Cross Contamination Worries

I started to think dining out was getting better in the greater Boston area for people with food sensitivities.  The menus might be limited but they existed.  And servers seemed to know about the issue, as in really know, not just the lip service like having to wash your hands.

I was wrong.  Recently we went out to a couple of different restaurants.  One was a steakhouse in Weymouth, MA.  The other was all-American fare in Quincy, MA.   The both got things wrong, much to our detriment, although one more than the other.

In Weymouth, we figured a steak house was a safe bet.  Beef has no gluten.  Now many of the sauces, demi glace or whatever will have gluten.  They usually use flour to thicken them.  However, ordering a steak without sauce should be fine.  It didn't turn out that way.  We ordered after informing our server several times about gluten allergies, and asked questions about specific dishes regarding gluten content.  That still was not enough apparently.  My lovely date ordered filet with a lobster tail.  Now for her I will give the benefit of the doubt that it may have been the lobster.  It came out dull with brown edges instead of the bright red that one would expect.  Our guess is that it was cooked well ahead of time and just reheated when served.  You CAN'T do that to lobster.  I ordered sirloin.  It was a little tough but the butter on top may have had some additive that made me sick.  That is only my guess, there could have been something in the mashed potato.  In any event the food was somehow contaminated.  That is inexcusable in light of informing the server of our food allergies.  What should have let me know was that the same server brought the food.  Previously in other restaurants a designated food allergy server brought out the actual food as a way of insuring against cross contamination.  One place even uses slightly different shaped plates also.  This steakhouse did not.  And we paid for it.

The Quincy restaurant was a bit better.  The server acknowledged our food allergies and even went to check with the chef about our questions on some dishes.  Even with all that there was still something possibly wrong.  I am only mentioning this to highlight the food sensitive's need to be ever vigilant.  She ordered a Cobb salad with steak tips.  The steak was obviously marinated in something, presumably teriyaki.  That may have been good except she cannot have any marinades, and most teriyaki contains soy sauce, which has gluten.

Even with the best of places, and when doing everything a person should do when food allergies are involved - reviewing ingredients, asking questions, informing servers - there is still a significant risk of becoming ill when dining out.  Restaurants are not automated, they are run by people.  People make mistakes.  While that is a fact of life, that fact can ruin another person's day, or life.