DIETARY & CULTURAL
Dietary Requirements, Handled in the Menu Consult — Not as an Afterthought
Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, allergy-aware, halaal-friendly — every menu adapts at no extra charge.
Every myCHEF menu in Cape Town is built from scratch with the chef, so dietary requirements are designed in — not substituted out. Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, allergy-aware and halaal-friendly menus all adapt at the consult stage, at no extra charge.
Tell us once, in the brief
Every myCHEF menu in Cape Town is built from scratch with the chef, so dietary requirements are designed in — not substituted out. Vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, allergy-aware and halaal-friendly menus all adapt at the consult stage, at no extra charge.
The booking brief asks for dietary needs up front because that is when they are cheapest and safest to handle. A requirement mentioned on WhatsApp becomes a menu decision; a requirement mentioned at the table becomes a compromise.
This is the structural advantage a private chef has over a restaurant: there is no fixed menu to fight, no shared fryer, no pass sending forty other dishes. One kitchen, one event, one set of requirements — the whole evening is designed around your table from the first message.
Our four protocols
Each requirement family has a defined protocol, not a shrug. These are the four we run most often, and the same discipline extends to anything else you bring us.
- Allergy protocol — a dedicated prep sequence for allergen-free dishes, separate utensils, and labelled service so the right plate reaches the right guest
- Gluten-free & coeliac-aware — menus designed gluten-free from the start where needed, with honest advice on cross-contact limits in a home kitchen
- Plant-based menus — full vegan and vegetarian menus that stand on their own, built around Cape produce rather than meat substitutes
- Kosher note — we do not claim kosher capability; for Beth Din-supervised requirements we refer you to a supervised partner kitchen
How it works
Three steps, no surprises.
- Tell us in the brief — requirement, severity, and whether it is preference or medical
- The chef designs around it — the whole menu, or parallel dishes for one guest, your choice
- Labelled service on the night — allergen and dietary plates are identified to the table, discreetly, without singling anyone out
Where to go next
Two pages go deeper. Our halaal-friendly dining page documents exactly what we do and do not claim on sourcing, separation and service. Our vegan and vegetarian page covers the plant-based menu family and the fynbos produce that makes Cape Town one of the easiest cities in the world to eat plants.
For everything else — nut-free, low-FODMAP, diabetic-aware, religious fasting windows — message us the requirement. The menu consult exists precisely for this conversation, and you will get a straight answer on what we can do safely.
If the answer is ever no, you will hear it in the consult, not at the table. Safety-critical requirements are where honesty matters most, and we would rather decline a booking clearly than improvise around a medical need.
Questions, answered.
We update this guide annually — figures re-verified October 2026.
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