How would I appropriately ask about ingredients at a 5 star restaurant in NYC. I have many food allergies.

I am going to NYC next week with some friends and we are going to four 5 star restaurants. These restaurants are amazing and well known. Now let me explain my situation. I am allergic to eleven types of food, this makes going out to restaurant's very hard. The food that I am allergic too include soy,which is in everything, wheat, yeast, cashews, milk, cheese, eggs, etc... Anytime I go to a restaurant I always ask to speak with the chef or the sou chef to have them pre-pair me a special meal that wont effect me but, I am in a entirely different situation here. These chefs are some of the top chefs in the world; I don't want to smother them with my questions. What do you suggest I do?

I am a former chef and would go with the advice the last person before me gave, have a list of the allergy's and what you can eat listed and relay that to the restaurants or as said give it to the waiter, any 5 star chef would his salt will be accommodating, if not then as the other fellow said have a few drinks and go to a vegan restaurant, not to be sarcastic, I am well aware of food allergy's and there issues, and as a chef we are there to serve, not judge, I would try to communicate to them ahead of time just in case your arrival is at a rush period, so they know your there and how to accommodated you properly.

Make a list of the foods to which you're allergic and hand it to the waiter taking your order.
Write a cover letter to the maitre d' or chef 鈮?fax it to the restaurants pre-pairing them for you.
Bon appetite and please, TAKE ME WITH YOU!

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call ahead and tell them about your allergies and they will help you without thinking you are being rude to the chef. I think they would prefer you to ask questions instead of keeping quiet and then have a bad reaction to the food.

If these chefs are so good, they'll be even better able to make something you aren't allergic to. Just say to the waiter "I'm allergic to soy, wheat, yeast, chashews, milk etc., what do you have on the menu that I could eat?" If there is nothing, ask him if the chef could make a dish up that you could eat. If not, have a drink or two and leave the place. Just because it's five stars and the chef is famous doesn't mean you don't matter. The customer is always right or the customer will leave. That's life in the service industry. They'll understand.