Anthony Sicignano, executive chef at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida since 2002, has been customizing menus for guests’ specific needs his entire career, but over the past few years, he and his F&B team have placed particular emphasis on creating menus addressing allergy-specific requirements and other dietary demands, such as gluten-free offerings.
Sicignano shared with HOTELS how his approach to these types of menus has evolved and how his experience has yielded lessons both for his operation and for the entire industry.
HOTELS Magazine: How much have you seen demand for allergy-specific and other special dietary menus grow in recent years?
Anthony Sicignano: I would say over the past 10 years allergy-specific requests seem to have almost doubled.
HOTELS: What do you believe sets your hotel apart in the way you accommodate guests with allergies and other special dietary needs?
Sicignano: Overall we will make it a point to accommodate any specific need. We do not view this as extra work or any type of inconvenience; we view this as an opportunity to truly make someone's stay here special and memorable.
Having children of my own, I know firsthand what a family vacation entails. I could not imagine the extra stress on the parents when a food allergy is involved. We will customize any menu for any child or guest of any age with allergies. Either I or my assistant, Maren Bronkema, will contact the guest as soon as we are apprised and then obtain all specifics as to what they can or cannot eat. We will then build a customized menu and make sure that it is available in all of our outlets (we have nine restaurants and five lounges at The Breakers).
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