Cross- Contamination in Restaurants, Educate Yourself!

You are probably reading this blog because you are looking for some suggestions on places that you can select to dine gluten free.  Those of us who have been living a strict gluten free lifestyle can understand what a challenge this can be at times!  I attended the NFCA sponsored webinar this week entitled: Cross-Contamination in Restaurants: What You Need to Know and highly recommend viewing the archived webinar.  Even if you have been eating out gluten free for some time, this is a great resource and will equip you with good information to help when selecting restaurants and ordering your food. The webinar is archived here and features the following three speakers:

 Ken Schelper, Vice President of Davanni's, Board of Directors for Minnesota Restaurant Association, Amy Jones, MS, RD, LD, Chief Clinical Dietitian and Celiac Support Group Facilitator, Mary Rutan Hospital, and Pam Cureton, RD, LDN, Clinical and Research Dietitan, Center for Celiac Research, University of Maryland

It was very helpful to hear Ken's point of view as one who has been involved in the restaurant business for many years. He gives a "behind the scene" look at food preparation.  The webinar is one hour and then has about 15 minutes of Q and A; well worth your time!  Great job NFCA and panelists!

The Melting Pot, Restaurant Review

Looking for a unique gluten free dining experience? Then I would suggest checking out The Melting Pot Restaurant. The menu is based on fondue type dining and offers a gluten free menu. The restaurant staff including manager and waiter were very familiar with the needs of gluten free dining. I was offered a four course meal which included: an appetizer of melted cheese with vegetables, apples and gluten free bread, a salad, the main course which consisted of shrimp, pork, beef and chicken in a Merlot-broth and finally melted chocolate with fruit and marshmallows. Part of the experience is that you actually cook your food yourself in your table's fondue pot. Because of this your entire table would need to choose the gluten free option, because you couldn't have your friend dipping pound cake in your melted chocolate and ruining it for you! The restaurant offers very private booth seating for a romantic dinner and also larger tables which would be fun for a family or a group of gluten free friends!



Location:
7011 Fayetteville Road, Suite 101, Durham,NC 27713
(Across from Southpoint Mall. Next to Hilton Garden Inn)
Phone:(919) 544-6358
Monday-Thursday:5 p.m. - 10 p.m
. Friday:5 p.m. - 11 p.m
. Saturday:4 p.m. - 11 p.m
. Sunday:4 p.m. - 10 p.m.

My Carolina Today Show Segment on Gluten Free Living

I had the opportunity this week to spend some time with the Yalonda Calloway and Sharon Delaney the co-hosts of the  NBC 17 My Carolina Today Show We discussed Celiac Disease and Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity.  The Thursday, July 26th episode featured a brief segment which includes a cooking demo for flourless peanut butter cookies, take a peek:

Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom, Restaurant Review

I have eaten at Tyler's Restaraunt and Taproom a few times this summer. Tyler's offers a gluten free menu which features several salads, BBQ, and most sandwiches (minus the bun of course) It is clearly stated on the GF menu that items prepared in their fryers cannot be guaranteed as gluten free, so that means the french fries, sweet potato fries and homemade chips are out. On my most recent vist I ordered a cheese burger "sans"  bun and substituted a side of potato salad in place of fries. I had planned on taking a picture, but was hungry and ate most of my meal before I realized I forgot to take the photo!  I've also tried a few of their salads which are generous in portion size.

I noticed three different gluten free beers and one cider listed on the beer menu as well . 
Estrella Damm Daura $4.50
Green's Discovery Amber $8.00
Green's Quest Triple $8.00
Crispin Original Cider $5.75

T'yler's has four locations in: Apex, Carrboro, Durham and Raleigh.  The Durham location is located in the lively American Tobacco Campus, 324 Blackwell St, Durham, NC 27701,  and recently opened an outdoor biergarten.

Hours:
Monday 11am-9pm
Tuesday 11am-10pm
Wednesday 11am-10pm
Thursday 11am-10pm
Friday 11am-11pm
Sat 11am-11pm
Sunday 10am-9pm. Sunday brunch is 10am-3pm, dinner at 5pm. Late night always runs after games and shows, times will vary but typically at least an hour.

Zoës Kitchen, Restaurant Review

Due to my job I spend a lot of time in the Morrisville area.....which is just a short drive down the road from Durham.  I wanted to share a new place that I discovered for lunch, called  located in the Zoës Kitchen  new Park West Shopping Center at  1017 Market Center Drive Morrisville, NC, 27560.  The website describes the restaurant as:

Zoës Kitchen is a natural extension of Zoë Cassimus' lifetime of cooking for family and friends. Inspired by Zoë's original recipes and her simple, fresh-from-the-garden sensibility, we start every day by making the food from scratch onsite at each restaurant. Our dishes are wholesome; our portions generous. It's Mediterranean-inspired comfort food with customers' dietary concerns in mind--nothing fried with gluten-free and vegetarian options. Zoë means "life" in Greek. Why not live it to the fullest with tasty food shared among close friends and family?

 I was able to pull up a gluten free menu on line before I went there for lunch. This included several options including: salads, hummus, grilled chicken kabobs and braised white beans.  The atmosphere was casual but very nice, you order your meal and then they give you a number and the meal is delivered to your table shortly.  I enjoyed  Zoës Favorite:  two kabobs, grilled peppers and onions, tomato, braised white beans and a side greek salad.  The meal was delicious, very fresh tasting!

