For people with food allergies, dining out safely can be difficult because of the balance between the risk of an allergic reaction versus control, exclusion, fewer choices, and feeling comfortable. With Towards Inclusive Gastronomy, we aim to decrease dissatisfaction and unpleasant surprises. For the safety of their guests, restaurants must always be able to demonstrate food safety actions and explain allergen information in writing or verbally Nevertheless, guaranteeing zero risk while dining out is neither a realistic or viable option for restaurants accommodating people with allergies.
With Inclusive Gastronomy, we aim to provide an enjoyable experience when dining in restaurants for people with allergies. The restaurant becomes a place where they can eat without any stress of an allergic reaction, ultimately creating an equal dining experience as for nonallergic guests.
We set out to generate ideas and identify requirements for an inclusive dining experience by organizing a co-creation event. We invited ten food experts (food-allergic guest, clinician, chef, etc.) to participate in a workshop dinner. They explored opportunities and constraints from multiple perspectives and translated ideas into magical elements for safe dining in restaurants with food allergies.
Based on these discussions, we developed three probes (speculative prototypes) that show how Inclusive Gastronomy can support people with allergies to dine out safely and comfortably in the future.
