Guests with NO special food requirements

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JBloggs

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When we have newbies accuse the forum of only posting negative - even though it is typically more of a rehash than a negative, and we say that the positive is not all that exciting to discuss or learn from.
Well here goes a positive:
A full house.
Not just a full house but a variety of guests from all different ethnic backgrounds. Even today, on a Monday had 4 rooms check out. NO ONE, I REPEAT NO ONE had a special dietary requirement, like or dislike. EVERY SINGLE MEAL there was "pork on the plate" and every guest ate it, every single day from Thursday to Monday breakfasts. They loved every breakfast, and I even had requests for recipes.
I did not even think of this until someone mentioned it to me how amazing that was to have so many there with no food issues.
So for me what do I do to make this happen?
#1 I don't and won't post a menu.
#2 I ask about restrictions, not likes or dislikes
#3 I have my stand by line of saying "You just eat what you like, anything else just leave on the plate and it won't hurt my feelings one bit!"
Fruit served this weekend:
Fresh pineapple, magenta melon. mulberries, blueberries, raspberries, green grapes, kiwi, honeydew, strawberries, slices of giant red ripe vine tomatoes, avocados.
 
YAY!!! I am with you on all those points. When we did have someone who had a restriction, they were always grateful. I once served something different for breakfast for 11 days to a gal who had MANY food allergies. She was extremely happy that I worked with her restrictions. There ARE lots of GREAT guests out there!
Yum, YUM, YUMMY!
We had the most awesome fruit served to us recently too. And the fruit bowls were chilled! I loved to do that for our guests especially in Summer. We are currently trying not to melt here on a daily basis.....
 
I chill mine and keep them in the fridge til served currently, the dining room is nice and cool, the kitchen IS NOT. :)
 
I asked this morning if guests wanted bacon and most said they did. And then it all came back to the kitchen untouched. My feelings were hurt because I love bacon and I would have loved to have it all for myself!
One person had mentioned strawberries being an issue but I forgot which room so everyone got strawberries. I put the plates down and asked, 'Is there a strawberry allergy?' Nope just didn't like them. So I asked, 'Then you won't die if they're on your plate, right?' He and his wife just traded fruit. Worked out well.
 
Let's give this a new term Mortie, we shall call it the "CATCH AND RELEASE" method of innkeeping.
Once you serve it then it is out of your hands, and it is up to them to eat, lick, bite, chew, spit out, or finish off the food. Serving it is more than half the battle with our dietary requirement folks, what they choose to do with it, wait, I need to be punny here, what they CHEWS to do with it is up to them. :) These aren't family members who waste food, they are customers, and it is part of their stay.
 
You and the others are right, we do not post all the good points very often.
embaressed_smile.gif
And it must seem to the newbies here that all we do is complain, which is a sad thought. I will say that most - in the upper 90% - of my guests are just delightful. No issues, no special requests, no snears when we put the food in front of them. And for most of those with allergies/ restrictions, I am sure they chose our places due to the fact that WE CARE about our guests and their needs.
 
You and the others are right, we do not post all the good points very often.
embaressed_smile.gif
And it must seem to the newbies here that all we do is complain, which is a sad thought. I will say that most - in the upper 90% - of my guests are just delightful. No issues, no special requests, no snears when we put the food in front of them. And for most of those with allergies/ restrictions, I am sure they chose our places due to the fact that WE CARE about our guests and their needs..
I have to say that in 6 year, 99% of my guests were wonderful. I never had ANY of the issues that are so often discussed here. It just amazes me sometimes. If I had even half of what you all post here...I would have closed my doors even quicker than I did.
 
Let's give this a new term Mortie, we shall call it the "CATCH AND RELEASE" method of innkeeping.
Once you serve it then it is out of your hands, and it is up to them to eat, lick, bite, chew, spit out, or finish off the food. Serving it is more than half the battle with our dietary requirement folks, what they choose to do with it, wait, I need to be punny here, what they CHEWS to do with it is up to them. :) These aren't family members who waste food, they are customers, and it is part of their stay..
So, I JUST finished hitting enter on that last post and the phone rang. No gluten, no sugar. I mention yogurt and he says, 'Oh, right, no dairy, either.'
 
