter (Happy Mother's day today everyone) wants a meal and leftovers to herself she will order shrimp and grits or some Louisiana spicy meal that contains both! Paprika is also on the baddie list for the bell pepper allergy, related. But not jalapenos, ole'!
Unprocessed food is the key for healthy living for sure.
When you have a solid house with turnovers daily it wears on you, you can barely keep up with it. Today I had peppered bacon and one person didn't touch it, that is fine. No worries.

 

[JBloggs]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

Eliminating food from the menu for people who self diagnose dietary problems means I'll be down to serving bananas, except most people don't like bananas.
Think about serving 16 guests who all need something different. Now think about having a kitchen the size of a closet to do that in. No place to store all the different food items guests *must* have.
Same guests who go out for lunch and have the exact thing they couldn't eat for breakfast. It wears on you.
Like I said, some people are very good at planning healthy, nutritious meals that meet every dietary requirement. I'm not that person. Not for 16 separate guests. Every day.
If it's an allergy, ok I'll work with you. If it's a fad diet then bring your own food.
We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.
We think about doing a menu every year at this time. Then we realize the insanity involved in attempting to do that with the resources we have. Including ourselves as a resource. We're just not good at short order.
.

We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.

This has been around for about 5-6 years and it part of what you deal with daily, you just didn't know it. There are a few different versions of it, one that was popular about 10 years ago, they had classes like weight watchers for it. If we all ate Kosher we would be much healthier and the hand washing ritual is not a bad thing either.

 

[Donald Draper]

Have you asked what they usually eat? You're right, the combos are a killer. We have one coming up that I think is a group that booked individually. Among them: no gluten, no dairy, no corn products. Before the no corn booked I was planning corn muffins.
Everyone is getting gf soy products that weekend. 3 nights. Hope no one has a soy allergy they forgot to mention.
And guests may think they are being helpful by telling us they prefer Almond Breeze to Silk Almond but that's not the case. ;-)
Maybe this year we'll consider turning down reservations for multiple nights for people with dietary needs too far off what's normal for us..

I just turned down a vegan request with multiple other allergies. Not just food, dust, etc. I simply cannot accommodate you or guarantee your safety if these are truly allergies. Letting it go…cannot be all things to all people, period.
.

Letting it go…cannot be all things to all people, period.

Altho I feel guilty for feeling this way when I see how easy it is for some to whip up a wonderful, hot, fully compliant breakfast, I'm with you - cannot be all things to all people.
Especially when they don't respond to requests for more info on the dietary requirements.
I do know a couple of inns I can refer to where they have never had a complaint about the food they serve even tho they serve everyone the same thing everyday. Must just be the presentation. Because there's a choice, guests seem to be able to find something they can eat. Because they make their own bread, granola, yogurt and raise their own chickens no one has a problem having quiche (eggs, dairy, gluten, cheese) and French toast at their house. (Being sarcastic but it is true.)
.

Mort you and I are in the same boat with feeding upwards of 12 people every day, day after day, with a teeny tiny space in which to prep. We've been bitten too many times by the folks who note dietary considerations on their reservation, we go out of our way to buy something special for them only to have them arrive and say "Oh that? I'm not doing that anymore". Thank you for "getting" my gripe

 

[gillumhouse]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

I do think for those that are getting ready to open or are in the early stages of operations, developing a brand around your ability to accommodate varied diets is an important asset. We are a serve all diets inn. It is a brand that many inns actively prosper by.
Your point about focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems is a basic tenet of our locally sourced philosophy. One way you may accomplish this once you get going is to compartmentalize your meals in ways that allow you to quickly adjust one section without having to alter the remaining areas. We serve a lot of fruit, so that is an easy adjustment. We have alternate starch options that can substitute quickly for folks who forgot to mention something. It helps that we are not heavily wheat based with our starches.
We are mostly unprocessed from scratch locally sourced and our experience would suggest that is a brand worth building. You will need to have certain things that can make those switch outs easy. Overall, I think you are on the right track if it's a brand you want to focus on. You'll want to give that some thought as the time approaches to open since it does require a different mindset.
In all of that is a story.

