14 March, 2025
Explaining vegetarian catering (esp. Jain) to American venues… anyone else??
Hi all 🙏 Is anyone else running into confusion when trying to explain South Asian vegetarian dietary needs to venues here? We’re doing Jain + regular veg food only (no eggs, onion, garlic) and I had to literally define Jainism to our venue coordinator—she thought it was a brand. 🤭 They’re very sweet and trying to help but they keep suggesting things like mushroom sliders and quiche, and I just don’t know how to explain that not all vegetarian = Jain-friendly. Would love tips, docs, or language that helped YOU get your venue or caterer on the same page. I feel like a walking glossary at this point. Thanks!
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Riya P
14 Mar 2025
lol SAME. i once had to explain that yes, parmesan counts as non-veg. they wanted to do kale caesar shooters 🤦♀️ if they don’t know the word sattvic just give them a 1-page "no" list
Simran K
14 Mar 2025
We did a visual menu sheet! I made it in Canva—color coded: - REGULAR VEG = includes onions/garlic - SATTVIC = no onion/garlic/egg - JAIN = no root veggies either Put icons next to each dish! It helped staff AND guests. Happy to share a sample if that helps :)
Anonymous
14 Mar 2025
@Simran that sounds amazing—wish we had a DM feature here on Laali, I'd have asked for a version of it! We’re doing a half-sattvic menu and the venue keeps suggesting cauliflower tacos...
Rachel J
14 Mar 2025
You deff should check if your caterer can do a short PDF for the coordinator. Our NJ caterer already had a Jain explainer doc + list of no-no foods. We just handed that over and they left us alone lol
Anonymous
15 Mar 2025
I had to explain that eggless doesn’t = Jain. They kept asking if we wanted Beyond burgers 🙄 I ended up writing "NO MUSHROOMS. NO ROOTS. NO GARLIC." in all caps on a literal Post-It and stuck it to their tasting table.
Anjali N
15 Mar 2025
Not sure if this helps but we made a shared Google doc with dish descriptions + ingredients and shared it with the planner. It wasn’t fancy but it helped avoid repeated back-and-forths. Good luck!!
Riya P
15 Mar 2025
@Anjali YES to the shared doc!! and make sure you disable "suggested edits" lol or they’ll add shrimp skewers back in 🤦♀️
Anonymous
15 Mar 2025
ok not the same but i told our venue we needed Gujarati thali without onions & they said "ok, so like a hummus bar?" i cried. 😭
Anonymous (OP)
15 Mar 2025
@everyone THANK YOU—this is weirdly validating. Just made a "sattvic for dummies" doc + will borrow the Canva visual idea @Simran shared. Love this group!!
Anonymous
16 Mar 2025
Just as a vendor note—if your caterer is Indian but your planner isn’t, ask if the two can talk directly. I’ve seen too many weddings where info gets lost when the couple is stuck translating in between. Communication between vendors helps avoid these issues!
Simran K
17 Mar 2025
@OP in the Canva file consider also adding a column for "what NOT to say to the chef" lol (includes: "is paneer vegan?")
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