I shall be travelling alone and staying at a bed and breakfast in Florence, so will need to eat out each day. While, as a vegan, I am used to being the 'difficult customer' in restaurants, somehow avoiding meat, fish and dairy seems simpler to explain (and manage) than gluten - especially given that I don't speak Italian!
If anyone has any tips, I would be most grateful.
Grazie!
Hello, I often go to Italy to visit my daughter, And in Italy English is the second language, also most restaurants I have found do gluten free pasta & pizzas if you ask, they also do menus in English and you can see what they put in & on the food, I find you sometimes have to be careful with fries, but in Italy where my daughter took me, they used rice flour & not wheat flour on the fries, I hope this helps a little, and enjoy your holiday.
Hi, and lucky you! I'd print off some of these restaurant cards, I'd also do a google search for Florence and vegan restaurants/cafe's and have a great time.
I have an app on my Iphone that translates my needs into the language I require.
It's called GF card it's great when you are abroad. Google translate is good also and you could do your own translation before you go.
Wanna take me I'm fluent in Italian. Lol
Janie
in Italian......lol
Janie
Sorry my iPad flipped out then....oops
Janie
If you are ok with corn, look out for polenta. They also use buckwheat. It may be easier being coeliac than vegan!
Hope you have a great time.
Italy is a great place to go as a coeliac as they are well aware of the condition, but not sure about how clued up they are about vegan dishes! Certainly they do lots of vegetable dishes though. And the markets are abounding in gorgeous fresh fruits and vegetables to buy as well. I really don't think you should have too much of a problem. Have a lovely time!
Many thanks, everyone. Feeling a lot more confident about the trip now, and at least I still have plenty of time to prepare. Perhaps I'll even manage to learn a little Italian!
I printed a few copies of the card out and learnt to say I'm a coeliac no milk and gluten.
Everywhere was really helpful and tasty. I researched a few places before I went as well but even normal restaurants were fine as everything is cooked fresh. Watch out for orzo coffee as it's made from barley
Thanks, Potatochip. The tip about orzo coffee is especially useful.
Have had a look at card, but will need to modify to explain that I am vegan as well as coeliac - should be fun!
Hya, the trouble with learning phrases is the reply tends to be in the language we cannot speak so here's a translator program and what I'd do is copy something like this onto your phone/ipad and show it in restaurants with the card. Or write it on the card.
Sono un vegano celiachia (it says: I'm a vegan coeliac)
translation.babylon.com/eng...
That's a very good point, Jerry!
Thank you very much for the translation, and I will also have a go at getting the translation on my (new) smartphone. I'm not the best with technology, though, so it may just get written onto a piece of paper and carried around with me instead!
Thanks again. Really love how kind and supportive everyone is on GFG.
One thing I remember from eating in Italy pre-GF is that lots of restaurants did really good grilled vegetables as side dishes, so it might well be possible to put together your own meal from a range of these if the other options don't look promising. And it's absolutely the best time of the year for vegetables...
Sounds perfect! Thanks, freelancer. Am really looking forward to it now!
Hi,
I spend a lot of time in Italy as my family live here and I'm now working in Rome. My experience has been very positive with restaurants they generally are very aware of coeliac disease here as it's so common. Children are tested for it more or less automatically.
I always ask the restaurant if they have anything made without gluten (sensa glutine) and also state that I am or I have coeliac disease (sono celiachia) and immediately they know what to do.
That's very good to know, Laura78. Many thanks for replying - and for the useful phrases too. It's a shame you're not in Florence, we could meet for a coffee!
Oh good glad to be of help it's always daunting entering into a new environment and having to explain your illness.. I was relieved when i found out they knew so much about it here.
Yes pity I'm not in Florence It's a gorgeous place to visit and we could have met for gelato or coffee. There are some really good gelaterias in Italy that use soya or even coconut milk. I only know the good ones in Rome Hope you have a really nice time in Florence. you might have a wee problem with the vegan side of things because I tend to have a lot of meat, fish and veg here as that's what's on the menu other than the wheat based dishes. I would definitely try and do some research about vegan /vegetarian restaurants so you have something lined up. You can always order salads but they're not always very exciting unless it's a modern restaurant.
Will definitely do some research - and love the sound of the vegan gelato! Thanks again for your help, Laura. WiIl let you know how I get on...
I've done it, baked a gluten free loaf!!!!
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