10 replies to this topic

[Pegasus]

Hello, how are you?

I will be travelling to Europe in about two weeks, and I'm having some problems finding places where to eat.

I will visit Spain, France and Italy. I don't have the travel plan with me but we'll visit Paris, Mont de Saint Michel, Mestre, Aosta, Lucca, Venice and Rome, amongst others.

Any help with finding locations and translations of common celiac phrases such as "I can't eat gluten" or "please check that this doesn't have flour on it" or the likes would be very helpful, too.

I don't have much time so I would GREATLY appreciate any quick responses...

Thanks in advance!

[Looking for answers]

Just got back from Italy, the pharmacies carry gluten free foods. I picked up some at the station in Florence. I also had great luck at All Acqua AL2...ate there a few times. Otherwise, I hit the supermarket and bought fresh foods.

[Pegasus]

OH, I forgot to mention, I'm asking for restaurant adresses because the trip won't be very long, but we'll still have a tight agenda/travel plan.

I don't think we'll have time to do much shopping, let alone a place to cook.
We will mostly move on hotels. On Spain we won't have much problems because we will stay on an apart-hotel, but elsewhere I'm in trouble - it doesn't help that I can't speak italian or french...

[AVR1962]

I live in Europe and travel quite a bit. If you are going to the well visited places like Paris you will have no trouble with the language, they are very good at English. You can tell them no bread, no croutons. I don't know how they will react if you tell them you are gluten-free, have not ever done it myself. When I eat out I try think what would not have gravy and sometimes I ask because the menu may say steak with onions and mushrooms and then it comes out with a gravy on it (they call it sauce). I normally stick with salads and if I do order a meat dish I try to tell them natural, no sauce, and it works. In Italy the tomatoe sauces are actual tomatoe so you will be fine. Most the paella in Spain is still made from scratch so you should be good with that if you try it, the mixes do have gluten so you could ask if they make it fresh if you wanted to try it. I hope you are not salicylate sensative because the green olives in Spain or the best. They have what is called ali oli which is normally served on the side with their breads. I dip the loives in it and it is wonderful. If you like garlic you will love it! The sangria is heavenly in Spain. My Gma doesn't drink but she likes sangria! The only other word of caution is the french fries. I personally do not order french fries unless I can see their friers like at fests so at a restaurant I do not eat french fries as they could pick up breading from something else. Enjoy!

[navigator]

I recently spent 3 weeks in France. Before I went I purchased Multi-Lingual Phrase Passport (Part of the Let's Eat Series and Allergy Free Passport) from Amazon. It has translations in French, German, Italian and Spanish for coeliac disease and common food allergies. The phrases that I used most in restaurants were; I have a condition called coeliac disease. I cannot eat the smallest amount of gluten which is wheat, rye or barley. Please aske the chef whether the meal I have ordered is safe for me. In French - Je souffre de la maladie coeliaque. Je ne peux pas absorber la moindre quantite de gluten, qu'il provienne du ble, du seigle ou de l'orge.Veuillez demander au chef de cuisine si le plat que j'ai commande est sans danger pour moi.
In Italian - Soffro di un disturbo chiamato celiachia. Non posso mangiare glutine, che e contenuto nel frumento, nella segale, e nell'orzo neppure in minime quantita. Puo chiedere allo chef se il cibo che ho ordinato e sicuro per me.
I had no problems in France, waiters and chefs very helpful. What I would say is that I find I get a better response in France if I start by making an attempt to speak in French.
Have a great holiday!

[ElseB]

You definitely must go to Des Si et Des Mets in Paris. Its a completely gluten free restaurant and its delicious! If you google it, you'll be able to find the website. My only struggle in France was that while they understood what I was saying, just the concept of not being able to eat bread was astounding to them. Pas du baguette? C'est Dommage! I would get such pitiful looks because they felt sorry for me! I ate a lot of omlettes and ham & cheese salads. It is difficult to find things like gluten-free bread, crackers, snack food, etc so stock up when you find it. Health stores are best. There's a big one with a large selection of gluten-free food at the south end of Rue Mouffetard in the 5th Arr. If you go to the website for Schaer (a European gluten-free manufacturer) you can type in cities and it gives you a list of places that sell their products. You could also write to the Celiac associations of the countries you are visiting. I always do that when I travel and they always send me lots of good info.

