Dining Out

Does this terrify anyone else? Let's break it down

Today, we had our first experience dining out and ordering gluten free for our kiddo. But not the trendy ‘I’d-rather-not-eat-gluten’ ordering. I’m talking serious eye contact with the waiter explaining celiac disease and asking how the food is prepared and whether they have a separate prep station or frialator. For me, the separate frialator is a great indication of how seriously a restaurant takes celiac disease. Side bar: I’ve also been told say ‘gluten allergy’ simply because many people are not familiar with celiac and the word ‘allergy’ triggers a different set of protocols in the kitchen. We also ordered a burger without the bun, then panicked that we should have asked more specific questions about the burger (cue the overthinking!) When the food came, we had a similar response to the ketchup. This is GF too right, RIGHT? Needless to say I think we really stressed out our waiter. But given what we’ve seen happens as a result of an exposure, I really felt we couldn’t be too careful. Thankfully the meal went well, and there were no tantrums had.

It got me thinking about how to approach this better in the future and, especially as our kiddo gets older, how to prevent her from picking up on this energy and feeling confident ordering food. This was an impromptu meal, so I think several things may come in handy next time:

-taking time to research restaurants in the area and make your selection/reservation ahead of time

-speaking with the restaurant prior to arrival to ask about the kitchen prep and protocols

-making sure our server is fully in the loop

-extra snacks as backup, and even a special treat for when you have to say no to an unsafe food

After all that it feels like holding your breath until everything will be okay. And luckily today, I think it was. Comment below and share your experiences dining out, what helped you?