Eating Out

When you’re allergic to almost everything, there is nothing you can quickly grab and eat.  Even snacks have to be planned. Fast food is totally out of the question and many of the nicer restaurants are not much better.  Determined to maintain a “normal” life, I looked for restaurants that I believed prepared food from scratch, or close to it.  Although I gazed longingly at the menu, my order was always the same; “I’ll have this salad, but please hold the tomatoes, croutons, onions, and dressing.  And bring me a lot of lemon.”  Within minutes a sympathetic waiter would return with an unappetizing plate of lettuce and cucumbers and a small bowl of lemons.  “Are you sure there’s nothing else here you can eat?”  I’d just smile and say enthusiastically, “No, but this is great! Thanks!”  As I ate my healthy, allergen-free salad I savored the aroma of my friend’s garlic-rich shrimp marinara.


It was a nightmare, until I learned to adapt.  Realistically no restaurant was going to make my food as tasty as I could, so if I wanted to eat out, I would have to be resourceful.  I needed to find restaurants that offered broiled or grilled fish that were not pre-seasoned, and steamed vegetables.  Some restaurants have a “dieter’s section” on their menu with at least one steamed vegetable – usually broccoli or asparagus.  Some even offer a baked sweet potato and you can opt to hold the toppings.  So things were looking up for me.  Even before they developed their new “special diet/gluten-free/etc.” menus, most restaurants were very accommodating to my unusual requests. To reduce the repeated request for more lemons, I started bringing my own little jar of “dressing” which I poured over everything.  It was a simple mix of olive oil, Ume Plum Vinegar, Herbes de Provence, dried thyme leaves, sea salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper. This, drizzled over my lemon infused food, was all I needed to enjoy a meal away from home.  Life was good again!

“If You Get my Order Wrong You Will Have to Call the Paramedics!”
Whether it’s a mild reaction or a severe one, no one wants to pay to get sick.  So I quickly learned the wisdom in telling my server, in no uncertain terms, that I have severe food allergies and that they must fill my order just as requested.  If stressed properly, the word “severe” will catch their attention and result in a better chance of a problem-free meal.  Despite the fact that so many people have serious food allergies, many servers (especially young males) seem to be oblivious to this and pay little heed to your special requests.

Once I asked if the olive oil was flavored.  The handsome young waiter assured me that it was not, but I asked him to check with the chef to play safe.  Again he returned with the same response…just plain extra virgin olive oil.  Three bites into my meal, I start to feel the beginning of a migraine, so I asked him to bring me the labeled bottle of olive oil.  He returned with many apologies, “Chef forgot that there is black pepper in the olive oil!”  Their fresh new order at no charge did little to dull the pain that was encircling my head.  Still, I couldn’t help but laugh (under my breath, of course) each time the now overly concerned young waiter returned to my table to check to see if I was okay.  I could only imagine his fear of having to call 911!