We just had a mom and daughter in. The daughter was a little slow to warm up to our breakfasts since she is a little less adventurous. Her mom was a member of the CPC. I felt a little kinked over it and there was a small bit of kitchen chatter before I snapped out of it and saw it from her perspective. She was having a great stay, knows that she is not that adventurous, didn't want to make a fuss about it, was gracious and complimentary, and never once put it on me. I made it up in my head that she might be putting it on me. Just had to stop myself. Turned out that she ate better as the meals went on and loved staying with us and will be back with her husband next year.
.

I also choose to try to accommodate diet needs. Since Himself is no salt, no sugar, no fat, I deal with it daily. Actually, I just tell him to cook for himself. When I bake, all his needs are met.
I keep the flours required to make GF bread in a special bin with measuring spoons, measuring cups, and baking pans used ONLY for GF. I know that to make my Baked Oatmeal for a vegan, I use 2 tablespoons of water for each egg and I use water instead of milk. I use unsweetened applesauce for the butter - measure for measure. (This tip is for those who do not know about the substitutes)
Some are easier to deal with than others. Fir example, when I discover sugar & fat were now added to the no-no list, I drove myself nuts trying to make a varied menu that would taste good. I finally said to Himself, "That is IT! I am going to just cook. I am either going to kill you or you will live." From that moment, it all just fell into place and it was no longer hard (and that was before he started doing his own cooking because he wanted spicy which i do not like).

 

[Evan]

I totally understand your frustrations, it's getting more common every day.
One good way to solve this problem is to list the ingredients in the normal breakfast and let them choose what they want.
This can cause another problem when normal guests are all picking and choosing different things instead of 4 x Traditional Breakfast.
You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?

 

[gillumhouse]

I totally understand your frustrations, it's getting more common every day.
One good way to solve this problem is to list the ingredients in the normal breakfast and let them choose what they want.
This can cause another problem when normal guests are all picking and choosing different things instead of 4 x Traditional Breakfast.
You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?.

You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?
Mo. Evan. It is cook's choice based upon the answers to Do you have any...... It might be an unexpected arrival (call from the road) or as with my vegan timekeeper the morning of or perhaps I did not get to the store. Breakfast depends on what I have in house and what my schedule is for after breakfast (sometimes Himself has to serve and that is another type breakfast). And I do not do short order.

 

[Copperhead]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

Eliminating food from the menu for people who self diagnose dietary problems means I'll be down to serving bananas, except most people don't like bananas.
Think about serving 16 guests who all need something different. Now think about having a kitchen the size of a closet to do that in. No place to store all the different food items guests *must* have.
Same guests who go out for lunch and have the exact thing they couldn't eat for breakfast. It wears on you.
Like I said, some people are very good at planning healthy, nutritious meals that meet every dietary requirement. I'm not that person. Not for 16 separate guests. Every day.
If it's an allergy, ok I'll work with you. If it's a fad diet then bring your own food.
We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.
We think about doing a menu every year at this time. Then we realize the insanity involved in attempting to do that with the resources we have. Including ourselves as a resource. We're just not good at short order.
.

We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.

EASY one - water, wine & bread.

 

[Copperhead]

I read a FB post that was commenting on referring a family member to a B&B due to their food allergies. The person stayed and was ecstatic over the meal provided.
This to say we may be seeing more and more of the food issues instead of less.

 

[gillumhouse]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

Eliminating food from the menu for people who self diagnose dietary problems means I'll be down to serving bananas, except most people don't like bananas.
Think about serving 16 guests who all need something different. Now think about having a kitchen the size of a closet to do that in. No place to store all the different food items guests *must* have.
Same guests who go out for lunch and have the exact thing they couldn't eat for breakfast. It wears on you.
Like I said, some people are very good at planning healthy, nutritious meals that meet every dietary requirement. I'm not that person. Not for 16 separate guests. Every day.
If it's an allergy, ok I'll work with you. If it's a fad diet then bring your own food.
We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.
We think about doing a menu every year at this time. Then we realize the insanity involved in attempting to do that with the resources we have. Including ourselves as a resource. We're just not good at short order.
.

We had guests on a biblical diet. WTH? They could only eat food found in the Bible. Are you kidding me? Give me a list. No, they just wanted to nay say everything we offered them.

EASY one - water, wine & bread.

.

