Double Check.

This one’s an obvious one. When your meal is served, always confirm with the server that it was prepared gluten-free. Good restaurants will typically do this for you as a matter of course. But, when they fail, be proactive and ask — before eating. This simple step can potentially save you a catastrophe down the line.

Don’t be Afraid to Say “Allergy.”

We all know Celiac Disease isn’t an allergy, and it should never be our goal to spread misinformation. But, I’ve heard of incidents where the gluten free diet has been treated by some restaurants as a version of Atikins, or a voluntary, fad diet. These customers didn’t get the attention they need…and deserve.

I’ve also learned over the years that the word “allergy” means business in the restaurant world. Many restaurants have special procedures designed to handle food allergies. By calling attention to your special needs as an “allergy,” you signal to the staff to follow these special procedures, increasing the chances that you’ll get a safe meal.

For the archive of all tips published to date, visit our Gluten Free Dining Tips section.

Don’t Say “Gluten”…at First.

Some words are simple, and only have one meaning. Unfortunately, gluten isn’t one of them. It can mean different things to different people.

For us, “gluten” is the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. But, for chefs, “gluten” is a much more expansive term, and can also include plant proteins found in many cereal grains, including some that are safe for the gluten free diet. Common terms like “glutenous rice” just add a further layer of confusion. Without context, a chef may interpret instructions for a “gluten free” meal to be free of flour, rice, corn, and other starches.

That’s why I recommend spelling out “no wheat, rye, barley (and oats in a restaurant setting)”, and avoiding the word “gluten” the first time you visit a new restaurant. It reduces the chances that a chef will be overly restrictive and unnecessarily limit the options he can present you.

Good strategy or bad? What do you think?

For the archive of all tips published to date, visit our Gluten Free Dining Tips section.

Talk to the Right Person.

Your instructions and explanation are only as good as the eyes or ears taking them in. Have you ever had a waiter who was too rushed to pay attention to your instructions, or just didn’t seem to “get it”? One of the easiest ways to get sick in a restaurant is to tell the wrong person about your special needs diet.

In that case, the best prepared, most carefully delivered instructions will not help you! Make sure your instructions are heard by someone who has the power, ability, and motivation to help you. That can be the manager, the maitre d’, or even the owner. We’ll cover ways to identify that person and build a quick bond with them in a future tip.
For the archive of all tips published to date, visit our Gluten Free Dining Tips section.

Since we launched the blog in February, I’ve received a bunch of requests to write on the subject of how to get a gluten free meal in a restaurant, something that’s very near and dear to my heart. Being eager to please, I’m going to kick off a series of 25 tips to help you get the most out of restaurant dining on the gluten free diet, starting now.

It’s my belief that everything you need to know about gluten free restaurant dining falls neatly into two buckets: (1) sharing information in a clear, efficient manner, and (2) developing rewarding short and long-term relationships with restaurant staff. Almost everything you will do in a restaurant to improve your dining experience will fall into one of these two buckets (go ahead, try to think of something that doesn’t fit in the buckets — I double dare you). The tips I share with you in the coming weeks will be designed to get you on the path to building these skills.

As we dig into the tips, my hope is that we’ll have something for everyone, from the newly diagnosed to the seasoned support group leader. Some of these tips may be familiar, some will be new twists on old favorites, and some will likely be brand new. I hope you’ll join the conversation and post comments to weigh in with your thoughts and share your experiences.

We’ll be adding a new tip every few days, starting Friday, so stay tuned.

These tips are cribbed from the introduction to The Essential Gluten Free Restaurant, 3rd Edition, published by Triumph Dining. For the archive of all tips published to date, visit our Gluten Free Dining Tips section.

The Tri-County Celiac Support Group is hosting a Gluten Free Food Fair in Farmington Hills, MI on April 12th. TCCSG is charging admission - $5 per person/$10 per family for members, and $10 per person/$15 per family for non-members - though it seems that the money saved on shipping costs by buying in person should more than offset that.

For a complete list of vendors attending the Gluten Free Food Fair, please contact the TCCSG via their website at www.tccsg.org.

If there’s a local event you’d like to publicize through the Triumph Gluten Free! blog, please fill out this form to tell us about it.

In early February, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (sounds a little scary and evil, no?) ran a contest for the “next big idea” where readers of Martha’s blog voted from a list of candidates, including a magazine focused on allergy free living. Despite overwhelming reader support for the allergy free magazine (57% of the vote), Martha anointed the runner-up (a pet focused magazine) as the winner.

As you might expect, this caused quite a hubbub in the gluten free world. As of today, it looks like Martha may have reconsidered her initial rule, and may still be entering the allergy free space. Her blog now shows both the pet and allergy free magazines as “co-winners.”

See for yourself at Martha Stewart’s Blog.

The greatest invention of all time? Is it the personal computer? The automobile? Sliced bread? Our vote goes for…the peanut butter cup (though that may be because it’s mid-afternoon and we’re craving sugar)! And, in the spirit of culinary perfection, we’ve discovered a simple way to capture the chocolately-peanut-butter-goodness of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in a gluten free bowl of cereal.

Our snack is a simple, but good one. Just mix equal parts of Envirokidz Panda Puffs (the peanut butter) and Koala Crisp (the chocolate) in a cereal bowl, and add milk. Sit back, and enjoy! Panda Puffs and Koala Crisp have different textures, so we recommend waiting a minute or two to let the cereals get a little soggy before consuming. We bought our boxes of cereal at Whole Foods in Arlington, VA and paid just $2.50 per box (seems like a bargain, if you ask us, and both cereals clearly advertise “Gluten Free” on their packaging).

This may not be the healthiest breakfast in the world, but it’s not a bad dessert replacement if you’re counting calories. And, just like the original Reese’s inspiration, it’s two great tastes that taste great together.

The NFCA’s Gluten Free Cooking Spree is heading to St. Louis, MO at the end of February. On February 26th, the NFCA will be hosting its signature event at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Center in St. Louis. Anheuser-Busch is the brewer of Redbridge Beer, the first gluten-free beer from a major brewery. For more information about the St. Louis Gluten Free Cooking Spree, as well as past events, visit:

http://www.celiaccentral.org/Events/Gluten_Free_Cooking_Sprees/331/