Restaurant reservations Part 2 (Advanced): Specifying any dietary restrictions or special requests.

💬 Ownership here is shown with à moi after the noun, not with a word like "my". Swap in un ami à moi for a male friend.

💬 The œ is said like "ay", so cœliaque sounds roughly (say-lee-ack). French says someone "is" coeliac, using est, just like English.

💬 Final s is silent, so plats sounds like (plah). Plat means dish in the sense of a cooked course, not the plate it's served on.

💬 Sans means "without", and it slots before any food word. sans lactose "lactose-free" and sans porc "without pork" follow the same pattern.

💬 La plupart de takes a plural verb in French, as in la plupart de nos plats peuvent. The final t of plupart is silent.

💬 Adaptés ends in s to match the plural plats. It sounds exactly the same as adapté, so the change only shows in writing.

💬 In everyday speech par contre mostly introduces a catch or a small problem, like "but". Expect bad news to follow it.

💬 Friture can mean the fryer, the frying oil, or fried food, depending on context. Here it is the shared oil.

💬 Par contre means "on the other hand" or "however", not "by contract". It's how French speakers flag the catch after good news.

🇫🇷 Staff raising cross-contamination unprompted is a good sign. It means the kitchen is taking the allergy seriously.

💬 This is a soft way to give advice: "it would be better". After it, que plus a person lets you say who should do what, as in il vaudrait mieux que je réserve "I'd better book".

💬 Les here means "them" and sits before the verb, not after. Compare elle évite les frites "she avoids the fries" with elle les évite.

💬 Aux is à plus les merged into one word. French always does this merge, so à les never appears.

🇫🇷 Saying a reaction is triggered by traces tells staff it's a medical issue, not a preference. Kitchens treat that very differently.

💬 Le here means "it" and goes before the verb, not after it as in English. The same goes for je la prends "I'll take it".

💬 Chef often means boss in general, but in a restaurant le chef is the head cook. The ch is soft, like English "sh".

💬 Lui means "for her" here and sits before faire. It works for either "him" or "her", so only the context tells you who.

💬 Pommes de terre literally means "apples of the earth", which is the everyday French word for potatoes. Sautées ends in -ées to match the plural, feminine pommes.

💬 This goes at the end of the sentence, where English puts "instead". Add de to name the swapped item: à la place des frites "instead of the fries".

💬 No "a" is needed: il est végétarien means "he is vegetarian". For a woman it becomes végétarienne, and the final "n" sound is said.

🇫🇷 This is a relaxed, friendly "no problem", common from restaurant staff. It's warmer than a plain d'accord "OK".

💬 In France, la carte is the menu itself, while le menu is a fixed-price set meal. So à la carte just means "on the menu" here, not "ordered separately".

💬 L' is le "it" joined to the next word and can't stand alone. Like other words for "it" or "them", it sits before the verb.

💬 l' means "it" here and sits before the verb, not after. It shrinks from le because indique starts with a vowel.

🇫🇷 Tacking this onto a special request, like a quiet table or a dish without nuts, makes it sound gracious rather than demanding. Staff tend to go out of their way for a request framed this politely.

💬 au plus a noun describes a setting, a bit like "in the" in English. You can swap in other words, as in au soleil "in the sun" or à l'ombre "in the shade."

💬 vous sits before the verb, so it reads literally as "I you put." mets is in the present tense here, but it is the normal way to promise something you are about to do.

💬 du fond describes which room it is. To say where something is, use au fond "at the back," as in c'est au fond "it's at the back."

🇫🇷 The host uses this to wrap up the booking. A simple Oui, merci "Yes, thanks" is all you need, unless you still have a request to add.

💬 À + a time means "see you then": À demain "See you tomorrow", À ce soir "See you tonight".