Are you dead?

When someone asks you, "Are you choking?" the cardinal rule is that if you can answer with words, you're not choking. Right?
This past Saturday, NAH and I went out to dinner with friends, to a local Italian restaurant that has great food. It had an enormous menu, and having done my research ahead of time, I was certain that it would be an easy, safe meal.

I ordered one of their special entree salads without the cheese, dressing on the side, and specifically asked the waitress if there would be tomato on the salad, as it was not listed. She said no, that all ingredients for each salad were listed on the menu. "Great!" I said, "because I'm severely allergic." NAH and our NAFriends ordered their meals, and we sat around gabbing before they arrived. When the food arrived, the tomato sauce on everyone's plates smelled incredible, and my salad looked really nice, EXCEPT FOR THE LITTLE RED SLICES OF EVIL ON THE LETTUCE, AND UNDER THE CRAB MEAT...
"Wait a second. Do you see this?" I asked the waitress, somewhat incredulous. Her eyes grew really wide.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, he must've thought that he should replace the cheese with something."
"OK, Here's the new problem. You have to ensure that all of this is thrown out. I cannot eat anything on this plate once it's touched the sliced tomatoes. Please, NOTHING can be rinsed off."
Off she went. I looked at our friends and NAH and insisted that they start without me, as theirs were piping hot. It took about 10 minutes, and we didn't see our waitress at all in those 10 minutes. When she returned, it was the perfect salad, exactly as I'd ordered it, and then she said those magic words. "Sorry I've been neglecting you guys, but I wanted to stand back there with the chef to make sure that no part of her salad was reused."

Trust issues gone, and it looked incredible. I started eating. About three minutes later I caught her peering around the corner of our booth. "Are you dead?" she asked.
"Nope. Still good," and I found the comment as sweet and hilarious as it was tactless. When she brought our check, she shared with us that she suffers from an anaphylaxis to something, and is scared to death to eat in restaurants because of it, so she wanted to make sure I would be alright (having previously glanced at the offending tomato? I'm still not sure, but it was sweet).

Thankfully, our friends were both content and kind enough to let me sit and eat long after they'd finished (a 10 minute head start is sizable in a restaurant setting). To be fair, this friend and her husband once sent MY food back three separate times when it wasn't up to my allergy standards (I am often done and too nervous to eat after one failed attempt). They're keepers :).

Dinner was wonderful, and the waitress completely earned my trust. We'll be back!

The Capital Grille

Monday was allergic mom's birthday. Yesterday was the allergic brother's birthday. We decided to all meet in Cherry Hill on Monday for the birthday celebrations, and allergic mom was dying to try the Capital Grille.
The experience was equal parts fascinating and allergic-diner friendly. Dinner isn't so much dinner at the Capital Grille as it is an experience. My allergies had been inquired about with the manager prior to my arrival, and Sharyn had assured my mother they would be able to take care of me.
Boy, did they ever!
After a lengthy recitation of the specialties of the house (all from memory), our server, Jason, had a chat with me about my allergies (apparently his wife is another of our kind, dear readers - she's allergic to the planet, too!). He even offered me a look at the ingredients of each dish, if I wanted. I declined, and simply asked for salmon, broiled plain (you know the drill, no seasoning, no oil, no dairy, and certainly nothing under the salmon to keep it from sticking to the skillet). I was even told I could have a baked potato (also plain - and they went so far as to leave it uncut to show me it was safe!), and that's not offered on their menu! Jason returned to the table, and asked if they could steam the fish for me, to guarantee no cross-contamination whatsoever. His words, not mine. I readily agreed.
The table had a calamari appetizer so spicy it cleared my sinuses, and I didn't have any! After allergic mom and NAH had their favorite lobster bisque, at which point both declared they couldn't eat another bite (I can report that it smelled phenomenal), dinner was served.
A kona-rubbed steak for allergic dad, halibut for NAH, a porterhouse for allergic brother, filet for allergic mom, and some light-pink, perfectly steamed salmon for yours truly. They served the baked potato uncut, still in the tinfoil to show me that it had touched nothing else.
At one point, the manager, Sharyn, even stopped by our table to check and make sure everything was perfect. When I was identified as the "allergied one," she spent some time talking to me about her son's allergies. It's amazing what a quick bond people can form over something like this.
Knowing that both our waiter, Jason, and the Capital Grille's manager, Sharyn, perfectly understood both the severity and complexity of my situation put me at ease. I had a fantastic meal, and could not have been any happier with the service.
Capital Grille, thank you for putting this allergic diner at ease. I never once felt out of place.

