Dining out, i rang prior, had a chat... - Gluten Free Guerr...
Dining out, i rang prior, had a chat when there, still badly glutened. do i contact them and say, is there any point, any thoughts. fed up
Personally, I would contact them and let them know. I would ask them if there was any way I could come in at an off time and help them make their restaurant safer for you and other guests in the future. It may simply be that they lack the basic knowledge to do a good job at providing a safe meal. Education is a powerful tool. I have helped several restaurants in the past. The result has been a safe place for me to eat. The worst they can say is no and you never eat there again. The best case senario is you and others gain a safe place to eat away from home and they get more happy customers.
I would do and have done so for other restaurants - I usually write a letter explaining what coeliac disease is, the impact it has on you if you consume gluten (so they appreciate its not a lifestyle thing) and outlining common mistakes - e.g. cross-contamination, using ingredients that might not obviously contain gluten (e.g. soy sauce, stock cubes, worcestershire sauce) and offering to meet with them.
Might also be worth pointing out how many people suffer from gluten and wheat intolerance and the positive gain they could make if they were to change.
Finally I would offer to meet with them to discuss it. I know you are feeling rough and probably disinclined to see them again, but sounds like they have accidently done something wrong and a little education cannot harm.
I did this for a branch of a chain of restaurants and their Head Office took it very seriously and reissued guidelines to all their chefs.
Why don't you contact your local environmental health department as well and let them know. They should also follow up your concerns, just the same as if you thought they'd given you food poisoning or there had been a foreign body in your food
This annoys me so much!
I say name and shame as well. I went to a pub the other day and wanted to know whether their gravy was gluten free and got an eye rolling waitress who told me "if it wasn't on the menu, the chef wasn't cooking it" when I said I was Coeliac.
this might not be the price-concious answer but, stick to decent restaurants. you will find that the more professional and classy places (on the whole) are a lot more accommodating and in the know. most maitre-d's will know the exact ingredients for most dishes. a lot of the chef's will even alter a dish and provide GF sauces. also, you will find that less sauces contain gluten when made by an experienced chef, Gordon Ramsey himself said there was usually no need to add flour to thicken a sauce, if you know what you are doing.
It was a good and very well known restaurant in our area Tonytone and quite prcey for all the good i got from it . They also seemed to be very aware and accomodating. I have sent them an email explaining what happened but no reply. It sure does put you off eating out. Feeling a lot better but bit washed out.
Thanks
Further to my question i did as my fellow guerillas advised and contacted the restaurant. The very apologetic reply was that after some investigation they found the gluten was in the amaretti biscuits in the cream served with the poached pears, they contained wheat flour. They usually make their own macaroons and the pastry chef on duty did not realise this as their own would have only contained almonds sugar and egg white. The dish has since been changed. I feel better for being told this as you get to a stage were you begin to doubt your ability to explain and choose food. Thank you all for your help and support.
Jenny
