This is where we eat, and how. This is by no means an all-inclusive list of the restaurants and food purveyors in West Palm Beach that cater to celiacs, but these are merely the places we have found that work for us. So far.
* Paris Bakery and Cafe (Olive, between Evernia and Datura): I always order the Notre Dame salad because it is both GF and CF (casein free secondary to milk allergy) The tarragon dressing is made in house, GF and fantastic. NO BREAD - if you are dining in, the silverware will come inside the bread basket. Ask for your silverware to be brought to you separately. Avoid soups and wraps obviously, but the eggs (scrambled or omelets) are prepared in a skillet rather than a flat top grill, which should be avoided at all costs. The bacon is pretty sweet, as well.
* Nature's Way Cafe: I only order the curry chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, with no adverse effects. I have yet to branch out.
* Joy Noodle: There is a GF menu, and they seem to have a handle on things. I think I had grilled chicken and a bean thread-type noodle. It was good, not great.
* The Breakers Hotel - The Italian Restaurant, Ocean Grill, Seafood Bar, Flagler Steakhouse, Ecco - tell them you have a "gluten allergy," and they will take care of you. That being said, pay attention to what comes out of the kitchen. If you are suspicious about something (e.g., breadcrumb on your child's hot dog) bring it to their attention, and it will be remade. If you order french fries or even corn chips (chips & guacamole), ask for FRESH OIL so they won't be cross contaminated from the fryer.
* Rocco's Tacos: Well, here's the story with their corn chips. They are prepared in the morning in a fryer that will later be used for a variety of items that will contain gluten. The fryers are allegedly drained and cleaned each night. I know that the chances that some cross contamination will occur, but it has not affected us. We are both very sensitive to contamination, and I do believe that our lab results speak for themselves in this case.
* Chick Fil-A: grilled nuggets are okay, as are fries, hash browns, scrambled eggs, and sausage. Ask the person taking your order to "RED FLAG" your food for "Wheat allergies." As stated before, mistakes do happen, so be sure to inspect your food. I have only had one transgression take place with them, but I don't think I ingested anything harmful.
*Duffy's Sports Grill (Clematis and Olive): There is a GF menu, and it's not bad. Most of the wait staff is pretty young, so if you don't feel that they grasp what you really require from them, don't be afraid to bring the manager into the fray. In my experience, they have gone above and beyond what I expected of them to be sure that we could eat safely in their restaurant.
*Chipotle: First of all, try to go during a non-peak time, if that actually exists. Inform the first person on the line that you are CELIAC and GLUTEN FREE, and ask them to change their gloves. This person should be the only person to touch your food, and they will walk you all the way down. It makes no sense for the first person to change their gloves and put your salad in the bowl if they next person who has been touching tortillas all day puts their thumbs right into your bowl. Avoid the green tomatillo salsa, as it has not been listed on their website as GF. And while I'm on the subject, the Chipotle in Boynton Beach on Gateway & Congress is absolutely superb in their snappy and competent response to my request for the glove change. They are impressive, to say the least.
* Joey's Gluten Free Bakery: Found at the West Palm Beach Green Market and now in her very own store, Miss Joey has the most fantastic selection of cookies, breads, and muffins! We have unfortunately been unable to patronize her new dedicated store (on Woolbright in Boynton Beach), but it is on our list. She will even take special orders for cakes, pies, and other heavenly items!!
I am sure there are more, but I just haven't found them yet. Again, this is a very limited list of places where we have enjoyed safe dining experiences.
Cheers!
Showing posts with label restaurants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurants. Show all posts
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Farewell 2013
I talk about our journey with celiac disease to a lot of people. I mean a whole lot of people. I do this not to call attention to myself and my high maintenance diet, but to spark awareness.
There is a whole slew of people who "try" to eat GF, (not an inappropriate use of quotation marks.) These well meaning people are merely attempting to eliminate gluten from their diet (maybe that's the flag they should wave), but they actually make it much more unsafe for us to eat out. They don't really care whether or not their scrambled eggs were prepared on a shared surface... they just order eggs, sans toast. They are perfectly willing to let a dash of soy sauce slide in their vegan spring roll, or excuse a dash of malt in the CORN flakes. (Ahem, Rachel Ray... you are irresponsible and downright dangerous. Jimmy Kimmel, I hope that your children never have to avoid "imaginary" gluten that -- what was that? Doesn't even exist?)
Me, however? If I were to lax my standards for one second and allow one of the above-listed grievances to be ingested, the inside of my mouth would seem as though I ate large shards of glass for lunch whilst shedding HANDS FULL of hair. But never mind me, who cares about me... my son would be violently ill, and who can tolerate even one moment of their child in pain?
For the past two years, we have navigated the murky waters of a gluten free lifestyle, as it is much more than just a diet. This truly involves the support of family, friends and even a community in order to resemble the smashing success that we have experienced.
As of November, 2013, our bloodwork results are as follows: Tissue Transglutaminase level 4. At diagnosis we were 100+, and a normal, non-celiac individual would be anything under 4. NCS and I are both exactly a 4.0. I think that this means that our unrelenting GF standards work.