Sincerely,
Your allergic diner

PS -- It is important to note that I did ask our waiter if I could include his name in this review, as I was that happy with his attention and service throughout the evening. He informed Sharyn, who returned with the business card of another manager (corporate), and asked me to clear my review with her. I did no such thing. In my view, having a corporation clear my review would taint it. Luckily, this review is so glowing, they have nothing to worry about!

Chili's

Here's what gets me about menu labelling. If I don't see an ingredient in the listing of what comprises a sandwich, and I don't see the ingredient in the picture of the sandwich itself, then I'm going to assume said ingredient is NOT in what I'm ordering. With me so far?

Here's what I ordered last weekend at Chili's. Cut and pasted from their website menu (this is also how it looked in the printed version.

SMOKED TURKEY
Mouth-watering smoked turkey, Swiss cheese, mayo, lettuce & tomato.

We were out with another couple, friends of NAH's from work. Both of them are good people, both completely familiar with my allergies, and both would walk out of a restaurant in a second if I couldn't eat there. That has absolutely nothing to do with this story, but it's a nice thing to be able to say about people, so I'm putting it out there regardless.

Anyway, when I ordered, I was a little nervous because our waitress was not writing things down (order by Jedi mind trick, perhaps?), and she was young. As I've expressed before, I really have a bias about young waiters and allergy-awareness. I know not from where it stems, but its there. So sue me. I showed her my med-alert bracelet and stressed the importance of leaving everything off my sandwich but the turkey and mayo. Both friends said to her, "please be very careful with her order, she's being polite but she has severe allergies." I reinforced this and explained that please, were a tomato to touch my sandwich, if the kitchen picks it off and then sends it out, I will still get sick. She seemed to understand. I was incredibly nervous, and the wife leans over to me and whispers "Would you rather go elsewhere?" I figured we'd give it a shot.

Imagine my surprise when about 15 minutes later our waitress came back to the table with apologies, but that she was resubmitting all our orders b/c mine had come out with the evil tomato, and she wasn't letting the kitchen just remove it from the sandwich. She even resubmitted wife's quesadillas, so they'd be served piping hot. Problem solved, attentive waitress, and it should have made for the perfect meal.

About a half-hour after we ordered, our meals were served. Mine had some sort of weird spice all over it. On the turkey, not just on the outside edges, so that I could not remove it with a knife. Everybody else started eating, but I spent close to 10 minutes scraping the turkey and all the spice off of my sandwich. I ended up with a slightly-mayonnaised roll. Now, it was a tasty mayonnaised roll, but I was really hungry and that simply wasn't going to cut it. After I explained what had happened after dinner, we went to the nearby supermarket and picked me up some snacks for the rest of the evening.

Why didn't I send it back? Well, after remaking it for me once, and having been told nothing about spice (because there was nothing on the menu or in the picture that looked/sounded even remotely like spice), I didn't want it to return to the kitchen a second time. I didn't want my dining companions to have to wait another half-hour for their food, or worse, to have to sit and watch me eat after they were done.

Not a big deal, but I have learned an important new question, "No spice is listed here. Is there any in this item?"

It was a most informative evening.