You left out the fishes - I know, the allergies

 

[Joey Camb]

As a person with shellfish allergies, I understand the problems
I do not agree with the attitude that these people are aggravations to B&B owners. Breakfast is half the name. If people cannot make basic adustments they may be in the wrong business.
It behooves us to approach the entire breakfast strategy in the most clever ways possible.
Focusing on ingredients that cause fewer problems seems to make sense. Most food issues come from a handful or foods - peanuts, wheat, shellfish, etc.
Not combining a lot of ingredients. The oatmeal raisin cookies are nice. Throwing in walnuts turns off a lot of people who are allergic or detest walnuts.
Prepping meals on things that avoid animal products. Thanks for the potatoes - why did you put butter on them?
Going back to unprocessed foods.
Partial buffet style. Give people a few choices. It doesn't hurt for yogurts to get a couple lactose free, a couple nondairy, etc.Cereals - have a few boxes that do not have grain allergy or gluten free.
In other words,eliminate the most problematic foods, offer some choices,and some alternatives.

for me its not special needs - ie emphasis on needs
its the special "wants" - people who make a massive fuss then don't want it or then eat what everyone else is having ie we bought in almond milk on request on Saturday - lady decided not to bother with it - sat in the fridge .

 

[Evan]

I totally understand your frustrations, it's getting more common every day.
One good way to solve this problem is to list the ingredients in the normal breakfast and let them choose what they want.
This can cause another problem when normal guests are all picking and choosing different things instead of 4 x Traditional Breakfast.
You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?.

You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?
Mo. Evan. It is cook's choice based upon the answers to Do you have any...... It might be an unexpected arrival (call from the road) or as with my vegan timekeeper the morning of or perhaps I did not get to the store. Breakfast depends on what I have in house and what my schedule is for after breakfast (sometimes Himself has to serve and that is another type breakfast). And I do not do short order.
.

That makes total sense now, I can see the problem you have with the fussy eaters.

 

[Generic]

I totally understand your frustrations, it's getting more common every day.
One good way to solve this problem is to list the ingredients in the normal breakfast and let them choose what they want.
This can cause another problem when normal guests are all picking and choosing different things instead of 4 x Traditional Breakfast.
You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?.

You do ask your guest what they want to eat for breakfast right? Or do you surprise them?
Mo. Evan. It is cook's choice based upon the answers to Do you have any...... It might be an unexpected arrival (call from the road) or as with my vegan timekeeper the morning of or perhaps I did not get to the store. Breakfast depends on what I have in house and what my schedule is for after breakfast (sometimes Himself has to serve and that is another type breakfast). And I do not do short order.
.

That makes total sense now, I can see the problem you have with the fussy eaters.
.

Actually, it's worse. A real Celiac can't have cross contamination from gluten. For many, it's parts per million or per billion. Our kitchens aren't equipped for this. So, in my case, I have a separate toaster for them that I won't let anyone else use, because once used for gluten, I have to buy another one. I also stock frozen bread for them. I often use frozen products for them because I can't ensure that there will be no cross-contamination.
The same can be said about nut-allergies. I never serve peanut butter at the table, only hazelnut spread. But when I have someone with a nut allergy, we will bring out jam for them, to ensure no cross-contamination. Etc.
Now, those who are orthorexia-nervosa, it doesn't really matter. because it's entirely in their head. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthorexia_nervosa and it's a type of "control" that they are exerting on you.

For example, the "organic only" is really nice, but it costs a fortune! Well, why should I bear that in my per person budget when it more than doubles my costs? I am in a for-profit business and someone should bear the cost of a meal upgrade and it's not me. GF can be 4x as expensive if you buy commercial products, but you almost have to for someone who is Celiac because you may not be able to use your own kitchen for that.
I have to work in a small space (I can't have my fridge and pantry open at the same time, nor can I have my dishwasher and fridge open at the same time. The only appliance i have on my kitchen work space... a mixer. I don't have room for more stuff. I can't do short order. Doing personalize omelettes is pretty taxing for prep space.
Now, imagine a real Celiac, who is dairy-free and nut-free as well comes along. Now, I need to ensure that they are served without cross contamination. But is it right of me to change everyone's breakfast because of them? People come for my original breakfasts. So I need to ensure I can do two different breakfast. Ah, but then we get someone who is Vegan, so now, I have to produce a third breakfast that's now dairy, egg and meat free. Cross contamination still applies, because they won't eat anything that has traces of dairy, or milk or meat. And then someone comes along and waits until you serve them to tell you that they don't like black pepper.... and it continues.