Dietary requirments - fish and chip van

As a vegan, I don't eat the chips at work (work in a cafe) as they are fried in the same oil as everything else. I imagine it would be similar for vegetarians, as though they eat eggs and cheese etc, they would still be frying chips in oil that's fried meat.

As for the gluten side of things, can he not change the flour for you? Though GF flour is more expensive, so as you've already found, would probably bump the cost up. There are plenty of pasta/couscous/rice alternatives for people who aren't likely to eat meat.

From personal experience, if I was a friend of a friend invite and didn't really know the couple, and I knew it was a fish and chip van, I wouldn't expect to have my needs catered for (as nice as it would be, and it's great you're thinking like this ?) I would probably bring something myself I knew was ok. Though it would be lovely to have a couple of things on standby if you book the van and later find out there are specific requirements, so it shows that you've gone to the effort to consider everyone on the day

Why don't you do a quick ask around now in regards to the celiacs/coeliacs? Then you know if you should be expecting anyone and if you need to even worry about it.

On the issue of the veggies, as you say some will mind their food being cooked in oil that has had meat products cooked in it, some wont.... if you are ONLY having Fish and Chips OR Veggie pasties, can you ask the guy to make sure there is fresh oil in the fryers (even if you have to pay for it!) so that it's only fish (which a lot of veggies eat anyway) and not meat that has been cooked in the oil? If I was veggie, I'd cope with that, but I don't think I'd eat chips that had been cooked in the same oil as sausages!

With regard to the coeliacs... I have two friends who are coeliac- one would eat the chips (even if they had been cooked with the fish in 'normal' batter) as that level of 'contamination' wouldn't affect her too much... the other one wouldn't eat anything out of the van or provided by ANY caterer (unless it was a specific coeliac caterer!) because there are gluten products there- even the tiniest bit of contamination (one breadcrumb) will put her in hospital.

I would be inclined to ask around those that you definitely know are coming and see if any are coeliac or have other allergies/restrictions- if none are coeliac, then just let the veggies know and let them make their own decisons/bring their own food if they want to. If any are coeliac, talk to them and find out what they think- most coeliacs are so used to providing their own food they don't think twice about it and the ones I know certainly wouldn't expect me to provide gluten free batter (which is vile by the way!) for everyone just to accommodate them!

Btw the fish and chips sound yummy!

Anyway I wouldn't worry to much, choose the man you like. When you get you RSVPs you probably won't have as many dietary requirements as you think, for the vegetarians maybe offer a pasta salad to go with the vegettian pasty and if you get any vegans or coeliac you can look up what to buy then.

I have 90 guests I have 1 vegetarian which is easy as we're having a picnic theme so just buying all ready cooked vegi bits from supermarket, we also have one guest who is gluten and dairy free which is tricky but I'm just again buying replacements from Sainsburys as they have a big range.

Try not to worry until your RSVPs are in.

Vegetarians don't eat fish. If they do, they are pescetarian, not vegetarian.

I personally wouldn't touch anything that had been fried in the same oil as meat. So you really just need to think carefully about the needs of your guests. As someone who has been stuck at a wedding for 14 hours in a boiling hot venue and could only eat potatoes all day, I can tell you that missing out on the food while other people are stuffing their faces is a fairly miserable experience, even if it is by choice. I always take snacks in my handbag now, but not everyone is so well prepared.

You have two issues:

1.) Vegetarian options where your chips will be fried with meat products. This won't be acceptable to many vegetarians. I suggest you provide an alternative for these folks - perhaps potato chips or potato mash or salad (e.g. lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, etc.).

2.) Gluten-free options for coeliacs. I'd ask what allergies people have on the RSVPs if that's still possible. If you have no coeliacs then you have no problems. Coeliacs cannot eat gluten which is a protein in wheat, rye, barley and oats so chips would be OK, but the batter for the fish might not be. Once again, you'll need to find an acceptable alternative like grilled fish or sausage.