This could also be called "Doing Paris on a Reasonable Budget." 1. Rent an apartment with a functioning refrigerator and stove. Having a freezer and oven are great too! We were traveling with another couple, so we got a two bedroom apartment for $1,400 for a full week in the 18th arrondissement, the neighborhood called Montmartre not too far from the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. It was close to two subway stops and an excellent bus line, so even though it wasn’t right across the street from the Louvre, it was easy to get to the places we wanted to go. Plus, it was near cute shops, a grocery store, and had that local neighborhood charm. (We found our place through a friend, but I recommend that you check out Vacation Rental by Owner— www.vrbo.com – to find a place. Make sure it is REALLY two-bedroom though, not one bedroom and a couch in the living room if you need a place that size.) But the key reason the apartment was great was that I could make my own breakfast and pack snacks or an interesting second meal for when we were out and about. My key rule is always know where your next meal or snack is coming from, and when in an unfamiliar city without a great command of the language, having your own food is critical.
2. Request the special meal on the plane, but have your own too. Here's the place to find info for American Airelines. We flew US Air, but it has since been acquired by American Airlines, so your experience may be different. Back then (and maybe still) they offered a gluten-free special meal, but nothing for gluten-free vegetarians, so if you are a vegetarian like me, you will certainly want to pack your own food anyway. [This was also my experience on a 2018 trip to South Korea.] On the way there I traded my fish for my friend’s fruit salad. On the way home, I ate the rice but left the chicken breast. The main meal they served, if you are omnivorous, looked pretty good. Their supplemental snack near the end of the flights was a pretty sad affair by anyone’s standards. 3. In addition to your food for the plane, pack gluten-free provisions. I packed plenty of gluten-free on-the-go-type foods in the suitcase that I checked which was great, since navigating label-reading at the grocery store and finding equivalent products the health food store were a bit of a challenge. Udi’s bagels were handy (I also packed my toaster sleeve!) And one thing to note: Parisians apparently don’t eat peanut butter. I finally found it at the health food store Naturalia, but it looked like an import from Germany. Go figure! 4. That said, find the Monoprix (grocery store) and Naturalia and various outdoor markets to see what culinary life in Paris is like, and to buy cheese and veggies etc (Monoprix and markets) and any gluten-free crackers or cereal or whatever to have on hand (Naturalia). 5. Take a cutting board and appropriate utensils. Our apartment was great, but the cutting boards and spoons were all wooden and could have been a big source of cross-contamination. I made due without getting a new cutting board, but I did buy a plastic spatula that I could use on the non-stick pans without worry. I brought it home and now I think of Paris every time I use it. 6. Before you go, get/make a list of gluten-free friendly restaurants by arrondissement, with notes about hours and days, and follow them on Facebook. I didn’t realize until I got there that arrondissement number = zipcode. For example, the Louvre in the 1st arrondissement which is in 75001. This made it much easier to identify our likely lunch or dinner venue based on what we were going to be doing that day. Be sure to double check their hours. Unsurprisingly, their websites and Facebook pages are IN FRENCH, so I goofed a couple of times and took us to restaurants that weren’t open. Since I don’t speak French I was reluctant to call ahead. Get over this fear and save yourself many extra miles on your already tired feet! Carry your list around with you. 7. Get a weekly Paris Metro (public transportation) pass. For around 24 euros, you can go everywhere. This gets you to and from your apartment to museums and those far flung gluten-free dining gems. If you are from a city and are familiar with subways, it’s actually easier to use than many. Here’s a website that explains it: http://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-metro-week-pass-navigo-decouverte/ 8. Have a plan each day. It’s much less stressful if you know when and where your meals are coming from each day. Even if you don’t decide until the night before or the morning of, have a concrete picture of how you expect to get your nutritional needs met safely. If you don’t plan and get hungry while you are out and about, you are more likely to make risky decisions. 9. Plan for picnics. Paris is loaded with great parks, gardens and random green spaces. Take advantage of them! Be one of those people who lounge about, looking tranquil and eating apple slices with brie and drinking sparkling water. We planned a picnic and happened upon a flash dance mob (that conjures an image, doesn’t it?) Actually we think it was just an outdoor dance rehearsal in a park, but it was fun to watch and a really excellent Paris experience. 