Sincerely,
Your Allergic Diner

A hidden gem in Robbinsville, NJ

As seafood lovers, NAH and I often search high and wide for a place that serves excellent seafood, but isn't too fancy. I've written before about Red Lobster, and the good service I always have there, and Joe's Crab Shack, and the great meals I've had there. The tricky part is finding a place that is a little less pricey, and a little less fancy, a place that we could go to often and not worry about the budget. When we were living in South Jersey, Cap'n Cats Clam Bar was our second home. Don't laugh at the name. It was the perfect seafood place. There were plastic fish on the wall, oyster crackers on the table, a plastic menu, and specials for which we would have gladly jumped through hoops. For me, fish has always been a pill-free meal. For those of you who are severely allergic, or lactose intolerant, you understand exactly how incredible that statement is. I could leave the lactaid, benadryl and epi-pen at home, and eat there time and again with no problems. Give me a piece of fish, a baked potato, and some applesauce and I am in heaven. It's up there with stuffing, seriously. Then we moved, and I had a harder time leaving our restaurant behind than our first apartment!

A coworker of NAH recommended a fish market/restaurant several months ago, and we'd been interested in trying it. Unfortunately (as you can usually infer by the lack of posting on this blog), work, schedules, and just good old life got in the way. We hadn't been out to dinner in months, and the other day NAH suggested we go out to dinner (just the two of us! not for a special occasion! YAY!). It was a much needed break. So we decided to drive the half hour and try Shrimp King.

The food was INCREDIBLE (and CHEAP!). You can find their menu here. Everything was delicious, and I think our waitress had a bit of a crush on NAH....he got an extra appetizer! We've now been back twice, and I've had perfect allergy-free meals both times. No seasoning on the plate, and no butter either. They have plastic menus, old tables, and while there are no fish on the wall, there are some great oil paintings that are totally out of the character of the restaurant/market.

I think we have a new place. Worth the drive. What a gem! Thank you, Shrimp King!

Your Allergic Diner

Ahh, Barbecue

As an allergic diner, I've never uttered the above words. Never. Please don't misunderstand, I love a good hot dog on the grill as much as the next person, but I can't exactly go gallivanting off in search of the best barbecued ribs, pulled pork, and fried chicken. I'm allergic, and yes, as its been pointed out many times, I know I'm missing out. I just can't exactly tell you what I'm missing out on.

Big guy, however, loves all things barbecue, especially fried chicken. He is to fried chicken what I am to stuffing! So when we got allergic fiance's NYC birthday invite that included this restaurant, Rack and Soul, he was ready to go.

Barbecue restaurants always worry me. So much risk for cross contamination. So much tomato and oil and spice everywhere. I was relieved to see that there was salad on the menu. Ah, salad. Safe, non-contaminated, and on one plate. When our party was seated, everyone started ordering off the good part of the menu, and I'll confess to feeling a little bit left out. Collard greens, black eyed peas, crawfish, chicken livers, macaroni and cheese, and home-style mashed potatoes, and that was just to start!. Big Guy had an order of fried chicken, and opted for the macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes, figuring that if he was going to do it right, he was all in. I couldn't bring myself to order a salad to pick at amongst the plates of all this marvelous food, and thankfully, we weren't eating until 8 o' clock at night, so I had passed the hunger period (with a fairly large bag of skittles at the movie!).

Big Guy gave me his restaurant review in typical Big Guy fashion, "Very Good."

And that dear readers, sums up my olfactory experience at Rack and Soul.
~Your Allergic Diner

Bahama Breeze?

Well, allergic patrons, I'm meeting a good friend for dinner tomorrow night and she's suggested that we go to Bahama Breeze. Places like this are difficult for me because they use lots and lots of Caribbean seasoning.
I just spoke with a host on the phone, and he told me that they could make something plain for me. Actually, the conversation went like this, and now I'm extremely nervous.

Me: Hi, my girlfriend and I will be eating dinner in your restaurant tomorrow night and I was wondering if I could talk to you a moment.
Him: Sure.
Me: I have terrible allergies, and I was looking at your menu and am calling to find out how difficult it is for me to have something made plain for me when I get there.
Him: What do you mean, plain? (ACK!)
Me: I mean, were I to order a piece of grilled fish off the menu, could you grill it plain for me, with no seasoning and no oil.
Him: HOLD ON. (cue hold music)
Him: Yes, we can make you food with no seasoning.
Me: And no oil? (not to belabor the point, but "hold on" isn't the most confidence inspiring term)
Him: Yes ma'am, and no oil either, it won't be a problem.

