Clean Out The Pantry» Restaurants

Toronto 2011

peanutmom — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:23:25 +0000

I never imagined spending our holidays in Toronto, but with a peanut allergy we are enjoying our new found freedom.

Thanks to our friend at avoidingmilkprotein.com, we have traversed the city in search of peanut free confections! Last summer we tried to find Loostsalicious, the peanut free ice cream parlor. To our dismay it was closed, however we hopped back in our minivan to visit Richman’s Bakery. We overindulged on cookies, cakes, breads, muffins, cupcakes, donuts- did I miss anything?

This summer we had the pleasure of overindulging in The Cupcake Shoppe’s delicious cupcakes. The kids’ favorite was the gumball topped cupcake! Mine was the chocolate chip cookie dough flavored cake with matching frosting!

In addition to cupcakes we purchased chocolate confections at Lollicakes, an adorable little shop in a section of Toronto called Davisville. When we return for chocolates, I will most certainly build in time to shop around this great neighborhood!

But beyond sweet treats we have found some great restaurants and attractions. Most recently we dined at Live and Breathe, aka L.A.B. an up and coming Toronto gastronomic hit! The chef/owner and staff are very friendly, preparing fresh, seasonal, “molecular gastronomy” to excite the taste buds! They provided us with an exceptional meal and were extremely accommodating of our allergy.

Pizzaria Rustica is another allergy friendly establishment, with 2 locations near the Rogers Center. Their pesto is void of nuts and they have gluten free options available.

I also subscribe to “Toronto for Kids,” a great weekly enewsletter highlghting weekly family events in Toronto.

We have had some great adventures in Toronto! It is about what we CAN do!

FA Dining Websites

peanutmom — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:24:43 +0000

Tempted to try stepping out with food allergies, but don’t want to reinvent the wheel? Several popular food allergy rating websites have recently popped up:

www.lonelyplate.org

www.allerdine.com

www.allergyeats.com

Allergy “Friendly” Restaurants – Updates

peanutmom — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:08:18 +0000

Dining out in a restaurant is something we did ALL THE TIME …before we had kids. I’m sure many readers can relate. Then our son got to be a couple months old and we would try lunch, then a little older & he was actually a lot of fun in a restaurant! We loved giving him french fries with ketchup and little samples from our plates. Then one day we tried a milkshake!!! We thought it would be so much fun to watch our one year old have his first milkshake! But he didn’t want it. So we gave him some whipped cream on the straw & watched the hives light up!

We’ve learned a few things since then. We also quit restaurants for a while. But in my effort to show my son the world as I know it, my motto let’s find what we CAN do prevailed and I began searching for allergy “friendly” restaurants. “Friendly” is not to be confused with safe. Nothing is safe. ”Friendly” refers to those restaurants who have made an effort to understand food allergies & develop procedures in order to serve the allergic population.

There had been at one time a website devoted to listing “allergy friendly restaurants.” It no longer exits – due to Liability http://www.peanutaware.com/safe_restaurants.html. So once again I will state Firmly…this list is by no means a listing of safe restaurants, only a list of “friendly” restaurants. It is in the parent’s best interest to contact the restaurant manager on the phone and in person to discuss the individual case. If for any reason you do not feel comfortable eating at the restaurant…DON’T do it!!!!! This is your child’s life you are dealing with. If a restaurant can’t put you at ease…LEAVE.

On with the exciting part….call the restaurant in advance, ask for manager upon arrival, and good luck!

