Apr 7, 2009
When Your Go-To Gluten-Free Spots, Aren’t
And then there were four three.
Ever since I was diagnosed in the fall of 2007, I’ve been whittling down my list of safe restaurants. Luckily, Chicago affords a Celiac more options than many cities. That said, plenty of them are fancy shmancy and over my budget. In the past year, I finally brought my number of truly trusted restaurants to four. I’d talked to the managers at one point or another, and was comfortable with their cooking practices and their level of commitment to avoiding allergens. Oh and the food tasted…good.
Of those four, Marcello’s Pizza on the North Side of Chicago offered a delicious gluten-free rice crust that many of my non-celiac friends enjoyed eating as well. Tasted great, got to my house quickly, complete with a little gluten-free sticker slapped over the edge like a safety seal. It satisfied that itch. The itch that makes you wish you could eat pizza again, or more to the point, the itch of that pre-celiac feeling of a delivered pizza: Call up the restaurant, they make you a pizza, they drive it over, I take 3-4 greasy pieces, laugh at the movie with my friends, throw the box in the fridge: more for the next evening. It felt normal, and I typically don’t feel normal when presented with a place setting at dinner.
But a couple hours after my last pizza from Marcello’s, I realized something had gone awry, despite the “hermetically” sealed GF sticker. My toppings were all free and clear, unless they surgically injected gluten into the peppers and onion. That leaves the sauce and crust, and my money is on the crust. I’m sure it was prepared on the same board with gluten-soaked crusts, and maybe some flour was actually kneaded into my rice crust.
Regardless, the damage was done. So now, a question of loyalty, forgiveness, and anger. Do I just give them a piece of my mind, let them know what happend (and potentially help a fellow celiac if its a systemic problem), then ask to me transfered to the hostess so I can place another order for delivery? Do I write them off as unsafe, never to go back again? Somewhere between?
I’d love to hear how people who’ve dealt with CD for much longer than me if they have any horror stories, and more importantly how they handled the aftermath…
Hi, sorry about the glutening.
We’ve all been there. The decision on what to do is of course yours however I would encourage you to contact them and arrange a visit with the manager during their slow time. I’d would then have a calm discussion of what happened and attempt to tactfully turn the discussion into one of their process. If s/he is engaged, maybe it can be the role of the manager to make those special needs pizzas? Also, perhaps they could make them squared instead of round or some other way to give a visual reminder that the pizza is GF to everyone in the kitchen. Education is always a continuing need.
Also, I’m not sure that I would personally ever do a delivery from a place that does both GF and non-GF food. I really like to drive home the GF needs eye to eye when I order (and pick-up).
As Gluten Fee Girl says – say yes! I’d look at how to expand your GF resto choices instead of reduce them. It is a pain but I like to look at one of my roles in life as an ambassador and educator and not just a consumer.
Good luck!
Thanks MB. I guess I am still naive in my trust of restaurants, etc. After I posted my tweet asking how many times people have been accidentally glutened, I was surprised by the numbers. I’ve been lucky, with only two (noticeable) contaminations.
I 100% agree and live by the notion of educating people and restaurants about Celiac Disease, and people with allergies.
I’m producing a downloadable card for people to print out that will allow you to rate the server and restaurant after your meal. Hand it to the manager or host and they hopefully have something to pass around to the staff; something concrete in addition to a conversation.
The squared crust idea is fantastic. I’m all over that recommendation!
Thanks again MB!
I would agree – respectfully talk to them when they are not busy to try to educate. 2-4 in the afternoon is the best time for most restaurants or at least after the dinner rush on a weeknight.
Having owned a restaurant in the past you may be a little surprised at this, but… I think they need to assume A LOT of responsibility when they advertise Gluten Free. They are choosing to try and make money from the Gluten Free market segment so its up to them to back it up. People (like you unfortunately) get really sick from either lack of knowledge or possibly carelessness. If they wanna make the money they gotta take the responsibility.
Even though you have every right to blast them (they are advertising this offering and deriving revenue from it after all) I see a better opportunity to educate. Chalk it up to greater good I suppose…
I have been wondering about all the talk about UNO now having GF pizzas. Pizza kitchens are Freddie Krueger level nightmares for Celiacs and I can’t imagine how you could keep anything gluten free in a pizza kitchen. Flour flies *everywhere* all the time.
Good luck, I have found restaurant managers and especially owners to be very receptive to increasing their knowledge about how to be safer for their clients.
Thanks for the great comments Tom. Great to get a restaurateur’s opinion I whole-heartedly agree that this is an opportunity to educate the restaurant in question.
I’d never thought about it, but your description of a pizza shop, complete with flour flying around like flak from WWII, is scary.
I think that recently I’ve relinquished too much power, and responsibility, to restaurants. While I agree that if they hope to profit from it then they should take the proper precautions, in the end the buck stops with me and I’ve been letting it slide.
Thanks again for your reply, hope to hear from you again…bB
I live in Virginia (hush im not in the sticks im in Roanoke) snyone know any areas gluten free around here; i just got diagnosed
i feel very limited in my food, and I like to eat.