I can remember, as a little girl, maybe even younger than two years old, going into our living room and watching my favorite TV shows. Bozo, of course, but the best ever was always Sesame Street.
One day there was an episode where two characters decided they were just too tired to make dinner at home, and they said they would go to a restaurant. Small Allergywoman cried out, "That's a GREAT idea!"
Of course, that was Pre-Allergy days.
Post-allergy days, like many people with food differences, I've grown to dread going to restaurants. No, it's not as if I go every day (or would waste our money on going, honestly), but our family likes to get together at restaurants, as does our gaming group. And then I have to decide: Am I going to attempt to get something? If I do, will I have a severe reaction? Will I have time to recover from it before going back to work? Should I just get coffee? (a very, very boring option) The "best" option we have locally is a restaurant that makes me a plain chicken breast. Very plain. Better than nothing, of course, but hardly an exciting option. I think small pre-Allergywoman would look at it scornfully.
So we had a family gathering recently, and my father-in-law took us to a restaurant. I felt that usual sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew, just knew, this was going to be disaster.
I talked with the woman behind the register, who seemed friendly, about my having numerous severe allergies. "Oh, sure," she said confidently. "We can work with that."
Now, I don't know about you, but as a Veteran of the Allergy Wars (tm) ... my internal reaction was, "Yeah, I've heard THAT one before." But I decided what the heck, I'd give it a try.
I did see an encouraging sign, a gluten-free dessert. (Turtle cake. Probably not safe for me, as most gluten-free baked goods include eggs, but how often do you see one listed on the main menu?) And it looked like they had a chicken option that could work, but again, there are pitfalls to those, too. Did they use pepper? (banned for me) How about canola oil? (often in potatoes) Still, chicken with garlic and potatoes...tempting.
So our server came to the table and I asked if she could give me a complete listing of the ingredients in the chicken dish. And she did. That was amazing. Much of the time, getting complete ingredient lists from restaurants is impossible. Even more amazing, there was just one ingredient I couldn't have, wine. So I asked if they could eliminate it from the dish and cook it in its own dish.
And they did.
I was shocked. It came in its own plate, swimming in rosemary and oregano, savory broth and garlic cloves, with Yukon potatoes and a lovely carrot garnish. It was deeply tasty and wonderful. And best of all, I didn't have an allergic reaction to it. I had expected I might anyway, but minute after minute passed and nothing.
The rest of the waitstaff were friendly and helpful, and we met the owner, too. He was very kind and really wanted me to have dessert, but sadly, that wasn't possible that night. I told him that what he had done with dinner was enough.
He gave me a precious gift, one rare for those of us in the food difference community. He gave me the feeling of being normal.
Oh, and Santa Claus passed by outside while we were eating. I doubt the restaurant arranged for it, but it felt like a Christmas blessing to me.
Now, I guarantee I'm not being compensated to talk up this local business. I just happened to go there and know they accommodated my allergies. Normally I wouldn't give names, but given what a good job they did at taking care of me, I think anyone else in the Northern Illinois area with food allergies could do worse than throwing a little business their way.
Thanks, Dad, for taking us there, and thanks to David of David's Bistro.
I ordered the Chicken Vultaggio. But I heard the Beef Wellington is good, too. Just a suggestion, if you don't have much in the way of allergies.