Haha Guess I Won't Be Eating There.....

[WinterSong]

I'm visiting my aunt in the Hamptons, and she loves a Chinese restaurant called Tony's Asian Fusion and wants to take me there. I highly doubted that they'd have gluten-free options, but I told her I'd call the restaurant to ask them about their menu. The conversation with the restaurant rep went like this:

Me: Hi, I was just wondering if you had any gluten free items on your menu.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any gluten free items.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any dishes without gluten? With wheat, rye, or barley?

Her: Hold on......any what?

Me: Gluten free items.

Her: No, no we have no gluten.

Me:

Haha. Yup I definitely won't be eating there.

[love2travel]

I'm visiting my aunt in the Hamptons, and she loves a Chinese restaurant called Tony's Asian Fusion and wants to take me there. I highly doubted that they'd have gluten-free options, but I told her I'd call the restaurant to ask them about their menu. The conversation with the restaurant rep went like this:

Me: Hi, I was just wondering if you had any gluten free items on your menu.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any gluten free items.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any dishes without gluten? With wheat, rye, or barley?

Her: Hold on......any what?

Me: Gluten free items.

Her: No, no we have no gluten.

Me:

Haha. Yup I definitely won't be eating there.

Isn't that unbelievable? Hilarious in ways but scary in others. It is not a good sign when you speak with someone at a restaurant who has to ask what gluten is.

[Gfreeatx]

I had a similar experience when calling a restaurant to see if they could accomadate me during a business trip. I spoke with the hostess who was sure they could provide some gluten free options and put me on hold to go speak with the chef to confirm. After a 10 minute wait on hold she comes back and proceeds to tell me all of the items that they had that were gluten free. As she went down the list she mentioned crab cakes and a fried fish dish. I was puzzled since of course I know crab cakes usually have bread crumbs and the fried fish was most definitely a no no too. I asked what are you using to make your fried fish gluten free? She replied well we use flour. Is that a problem?? I said, ummm yes I won't be able to eat anything that uses flour. Needless to say I did not go to eat there.

[Salax]

I think these stories are funny, but frustrating as well. I have had several servers get confused gluten with dairy. How? I have not a clue, but I did have one ask me what gluten was and then she through in cheese and other dairy products on top of wheat, barley, rye, etc. I was like, no thats dairy/casien/lactose, not gluten. I got blank face from her.

What's even funnier is the folks that don't realize flour comes from wheat.

Or best yet that eggs aren't dairy. Their meat. Dairy from cows, goats, sheep...Eggs from Chicken. Of course putting it in the dairy section doesn't help the issue.

Ahh well. There will always be those folks out there. They try, but they really have no clue.

[bartfull]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

So now I when I am talking to anyone about my diet, I tell them wheat, rye, barley and anything that has flour in it. I specify bread, breadding, batter, or the oil or surfaces that have been touched by any of these things. But to tell the truth, I have been afraid to try eating in a restaurant.

[Salax]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

So now I when I am talking to anyone about my diet, I tell them wheat, rye, barley and anything that has flour in it. I specify bread, breadding, batter, or the oil or surfaces that have been touched by any of these things. But to tell the truth, I have been afraid to try eating in a restaurant.

Wow. I had an experience in a hospital as well. I told them repeated I was on a gluten free diet. After 2 days of not eating, the doc finally allowed foods. I was so excited to get to eat. They brought me a breaded fish sandwhich. My mom went livid, as did I after going rounds with the kitchen folks, they didn't understand the diet and the nutritionist wasn't available. Needless to say, she went out and got me something I could eat.

[WinterSong]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

Oh my goodness, that is terrifying. I don't blame you for being so upset. I can't believe chefs in a hospital of all places would be so clueless. Really though, allergens is something that every chef should be aware of and teach their staff. My little sister finished culinary school shortly before my diagnosis. When I told her about it, she said, "Oh yeah, gluten? I know all about it - wheat, rye, barley. But there are other great flours that you can use like pure buckwheat." She had a class specific to cooking specialty foods like gluten free options.

[ecf]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

So now I when I am talking to anyone about my diet, I tell them wheat, rye, barley and anything that has flour in it. I specify bread, breadding, batter, or the oil or surfaces that have been touched by any of these things. But to tell the truth, I have been afraid to try eating in a restaurant.

How awful. It is so fundamentally wrong for a hospital kitchen staff to be improperly trained. And agreed, JessicaNYC, everyone in the food industry should know about Celiac and food allergies & sensitivities. Definitely encouraging to hear about your little sister, and I have a friend who is in culinary school now and has had similar training - hopefully more and more culinary schools are incorporating it into their teaching now.