[Pegasus]

You definitely must go to Des Si et Des Mets in Paris. Its a completely gluten free restaurant and its delicious! If you google it, you'll be able to find the website. My only struggle in France was that while they understood what I was saying, just the concept of not being able to eat bread was astounding to them. Pas du baguette? C'est Dommage! I would get such pitiful looks because they felt sorry for me! I ate a lot of omlettes and ham & cheese salads. It is difficult to find things like gluten-free bread, crackers, snack food, etc so stock up when you find it. Health stores are best. There's a big one with a large selection of gluten-free food at the south end of Rue Mouffetard in the 5th Arr. If you go to the website for Schaer (a European gluten-free manufacturer) you can type in cities and it gives you a list of places that sell their products. You could also write to the Celiac associations of the countries you are visiting. I always do that when I travel and they always send me lots of good info.

Oh, yes, I know about Des si et des Mets! And I will definitely visit the store on Mouffetard, too!
Do you happen to know of any other places in Paris in which I could eat without much problems?

[Pegasus]

You definitely must go to Des Si et Des Mets in Paris. Its a completely gluten free restaurant and its delicious! If you google it, you'll be able to find the website. My only struggle in France was that while they understood what I was saying, just the concept of not being able to eat bread was astounding to them. Pas du baguette? C'est Dommage! I would get such pitiful looks because they felt sorry for me! I ate a lot of omlettes and ham & cheese salads. It is difficult to find things like gluten-free bread, crackers, snack food, etc so stock up when you find it. Health stores are best. There's a big one with a large selection of gluten-free food at the south end of Rue Mouffetard in the 5th Arr. If you go to the website for Schaer (a European gluten-free manufacturer) you can type in cities and it gives you a list of places that sell their products. You could also write to the Celiac associations of the countries you are visiting. I always do that when I travel and they always send me lots of good info.

Oh yes, I have heard of Des Si et Des Mets. I will visit it for sure!
And thank you very much for the Health store recommendation. I will visit that place too!
Someone has handed me some directions in Italy so I guess I have less problems than before...

But still, may I ask for more restaurant adresses?

[GFinVenice]

OH, I forgot to mention, I'm asking for restaurant adresses because the trip won't be very long, but we'll still have a tight agenda/travel plan.

I don't think we'll have time to do much shopping, let alone a place to cook.
We will mostly move on hotels. On Spain we won't have much problems because we will stay on an apart-hotel, but elsewhere I'm in trouble - it doesn't help that I can't speak italian or french...

Ciao, as far as Venice is concerned, there is a dedicated restaurant, or some restaurants that know the problem very well.....let me know if you would like numbers......ciao veronica

[amber]

Hello,

In Florence we went to Ciro & Sons. This restaurant is located near the Duomo so is very central and easy to get to. They have a gluten free menu and our daughter enjoyed gluten free pasta and gluten free crepes for dessert. You can order a gluten free pizza if you give them some notice. They are very knowledgeable about gluten free and the food was good. Google Ciro & Sons Florence for their website and address details.

Also in Rome we went to a restaurant called Renovatio 46a which is located just outside the Vatican walls. Again google for further information re. location. They had gluten free pizza, pasta and lots of gluten free desserts.

When travelling in Italy have a translation card with you describing that you need a gluten free diet. Celiac disease is well known in Italy as it has the the highest rate of coeliac disease in the world.

Happy gluten free travels.

[Mango04]

OH, I forgot to mention, I'm asking for restaurant adresses because the trip won't be very long, but we'll still have a tight agenda/travel plan.

I don't think we'll have time to do much shopping, let alone a place to cook.
We will mostly move on hotels. On Spain we won't have much problems because we will stay on an apart-hotel, but elsewhere I'm in trouble - it doesn't help that I can't speak italian or french...

Don't overlook grocery stores/supermarkets/farmer's markets as places to get food when you travel, even if you won't be able to cook. Anywhere in Europe, you can run into a supermarket and quickly pick up gluten free things to eat for meals that don't need to be cooked.