Now, here's the thing. He said yes, he said they could accommodate me, and he placed me on hold so he could obviously go talk to someone about it, so why am I still nervous? Would you be...Stay tuned. I'll post over the weekend and let you know how it goes.
~Your Allergic Diner

The joys of being truly taken care of...

On the first night of our trip, allergic mom and I went to King of Prussia for dinner, and ended up at Legal Sea Foods, an upscale seafood restaurant that has locations all over the eastern U.S.

I informed our server, Brian, that I had severe allergies, and asked if it would be possible to have my tuna steak grilled with no oil or spices, and so that it didn't come into contact with anything else?

I braced myself for the response. Brian said "Actually, I can do you one better. What we usually do for our allergic patrons (I didn't interrupt at this point and inform him I was THE Allergic Diner, it seemed rude) is place your fish in a skillet as opposed to directly on the grill or our wood planks, and cook it with an herb vinaigrette that contains no dairy. This way it doesn't come into contact with anything you might be allergic to. For you, we can do the fish this way but totally plain so that you don't have to worry about spices or oil in the vinaigrette." Seriously? Would one of you inform me if I was dead and this was heaven? What a weekend this was!

About 10 minutes after we placed our order, a manager, Jeff, came over and introduced himself and asked me to list my allergies (Brian had previously done the same, so it was obvious to this allergic diner that they were double checking for safety and cross-contamination). He spent a minute or two with me to make sure I was comfortable, and then went back to the kitchen to personally oversee the process.

I ate the delicious meal, a medium-rare tuna steak and baked potato, along with some of their fresh bread, without taking A SINGLE PILL. No dairy, no allergens, so why take medicine I don't need?

I thought that was the perfect meal, and as allergic mom and I were squabbling over who was going to pay the check (and lest you think ill of me, we were fighting because we both wanted to pay), Brian came back and offered us dessert. I was so full I couldn't even dream of it, but he insisted that he had a gluten-free option that might interest me, as well as a sugar free option. I thought that was very sweet that he was letting me know that they could find a way to accommodate me. Though I declined, I made up my mind to not only give them an outstanding review, but to forward this post to their customer service.

In a review of their website, I noticed they have a gluten-free menu as well. Here's a link to all their menus. It was the perfect dinner to start the perfect weekend with allergic mom. There was NO allergy alert or allergy problems ALL weekend.

Thank you so very much Legal Sea Foods, for putting this food-allergic diner at ease,

~The Allergic Diner

The Americana Diner: Never leave unhappy. Or hungry, for that matter...

What a lovely weekend we had, big guy (refer to previous posting) and myself. We had our first house guests! My friend from NYC and her allergic fiance were in for the weekend for what we called the "Jersey Experience." Unfortunately, due to time, weather, and the fact that we hadn't all gotten together in awhile, the Jersey Experience really consisted of taking allergic fiance and friend to one of our favorite diners, the Americana Diner on Rte 130 (recently written up in the Washington Post!).

I've been to this place several times, and in addition to the incredible variety of food (it has a menu that could be considered a book), I'm always pleased with the service and attention to detail. These servers, without fail, answer almost any question with, "I'm not sure, let me go ask the chef." Subsequently, without fail, everything I've ordered there has come to the table allergy-free and uncontaminated.

We had a fantastic meal there, and highly recommend it as a must-eat stop in New Jersey. Big guy had an omelet, allergic fiance a blackened chicken sandwich, friend had a tuna salad sandwich (that came to the table looking like a house...it was enormous!), and for me, an egg salad sandwich, of course. I've had plenty of other things there, but the egg salad is a keeper.

Allergic mom and I are heading out Friday for our annual girls' weekend, so I should have some new and hopefully good reviews for you then.

Until next time,
Your Allergic Diner

What food! What service!