We only eat in a few restaurants, and we have educated the bejeezus out of many a restaurant manager/owner/waitstaff. We have illuminated the dangers of cross contamination for countless friends, family, and unsuspecting acquaintances. We have probably been subject to many an eye roll or criticism, but we are healthy. If I can protect my child from the looming possibility of gastrointestinal lymphoma, intestinal cancer, peripheral neuropathy, and who knows what else, then I consider our journey thus far a success.
There is a whole slew of people who "try" to eat GF, (not an inappropriate use of quotation marks.) These well meaning people are merely attempting to eliminate gluten from their diet (maybe that's the flag they should wave), but they actually make it much more unsafe for us to eat out. They don't really care whether or not their scrambled eggs were prepared on a shared surface... they just order eggs, sans toast. They are perfectly willing to let a dash of soy sauce slide in their vegan spring roll, or excuse a dash of malt in the CORN flakes. (Ahem, Rachel Ray... you are irresponsible and downright dangerous. Jimmy Kimmel, I hope that your children never have to avoid "imaginary" gluten that -- what was that? Doesn't even exist?)
Me, however? If I were to lax my standards for one second and allow one of the above-listed grievances to be ingested, the inside of my mouth would seem as though I ate large shards of glass for lunch whilst shedding HANDS FULL of hair. But never mind me, who cares about me... my son would be violently ill, and who can tolerate even one moment of their child in pain?
For the past two years, we have navigated the murky waters of a gluten free lifestyle, as it is much more than just a diet. This truly involves the support of family, friends and even a community in order to resemble the smashing success that we have experienced.
As of November, 2013, our bloodwork results are as follows: Tissue Transglutaminase level 4. At diagnosis we were 100+, and a normal, non-celiac individual would be anything under 4. NCS and I are both exactly a 4.0. I think that this means that our unrelenting GF standards work.
We only eat in a few restaurants, and we have educated the bejeezus out of many a restaurant manager/owner/waitstaff. We have illuminated the dangers of cross contamination for countless friends, family, and unsuspecting acquaintances. We have probably been subject to many an eye roll or criticism, but we are healthy. If I can protect my child from the looming possibility of gastrointestinal lymphoma, intestinal cancer, peripheral neuropathy, and who knows what else, then I consider our journey thus far a success.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
God Bless Chick-Fil-A
So, for one or two of you who may not be aware of its existence, Chick-Fil-A is a fast food chicken restaurant, and they serve damn good chicken -- fried especially, but also grilled. They have a few items that qualify as gluten free, but most importantly, they have a condiment known as Polynesian Sauce. In our house, it is referred to as Palls-en-esian Sauce, and if you drizzled it on an old shoe, I would go all-in that my son would eat at least half of it. Best of all, all of the sauces at Chick-Fil-A are gluten free, (per both their website and the ingredient labels).
Nutritionally speaking, I am not a fan of sweet (more like a sweet and sour) sauces, especially for kids, but this is almost the ONLY way I can get my son to eat meat. (What preceded my son's celiac diagnosis was a few years of what can only be described as feeding hell, due to some sensory issues. Several studies have alluded to the reduction of oral sensory dysfunctions in celiac children once on a GF diet, and I would definitely say that his aversions have gotten much better over the last five months.)
The aforementioned condiment elixir is provided whenever you purchase chicken items, but since most of their food is now off limits to us, we still acquire sauce packets. Here's how you do it, if you're lucky enough to live near (or even not so near) a CFA: Eight ounce containers of this sauce are sold via their catering menu, and you can buy them. The one ounce containers are not typically sold, but you can ask them to sell you eight of the one ounce packs for the same price as the 8 oz. bowl (something like $1.79). I used to swing by every couple of months and buy about 32 or so of the packs, and then I was stocked for dinners, lunches (lunchbox), one or two for the car, in case we decided to have dinner with friends, etc.
In addition, the grilled chicken breasts are GF, and they now have grilled chicken nuggets!! French fries, hashbrowns, and non-biscuit breakfast items are also listed as GF on their website, though they don't guarantee that all food prep areas are safe. But here's what you can do: ask the person taking your order to "RED FLAG" your food for wheat allergies (easier for most people to process if you tell them you have a serious allergy). Tell them to specifically red flag your food for wheat cross contamination, and ask them to have the person touching your food to change their gloves before handling it. Each and every time I have made this request, the person taking my order or the manager immediately walks back to the kitchen, personally ensures that the gloves are changed, and my food is placed immediately into a container that is then sealed. (Additional Mommy tip: if you order a kid's meal, you can surrender the "toy," which is usually now a book or a game, for ice cream. If you're eating GF, just make sure they put the ice cream (vanilla) in a cup, never a cone.)
To most people, this may not sound like much. But I can tell you that the care and attention that these wonderful people take when making sure that I or my son can eat some french fries has almost brought me to tears on several occasions. We have eaten in highly acclaimed restaurants where the chef meets with us before ordering for a culinary consultation and then personally goes back practically into a bubble to cook for us, only to have an "operations error" where the expediter accidentally brings us the wrong food. Um, this sucks, and it makes me much less trusting when it comes to "eating out," if that's even how you can refer to my transactions at Chick Fil A.
**Note: sometimes, if inside the restaurant, my son likes to play in the indoor playground, but he MUST ALWAYS wash his hands afterwards, before he eats. The kids that he's playing with have probably just handled chicken nuggets, and they are joyously applying a greasy film of gluten to the slide and gym. Just a heads up.
Best,
Whip
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