Life is predicted to get harder for some people with dietary requirements next year, according to a 2022 forecast published by Big Hospitality.
According to the industry publication, one big expectation for dining out in the new year is that top chefs will be more likely to refuse to cater to customers’ dietary issues – adopting what Grace Dent has referred to, in the case of Ynyshir chef-patron Gareth Ward, as ‘delicious pigheadedness’.
Big Hospitality has predicted that high-end dining will ‘go inflexible’, adding that ‘2022 may be the year that restaurants finally crack’ and stating more and more chefs are expected to follow the lead of the likes of Simon Martin at Mana, Manchester’s only Michelin-starred restaurant.
Here, menu adaptions are never made for a customer’s dislikes. What’s more, the creation of vegan menus is an absolute no-no as are any requests for lactose-free menus – as is plainly stated on Mana’s website, which customers are required to read ahead of making their booking.
The team requires guests to give its kitchen 48 hours’ notice for any allergies or intolerances they may have, including vegetarians, but when it comes to ingredients that people simply don’t want to eat, there is very little sympathy.
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Guidelines are clear that the team cannot deal with last-minute preparation requests and states “if you have an allergy to an animal, fish or shellfish protein, our vegetarian equivalent will be provided as an alternative.
“This also applies to aversions due to religious reasons.”
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Touching on the subject of religious diets, Mana is not alone in its refusal to budge.
Another fine dining spot in Manchester, the trendy NQ eatery District, has also proven itself unwilling to adapt this year after getting embroiled in a ‘religious diet’ row with a customer that went viral on social media.
The argument, which stemmed from the new wave Thai eatery’s non-refundable deposit policy, came to a head after a customer asked for its famously strict 12-course set menu to be altered to cater to his religious needs.
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In this instance, the diner asked for a pork dish to be substituted after already paying his £15 deposit, at which point he had already been notified that he should contact the restaurant about dietaries before putting down any money for the booking.
After being told it was not possible, he emailed to ask “why not shout loud on your homepage ‘We don’t cater for Jews'”.
Ultimately, however, his threats to speak out on social media spectacularly backfired after the restaurant posted them to its social pages themselves – adding it ‘will not be bullied or threatened into returning deposits’.
Co-owner Ben Humphries later told the Manchester Evening News: “From the moment a guest makes a reservation work begins on sourcing and ordering the very best ingredients for their experience. If we then can not fill that table, this expensive produce may go to waste.”
Whilst some might consider a high-end restaurants’ refusal to modify their menu to suit the dietary requirements a bit inhospitable for hospitality, as prices continue to rise and margins get tighter, it is becoming necessary for businesses’ survival to make these calls.
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Unfortunately, some of those people are just going to have to like it or lump it.
Feature image – District
News
Police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty sacked
Daisy Jackson
A ‘morally reprehensible’ police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty has been sacked and barred from service.
GMP held an accelerated misconduct hearing with PC Dean Dempster, 35, and he has been dismissed without notice.
The disgraced officer admitted ‘sexually touching’ the six-year-old child in December 2023 and is set to be sentenced at a later date.
He was a response officer in Oldham at the time that the offence was reported, and was arrested by a supervisor when he returned to work the next day.
A senior officer has now said that Dempster ‘has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public’.
Another said it was ‘among the most distressing cases ever presented’ and a ‘despicable betrayal’ of police duties.
Dempster was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl while responding to an incident on 29 December 2023.
He was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in February and remained suspended since being charged at the end of last year.
Presiding over today’s hearing, CC Watson found PC Dempster’s conduct amounted to gross misconduct, saying: “This sexual assault occurred whilst the officer was on duty and where the victim was totally trusting and reliant on him performing his duties professionally, compassionately and with her welfare uppermost in his thoughts.
“It is this most egregious breach of trust of an innocent young child that is most upsetting aspect of this case and something that clearly amounts to an aggravating factor.
“I consider this case to be among the most distressing ever presented to me such is the despicable betrayal of all that is inherent in being a decent police officer.
“I have no hesitation whatsoever in dismissing PC Dempster from the service with immediate effect.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Allen, head of GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “Dean Dempster is not a police officer, he’s a child sex offender who has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public.
“We have no time for people like Dempster who should not be in GMP and does not represent us.
“This is why we’re increasingly using accelerated misconduct hearings to root out and boot out officers who are unfit to serve in our uniform, and this work will continue while ever they remain.”
Dempster has been added to the College of Policing Barred List by Chief Constable Stephen Watson, who described Dempster’s actions as ‘morally reprehensible’.
GMP used accelerated proceedings as part of its pledge to ‘root and boot’ officers unfit to serve the public.
The force is now writing to the Deputy Mayor of GM to appeal for Dempster to lose his right to a police pension.
Manchester City reveals details around the first Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Stadium
Danny Jones
Manchester City have released the first details surrounding their inaugural Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Campus.
One of the most important charities in the UK when it comes to male mental health and suicide prevention, Andy’s Man Club and even its logo alone have become a recognisable force for good over the past few years, and the significance of bringing it to such a big scale as City cannot be overstated.
The football club first announced the partnership back in February and has already been working closely with the non-profit organisation to promote better wellbeing amongst men, getting first-team stars such as defender John Stones to open up about his own experiences with mental health just last month.
With that in mind, the word is now out that Man City will be providing yet another location for groups to meet and crucially talk through Andy’s Man Club sessions, confirming details around their first meeting from next week onwards.
Set to kick off in the East Stand of the Etihad Stadium from 7-9pm on Monday, 13 May, Man City will not only help deliver a vital outlet for men in the East Manchester area but become just the latest in a long line of teams to back the regular support group.
Joining over 180 clubs nationwide – including the likes of Altrincham FC, Ashton United and Bolton Wanderers, just to name a few in the Greater Manchester area – Andy’s Mans Club is currently helping well over 4,000 men open up and combat their struggles through peer-to-peer sessions.
Founded by a group of nine blokes from Halifax back in 2016 to create positive change in men’s mental health, Andy’s Man Club now helps gather men aged 18 and over across the country every week throughout the year.
In alignment with other partnered clubs Andy’s Man Clubs across the country, attendees will be asked to arrive from 18:30 (UK) ahead of the 19:00 start time.
The sessions are free with registration or ID required and, more importantly, there’s no pressure to talk if you don’t want to. The first step is easy: just listen.
Just because it’s being held at City’s ground doesn’t mean you have to be a season ticket holder, have an official Cityzens membership to attend or anything like that, you can simply arrive via the East Stand reception (Door F) and join the session.
Attendees will be greeted on arrival by trained volunteers from Andy’s Man Club who will guide them through the stadium. With the club now on board, group sessions will be running at the same time every week (except bank holiday Mondays) with the first dates scheduled for the following nights this month:
Monday 13 May
Monday 20 May
Monday 3 June
Monday 10 June
Well done to all those involved in bringing Andy’s Man Club to Manchester City and the East Manchester community. We hope the sessions will help those going along as they have done for thousands of others.