Last Friday night, my husband and I went to a fund-raising gala at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. Fund-raising dinners are notoriously famous for rubbery chicken dishes and bland, unimaginative sides. I'm willing to admit that hotel caterers do the best they can with these mass-produced and unimaginative meals. If you dissect what's on your plate, you'll find tons of flavor-enhancing butter, cream and milk. Great, right? Wrong. These same ingredients - so beloved for their wonderful taste - turn an already blah dinner into a lactose intolerant's worse nightmare. I've found myself staring down at an unappetizing, cream-filled plate more times that I care to count, which is why I contemplated eating a homemade, lactose-free dinner at my house before I left for the event.
But on this occasion, I'm so glad that I didn't! The Intercontinental catering staff out did itself. Get out the word, oh lactose intolerant internet readers! The Intercontinental is the place to go for your fund-raising gala needs!
Unbeknownst to me, when Gordy filled out the form for our dinner, there was a section about food issues and he was able to alert the staff to my problems with dairy ahead of time. When he and I sat down to dinner, I found that the salad at my place was creamy-dressing free and I found a wonderfully attentive waiter standing by my seat, with a handful of papers detailing all the ingredients in the meal. I've been to plenty of these hotel functions and I've never, EVER received this kind of treatment. I felt like a Princess - a lactose-free Princess, that is.
My waiter didn't miss a beat. He helped me chose between the chicken and the vegetarian dish, answered all my questions about hidden cream, cheese and butter and made sure that the correct dish arrived in front of me when dinner time arrived. It was truly a lactose-free miracle.
But the miracle didn't end there.... dessert arrived. I had read on my menu card that the dessert was a trio of cheese cakes, creme brule and chocolate mousse. In other words: no, nope and absolutely not. I figured I would just pass on dessert. Plates were delivered and my waiter appeared once again holding a special dessert just for me! A glorious fruit plate displayed almost exactly as my my cream-filled neighbors.
Now, normally, I wouldn't be making much fuss over a fruit plate. Fruit, after all, is part of a meal and not really dessert, but this particular fruit plate touched me greatly. I was thrilled to have something sweet to eat while every one around me dug into their delicious-looking cheese cakes. I was joyous that the lactose intolerant were being given the equality that we deserve.
Hooray for the Intercontinental Hotel! Good job! You are lactose intolerant friendly and I appreciate it!
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