The catering form at this site has a field for Special Requests. http://sru.avifoodweb.com/catering.htm
That’s how it’s done. It’s up to them to remind their customers that alternate dishes can be accommodated and it’s up to the planner to get that information out to the attendees. Always. It is rude to ask your host to prepare something special for you. It’s up to them to think ahead and offer it to you. Always.
[QUOTE=Sailboat]
But there’s also some passive-aggressive politics involved. Some people are angry that the good old days of pizza and hamburgers without a thought are now called into question. Some of them seem to be emotionally threatened…perhaps they feel judged? I’m not at the meeting to advocate or to politic, but I strongly suspect, from what I’ve overheard, that some folks think it serves my kind (not me specifically) right that we can’t eat with the regular folks.
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I think this varies quite a bit by location. As Muffin earlier noted, he went back to eating meat when he moved to a different location. In my experience, the more cosmopolitan cities don’t have this attitude. . . the more rural areas do–in spades.
[QUOTE=Banquet Bear]
If the client chooses to go with a no-choice main course: selecting a seafood main is typically a recipe for the situation discribed up thread where non-vegetarians all of a sudden become “vegetarian.” More people prefer meat to seafood, a substantial minority don’t like to eat seafood: guiding clients towards sensible menu choices helps reduce “spontaneous vegetarianism.”
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I’ve noticed that when seafood is on the menu here, it’s never the only option, probably for the reason you describe here. In fact, our most recent event, Saturday night was dinner for ~280; we dished up about 1/3 salmon dinners, 1/3 portobello chicken, and 1/3 vegetarian lasagna.
I’m one of those who won’t eat seafood. My father is fatally allergic to most shellfish, so I didn’t grow up eating seafood and never developed a taste for it (I’m told that I make an outstanding clam chowder — my own recipe, even— but I have to take people’s word for it because I won’t taste it; just the smell is revolting to me.) I’m also not a big chicken fan. So given a choice of the above options, I would select the vegetarian lasagna (in advance!). The way the chef makes it, it’s virtually indistinguishable from meat lasagna (he replaces the meat with some mixture that includes finely chopped mushrooms).
Correct. Individual guests aren’t given a vegetarian “menu” to choose from, they’re simply asked “Do you need a vegetarian plate?” and then the chef decides what to prepare, choosing something that is comparable to the standard entree in style and cost (although obviously, a veggie dish is going to cost less than a meat dish in most cases).
The convention organizers send out their own enrollment forms, so it’s up to them whether or not to include a “vegetarian” checkbox on the form. If they do so, it makes our job easier. If they don’t, then our sales rep checks with them when they arrive so that we can find out as early as possible how many vegetarians to account for. Once we get the number for the first meal (many conventions last several days and include 2-3 meals/day) we usually have all the information we need, though there will be some variation because not all attendees show up for every meal, and the final meal of the event tends to be the biggest and fanciest (closing ceremonies and what have you) so more people show up. That’s when most of the surprise vegetarians appear, too.
Are you using “host” to mean the organizer (meaning the leaders of the group) or the venue staff? As far as I’m concerned, it’s up to the organizers to find out which of their attendees have special needs, and be able to relay that information to us. It’s impossible for us to go around questioning 800 individual guests. Some of them are wandering around the venue. Some are hanging out in their hotel rooms or walking around exploring the city and don’t arrive at the venue until ten minutes before the meal. By that time, we’ve already got all 800 meals plated up and sitting in the warmer ready to be served.
[QUOTE=Phase42]
Are you using “host” to mean the organizer (meaning the leaders of the group) or the venue staff? As far as I’m concerned, it’s up to the organizers to find out which of their attendees have special needs, and be able to relay that information to us. It’s impossible for us to go around questioning 800 individual guests. Some of them are wandering around the venue. Some are hanging out in their hotel rooms or walking around exploring the city and don’t arrive at the venue until ten minutes before the meal. By that time, we’ve already got all 800 meals plated up and sitting in the warmer ready to be served.
