Today, there are so many more people with food allergies than ever before. There are also many different types of vegetarians. There is not a service without at least one person with an allergy to something food-related that they cannot have, or a vegetarian request. Funny, about seven years ago, we had a five course veggie tasting menu-----we prepped it, and hardly sold them, so we stopped it, it was a waste of our prep time. We never got back to that, maybe this is a new time and more people will order it.
Leslie Ashburn, macrobiotic chef, came and talked about her style of cooking, as well as alternative ways to look at food and cooking. She talked some about food allergies, and making the right choices to eat. All in all, the staff that came asked a lot of questions, and went away thinking about what they eat and drink themselves as choices they make. A lot of it is awareness. It is quite amazing what is available now at places like Down to Earth: Vegan butter, soy cheeses, brown rice syrup, ume vinegar, gluten free products...you should go down and take a look, you might buy something and get inspired.
She specializes in what she does, and we can always learn something new, no matter how long you have been cooking.