When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time at my best friend’s house. Her family was wonderful, and we would frequently go out to meals together. Even then, I was pretty much a picky eater, and although I didn’t know about how to eat to lessen my pain, I sure knew some things definitely affected me. The father, my “2nd Dad” as I called him, taught me an important lesson back then that I’ll share with you.
The menu is just a list of what the kitchen has on hand!!!
His example was this: If you see that a restaurant is offering tuna sandwiches and cheeseburgers, you could ask for a grilled cheese, because you know they have bread, cheese, and a grill. 😉 Simple as that.
Ever since then, I look at the menus for ways I can pull items together to make something tasty. Menus are just a way to help people decide on what to eat, and what the chef has put together. In my life so far, I haven’t had any trouble getting what I want from a restaurant. If they have the ingredients, they can make it. Granted, sometimes they don’t know quite how to price it, but a manager can usually come up with some price.
“I have allergies.”
Over the years I’ve noticed that if I tell the restaurants I have dietary restrictions, they tend to not pay too much attention to my food, assuming that I’m just trying to lose weight or something. When I tell them I have allergies, they pay ATTENTION! It’s not lying. The definition of allergy is this:
A damaging immune response by the body to a substance, especially pollen, fur, a particular food, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.
My colon is hugely hypersensitive to certain foods, and it causes damage when I don’t eat correctly. So, when I tell the server that I have allergies, they usually do their best. Now, I don’t tell the server everything I CAN’T eat, the list is just too long. However, I’ve already perused the menu, so I know what they have that would be safe and just combine them.
Here’s an example: When I go to Mimi’s Cafe, I see they have burgers on the menu.
NEW Hickory Bacon Cheddar Burger
On a toasted brioche bun with hickory-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, barbeque sauce, lettuce, pickles and golden buttermilk onion strings. With your choice of fresh hand-cut Idaho Russet fries, mixed fruit or house salad.
Brioche Cheeseburger
On a toasted brioche bun with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, Thousand Island dressing and your choice of cheese. With your choice of fresh hand-cut Idaho Russet fries, mixed fruit or house salad.
Brioche, Bacon & Egg Cheeseburger
On a toasted brioche bun with hickory-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles and Thousand Island dressing, crowned with a fried egg. With your choice of fresh hand-cut Idaho Russet fries, mixed fruit or house salad.
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Ok then. Excellent. So, I order a side of a hamburger patty with cheddar cheese (no seasonings since there is salt & pepper at the table and a lot of seasonings restaurants use have sugar or soy), with an egg fried in butter on top. Occasionally, I’ll ask for an avocado on top since I noticed they have those for the Hass avocado guacamole on an earlier burger.
Do you understand? There’s so much you can do with this. If you are just gluten-free, you can order this Bacon & egg Cheeseburger on a bed of Romaine lettuce. (They have Caesar salads, so they have Romaine lettuce). You could also have the fries, although you might consider their fresh fruit.
Every now and then I’m pleasantly surprised by a chef that takes me on as a “challenge” and will come up with his own concoction that satisfies my restrictions. They are few and far between, but if you find them, it’s like heaven on earth.
Don’t be afraid to eat out with dietary restrictions!! Restaurants want your business and will do their best to accommodate you. 🙂
The Sensitive Eater 