Make Some Noise: Tips for Restaurants

Want more gluten-free options in Bend or your own home town? For a long time, I just sat around whining about how difficult it is to find safe, tasty gluten-free food. What does that accomplish? Zip.

Now, instead, every time I read a restaurant review or hear good things about a local eatery, I go to its website, contact the owner or manager and ask, "What's on your menu that I and others with gluten intolerance can eat?" Celiacs and GF friends, let's not wallow in self-pity. Make some noise!

Following are some tips for trend-setting restaurant owners or readers who want to nudge a neighborhood eatery to, please, give us something gluten free to eat:

Menu Labeling: Most business owners don’t consider the fact that if a group of people are dining out and one of them can’t eat gluten, it’s that person who’ll determine where the group will ultimately eat. It’s a bummer, but it’s a fact. Show us what we can safely eat and save time and aggravation by clearly marking the menu. Your staff won’t have to answer a litany of questions and concerns. The menu at Roam Restaurant here in Bend, shows how it can be done.

Staff Training: The Food Institute, which has been providing news for the industry since 1928, reports that in a 2016 survey many “restaurant managers, food workers and servers believed that people with food allergies could safely eat small amounts of those foods. This is absolutely false. For someone with celiac disease, small amounts of gluten can cause debilitating symptoms and lasting damage.” Take the time to train staff. Hand-in-hand with menu labeling it will greatly reduce the chance of accidental exposure

Know Where Gluten Hides: Just because an ingredient is free of wheat doesn’t mean it’s free of gluten. Malt syrup, malt vinegar, and most beers are wheat-free but contain gluten from barley. Soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and blue cheese often have it too.

Many restaurants, like Yoli here in Bend (post upcoming!), know It’s easy to reduce risk in any restaurant by simply choosing corn starch or rice flour instead of wheat to thicken sauces, or to stir-fry with GF tamari rather than wheat-containing soy sauce. Certain cuisines, such as Mexican, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Peruvian already lend themselves to becoming dedicated or predominantly gluten free because so many of their traditional dishes are naturally free of gluten. For example, Bamboo Sushi, soon opening here in Bend, marks on its menu only items that DO contain gluten because there are so few of them.

Get an Evaluation: Meet with a trained evaluator to learn how to reduce risk in the kitchen, to strategize kitchen design and pinpoint where cross-contact is likely to happen. Identifying high-risk sites and activities is the first step toward creating procedures to reduce or eliminate risks.

Remember, we're in this together. We want to eat out! We'll bring our families and friends. Let's work together so we can all enjoy and thrive.