One of the most frightening ideas I had of what used to be "normal" was eating out now that Sophie couldn't eat gluten. The idea of cooks and servers that unknowingly would be placing their gluten hands, cooking utensils, and other items on Sophie's food, leaving us with a sick child, scared me. I have done a lot of reading on the subject of dining out, but still couldn't fathom how a server and cook would understand that I didn't want to be difficult by trying to tell them about special precautions when preparing Sophie's food. Scenarios would run through my head about how we handled the picky people when I was a server, seeing it more as a way to make my job harder. I don't like to be a burden, but if Sophie was going to eat out, then I had to be in order to keep her food safe.
About a week and a half ago, we traveled about an hour south to Victoria, TX. We wanted to go down there to hit a store that we don't have here and since it was coming up on time to eat dinner, we decided to eat while we were there. As usual, I took Sophie some food in a lunch box in case I needed to feed her something I knew was safe. I wanted to eat somewhere I could order her something, but I wanted her safe food in case I chickened out.
We decided to eat at Olive Garden. When we reached the hostess stand, I asked for a gluten-free menu. Unknown to me a few months ago about these menus, I realize now that most restaurants are carrying them, typically included in their allergy info. Olive Garden's is in their allergen info brochure, but they actually do have a section that is their gluten-free menu. They had several dishes and a couple of kids dishes that were all able to be adjusted to be gluten-free. I decided to order Sophie some pasta with chicken and marinara sauce, making sure to keep any cheese off of it. When ordering, I tried to make sure that the waitress we had realized the importance of preparing Sophie's food. She assured me the kitchen would do their best. Despite everything I could do and say, I still was very nervous. I couldn't stop wondering if 2 hours later we would have a sick girl who would just cry and need to be changed a few times every hour.
As Brandon and I were enjoying our bread and salad, I tried to calm my nerves. We were attempting to teach Sophie how to drink out a straw to pass the time until our food arrived. (She did it once, but she is not straw-ready quite yet.) When our food arrived, I stared at Sophie's bowl as if I could maybe see if it had gluten or not, even though I know that's impossible to do. I tasted her pasta to see if it was regular pasta or gluten-free. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you see it), I had eaten enough gluten-free pasta lately that it was a very familiar taste so I couldn't remember if that was what GF pasta or regular pasta tasted like. After asking the server again if it was indeed gluten-free pasta, and her reassuring me once again, I finally let Sophie eat. The uneasiness never left the entire meal, but I did my best to enjoy my food and to let Sophie enjoy being out, which she loves because of all the people who pay her attention. :)
Never has eating out been so stressful! It was supposed to be a break for me on cooking and an enjoyable time with my family. For me, this first time eating out wasn't too enjoyable. Sure, I enjoyed the delicious food and loved spending time with Brandon, but fear overcame fun. The entire evening after dinner I was nervous, expecting Sophie to begin crying at any moment without stopping no matter how much I comforted her. All this worry was for no reason, though. Sophie never began crying in pain. She never blew up any diapers. She ate later that night without any trouble. She slept as she always did that night. While I do believe that the fear of her being glutened is good to make me get over not wanting to burden restaurant employees, I realized that once I ordered and made clear what Sophie needed, I needed to just enjoy the rest of the meal. Olive Garden tasted great and Sophie did enjoy her food.
Yesterday, I again went out to eat with Sophie, this time with a friend from church. We ate at Red Lobster. I hadn't done any research on Red Lobster prior to going, which made me a bit nervous. When we were seated with the gluten-free and allergen information brochure, I felt better. There were several things Sophie could eat. I decided to order her the grilled chicken on the kids menu. As I was explaining to our training waitress and her more seasoned trainer the specifics about Sophie's order, the waiter was very helpful. He seemed knowledgeable about gluten, which was a blessing. He told me that they could clean the grill as good as they could, but there was still a risk of cross-contamination. He offered instead that they could broil her chicken in its own pan away from everything else. He also let me know that he would be asking the kitchen to leave off any seasonings from the chicken and her broccoli. He knew that they needed to use clean cooking utensils and to keep anything with gluten away. They even brought her plate out separately before our food in order for it to not risk getting cross-contaminated from being on the same tray as the other food. They completely eased my mind about what she needed, going above and beyond what I would have thought a restaurant staff would willingly do. Not only did they make sure that her food was safe, but it was still good! Sophie ate almost all of her chicken and even ate a couple bites of broccoli (which she doesn't normally), granted she dipped everything in ketchup (which was also gluten-free there). Upon leaving, I thanked the manager and let her know how moved I was at all the measures taken to prepare Sophie a safe lunch.
Having gone out with Sophie two times now, I do feel as though I'm better at enjoying myself. I realized how helpful people can be at a restaurant and that people do understand the desire to get a safe meal for her, not just me trying to be difficult. The gentleman at Red Lobster was just another sign of the Lord placing in our path someone who would help us. He has been doing that ever since we began to suspect Celiac Disease. God is so good! The experience also helped me to be able to educate the girl who was training at Red Lobster on Celiac, even if just a little bit. She asked me a few questions and I was very happy to spread the awareness a little to her, especially since she works in the food industry. I know that somewhere along the line in Sophie's life, she will probably get very sick from eating out somewhere that didn't take the necessary actions to ensure safe food for her, but I will continue to do what I can on educating waitstaff and her when she gets old enough. For now, I will just enjoy those moments better when I get to spend time dining out with my family.
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