Gletiquette: Tips for surviving a business lunch when you're gluten-free

Now that I've gone gluten-free, I tend to frequent two kinds of restaurants:

1. The kind that has a gluten-free menu and kitchen staff trained to follow proper procedures for cooking for and serving gluten-free patrons

2. The kind where I know waitstaff is attentive and food is rather plain, where I could say something like "I am gluten-free, so would it be a problem for the kitchen to modify this meal for me so that the croutons don't come on the salad/so that there is no bread on my dinner plate/so that the mashed potatoes come without gravy/etc?"

Today, however, I had an experience at a totally different sort of place.  It was a place I hadn't been to before--a restaurant in a fancy hotel.  I was there for a business lunch with co-workers.  I knew going into this lunch that a) there was no gluten-free menu there, and b) the food was kinda fancy.  Not surprisingly, it was a challenge for me to find something to eat there. 

I spoke to our server right away and explained my allergies and intolerances--gluten, of course, but also cream and all evergreen spices (random, I know).  I said right away that I was happy to have food very plain and that I didn't mind if they couldn't give me one part of an entree because it wasn't gluten-free--that as long as I could eat something safe, I'd be happy.  The server went back to talk to the chef, who suggested modifying one meal to make it gluten-free...and it was a meal that was primarily fish.  Which I'm not at all fond of.  So I thanked her for the suggestion and asked if we could instead modify a Cobb salad.  I asked for no chicken (because the server said the grilled chicken used in the salad was marinated, and who the heck knows if that's safe or not--they offered to substitute chicken with some plain, non-marinated turkey), no bacon (not all bacon is gluten-free), no Bleu cheese (I am totally turned off by moldy-looking cheese, so I asked for any other cheese to substitute), and no dressing (I never use salad dressing).  The good news was, the chef didn't put on any marinated chicken (and the turkey was yummy), they used Swiss instead of Bleu cheese, and there was no bacon or dressing on the salad.  Everything else that came with the salad (lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado) was there.  The bad news: For some reason, these crazy people pepper their lettuce.  Which I *hate*.  So I ended up eating the tomatoes, avocado, turkey and cheese out of the salad and leaving behind most of the peppery lettuce.  (Seriously, whose idea was it to sprinkle black pepper on nice, fresh lettuce?  The menu didn't specify this, and I wish they'd asked before adding pepper to my salad--I'd definitely have said "no thank you.")

Luckily I'd been wise enough to eat a few cheese and GF crackers before heading out for lunch, and then on the way back after lunch and the meeting, I was beyond famished, so I snacked on a few Jelly Belly jellybeans that I'd stashed in my purse.  But that's not enough food for me--that's not going to keep me sated from 9 to 5.  I don't think I'd even hung up my coat at home yet before I was reaching for the Wellaby's GF crackers!

Anyway, in light of my not awful but also not ideal dining experience today, here are a few suggestions I have for gluten-free folks attending business lunches...

* Eat beforehand.  I know it sounds silly to eat before lunch, but unless you are going to a restaurant where you KNOW you can eat safely, you may not want to count on the restaurant being able to make you anything that is both safe and yummy for you.  So always eat something before you go--protein-y snacks like nuts and cheese are things that might keep you full for longer.

* If possible, choose a restaurant that has gluten-free selections.  Of course, this isn't always possible.

* If you can't choose the restaurant, do your research before you go.  Look at their menu online.  Brainstorm what meals you could ask the staff to modify so that the food is safe for you to eat.  You may even want to call them to discuss what options you might have.  (The server I had today recommended that if I were to come back to their restaurant, call and let them know in advance so that they could prepare some chicken or another dish gluten-free for me, as long as they had a decent amount of notice about needing to do that.)

* Stash gluten-free snacks in your purse.  You may or may not need them, but it's always a good idea to have them just in case.

* Talk to your co-workers about it--to a certain degree.  The people in my department know I'm gluten-free.  Because of this, they're not surprised to see me talking with a server for several minutes, trying to figure out what meal I can have.  This also means they don't ask me questions like "why can't you eat that?" or "what's wrong with you?", which can get really annoying.  But really, you only want to talk to them about it to a certain extent.  Don't tell them what may happen if you eat glutenous food--it's not the best mealtime conversation.