You and the others are right, we do not post all the good points very often.
embaressed_smile.gif
And it must seem to the newbies here that all we do is complain, which is a sad thought. I will say that most - in the upper 90% - of my guests are just delightful. No issues, no special requests, no snears when we put the food in front of them. And for most of those with allergies/ restrictions, I am sure they chose our places due to the fact that WE CARE about our guests and their needs..
Why in heavens name would we talk about the good stuff?
wink_smile.gif
The not good stuff is so much more interesting! Anyone can handle happy, healthy guests. We need help with the not happy, not healthy crowd!
 
I asked this morning if guests wanted bacon and most said they did. And then it all came back to the kitchen untouched. My feelings were hurt because I love bacon and I would have loved to have it all for myself!
One person had mentioned strawberries being an issue but I forgot which room so everyone got strawberries. I put the plates down and asked, 'Is there a strawberry allergy?' Nope just didn't like them. So I asked, 'Then you won't die if they're on your plate, right?' He and his wife just traded fruit. Worked out well..
Recent stay at a B&B and we were served all the meats on a separate plate with serving tongs....turkey sausage my husband tried and he was not a fan, so most went back to the kitchen....bacon, one piece was eaten because we're really trying to limit fat. The innkeepers just said, "I guess we'll have BLTs for lunch!" So, that made me feel better. :)
 
Let's give this a new term Mortie, we shall call it the "CATCH AND RELEASE" method of innkeeping.
Once you serve it then it is out of your hands, and it is up to them to eat, lick, bite, chew, spit out, or finish off the food. Serving it is more than half the battle with our dietary requirement folks, what they choose to do with it, wait, I need to be punny here, what they CHEWS to do with it is up to them. :) These aren't family members who waste food, they are customers, and it is part of their stay..
So, I JUST finished hitting enter on that last post and the phone rang. No gluten, no sugar. I mention yogurt and he says, 'Oh, right, no dairy, either.'
.
So, you just do your best or he brings his own food. No biggie.... :)
 
Are you near a hospital or health complex or cancer treatment center by any chance?
 
You and the others are right, we do not post all the good points very often.
embaressed_smile.gif
And it must seem to the newbies here that all we do is complain, which is a sad thought. I will say that most - in the upper 90% - of my guests are just delightful. No issues, no special requests, no snears when we put the food in front of them. And for most of those with allergies/ restrictions, I am sure they chose our places due to the fact that WE CARE about our guests and their needs..
Why in heavens name would we talk about the good stuff?
wink_smile.gif
The not good stuff is so much more interesting! Anyone can handle happy, healthy guests. We need help with the not happy, not healthy crowd!
.
true ... sharing about the difficult episodes helps the newbies think through: what if this happens to me and how will I respond when it does. "This" = bad cc, angry, sick, fussy, cheap, etc.
It is hard to think of another profession that puts a person so face to face with strangers over such a long period when they are not usually being "outside social": evening, sleep, breakfast. We want to be hospitable and sometimes have to be imaginative.
 
Coming for that reason.
I need to go and get a photo of the 5 motorcycles in our parking area...will post later. :) Here it is:
lrg_Aug_Ride.JPG
 
Coming for that reason.
I need to go and get a photo of the 5 motorcycles in our parking area...will post later. :) Here it is:
lrg_Aug_Ride.JPG
.
That is a GREAT shot! Love it! I know I've mentioned this before, but I will never forget one of our Harley guests who had to travel across the river to another State just to get a t-shirt from the other Harley shop over there. They are a faithful bunch! :)
 
Let's give this a new term Mortie, we shall call it the "CATCH AND RELEASE" method of innkeeping.
Once you serve it then it is out of your hands, and it is up to them to eat, lick, bite, chew, spit out, or finish off the food. Serving it is more than half the battle with our dietary requirement folks, what they choose to do with it, wait, I need to be punny here, what they CHEWS to do with it is up to them. :) These aren't family members who waste food, they are customers, and it is part of their stay..
Joey Bloggs said:
what they choose to do with it, wait, I need to be punny here, what they CHEWS to do with it is up to them. :)
You always make me chuckle :)
 
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