Organizing Gluten Free Dinners in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Today I noticed an interesting post over at the Gazette regarding a group of people with Celiac Disease in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area who get together weekly at a designated restaurant (they rotate between four restaurants in the area).

The article has quotes from several of the individuals in the group, as well as quotes from the chefs at these restaurants. Here is an excerpt from their post:

The monthly dinners have attracted a growing number of guests.

“My largest group has been 32, and my smallest has been 24,” said Lobo, noting that the smaller number was due to weather cancellations. She said she enjoys “meeting the other folks who have the same issues with food and particularly being able to eat out without much thought of ‘is it safe?’.”

Molly Cassidy, who had known about her gluten intolerance for five years, has enjoyed going to the dinners. She said there are other ways to dine out, even if you need meals without gluten.

“I pretty much go where I want and find at least something to eat,” Cassidy said, “likely without any sauces or dressings – what I call naked food. When in doubt, go without!”
Celiacs have found other eateries where they can get safe meals.

“I also patronize any restaurants that have a separate menu for gluten-free diners,” Cassidy said, noting that P.F. Chang’s and Pei Wei offer safe options.

Scherff-Norris has had success finding gluten-free dishes at Sonterra Grill and The Olive Branch.

“Cere’s Kitchen in Briargate sells prepared meals (to be cooked at home), which are great since we can’t order a pizza when we don’t feel like cooking,” she said. “We also enjoy Galileo’s in Pueblo and Deby’s in Denver.

Lobo added Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, Luigi’s and Wild Ginger Thai Restaurant to the list of safe places for celiacs to eat.

“Some local restaurants accommodate us,” she said. “However, some of the local restaurants have never even heard of the disease.”

Johnson is not one of those chefs.

“We keep a menu reference posted in our server station, which lists our gluten-free menu items and dishes we can easily modify so that it is a relatively smooth process for our servers to accommodate the guests with minimal hassles,” he said. “We want them to have a comfortable and relaxed dining experience and not feel as though they are making a special request.”

While preparing for the gluten-free-dinner group, Johnson networked with other chefs. “In comparing notes, many common misconceptions were unearthed and wrangled over,” he said. “Destruction temperatures and practices for gluten-contaminated equipment and surfaces seemed to be a common theme. We also found that some restaurants just are unable to reliably take care of gluten-intolerant guests due to food and food-handling practices: a great amount of airborne gluten being present, gluten contact with cooking surfaces such as griddles and broilers.”

Click over to check out the rest of this post.