What to do when you are “GLUTENED” while dining out? This can happen and unfortunately it does all too often. In fact, if it happens even one time it is too often as far as I’m concerned. Last night while dining out I want to share the events and the steps I take when I experience this situation. I was dining with a friend at the Rosebud Steakhouse at 192 E. Walton St. in downtown Chicago (one of 10 throughout the city). rosebudrestaurants#!home This was a ‘special occasion’ evening. I chose a restaurant known to be a First-Class Steak House in Chicago, the waiters in black suits, white shirts, black ties, you get the picture. We asked for the gluten free menu. The waiter said they did not have a Gluten-Free menu but that all of our steaks are gluten free and “over 90% of our menu can be made Gluten-Free”-so we proceeded to order. As an appetizer we considered the coconut shrimp however many times coconut shrimp is battered, cdn2.norecipes/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/coconut-shrimp-5.jpg?32e0f2 The waiter confirmed it was battered so we couldn’t do that, but the waiter recommended the butterfly shrimp because it was served with a lemon butter sauce and on crostini, but he would ask the chef to not put it on crostini. https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_RJXpY9VBqeE4WrJ9ESi-vvgta8P_UC6jVoJAg5vG7MqyQwCy That sounded great. When the food arrived we were very hungry and began eating this delicious shrimp, and my friend who has Celiac Disease said this doesn’t feel right. We stopped immediately. As we started investigating, called the waiter over to confirm if this was Gluten Free. He checked with chef and reported back that breadcrumbs were mixed in with the sauce on top of the shrimp. I said, you just made a “big whoops” and asked to speak with the manager. Now let me share that this story has a happy ending for my friend because luckily I had Glutenza with me which my friend was able to take 4 tablets. Thankfully because of the Glutenza she did NOT have any reaction whatsoever. Normally she would suffer with GI reactions and brain fog for a few days. I’m happy to report she didn’t have any reaction to this inadvertent exposure whatsoever. When the manager arrived I let him know this was a big “whoops” and that I was going to share with our fans. “Rosebud blew it” and that this situation can not be blown off, or washed over with a free appetizer and dessert (which is what they did). I explained to the Manager that hundreds of thousands will hear that Rosebud ‘blew it’ with a Celiac. I then suggested if he does a Training with his Staff, sends me a picture of the Training, I will Post it to all of you. And say “Look, accidents happen. It won’t stop happening for GS people. However, look everyone at what Rosebud has done. They’ve gone the extra mile to help insure their restaurant is safe for those with a Gluten Sensitivity.” This can be marvelous free marketing for you Mr. Manager, as a high-end restaurant in Chicago that goes the extra mile for their customers. One of the questions that many staff ask when this happens in restaurants is “how severe is the reaction?” This is a common attempt for the staff to determine how relevant and important Gluten Sensitivity is for the person and it is vital that we NOT let them determine this. ANY level of Gluten exposure has to be the focus. I have stated on multiple interviews as little as 1/8th of a fingernail of Gluten is all it can take for a reaction. This can put someone who is Celiac or Gluten Sensitive in the hospital or suffering for weeks at home. Although this story is not a happy one right now, I assured the manager that I will post when they show me that they have gone the extra mile for all Rosebud staff to be trained how to properly prepare food that is Gluten- Free. I recommended them to the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). GIG has a gluten free tolerance certification program for restaurants. gluten.net/programs/awareness-programs/gluten-free-restaurant-awareness-programs/ Any restaurant can complete this training. As an example last year, California Pizza, after 2 years of trying to get certified, passed GiG’s very stringent comprehensive guidelines and is now a certified Gluten-Free restaurant. I am emailing a link of this post to Rosebud’s CEO in hopes that they will take this seriously and take action. What kind of gluten experiences have you had in restaurants? What was the name of the restaurant? What happened? Did you feel you were taken seriously? Might this referral to GIG help you in the future? I hope so. We have to encourage our restaurants to learn a little more and speak their praises as they put the effort out. And don’t forget to have Glutenza available-I was truly surprised when I experienced these benefits first-hand. What a fabulous product.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 23:57:42 +0000