[jccgf]

Well, today is dear daughter J's 11th birthday. We had a family party over the weekend, so her only gift left today is going out to dinner at:

http://www.dalucianos.com/gluten-free-menu.cfm

This will be a first time for us at this restaurant, although I've heard through the grapevine it is pretty good. Would you believe I'm nervous? It is one thing to order food that is naturally gluten free (like steak) where at most you have to worry about cross contamination, but an entirely different thing to order food like pasta or garlic bread that looks like it has gluten.

What if they make a mistake, and give you the wrong plate... and you eat a WHOLE PLATE of wheat pasta????

But...the whole idea of going here is to be able to get gluten free pasta, bread, pizza, etc. Wish us luck!

BTW... I think J is pretty excited about this. I was going to keep it a surprise, but I am really lousy at keeping secrets and I told her two days ago. But, at least now she has had the chance to experience the anticipation...lol. And what do I do? worry.

Cara

[aklap]

How exciting!! Wow - 11. Tell J Happy BD!!

From what I remember the family has a connection to celiac...the daughters maybe? I can't remember.

This was on the list of places to go when the GIG conference was in Chicago. You have good reason to be nervous - it's risky even tho they offer GF items. I think I'd be on guard just like any other restaurant. Since you haven't been there before you can ask about how they handle CC issues, etc. Being new [or a tourist] gives you lots of leeway for stuff like that

Have fun!! We'll be waiting for a full report.

[rachelb]

Happy Birthday to J and I hope you have a great time!

I am *so* drooling looking at that menu. Please let us know how it is!!

Rachel

[jccgf]

We had fun. The food was good... not fantastic, though.

We ordered garlic bread, and I was slightly disappointed because it was like English Muffins with garlic butter. I've made my own gf french bread and made better garlic bread myself. But, I didn't have to make this . I felt very comfortable about ordering there. The place is very "gluten free" oriented...with a whole wall devoted to gluten free articles, magazines they've been in, etc, and a small cart of gluten free pastas and mixes for sale. Still, we ordered "GF" everything, even though we were clearly ordering off the gluten free menu, and each time they set our plate down, we asked again....lol.

Then J ordered meat ravioli, just because it is something you really can't get gf, and I thought she might like it. Sure she cannot even remember ever eating Chef Boyardi. She wanted lasagna, but I feared the cheese factor for her. So, I ordered that...so she could still have a bite. The ravioli was good. The lasagna was good, too, but the noodles were very spongy (almost bready..so probably homemade) and it was just cheese/noodle lasagna with meat sauce over the top. So, I think my own lasagna is better (made with gf noodles that are closer to the noodles I am used to, and meat in the lasagna, more spices, and rice cheese).

Next time, we are going to order the pizza. We met a couple there, whose husband was diagnosed as a toddler... I think he said at age 2. He spent 9 months in the hospital...was dying..had the huge bloated belly. They finally put him on some sort of high protein diet (just meat...no bread)..and he got better. They finally figured it out, but those were the days they thought that you 'outgrew' it..so they eventually allowed it back into his diet and he did alright...until about ten years ago when he got very sick again. They've been making a one hour drive to this restaurant once or twice a month for years. They highly recommended the pizza and tirimisu cake... so next time. Had I known you could order cakes there (duh!)...I would have ordered her a birthday cake, and taken it home with us. NEXT YEAR...or maybe for my birthday .

So, all in all, it was a very nice outing. There were many things I wanted to try... so for me, the lasagna was a poor choice. I just wanted to let J have a 'taste' since that was what she really wanted. I was spying the pasta primavera, and a pasta/shrimp dish. And the pizza... even when we make pizza at home, nobody else likes all the stuff I do. The gf pizza there is all personal size, $8.50 for a cheese pizza plus and .75 for each extra. Let's just say the extras might add up to more than the base for me...lol. This couple said that if you call ahead they will do anything for you, including having cheese sub on hand or making other subsitutions for other sensitivities, etc, so I'll be ready for next time.

The restaurant itself was quaint, small, and felt very ethnic. They had maybe twelve small tables, in very closed quarters...like a small family diner..which is what it is. It had a nice cozy atmosphere. We liked it. I even had a New Grist on a week night! (came home and fell asleep...lol).

Cara

[aklap]

Glad to hear the family had a nice evening out and J had a great B-day! You're quite the Mom - choosing something J wanted just so she could have a taste.

Cara, you're not alone in feeling "disappointed" in restaurant food. Even NGF Peg feels that way many times. After being GF for almost 5 years [ OMGosh time flies], we have gotten pretty good at cooking [Peg was no slouch before, she's been doing since the age of 10 or 12]. To the point where we prefer our own cooking over most restaurants.

However, it's nice to have the ability to order food "like everyone else". What you sacrifice in quality, you make up for in convenience.

Last night must've been the night for beer. I had a Redbridge with my Chebe pizza. Sadly I have 1 bottle of RB left. It's starting to grow on me.

On a related note - I'll let y'all know how a GF meal is at Lombardi's Steakhouse. It's not a GF place by any means, but Peg is having a work related dinner there . I sent of an email to ask about their ability to accommodate my dietary requirements. Here's their impressive response I got this morning...

Hi,
We gladly accomadate special dietary requirements of all sorts. Gluten free is no problem.

You will want to avoid items on our "Winter specials" section.

The "steaks and chops" section is safe, with the exception of the blue cheese crust for the stuffed tenderloin. All sauces for that section are served on the side, although you will want to remind your server just to be safe.

Avoid the roasted half chicken in the "Entree specials" section. We use a toasted bread crumb topping.

The scallops or the shrimp cocktail are ok as an appetizer. Avoid everything else in that section.

Under salads and soups, the french onion without the crouton would be allright, avoid the potato and the bean soup. The salads are fine and we do offer several good vinaigrettes that will work for you.

Avoid everything in the "bar food" section.

The sides are self explanitory, avoid the beer jacketed sweet potato.

If you will kindly inform your server or make prior arrangements we will make sure all preparation for your meal are done on equipment that has been thouroughly clean to avoid any gluten contamination.

If you have any questions or if there is anything I can assist you with please feel free to contact me at any time.

Thanks,
Chef Matthew
Executive Chef
Radisson Paper Valley Hotel
333 west College Ave.
Appleton WI 54911

How cool is this - I don't even work there and Peg's work is allowing me to select where they go. I guess membership does have it's privileges Now, I just have to figure out how to bring up [or say] Dr. H's name to the Neuro Peg works with Hehehehee