McDonald’s http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat/mcdonalds_menu.html we have had much luck here. The menu is detailed on the web and the only peanuts they use are in a sealed package for sundaes. I wouldn’t recommend using the play place, especially if there is eating inside, due to cross contamination. ALSO – WATCH for DOG TREATS in the drive thru – they had peanut butter ones there today!
Red Robin http://www.redrobin.com/home/locate.aspx?from=menu we have been there several times. The former kitchen manager had a peanut allergy. They can print a menu for the specific allergy. The manager can then personally cook & deliver the meal. Make sure you ask him/her to do this. Eric – the peanut allergy Kitchen Manager was moved to Amherst almost a year ago
Nino’s Pizza 1737 Orchard Park Rd, West Seneca, NY 14224, Phone: (716) 674-9066. They have been excellent with us. They do not have peanuts and there is a peanut allergy in the “nino’s family.” We have eaten in and taken out. We love pizza!
TGI Friday’s http://www.fridays.com/home/welcome.aspx we have not eaten here yet, however I have spoken to the manager in person. She printed a Excel list of all menu items and what allergens they possess
HSBC Arena Box Seats http://www.hsbcarena.com/ my husband’s work let us use the box for the Wiggles Concert. (it was excellent by the way!) Chef Paul and his staff were fantastic. They read all the packaging for us & Chef Paul prepared all the food himself. We had a great time & my son was able to safely play with his cousins & eat the food!!
Costanzo’s Bakery http://www.costanzosbakery.com/index.cfm Not necessarily a restaurant, but we don’t have a category for them yet & they’ve been great with us! They no longer make doughnuts!!! They accept call ahead orders & questions!
Forestview Restaurant located at 4781 Transit Road in Depew displays a sign stating “Now serving gluten free pancakes”. Their phone number is 716-656-8760. map
You’ll be happy to know we’ve found a new website www.foodallergyfriendly.net/ it’s still in the early stages, but looks like it will be a great resource for restaurants and allergy friendly products
Curly’s -of Lackawanna http://www.curlysgrill.com/- received a great review from one of our readers, after sitting through Krista’s presentation & taking the tour of the restaurant, I feel very comfortable bringing my family for a special occasion
Pizza Hut- has received mixed reviews – I thought i read somewhere they use peanuts to thicken some of their sauce, someone else says they’ve checked & found it to be ok.
Red Lobster- we overheard they are very accommodating, I have not checked into it myself.
Denny’s - They assisted FAAN in writing their Restaurant Guide. Although each store is different, so ask questions before attempting.
Swiss Chalet -http://www.swisschalet.com/home.php We visited the Transit/French location in Lancaster. The manager was well aware of food allergies and very knowledgeable. We had a great experience! Wednesdays from 4-8 kids eat free & receive free balloon animals.
Italian Ice – New spot in Orchard Park. We cannot eat the gelato, however they have the ingredient lists for all the italian ices and use a separate scoop! We’ve been there twice!
Olive Garden – according to post below
Pasquale’s – according to post below
BW’s Barbecue Catering – http://www.bwbbq.com/ Called them to ask about bbq pork, grilled chicken and boiled potatoes. They make the catered food in a separate facility. There are peanuts present in the restaurant. The catered food was delicious, however I don’t think my 3 year old felt like eating that day. But it was nice to know we could let our guard down – slighlty.
Cinco de Mayo- http://www.5demayogrill.com/ closed
Little Ceasar’s Pizza – claim no peanuts are used in their facility.

It’s a short list, but I am always looking for new places to try. We would love to hear about other restaurants and experiences – good or bad….it’s very important to communicate this to the group!!!

Below please find a list of DEFINITE NO NOs…..

The Original Pancake House – uses Peanut Oil in their pancake batter
Cheburger Cheburger of Amherst- fries in peanut oil
JP’s in Hamburg – fries in peanut oil
Tops Carry out Cafe – watch out for those lingering Tim Horton’s Peanut Doughnuts cross contaminating everything!!!
Eileen’s West Seneca Bakery – although there are rumors out there they are peanut safe, they cannot guarantee any cross contamination has not occurred.
Pizza Plant – this is a tough one. The Transit Road location has gluten free pizza dough on Wednesday night, however they serve peanuts at the bar at both locations. They have vegan options as well & we loved this place, but the peanuts in the shell are a deal breaker.
The Roycroft – http://www.roycroftinn.com/ Strike the original good reivew as I had a HORRIBLE experience there. I do not believe they are providing any training.

LonelyPlate.org

peanutmom — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:14:55 +0000

My name is Sharona Schwartz. Until a year and a half ago, I was News Coverage Manager at CNN’s Washington Bureau where beyond my daily news responsibilities I produced many stories on food allergies with chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. You can find online some of the TV transcripts and CNN.com articles I wrote on the subject, including a report on Sabrina Shannon, which won a number of journalism awards, including from FAAN. I became interested in the subject after my daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies (at the time, allergic to all major allergens + a few).

I’m in the process of launching a website where families with food allergic kids/parents can write reviews about restaurants they visit. There are fantastic online resources reviewing restaurants and hotels, (Tripadvisor, Yelp, VirtualTourist, etc.) but because I couldn’t find any that consolidated the experiences of those with food allergies, I decided to create an interactive database where we can review restaurants, hotels, airlines, and kid-friendly venues (like Disney). Wouldn’t it be great to give a shout out to a place that did a great job helping your child have a safe meal, or warn others of a place to stay away from at all cost?

The web address is www.lonelyplate.org. I’m asking friends and food allergy support group members to publish the first posts or send me (so I can post for them) reviews of businesses they’ve visited. This kind of information-sharing is crucial not only to keep each other safe but also can be a message to restaurants that we are a consumer community worth catering to.