* Always be polite and courteous with servers, chefs, and other restaurant staff.  This should go without saying--you should always be kind to them simply because it's the right thing to do.  But also remember that they're likely making a special effort to make your meal right for you...and don't forget that they also wield the power to royally screw it up for you.  So be nice, be thankful and gracious, tell them you appreciate their effort--and when you're the one who's leaving the tip, tip well.

* Realize that you're probably not going to have your favorite meal ever at this lunch.  Really, the goal is to get a meal that is safe for me to eat and is reasonably tasty.  I understand that many places aren't great at cooking for people who are gluten-free, so meals may not come out perfectly.  And they may not be able to modify every entree to suit your allergy/intolerance, so you'll need to be flexible and understanding.  Aim to get the best meal you can possibly get, given the circumstances. 

* There's no need to apologize for your allergy/intolerance.  You are a paying customer, and you deserve to have a meal that is prepared in a way that makes it safe for you to eat.  As long as you are courteous when you are dealing with the staff and figuring out what you can safely eat, they're not going to mind.  They want to make it right for you so that you come back--they want you to have a good experience.  So don't feel bad about it--just do your best to make the most of it.


Do you have any good tips for being gluten-free and surviving business lunches or other social functions where food is involved?  If so, feel free to leave a comment below!

Three recent gluten-free recipe adventures...

It’s been a busy week of gluten-free cooking!  Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Earlier in the week, I tried my hand at making homemade Thai-style food...   

I love the fact that Thai Kitchen has so many gluten-free foods available, but I can’t have all of them because I’m a wuss when it comes to spicy stuff, and some of the sauces they have in their microwaveable meals are pretty spicy.  So instead, I bought a package of their plain gluten-free rice noodles, melted peanut butter in the microwave to create my own non-spicy peanut sauce, and added some carrots and broccoli.  The results: Pretty good for a first try.  The sauce was a little thick; next time, I’ll have to find a way to thin it out a little.  I also didn’t realize (until after I’d started cooking them) that the noodles made 8 servings!  Needless to say, I was eating a lot of homemade Thai food dinners and lunches.  Luckily, at least it’s a healthy meal…it’s got grains, protein, and veggies in it—and no gluten!—so I think it was a pretty smart choice!

 

I also made gluten-free brownies for the first time.  I used Trader Joe’s gluten-free brownie mix, which was surprisingly easy to use...   

It was easy to mix (all I had to mix was one egg, vegetable oil, some water, and the brownie mix), and it only took a little over a half-hour to bake.  This, too, was not bad for a first try, but I’ve learned a few lessons for next time.  The bag of brownie mix says that after 30 minutes, stick a toothpick in the brownie pan to see if it comes out clean.  Mine didn’t come out quite clean, so I kept baking it maybe an extra 6 minutes.  Consequently, while the brownies were tasty and surprisingly gooey (yum!),  the top of them was a little bit crunchy.  I think next time I’ll just bake them for the recommended 30 minutes regardless of whether or not the toothpick comes out clean.  I also think I might jazz them up with a little peanut butter or raspberry preserves swirled into the top of the brownies, but first I want to master making the brownies without the top being crispy.  And, last but not least, I realized that an entire pan of brownies is waaaaaaaay too much for a little thing like me to eat on my own.  Next time I may have to make these brownies with my boyfriend so he can take a few of ‘em off my hands. 

  

And finally, I’ve come up with a really yummy snack to bring to work.  I got a bag of Food Should Taste Good’s Chocolate chips (all their chips are gluten-free) at Whole Foods.  I figured these would either be really good or really gross.  Luckily, they were really good!  They’re good on their own, but they’re also good with banana.  I’ve been bringing a serving of the chips to work along with a banana.   I break the rectangular chips in half, break off a piece of banana, put the banana on the chip, and…MMM!  A snack that’s yummy, healthy, and definitely not boring.  These chips have plenty of fiber, and of course the banana is healthy and packed with potassium, so you could definitely do much worse for a snack!

October snow means it's time for gluten-free hot cocoa

It's snowy here in the Philly suburbs.  It's October and it's snowing.  Ugh.  But the good news is that a snowy day makes for a great excuse to have gluten-free hot chocolate!

To make my GF hot cocoa, all I need are four ingredients:

* Hershey's natural unsweetened cocoa powder
* Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Vanilla almond milk
* Sugar
* Sea salt

I kind of ignore the hot cocoa recipe on the side of the Hershey's container.  I'm notoriously crap at following recipes--I'm too lazy and/or creative.  When it comes to recipes, I'm usually like, "Meh, this looks like a cup of [whatever it is I'm adding to the mix]" (as I throw in a heaping amount of it) or "This recipe would be sooooo much better if I added [some sort of bizarre ingredient like gummy worms that would never sound like a good idea to anyone else but me]."

