Navigating Restaurants when Gluten is the Enemy

If you are trying to completely avoid gluten, then restaurants are a minefield.  If you are trying to live a normal industrial world existence, then you will go to restaurants.  Although we are still learning, here are a few things we've found.

You are the Consumer  The key is polite insistence.   You must start by assuming the restaurant staff are uninformed.  You must be willing--as respectfully and politely as possible--to second guess and to question.  While I tend to be apologetic, it typically comes out as "I'm sorry to be a pain in the ass, but I need to ask you if any flour is added to the sauce."

Unfortunately, not even those appearing to recognize your condition are aware of all the traps.  You will also encounter staff who suggest it is okay to have ‘just a bit’.  If you are celiac, this is unfortunately untrue. Remember that this is an exchange of money for service.  You are right to be respectful, but you are also right to eat safely. 

A Touch of Zen  Fundamentally, you are trying to protect your health, and sometimes that will require that you sacrifice desire.  Not every restaurant is safe.  Yet sharing time with people you care about and seeing the world will occasionally require you to eat limited fare, which in Western countries is typically another damn salad.

Choosing Cuisine   If you are reading this, chances are that you grew up in the wrong country in terms of eating gluten-free.  But then again, it could be worse.

Among the safer cuisines for the celiac would be Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese.  These diets tend to use beans or rice as a base, generally avoiding the gluten issue.

Conversely, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese diets are more treacherous, mostly on account of soy sauce.  And while soy sauce can be safe, industrial production tends to add wheat for purposes of cost and taste.  Outside of unadorned sushi, soy sauce is ubiquitous here.  If you think your food contains no soy sauce, consider whether it might contain red miso, which often (but not always) contains barley.  Go over seas, add in a language barrier and hosts with little exposure to gluten-free clients, and you have your work cut out for you. 

In Western countries, bread, breading, and seemingly indiscriminate wheat sprinkling are a product of industrial production and consumer taste.  Thus my preferred option is the independent bistro, where the staff tend to care about their food--and know what is in it.  Short-order cooks are a hazard for the gluten-free, with the possible exception being the highly regimented corporate kitchen.  Swiss Chalet, for example, has a plausible allergen list.  You just have to want to go there.

Note that most of the above cuisines can be safely prepared at home by choosing gluten-free versions of each ingredient.

Aids to Dining  Apart from staying sharp, you may find it handy to carry cards that describe your eating requirements.  TriumphDining has a respectable version.  These are particularly useful when you are facing a language barrier, although I frequently think I should employ them more locally. 

Aglutinous Priest  While the amateur proselytizer wins few friends, you can improve your future culinary options (and those of your gluten-free breathren) in subtle ways.  I typically employ the words "celiac" and "gluten-free" so that the wait staff become accustomed to the terms.  I go out of my way to be polite and deferential.  I tip generously.  It is my hope that "gluten-free" will engender positive feelings in waitstaff.