Among the Washington, D.C. support group members, we have been exchanging this kind of information for years (as I know many of you do in your locales), but we never shared this information with food allergic families in other cities and countries, something I aim to accomplish.

Please share your experiences with us. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Curly’s Restaurant Review

peanutmom — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:53:24 +0000

Our last Southtowns Food Allergy Support Group meeting was held Tuesday, April 22 at Curly’s Restaurant. Chef and Owner Krista Van Wagner hosted our group, providing us with an insightful round table discussion and tour of her facilities. It was fantastic meeting the kitchen staff and asking the hard questions. They were open and supportive to our needs. We left feeling very comfortable bringing our families back to dine.

Our hope is to spread the word to make more restaurants “allergy friendly.” Krista suggests we patronize restaurants that are “scratch houses” where everything is made from scratch, to order. And she encourages us to continue trying new things and educating other proprietors along the way.

Thank you Krista. Dinner was delicious!

Red Robin Food Allergy Awareness Week

peanutmom — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:46:24 +0000

Red Robin Orchard Park has agreed to host a Food Allergy Night during Food Allergy Awareness Week on Tuesday, May 12, 2009.

Food allergy families are invited to dine & help raise food allergy awareness among other guests in the restaurant.

FAAN will provided signage and other food allergy information.

Looks like Red Robin Amherst may join in!!!

More details to come!!!

More AWESOME Travel Info – Toronto Anyone?

peanutmom — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:12:53 +0000

Toronto has one of the largest collections of Nut Free Bakeshops, it is a total thrill to tell a child he/she can have anything in a bakeshop!

List Nut Free Bakeshops http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/nutfreebake.htm

I’ve heard only good things about lootalictious in Toronto a nut free icecreamshop with other kid friendly things.

Swiss Chalet is not allergen free but they have had an allergy guide and protocols for over twenty years!

Taco bell is a nut free fast food place.

I’m sure your experienced enough to book a fridge in your room, mention that you have a child with food allergies because if they are short on fridges they “should” give fridges to people with medical needs fridges first. Keeping cold sensative medicinescold and allergic persons food cold is a medical need.

Helpful Restaurant Info from Our Canadian Friend

peanutmom — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:08:38 +0000

An increasing number of restaurants are posting both nutritional and ingredient information on their web sites. Swiss Chalet and St. Huberts restaurants have had allergy guides for over twenty years. Yet few followed at first.

Restaurants allergy guides sometimes includes cross contamination status along with allergen information on menu choices. This so far has been mostly true of the big chains and only the top eight to ten allergens. Other restaurants have ingredient binders or allergen charts at their locations.

Kelsey’s improved and updated its allergy guide on its website, making it easier to follow. The Keg has an allergy binder, located in their restaurants, but not on line. When I went to Eastside Mario’s a couple of years ago didn’t know what an allergy policy was. Now each location has an ingredient binder with allergy information. Neither The Keg nor Eastside Mario’s has ingredient information on-line, only at their locations. The great thing about an online allergy guide is that you have an idea about what and if, you can eat somewhere before you visit the restaurant. The guides also give hints as to how allergy aware and cross contamination aware they are.

The big fast food chains like Wendy’s Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell have also put up on-line allergy information, sometimes including cross contamination policies, but have few choices for people allergic to wheat/gluten or milk. Taco Bell has no nuts in their restaurants.

If you live in a major centre your more likely to live near a specialty shop that caters to your food allergy. Toronto Ontario has more than dozen nut free bakeshops to choose from. The Ottawa Ontario area has a few, nut free bakeshops. More major cities in both Canada and the US have at least one nut free bakeshop.

New York has almost countless gluten free bakeshops and restaurants. Specialty shops with dairy and gluten free pizzas have been popping up every where. Although some main stream pizza places have dairy free vegan options not all are willing or able to deal with cross contamination issues.

Be aware with big chains the Canadian and American allergy guides may be different. Just because a restaurant has an allergy guide does not mean they have cross contamination protocols, often the allergy guides have a last updated information or a disclaimer.

We are willing, when traveling to travel at least twenty minutes out of our way to visit an allergy friendly restaurant or bakeshop. The first time we went to a dairy free bakeshop was amazing, I could actually tell my allergic child she can have anything she wants, even then she hesitated before asking for the vegan nut free brownie, but she soon caught on, and we came home with bags of goodies.

Avoiding Milk Protein http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/Restaurants.htm