10. Take pictures of the food, the place and the menu to help you remember where you had the best success. Post them on-line! Sell your list on Fiverr.com! Tell others in the gluten-free community where you had success so that we can live vicariously through you and we can collectively have pleasantly memorable international travel experience. The the overnight road trip to AC was all about Corley's 11th birthday. We saw the Amazing Kozak the Magician on Monday night, which was a total homerun. We stayed over at Harrah's and the boys frollicked in the pool for a good portion of the next day. Culinarily, I sustained myself primarily with apples, reconstituted powdered peanut butter (surprisingly good!) and the Kinnikinnick sandwich bread I reviewed earlier in the week. The family had messy pizza on the boardwalk. For Corley's big birthday lunch, however, we wanted to find a place that would accommodate all of us. We picked the Rain Forest Cafe on the boardwalk. It's a theme restaurant with animals that spring to life every 15 minutes and has a passing thunder shower every half hour. Perfect for the younger set! It was listed in Find Me Gluten Free, so I had some hope that we'd be able to craft a palatable meal for me. Upon my announcement of needed a gluten-free dining experience, we were greeted by the chef, who told me to check out the regular menu (they don't have a gf-specific menu) and then he would come talk to me about what he could build to meet my needs and tastes. The menu is not very vegetarian friendly, which posed a bit of a challenge. I suspect that the chef usually does a gluten-free request by preparing a meaty protein source in a clean pan, with maybe a house salad. The menu contained enough Mexican-y sorts of offerings including tri-color tortilla chips and a black bean-corn salsa thing that I thought I could create an appetizing taco salad sort of thing. In consult with the chef, I learned that their chips aren't gluten-free, and the black bean corn salsa thing was neither vegetarian or gluten-free. I ended up ordering a salad of romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, chopped egg, and unseasoned canned black beans with an underacheiving pico de gallo for a dressing. Not thrilling, but healthy enough, and safely prepared. We had ordered the Chocolate Volcano birthday dessert for Corley. Fabulous for him (and Jenn and Scott), but inedible for me. I was a little dissappointed that the server didn't attempt to offer me something else. Instead, he brought four plates for us to share the dessert, conveying to me either a complete lack of understanding of the gluten issue, or that he might not have been paying that much attention. I eventually flagged him down for a cup of decaf. It was a total missed opportunity for him to increase the somewhat substantial check. What was nice was that I was only charged $4.49 for my salad -- practically free compared to their other salads. I can handle a less-than-thrilling lunch if I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for it! My advice for any mid-priced Italian or Mexican restaurant in Atlantic City is to develop a decent gluten-free menu and get the word out about it. There is such a huge opportunity there to serve our community. Whoever leads will be a big winner. All in all, the trip was terrific. As much as my meal was forgetable, the real memories were in the fun we had as a family and the absolute joy Corley took from this birthday jaunt. [Sign up for the mailing list and get the Quickstart Guide to Living Happy, Healthy and Gluten-free, the monthly newsletter and more! We never sell or share our list.] I made this video when on a trip for work, but I figure it applies if you are traveling for holiday as well, especially if you are traveling somewhere that hasn't reached the enlightened state of the Gluten Free Menu, or you are staying with hosts that mean well but don't quite get it.
In short: 1) Plan ahead. How many meals and snacks will you have for the duration? On a scale of 1 - 10, how likely are you to find gluten-free fare while you are gone? The lower the score, the more you need to plan and food you'll need to pack. Will you have easy access to a grocery store where you can pick up items you need? 2) Pack it in. Be sure to take enough food for the trip and for your first meal or snack at your destination so that you have enough time to solidify your plan on arrival. 3) Implement the plan. If you flew to your location and are renting a car, maybe you can stop at a supermarket for the things you'll need before you arrive at your final location. Maybe your mother-in-law will be making a run to the store and you can offer to ride along and then pick up a few things. For the big family meal at a restaurant, suggest a place that you've researched in advance and know has a gf menu. Chain family restaurants like Olive Garden have unthrilling gf menus that can be a definite back-up plan if you don't have a more interesting choice. If the restaurant has already been established, call in advance to discuss your options. Imagine what it will be like to get all of your meals and snacks handled, and if this part is especially challenging, pretend you are a secret agent on a mission to secure the top secret gf packages. Have fun with it! Since you've got a little food on hand that you packed, no need to freak out. 4) Enjoy your stay! Once you are secure in the knowledge that you will be able to eat safely (even if your food choices aren't thrilling, like in my video), then remember the purpose of the trip -- spending time with family, networking, or whatever. Be in the moment and have fun with it. Don't spend a bunch of time being bent out of shape that you have to do all these dietary shinanigans. Life's too short. Safe travels, and let me know how it goes! Yes! Candle Cafe was definitely the culinary highlight of Jenn's and my recent trip to New York. It's a vegan restaurant with a dedicated gf menu and loads of stuff for the celiac and gluten intolerant crowd. It was an easy walk from the Met, casual enough that our travel-and-museum ensembles of jeans and mostly comfortable shoes were not out of place, but with enough ambiance to befit a date on Saturday night. We arrived at 7:45 pm and though the place was crowded, we lucked into getting a table right away (they don't take reservations.)
