Los Angeles restaurants...venting and a happy ending

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

Happy 2009!!!! I wanted to share some information about LA

restaurants with you:

Since hearing that The Bottle Inn restaurant in Hermosa Beach, CA,

was carrying gluten-free pasta, my husband and I have wanted to go…

I'm the Celiac. We called ahead to ensure that they could accommodate

a gluten-free diet and that they carried gluten-free pasta. We also

set up a reservation so that we could partake in their much cheaper

dinner special (the restaurant's fairly pricey), which the owner

promised they could do gluten-free. We go there and the chef refused

to prepare the meal gluten-free, the hostess told us that if we

didn't like it we could leave, and to top it off, after being very

embarrassed by the whole situation, we overheard another patron

telling the hostess that we were ridiculous asking that my food be

prepared special. I quietly confronted the patron and told her that

her comment really upset me and I wanted to know why she thought that

I was being so ridiculous. She stated that I was using being gluten-

free to my advantage. I quickly told her that having Celiac Disease,

a condition which dictated what I could and could not safely eat, was

is in no way advantageous and that it hurt me that she could make fun

of me and be so condescending about someone with a serious condition.

She really had no comment, but the whole situation made me very sad…I

cried for 5 minutes and then refused to shed another tear. I'm sure

you all understand how embarrassing and discriminating situations

like those can feel. That, by far, was the worst dining out

experience I've encountered in my 3 years of being gluten-free. My

husband did contact the owner the next day and he was somewhat

apologetic. I really appreciate that restaurants carry special

products for us and are willing to accommodate our diet. But, after

taking the necessary steps to ensure the evening would go smoothly,

it still ended up being worse than I could have expected. Most

restaurants that I've gone to…and I eat out often…are very helpful

regardless of whether or not they have gluten-free menus or even

options. This was just embarrassing and upsetting that even after

talking with the OWNER, we were still refused gluten-free service.

On a happier note, we found another place in Hermosa Beach, Fritto

Misto, that carries wheat free-egg free pasta and ate there that

evening. It was delicious and so inexpensive. My mother-in-law and

husband shared an appetizer, we each (3 of us) had our own large-

portion pasta dish, and a bottle of wine for $62. And, the manager

was so excited about my excitement that he gave us a flourless

chocolate cake for free…a good ending to an otherwise unpleasant

evening.

Summary: When in Los Angeles, avoid The Bottle Inn Restaurant and do

check out Fritto Misto (locations in Santa and Hermosa Beach).

AND…mostly importantly…understand that some people are just ignorant

and be grateful that we are no longer getting sick from our own

ignorance.

Take care,

Sam