Chef Tatung on Autism Awareness: No Need to Explain Your Child

Chef Tatung Sarthou, known as the chef behind Simpol PH, is turning a recent incident into an opportunity to raise awareness and foster a greater understanding of autism in the hospitality industry.

Chef Tatung’s Facebook statement created a buzz online, as he wrote, "What True Hospitality Means"

A guest wrote to Chef Tatung about their experience at one of his restaurants. “Her family had planned a birthday dinner. Her son, who is on the autism spectrum, has sensory sensitivities that make eating outside his comfort foods genuinely difficult,” Chef Tatung shared.

The mom planned, did her research, and looked up the menu in advance. She had already chosen one dish from the menu that her son could eat. As a backup, she brought familiar food from home to make sure her son would eat something that night.

Children on the autism spectrum can have sensory sensitivities that may hinder them from eating unfamiliar food. As a result, they sometimes rely on familiar food—food that they have been eating for a long time, with the same taste, color, and texture. Otherwise, the situation may be too overwhelming for them.

Unfortunately, on the day of their celebration, the mom’s chosen dish was not available. “When she brought out the food from home, she was charged a corkage fee she hadn’t been told about—at the very moment she was simply trying to make the evening work for her son,” Chef Tatung shared.

Chef Tatung realized then that service and hospitality are not the same; a little more understanding and hospitality could have changed how the situation unfolded. He humbly admitted that they came up short in the said incident.

He wrote, “What might once have been dismissed as arte, fussiness, or a difficult guest may actually be something we simply did not understand.”

He added, “We cannot care for people well if we do not understand what they may be carrying when they walk through our doors. What must grow is our awareness—recognizing needs beyond the usual, knowing when a situation calls for judgment rather than policy, and empowering our people to find an alternative, waive a fee, or ask, 'What can we do to make this easier for you?'”

Chef Tatung is calling for more awareness and action on hosting guests with family members on the Autism Spectrum. “Hospitality begins where the manual ends. There will always be needs we have not encountered before, circumstances no policy anticipated, and guests whose experience of the world is different from our own. No manual can prepare us for every person who walks through our doors.”

He thanked the mom for giving him feedback, which made him learn more about compassion and how to act on it. “This is worth sharing because I doubt we are the only restaurant with this blind spot. As our understanding of autism and neurodiversity grows, our hospitality must grow with it. We will not always understand immediately. But we can learn to ask. We can learn to listen. And we can choose to care. Because underneath all of this is a much simpler lesson: The more we understand people, the better we can care for them. Perhaps that is what true hospitality has always meant.”

Smart Parenting reached out to Chef Tatung, and he has a message to families with neurodivergent children: “No family should ever feel unwelcome at our table. That’s not a policy—it’s the whole point of hospitality. We want our people to understand and act on reasonable requests without hesitation or awkwardness—whether that means finding a quieter seat, dimming a light where possible, skipping a surprise moment, or allowing a child to bring familiar food when their sensory needs make our menu difficult for them. You shouldn’t have to explain your child to us in detail. Just tell us what you need, and we want our people ready to listen, understand, and help.”

He also has a message to fellow restaurant owners: “We’re not a specialized facility, and I don’t think most restaurants need to become one. But every restaurant can learn to recognize when a reasonable exception can make all the difference.”

Coming to terms with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis? Read this mom's essay on how she felt when her son was diagnosed.