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[NoGlutenCooties]

So there's this awesome Italian place near where I work that is a common spot for retirement parties, transfer luncheons, etc.  I take my team there every year for our Holiday lunch/party.  This year I was scared.  Like terrified.  A new Celiac trying to eat in an Italian restaurant???      I scoped out their menu online and had decided to take a chance on their steak and a plain baked potato.  But I was still scared.

 

So we get there and the owner is there helping out - like I said my company sends a ton of business his way so he always takes good care of us.  I pull him aside and tell him I'm gluten intolerant and start asking him about the steak and baked potato... no flour?  nothing added to it? etc, etc.  He says, well you could do that... but we have a whole gluten-free menu now.  (Really??) But I'm skeptical... because as you know, "gluten-free" in a restaurant doesn't mean it is still gluten-free by the time it gets to your table.  So I tell him, I'm diagnosed Celiac so it's really important that I don't accidentally get ANY gluten in my food....

 

He tells me how he got tested but the tests came back "iffy" so he went gluten-free himself and how much better he feels!  He started eating gluten-free pasta and experimenting with different flours, etc. so decided to add it to the menu.  He cooks the gluten-free stuff completely separate and can guarantee there's no gluten in it.  No cross-contamination issues.

 

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

 

So I ended up getting the eggplant parm with penne.     It was my first experience with gluten-free pasta because I've been sticking to just whole, natural food and haven't branched out into gluten-free processed stuff.  I honestly couldn't tell the difference.  It was awesome.

 

If this trend continues, I predict that one day the "regular" menu will be gluten-free and there will be a tiny little section in the corner for the gluten-eaters.

[cyclinglady]

Isn't a wonderful feeling? To eat out with confidence?

 

We ate in a chain Italian restaurant once at an out of town restaurant.  Even though we have eaten successfully at the chain in town, I was still leary (they offered a gluten-free menu).  When I went to explain, the waitress brought the manager over.  She had celiac disease too!  I was so relieved.  The meal was great.

 

But, here's the best restaurant experience….

 

Visiting in Tucson, Arizona and we dined in a 100% gluten free restaurant.  The owners are gluten free.  The breads (even French) are to die for!  I had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, my husband a breakfast quesidilla and my daughter pizza and a salad.  It was terrific!

They have been in business for two years and every table was full.  I think they're going to last!  

[NoGlutenCooties]

The best part was that in the past I always left the restaurant with that OMG-I-ate-too-much feeling, went home and slept 2 hours and woke up the next morning looking and feeling pregnant.  You know the feeling... you look down and say to yourself... Who the hell invited you???  (And where are my fat pants?)  Not this time! 

[kareng]

maybe you could make a new topic in the restaurant section and tell everyone?  then people in the area could go there.

[NoGlutenCooties]

maybe you could make a new topic in the restaurant section and tell everyone?  then people in the area could go there.

 

Great idea.  Thanks.

[notme]

coots - you are my eyes and my ears - i go to nj every summer (i'm from west milford/oak ridge/ jefferson twp)  and i am needing places around hackensack - my neice lives in an apartment there and works in hackensack hospital.  every time we go to visit (rooftop pool!!  woo hoo!!  lolz) we always stay later than we mean to then try to get back to oak ridge during rush - UGH - and i am always starving!!!  would be nice just to eat dinner and let the traffic die down   

[NoGlutenCooties]

coots - you are my eyes and my ears - i go to nj every summer (i'm from west milford/oak ridge/ jefferson twp)  and i am needing places around hackensack - my neice lives in an apartment there and works in hackensack hospital.  every time we go to visit (rooftop pool!!  woo hoo!!  lolz) we always stay later than we mean to then try to get back to oak ridge during rush - UGH - and i am always starving!!!  would be nice just to eat dinner and let the traffic die down 

 

I'm new at this and haven't dared do the restaurant thing up until yesterday (with the exception of breakfast a couple of times).... but I'll definitely keep you in mind.  There is another Italian place in Clifton I've been wanting to try... the chef's daughter is Celiac and apparently they "get it" too.  I'll keep you posted.

(I'm actually not too far from Hackensack Hospital myself.)

[notme]

I'm new at this and haven't dared do the restaurant thing up until yesterday (with the exception of breakfast a couple of times).... but I'll definitely keep you in mind.  There is another Italian place in Clifton I've been wanting to try... the chef's daughter is Celiac and apparently they "get it" too.  I'll keep you posted.

(I'm actually not too far from Hackensack Hospital myself.)

coolio   there is a pizza place in oak ridge that is safe, if you happen out that way.  also, mama's (but that is closer to the delaware than the hudson lolz) out in hackettstown.  annnd the restaurant my sister works at is finally making things 'safe' so there is another place in sparta (sussex county, tho) 

 

yep, she is an r.n. at the hospital, her apartment is within walking distance.  she likes it there, we like to say 'we're going to swim in the rooftop pool' lolz  i always sing her the hackensack song 

[WestCoastGirl]

Wow, I'm originally from New Jersey and am loving hearing all the place names. Moved from Bergen County (River Vale) but am very familiar with Hackettstown - my aunt lives in that area. And I lived in Sparta for a year.

[NoGlutenCooties]

A friend and I tried the place in Clifton last night... La Riviera Trattoria... it was awesome!  A bit pricey, IMO, but worth it.  The gluten-free menu is an actual, 2-sided, full menu!!  All of their pasta is imported from Italy and they sell it there too.  I'll post it in the restaurant section.  My friend is not gluten-free and she said the gluten food was really good too.

[C-Girl]

I've been constantly surprised and to be honest, floored by the restaurant managers here. I went to my favorite local Chinese place and asked if they could make things gluten-free, didn't believe it when she said just about everything but noodles. So I asked to talk to the manager, and for sure - the owner's best friend is celiac, and they made special arrangements so that all sauces have gluten-free versions, they only fry in corn starch, etc. She was so sweet - it really made my day since I was really, really tired of my own cooking. Another one of my previous favorites has a celiac manager, and a third has an entire gluten-free menu. 

 

While I don't agree with all the paleo-fad followers and gluten hypochondriacs, I do appreciate that they've made our plight much more visible.

[notme]

Wow, I'm originally from New Jersey and am loving hearing all the place names. Moved from Bergen County (River Vale) but am very familiar with Hackettstown - my aunt lives in that area. And I lived in Sparta for a year.

small world, lolz - i bet you know where the st. moritz is, then (lake mohawk) <i lived there and on sunset lake (off of glen road) when i lived in sparta.  got married in blairstown, where hope is never far away (because it's the next exit haha)  i had cousins and aunts who lived in maywood   both of my parents grew up in wayne.  if you get out to visit your aunt, you can eat at mama's <their cheesesteak is nom nom nom !