This Chef Is Taking a Stand Against Your Fake Food Allergies

On the wall of the Queen Chow restaurant in Sydney, Australia, there's a neon-ringed sign that says "Queen Chow Loves You." But unlike your mom's unending affection, Queen Chow's love is 100-percent conditional —and it seems to be based on what you order. Head chef Patrick Friesen has had it with your faked gluten allergy, your nonexistent shellfish sensitivity, and any other questionable dinnertime affectation that alters the way he prepares your food.

"Can people with dietary requirements start knowing what you can and can't eat?" he asked at the beginning of an Instagram rant, accompanied by pictures of annotated checks punctuated with "ALLERGY GLUTEN," "ALLERGY SHELLFISH" and "DUCK SEPARATE PLEASE." Friesen says that he's done with people who have inconsistent allergies ("Shellfish allergy but loves oyster sauce") or those who claim that they're sensitive to gluten, but only the gluten in bread.

Despite the fact that he's probably shaking his fist at your order right now, his complaints aren't completely unjustified. "Sort your shit out and let your waiter know," he wrote. "You make it really damn hard for people with actual allergies and dietaries [sic] to go out to eat." (Also, what kind of person orders Scallop Sashimi if they have a shellfish allergy?)

Friesen's biggest concern seems to be for people with legit allergies, and whether or not these part-timers or picky eaters make it more difficult for those with more serious dietary needs to be met. He says that he worries because his mom is one of those people, telling the Daily Telegraph that she has a gluten intolerance due to celiac disease.

"You have these people who come in on a first date, and they say, 'I'm allergic to onions' because they just don't want to have onion breath," Friesen told the news outlet. "And we say, 'Well, it's an Asian restaurant, you know there are onions in pretty much everything,' … or shallots or onion powder or whatever. And then they say, 'Oh OK it's fine. I'll just eat everything'. So clearly it's not an allergy at all."

Hating onions or hoping that you'll never feel another oyster on your tongue doesn't mean that you're allergic to either of those items. And Friesen wants to make it clear that being low-carb or Paleo or whatever Gwyneth is advocating this afternoon doesn't make you gluten-intolerant, it just makes you a pain in the ass.

Friesen has been known to call out his customers before. He previously posted a picture of a vegetarian's order at Papi Chulo—a BBQ restaurant—and suggested that maybe people who don't eat meat should skip the place that has four different animals on its menu. "I don't go to an Indian restaurant and get pissed off [if] they serve curries," he wrote. "FML."
Guess Friesen's definitely not a subscriber to the adage that the customer's always right.