[melikamaui]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

So now I when I am talking to anyone about my diet, I tell them wheat, rye, barley and anything that has flour in it. I specify bread, breadding, batter, or the oil or surfaces that have been touched by any of these things. But to tell the truth, I have been afraid to try eating in a restaurant.

When a friend of mine had her baby she requested a "wheat free" meal while in the hospital. They brought her a sandwich on white bread. "Well, it's not wheat bread." was the reply from the hospital staff.

[WinterSong]

Another amusing restaurant story:

Me on the phone with a representative from a restaurant:

Me: Hi. I have a question about your menu. I have a gluten intolerance, and I was wondering if you have any gluten free options on your menu.

Him: What?...Hold on...what? Glut? Glut?

Me: No gluten.

Him: Glut? Umm....

Me: No gluten. Wheat, barley, rye. It's things like flour -

Him: (excitedly) Oh yes! Wheat and flour! We use that for everything! We fry tons of stuff!

Me: No, I basically have an allergy to that. I can't eat wheat or flour. Do you have any options that don't have wheat?

Him: Oh....err....no....

Oh well. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

[Monklady123]

When my Mom was in the hospital dying of leukemia, I told them she was on a strict gluten free diet. When they brought her first meal, there was a slice of bread on the plate!

I went ballistic. I insisted that I talk to the head cook. When I explained about Celiac, he apologized, and then asked what was wrong with the bread!! He didn't know that flour was made with wheat!!!

I stayed with Mom the entire time she was there, and inspected every meal. I had to send back the roast beef the next day because it was covered with gravy. And this was in a HOSPITAL!

So now I when I am talking to anyone about my diet, I tell them wheat, rye, barley and anything that has flour in it. I specify bread, breadding, batter, or the oil or surfaces that have been touched by any of these things. But to tell the truth, I have been afraid to try eating in a restaurant.

I work in a hospital so I am not the least bit surprised at this story. Sad, but true. The only real food that I feel confident eating at our cafeteria are the hard-boiled eggs. That and a couple of packaged things like Fritos. Needless to say, I bring my own food.

My best -- if you can call it that -- story is when I was calling around to pizza places trying to find a gluten free option. I called one place and said "I'm wondering if you have a gluten free option" and the guy said "uh....glucose?"

However, the next place I called -- Z Pizza -- said "oh yes, we have a gluten free crust. I can tell you the precautions we take to ensure as best we can that it isn't cross contaminated. Or would you like to come in and look at our kitchen?" Um... yep, they got my business. (expensive, but worth it if I want a real pizza.)

[anabananakins]

Him: (excitedly) Oh yes! Wheat and flour! We use that for everything! We fry tons of stuff!

I loved this! Made me laugh. Hee, such honesty :-)

[orange]

it is the same story here , add few more lines ....... what to do

life goes on .

good luck

take care

I'm visiting my aunt in the Hamptons, and she loves a Chinese restaurant called Tony's Asian Fusion and wants to take me there. I highly doubted that they'd have gluten-free options, but I told her I'd call the restaurant to ask them about their menu. The conversation with the restaurant rep went like this:

Me: Hi, I was just wondering if you had any gluten free items on your menu.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any gluten free items.

Her: Any what?

Me: Any dishes without gluten? With wheat, rye, or barley?

Her: Hold on......any what?

Me: Gluten free items.

Her: No, no we have no gluten.

Me:

Haha. Yup I definitely won't be eating there.

[TAHBomba]

My little sister finished culinary school shortly before my diagnosis. When I told her about it, she said, "Oh yeah, gluten? I know all about it - wheat, rye, barley. But there are other great flours that you can use like pure buckwheat." She had a class specific to cooking specialty foods like gluten free options.

Ok, Until recently culinary schools were not up-to-date on any real diets except Lactose intolerant and diabetic diets. Recently being in the last 3 years. Most Hospitals probably don't have employees that have gone to culinary schools... Those graduating from culinary schools are probably not working in a hospital. Most hospitals probably hire someone with either short-order or cafeteria experience due to the fact they don't pay a lot of money an hour.

Thank you,

Tracy

[mushroom]

Ok, Until recently culinary schools were not up-to-date on any real diets except Lactose intolerant and diabetic diets. Recently being in the last 3 years. Most Hospitals probably don't have employees that have gone to culinary schools... Those graduating from culinary schools are probably not working in a hospital. Most hospitals probably hire someone with either short-order or cafeteria experience due to the fact they don't pay a lot of money an hour.

Thank you,

Tracy

From personal experience, I would guess that most hospital cafeteria employees, well.... words fail me! You gotta wonder if they've ever been in a kitchen before.