Sorry, no Zoës in Durham yet. Other locations in our area include two in Raleigh: located on Oberlin road and North Hills Street.

I look forward to returning for another lunch sometime soon!

 

Angus Barn-Restaurant Review

My family had a great experience dining at Angus Barn the other evening. We had wonderful customer service and attention to detail for the birthday boy in our party.  Angus Barn also offers attention to details for the gluten free patron.  The restaurant offers a gluten free-dairy free menu with many tasty options.  Our server informed us that, the crew at Angus Barn takes allergies very seriously and that our steaks would be prepared on a separate grill and prep area to help prevent any cross contamination.  Our waiter went out of his way to meet our needs.  He brought us extra crocks of cheese for our celery so that the gluten free diners did not need to worry about those cracker crumbs from the others at our table ruining the cheese for us.  He was very mindful of the appropriate salad dressing options and we didn’t even need to remind him to “hold the croutons”!  I enjoyed the petite filet and baked sweet potato and my GF daughter order the baked potato and beef-vegetable kabob. Both were delicious.  At dessert time the complimentary pound cake was delivered to our table to celebrate the birthday and we were offered the wonderful gluten free option of ordering a GF chocolate-hazelnut/almond torte.  It is rare to be offered such a nice dessert when eating out, so of course we opted in and shared a piece of the torte.  I have posted a picture here for you to see.  Angus Barn has a casual welcoming atmosphere and has been serving guests since 1960.  The restaurant is a bit on the pricey side for every day dining, but well worth it for that special occasion. Reservations are suggested.  I would highly recommend you visiting and don’t forget to grab an apple (there are large bushels by the door) on your way out, after all apples are gluten free!

Hours and Contact Information from the Angus Barn Website:

Main Dining Rooms
Mon. - Fri. 5:30pm-10:30pm
SAT. 5pm-10:30pm SUN. 5pm-10pm

Wild Turkey Lounge
Mon. - Sat. 3:00pm-11pm • Sun. 3pm-10pm

The Country Store
Mon. - Fri. 3:00pm-10:30pm
Sat. 12:00pm-10:30pm
Sun. 1:00pm-10:00pm

Reservations are recommended. Please call for all reservations.

We accept VISA - Mastercard - Discover - American Express - Diners Club - Cash

9401 Glenwood Avenue
(Highway 70 at Aviation Parkway)
Raleigh, North Carolina 27617

TEL 919-781-2444

Chuck E. Cheese's Introduces New Gluten-Free Menu Options

There has been so much chatter around the launch of Domino's "Gluten free Pizza", hop over to GF Raleigh to see Zach's post that summarizes how Celiac's are responding to this tease of a "gluten free pizza".  But be encouraged look at what Chuck E Cheese is testing in some Minnesota markets. They seem to understand cross contamination concerns all the way down to a disposable pizza cutter! The folks at Triumph Dining have a nice post about this gluten free pizza option and the summary of the efforts this company is going to in providing their gluten free options.  Stay tuned for more news on this menu item for those young gluten free folks who may be able to go to Chuck E Cheese and enjoy pizza and cupcakes like their friends. Note:this is not yet available in North Carolina.

Expanding Resources At the Durham County Library

 The library was one of the first resources  I went to when I was first diagnosed with Celiac  Disease.  In 2006 I think there were less than 10 listings under gluten or celiac disease.... consisting of some gluten free cookbooks and Jax Peter Lowell book, The Gluten Free Bible, which I read cover to cover.  My first post on Gluten Free Durham three years ago mentioned the gluten free resources available at the Durham County Library.  At that time the listings had grown to 20 options.  A search in the library data base today yields 66 titles under the general keyword "gluten"!  Some of the older cookbooks are dated 1990 with the newest books released this year.  Remember when reading older  publications some information and guidelines may be out-dated.  Some of the older cookbooks are great classic resources, yet some of the newer books include recipes with healthier whole grains.  As always check with your health care provider on specific details in managing your gluten disorder.

Celiac Disease Update on The People's Pharmacy

Tune in the weekend May 5/6 Saturday or Sunday to the People's Pharmacy and hear an interview with Dr, Peter Green, MD, Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. He is co-author of the book:  Celiac Disease:  A Hidden Epidemic.

•WUNC FM Chapel Hill NC Saturday 7:00 AM Sunday 3:00 PM 91.5http://www.wunc.org/


If you are unable to listen to the event on the radio you can access recorded events at the People's Pharmacy Website

Happy Celiac Awareness Month-NFCA webinar

May is National Celiac Awareness Month.  NFCA the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, May 3, 2012 at 2:00pm which will provide up to date information from the leading experts in Celiac Disease and Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity:

NFCA will kick off Celiac Awareness Month with a live hour-long broadcast featuring gluten-free experts Alessio Fasano, MD, Stefano Guandalini, MD, and Cynthia Kupper, RD, CD. Moderated by Alice Bast, NFCA Founder and President, the panelists will provide a “State of the Union” on celiac disease and the new kid on the block, non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

This is a great opportunity to stay current on the latest scientific and practical information for those following a gluten free diet. For more information and to register, go to the NFCA registration link.