I’ve been living gluten free since I tested positive for Celiac Disease about 8 months ago. That means no wheat, rye, or barley. Except the convenience of foods like pizza, sandwiches and crackers, I don’t feel like I’m missing too much thanks to Bonnie and local grocery markets that have lots of gluten-free alternatives. Gluten-free bread and pizza are just passable, but Pamela’s gluten-free pancake mix is as good as any.
Eating at restaurants is tough, but some are accommodating. As I learn which places or menus are friendly to gluten-free diets, I identify them as “gluten-freendly”. Amazingly, Google currently reports no hits for the two word term, so I’ll have to start promoting it. Maybe I should add a Wikipedia article on the topic …
Most high end local restaurants are gluten-freendly in that the staff is aware of gluten and can both point out gluten-free dishes and get the kitchen to make substitutions on other dishes. The Lantern in Chapel Hill and Acme in Carrboro both fall into that category. A couple of chain restaurants that are gluten-freendly are Bonefish Grill and PF Chang’s. Both have separate gluten-free menus. Most soy sauce contains wheat, but PF Chang’s will substitute a gluten-free soy sauce; I just wish they would put a little flag or something on the gluten-free plate so I could be more confident that it’s not getting mixed up with others.
Italian is out, but Indian restaurants are fairly safe, and Mexican places usually have a couple corn tortilla dishes. They will also substitute corn tortillas in other dishes, but the ones I’ve had were smaller and too weak to hold a burrito together well.