Gluten-free NYC

I hadn't expected any difficulties in eating out gluten-free in New York- they cater for all kinds of choices, diets, fads etc, right? Not quite!

We started our week long break in Hudson where we stayed with my sister. She had bought in lots of G-F staples (pasta, pizza etc) and some yummy treats that we don't usually get (frozen G-F breakfast waffles anyone?-a company called Van's make them, although US only I think.)

The first restaurant we ate out at in Hudson was a diner called American Glory- how thrilling to find a place that highlights items on the menu that are NOT gluten-free, with everything else being fine for Coeliacs. If this was what a small place in Hudson had to offer, we had high hopes for Manhattan.

Next stop, Times Square, with 2 ravenous and slightly jet-lagged kids (not to mention adults). The first place we found to eat in was O'Lunney's Irish Pub ( I know, I know, we go all the way to America and end up in an Irish Pub, but we were hungry!!). Again, we were thrilled when they said they had a G-F menu. Alex picked a curry and we sighed with relief that we had been able to find somewhere that could cater for her so easily. After lunch we marched the little ladies down 5th Avenue. Alex desperately wanted to go back to the hotel as she was dying to try on the Rapunzel wedding dress she had gotten at the massive Disney Store, so we ignored her complaints about feeling tired/ sick/ wanting to go home. Well, we had egg on our face (and puke on our shoes), when poor Alex then vomited all over the FAO Schwartz 'restroom' (yep, picked up the American lingo!), and we realised that her gluten-free curry must not have been as gluten-free as we were led to believe. As I've explained in previous posts, Alex continues to vomit for a while when she's had gluten, however, after emptying her stomach in the toy shop, she was really keen to continue our adventure, which was a princess carriage ride in Central Park. Without going into too much detail about what happened next- beware the blankets on those carriages- you never know what's been on them!!!

The following evening we spent quite a long time wandering around the area we were staying in (upper west side), looking for a restaurant that would cater for Alex, however very few were able to help.We tried a few places who all told us they couldn't guarantee anything on their menu. We had an amusing communication issue in one place, where the greeter pronounced 'fruit' in the same way we pronounced 'food', so she was trying to convince us that 'all food is gluten-free', and must have been wondering why we wanted 'any fruit that didn't contain gluten' for our 4 year old at 8 o'clock at night!

If only we had made the miraculous discovery of G-Free NYC earlier in our trip. This is a really cute little shop on West 85th Street (between Columbus and CPW). They have every type of G-F product you can imagine, fresh, dried and frozen. Alex made a young friend in there who also had Coeliac's and loves princesses (why don't adults start conversations with 'so what's your favourite princess'- life would be brighter?!). And even better, the fabulously helpful owner had a list of local restaurants that catered well for Coeliac's. For anyone who has to eat G-F and will be spending time in NY- a visit to this gluten-free hub of knowledge is a must.

As a result of their suggestions, Alex was able to experience a fab stack of G-F American pancakes the next morning at Cafe 82,  a place that we would have walked past without a second glance, had we not been aware of their G-F menu. Not only do they do lots of G-F options, they did us a sandwich to take away, so we were set up for the day.

So over all, we survived our American adventure, although not as easily as we had expected. A bit more internet research prior to the trip rather than during the trip next time I think will mean we will spend less time wandering around looking for food and more time sitting eating it!

A Coeliac abroad.

I'm pretty good at English and relatively articulate, yet still  it feels like I'm speaking a foreign language at times when I'm trying to explain what Alex can and can't eat. So heading to a foreign country where they really do speak a foreign language (which I don't speak) and having to explain things to real foreign people filled me with more than a vague feeling of dread.

When we decided to go to Portugal for a holiday last year I had hardly finished clicking 'confirm' on the flight bookings before I started trying to work out how much of my luggage allowance could be taken up with gluten-free staples, what was the best way to pack pasta without it being crushed and whether it was worth taking fresh gluten-free bread or just the vacuum packed variety.
When I broke the news that we would only have room in the cases for one change of clothes and some swimming togs each, my lovely hubby pointed out that there were bound to be people with Coeliac's in Portugal (it's definitely not a disease that's confining itself to the UK!). Really all we needed to do was learn the Portuguese word for 'gluten', work out a few hand gestures related to putting food in our mouths and shaking our heads and we'd be fine. Cue a frantic internet search for Portuguese-English medical dictionaries.

54 ways to say 'I have Coeliac disease'!
Well, the wondrous world wide web did better than translating a mere word- I stumbled across a website that has got 'gluten-free restaurant cards' to download in 54 different languages (seriously-54!!).  The cards explain that the holder has Coeliac disease and briefly what they can and can't eat. Not only that- but it's free!! (although if you can leave a donation to support the running of the site it's appreciated.) The cards can be downloaded here: http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/.

To our absolute joy, the card we downloaded worked perfectly. Every single person we showed the card to nodded their head and was able to show us what was on the menu that Alex could eat- and if there was nothing on the menu, they made something especially using fresh ingredients. Contrary to our fears, it was actually less of a problem to eat out in Portugal than it sometimes is here in the UK and I would absolutely recommend Albufeira to anyone on a gluten-free diet.

Additionally we found a couple of supermarkets which had gluten-free ranges of food, so we could have survived without the wheelie bag load of supplies, although I would still always pack some GF carbohydrates just in case....

It's a matter of insurance:
We had heard that having Coeliac's shouldn't affect your insurance premium for travel insurance as it isn't an allergy and hospitalisation shouldn't be required if gluten is consumed. This may be true for some of the larger insurers, but we took out a policy with a  company called 'Holiday Safe'. When we disclosed Alexandra's condition, they added £20 to her premium and increased the excess payable if she were to require any care abroad. Luckily, they were still cheaper than most other insurers, so we didn't make too big a deal,but it was a bit irksome it must be said. In future I'll definitely be checking if the insurance company adds to the premium once we've disclosed about the Coeliac's to make sure we still get the best deal.

We Are Sailing:
The only other place that we've travelled to abroad since the diagnosis is Ireland where (although my hubby wouldn't always agree) they speak English. We had a fantastic experience on the way with Stenaline ferry company. They have well marked gluten-free options on the menu and when Alex turned her nose up at what was on offer the chef made her something from scratch. Thumbs up Stena!

I have to say I still have some shadows of concerns lingering in the back of my mind at thoughts of travelling too far from home and having to untangle what's in every dish we come across, rather than just enjoy the experience. But maybe it would be like that with kids anyway, regardless of the gluten-free requirement. Given the results of our recent adventures I'm certainly not going to let the GF factor stop me!

I would love to hear of any other experiences of gluten-free eating in other countries.

Jen