What a lovely evening we had, the non-allergic in-laws, NAH, and myself. When we got to Outback, we were seated immediately. When the waiter came to take our order, I explained that I had called previously, and was told that they could make anything plain to accommodate my food allergies. I then requested the salmon, plain, the steamed veggies, plain, and a baked potato, you guessed it, also plain. To which he responded, "Not a problem, but I'm required to ask about your allergies so I can oversee this in the kitchen." I jokingly said "all of them," and then realized I was going to have to be more specific, so I asked to him to look out for olive oil, dairy, tomatoes, and every spice/seasoning known to man (I can add my own salt & pepper, and it's much safer that way). To my relief, there was NO pity (though there appeared to be a brief look of astonishment at what I was listing), and I was so heartened by the fact that I already felt safe eating there I ordered a drink, too!

I especially enjoyed when they brought out NAH's prime rib, and our waiter handed it to him and said "here, big guy!" (I almost dissolved into a fit of giggles, and had no drink in me at that point). NAH will most likely be referred to hereafter on this blog as big guy. Too funny.

The big guy had a most excellent prime rib, mom-in-law and I both enjoyed our salmon, and dad-in-law had a wonderful strip steak. I can't neglect to mention that the table started with the requisite Bloomin' Onion. My Wallaby Darned (Australian peach bellini), on the recommendation of my mom-in-law, was fantastic, and I'm happy to report that not a single spice, drop of butter, or any other of the dreaded allergic contaminants touched my salmon plate. It was a fantastic meal had in great company! Thank you Outback, we'll be returning soon!

Also, before I leave you for the day, when I looked at the Outback website I was heartened to see that they offer my gluten-free friends a gluten-free menu! A sign of the times. Check it out here, and enjoy your next meal being well taken care of in an allergy-friendly environment!

Yours in the pursuit of anxiety-free eating,

The Allergic Diner

KC Prime and New Years Eve

Happy New Year to my allergic (and non-allergic) readers! My new year's eve was delightful and a perfect way to begin working my way back into blogging world. New Year's Eve is usually very difficult for myself and other allergic patrons because restaurants make special menus. For that reason, we usually don't do a lot for the occassion. This year we decided it was time for a change. I went with NAH to KC Prime, a steakhouse in central NJ that we've been to several times before. However, as we were starting off the new year, I wanted to order something different. I've never had vegetables there (as their salad comes complete with a tomato - ack! - vinaigrette. When we settled in to our table, I informed our waitress of my allergies (mea culpa, didn't call ahead), and she told me that due to the holiday there would be many people covering our table tonight, but she hoped for the best. To my pleasant surprise (I get very nervous when waiters "hope"), I was able to have the evening's special (bone-in filet), minus the port-wine demi glaze, a full plate of steamed seasonal veggies (the squash and carrots were delish!) and a baked potato. I wasn't the only one thrilled with my meal, as NAH had soup, my salad, and a gigantic prime rib. Everything was done to perfection and beautifully allergy-free. Our meal made for a fantastic start to the new year! Our resolution is to dine out a whole lot more, so there'll be plenty of postings for you!

Wishing you the best of everything in 2008! Looking forward to talking with you this year,
Sincerely,
Your (well-fed) Allergic Diner.

The birthday struggle....

NAH's birthday was this past weekend. I'd been imploring him for weeks to pick a restaurant for his birthday dinner. I'd promised him a week of his favorite meals, but it was important to pick a restaurant because his family would be joining us and we wanted to take him out to celebrate. One would think this was a fairly easy request. We live amidst 5o restaurants (a conservative estimate) and are within driving distance of several hundred.
NAH finally announced his birthday selection. He wanted to go to Burger King. You might think this was a sarcastic request to pacify me, but he was deadly serious. I can even remember one birthday we celebrated in college, I offered to take him to a new steakhouse that had opened, and he insisted on Burger King. It was his birthday, so to Burger King we went. I think I laughed through the whole meal, but he was very happy.
In this case, however, his family and I wanted to do something nice for him (and lets not forget that the rest of us didn't really want to eat Burger King), so I kindly told him that I'd take him to Burger King for lunch on his birthday, but perhaps he could pick something with a little more selection for the rest of us for dinner?
He finally decided on Pizzeria Uno's, which was a great and problematic choice. It was a great choice because it was approximately 10 minutes from all of us, and a problematic choice because of well, the whole NO TOMATO thing. Hah. I'd had a couple good experiences years ago at Uno's and then a couple bad experiences years ago at Uno's. I figured it'd been several years and his birthday was reason enough to try again.
I worked my allergic diner magic and reviewed their website to discover that they had nutrition information that included EVERY INGREDIENT OF EVERY DISH, right down to the type of oil in their deep-dish pizza crust mix (soybean, if you were wondering). I saw several items I could eat, and I was determined to try something new.
I ended up ordering a deep-dish cheese & tomato pie (no tomato, of course) with anchovies (I love them!) and asked the server make sure there were no seasonings sprinkled on top. It came just as I ordered and was about the most delicious thing I'd had in a long time! NAH was thrilled to have a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings for dinner, and the rest of the family was very pleased with their orders (chicken parm, salmon, steak, and salad). It was a wonderful birthday and I have a new restaurant at which I can eat! The best? After everything we've been through with my allergies, I think NAH appreciates when I enjoy an entree in a restaurant just as much as I do (especially when he can pick a restaurant for his birthday without having to worry)!