The one thing I do follow from the Hershey's recipe is using 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder.  If I use any more than that, I've found that the bottom of my hot cocoa is clumpy, chocolately sludge.  Ew.  So this is one instance where I actually follow the recipe, and by "follow" I mean "actually use a measuring cup to make sure I'm using the right amount."

So I dump the 1/4 cup of cocoa powder in the bottom of my mug.  I then add 2-3 packets of sugar, and then some delicious, good-for-you vanilla almond milk.  Using almond milk instead of hot water and milk makes the cocoa very rich and decadent.  I stir this mixture and then microwave it for 60 seconds.  It comes out with some clumps and chocolate bubbles on the top, so I stir it again, getting rid of the clumps and bubbles.  Once it's smooth, I taste it.  If it tastes good, I add a little bit of sea salt, stir it in, and then microwave the cocoa again, but this time for only 10 seconds or so (any longer than that and it can taste a bit scorched).  And then--voila!  Rich, indulgent, and gluten-free hot chocolate.  It's the perfect complement to the gluten-free chocolate chip cookies my awesome mom made for me!

To anyone else reading this while looking outside at this strange October snow, I hope you're staying warm, staying safe, and enjoying a comforting gluten-free drink and/or snack!

A great gluten-free experience at Legal Sea Foods

Last night, my friend Kim and I went to dinner at Legal Sea Foods in the King of Prussia Mall.  I'd never been to Legal Sea Foods before, but I'd read that they have a gluten-free menu, and I was curious to try it.  I had looked up their gluten-free menu online before going to the restaurant, and was pleasantly surprised by how extensive it was--I'm a bit of a picky eater, but there were several GF options I was more than willing to try.

We were seated promptly at a cozy corner table.  Right after he'd introduced himself, I told our waiter, Chris, that I am gluten-free.  He immediately assured me that wasn't a problem and told me he'd be right back with a gluten-free menu for me.  When he came back with the GF menu, he took away my regular menu--a good idea in case I would have mistakenly looked at the wrong one.  After perusing the gluten-free menu, I chose the fried shrimp (their gluten-free fried shrimp are fried in brown rice flour and cornmeal), and two sides--brown rice and their seasonal veggie du jour, carrots.

After Kim and I placed our orders, I was pleasantly surprised when Chris came back with a plate of four rolls.  He pointed out which two rolls were celiac-friendly, and which two were not.  I hadn't expected to get any rolls at dinner--since going gluten-free, I have accepted that dinner rolls at restaurants are a thing of the past for me--so I was pretty stoked!  The gluten-free rolls, with just a sprinkling of sesame and poppy seeds on top, were incredibly tasty--and they tasted like actual normal-person dinner rolls!  Delicious!  In the future, since now I know that Legal Sea Foods offers gluten-free rolls, I'm going to ask the server to bring the GF rolls out on a separate plate from the regular rolls.  I noticed on the plate we'd gotten that one of the gluten-free rolls was touching one of the regular rolls.  I've been glutened due to carelessness at restaurants before (not Legal Sea Foods, of course, but other places), so now my motto is "I can never be too careful."  Sure, that teensy little bit of contact between the gluten-free roll and the regular roll may not have hurt me, but just to be safe, I ate the gluten-free roll that was not touching the regular roll.

My dinner was absolutely scrumptious.  I had never guessed that I'd be able to eat fried shrimp again.  The breading was awesome, light and crispy, and didn't taste different from glutenous fried shrimp breading I'd had in the past--but this breading came without the bloat!  :)  My brown rice was good, too, and the carrots were good, although a little too peppery for me to finish all of them (I'm a wuss when it comes to spices).  I finished all ten of my big, fat fried shrimp, all of my rice, and about half the carrots, and I was pleasantly full.

Our waiter offered us dessert, explaining that the Belgian Chocolate Mousse Parfait is gluten-free (sadly, I also have an intolerance to cream, so I cannot indulge in this), as is the sorbet.  We declined to have dessert, but I'm glad to know that there is GF dessert available there if I'm hungry enough for dessert next time.  And yes, there will be a next time.  Between the delicious food, the gluten-free rolls, and the variety of options on the gluten-free menu, I'll definitely be back!