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Again, no one is asking you to query all 800 guests. I believe the offer of a vegetarian option should come from the caterer (a “special requests” or “vegetarian options” field has been on every catering request form I’ve ever seen). It is a reminder to the host (the organizer) to find out what the attendees’ needs are. They send out an email asking for vegetarian or Kosher requests and give that info to the caterer. Most caterers will have options on hand to accommodate the handful of people who were out sick or otherwise unable to get their special order in. Their job is to make your banquet or wedding or meeting a success. They WANT to accommodate you so you’ll return. Most reputable caterers will not be thrown by a small percentage of surprise requests. It’s an everyday occurrence and they roll with it.
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo]
As Muffin earlier noted, he went back to eating meat when he moved to a different location.
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A week ago my vehicle was hit by a deer (by the name of Trixie). The investigating officer asked if I wanted it.
Folks really, really, really, like their meat up here. Really.
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
Again, no one is asking you to query all 800 guests. I believe the offer of a vegetarian option should come from the caterer (a “special requests” or “vegetarian options” field has been on every catering request form I’ve ever seen). It is a reminder to the host (the organizer) to find out what the attendees’ needs are. They send out an email asking for vegetarian or Kosher requests and give that info to the caterer. Most caterers will have options on hand to accommodate the handful of people who were out sick or otherwise unable to get their special order in. Their job is to make your banquet or wedding or meeting a success. They WANT to accommodate you so you’ll return. Most reputable caterers will not be thrown by a small percentage of surprise requests. It’s an everyday occurrence and they roll with it.
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That’s basically what I was saying. We ask the organizer to obtain the information and relay it to us.
[QUOTE=Muffin]
A week ago my vehicle was hit by a deer (by the name of Trixie).
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The vehicle or the deer?
(I pulled into my driveway one night and saw that the road had claimed another deer, right next to my driveway, a short time later, I heard voices outside sounding drunk and arguing, the next am, the deer was gone. :eek: )
[QUOTE=Phase42]
That’s basically what I was saying. We ask the organizer to obtain the information and relay it to us.
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I was agreeing with you from my first post. The “hard of reading” in this thread couldn’t grasp that.
I once worked for an asshole who refused to accommodate the jews in the group by ordering something other than ham. It would have cost about five bucks to not be a jerk, but he wouldn’t budge. Talk about self-centered and rude…
[QUOTE=wring]
The vehicle or the deer?
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The deer’s name was Trixie, according to my neighbour’s kids.
[QUOTE=Dangerosa]
Food allergies go well beyond merely gluten. Nuts, strawberries, tomatos can all cause distress of one form or another. Why should a vegetarian have to put up with rice noodles and corn torillas because of my gluten issues? Why should I have to put up with no meat simply because I have gluten issues? Why should someone who is keeping kosher not be permitted bread (unless its passover, of course) or fish. If we go that far, lets just serve allergen free, meat free, kosher meals to everyone at every catered event. I’d rather have a grilled chicken breast on rice than the average vegetarian meal (which is usually what is served at these things and if I don’t touch the roll, I’m fine).
Per plate charges at catered events are expensive enough that I should be able to get a meal that has at least minimal customization to my dietary needs.
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Why should you go without meat if you cant do gluten, there is no gluten in meat 
and what is wrong with rice noodles or corn tortillas?
I endure a reasonably small number of food allergies [for which i am truely thankful - i can happily do without mushrooms, clams/mussels/oysters and coconut/tropical oils/palm oils] and have a wide assortment of friends with allergies, celiac, allergy to corn in all its forms, allergy to onion/alliums/ lactose intolerance and the need to keep kosher or vegetarian ranging from pisco/lacto/ovo to anally compulsively nothing can have lived/breathed/oozed on its own power or been produced by an animal/insect slave. I can put together a buffet to handle pretty much all of these at the same time. I can even handle a plain chicken breast on rice [are herbs ok? :dubious: ] Hell, I can even handle someone following a fairly strict macrobiotid regime [ok, i also happen to love umeboshi paste and brown rice, so sue me for having wierd taste in foods and thusly the ability to deal with widely varying food requirements. Given the internet and a few days to prepare, I might even be able to manage something wierd like an astronaut like food paste that would be tasty and nutritionally reasonably complete.]