Here is the link to some of their nutrition information. Their website is easily navigated, just click on the ingredient information link at the bottom of the nutrition label after choosing an item: http://www.unos.com/kiosk/nutritionUnos.html

As always, wishing you very happy dining!
Your Allergic Diner

I humbly retract my prior statement....

Good afternoon readers! If you'll recall, way back in the early days of blogging I wrote about something I like to call "the Panera problem." Essentially, my problem was that despite the book of ingredients, which is hard and fast for every Panera chain, their servers knew nothing and could not answer questions, but yet were offended when I then asked to see the book.

I promised a friend of mine that I would try simply asking for the book first and then writing a review of Panera. I made this promise months ago, and several weeks back she conned me into what I assumed would be another aggravating lunch, made so by an insipid cashier.

I must retract my earlier review. I went to the cash register and asked if there were tomatoes in the low-fat chicken noodle soup (some restaurants use a small amount of tomato base to thicken the stock, especially in the low-fat versions...read the labels at the supermarket sometime!). She looked me straight in the eye and said "You know, I don't think so, but I'd hate to give you misinformation, let me consult the book." She proceeded to show me the book, and NO tomato!

She was gracious, the soup was delicious, and I didn't have to demand to see the book myself. So with all due respect, Panera, I apologize. http://www.panerabread.com/menu/cafe/

~Your Allergic Diner

T.G.I. Friday's, their service goes above and beyond the food!

Happy Wednesday everyone! I want to relay a story to you today. This was not my personal allergic dining experience, but that of a coworker. I was so impressed with the way a very famous company handled a bad experience of one of their customers, I asked and received permission to blog about her experience.

My coworker "M" (obviously not her real name, but how great would that be? Like the Bond movies...)recently found out she has allergies. She went to dinner at T.G.I. Friday's and had a fish dish there with a very spicy sauce. She didn't feel very well later that evening, but didn't think much of it and went to bed. In the morning she woke up with one eye swollen so severely that it had swollen shut, and she had hives on her face and neck. Rather than freak out, M remembered talking to me about allergies, sent her fiancee to the drugstore for the wonderful Benadryl, and got her doctor on the phone. She was fine in about 5-6 hours, and the doctor cleared her but suggested she talk to T.G.I. Friday's about what the ingredients in the dish were.
M spoke to me about my struggle to get the salad dressing information from Friendly's (still no word...and it's been MONTHS, I should probably pester them again), and her concern that Friday's would respond the same way. I helped her craft a letter and she sent it, fingers crossed.
To my shock and pleasant surprise, T.G.I. Friday's not only sent her a full ingredient listing for that dinner within 48 hours, but also called her to see if she was alright, and if there was anything else they could do. They even explained that if the fish was OK, but the sauce turned out to be what she was allergic to, they'd be more than happy to make the fish plain the next time she came in.

I am astounded to see that a company finally responded appropriately to an allergic reaction! T.G.I. Friday's has set a model that other restaurants should feel compelled to live up to.
On behalf of M, thank you T.G.I. Friday's! I will be enjoying a meal with you in the near future!
Sincerely,
Your allergic diner