I had the Paradise Casserole: "Layers of sweet potato, black beans and millet over steamed greens with country gravy" for $16. With the gravy, it was moist and flavorful and greens were gently prepared and had loads of personality. Jenn ordered the Mediterranian wrap in a whole wheat pita for $14 followed by chocolate mousse pie. The serving sizes were generous, the prices reasonable, the service impecible, and the food was delicious! I highly recommend Candle Cafe East if you are in the vacinity of Central Park. And if you are on the Upper West Side, check out Candle Cafe West, the more swanky cousin of the original Candle Cafe. At least I think they are more swanky -- they take reservations. I'm starting a new series of posts! I'm sure there are other gf travelers out there who are going the same places and doing the same research, I've had some spotty success in finding a satisfying meal in neighborhoods near tourist attractions. I provided some suggestions about where to eat when visiting the Philadelphia Flower Show, and this post relays our experiences near our hotel near the World Trade Center. I'm hoping that people like me who are traveling to similar touristy spots will find my info and save a wasted trip to a place that that isn't there or just isn't what you are looking for.
All that said, I always prefer a non-chain restaurant experience when possible. When you have celiac disease, there is some comfort in knowing almost exactly what it will be like when you go out to eat. When I travel though, when at all possible I want to see and do and eat stuff I can't have at home. And if any place has a variety of restaurants that can accommodate special dietary needs, it's New York. Our plan was to take the Staten Island Ferry into the financial district since our hotel was the Millenium Hilton next to the World Trade Center Memorial. We would arrive around lunchtime, and my research did not reveal a lot of choices in that neighborhood that would accommodate. One place, Battery Place Market, was pretty close and seemed to have gf offerings on their menu, but it was hard to tell from the website and on-line reviews if it would suit. [We checked it out for breakfast the next day. I would LOVE this place if I were in town for an extended stay nearby and I needed to get provisions to keep in my hotel room, but it's not a Yay-we're-in-New-York-Let's-eat-someplace-cool-and-fun experience. It's more of a order-food-from-the-counter-and-eat-it-outside sort of place. The gf offering that I could have gotten that morning was a gf pasta salad from the case, and it was surrounded by gluteny foods. I had a cup of coffee and a Kind Bar.] I found a great review on Celiac Chicks of a place called PizzaBola. Further on-line research revealed that the downtown location had closed. Our real goal for the day was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not fart around trying to get lunch that I could eat. We did have some food with us (I never travel without, just in case), but we decided that a chain lunch in New York is better than an apple and a Lara Bar. From our last trip to NY, I'd remembered that there are a plethora of Le Pain Quotidien restaurants. First of all, it seems just wrong for a celiac to have to go to a restaurant that brags about bread in its name, but I've done pretty well with Au Bon Pain, and chains give a nice predictability, even if it's a novel experience. Second, we were doing our research on the fly with our iPhones, and I have to say the LPQ website is NOT made for the "Let's find one of these places fast" sort of searches. Anyway, we finally found one that was maybe 5 blocks away and which would put us near the subway to the Met. The day was a little cold and dreary, and the restaurant had a nice, warm, "let's hang out here for awhile" vibe to it. We opted for a table for two instead of the big communal table experience. There were a number of options for me, and I have to confess that I didn't make the vegan choice. I really wanted to try their 6 veggie quiche on a buckwheat crust with a side of salad on the regular menu. The quiche was tasty, the buckwheat crust unremarkable (which was fine with me), the portion size was generous and the salad was fresh and delicious. Jenn reported that she enjoyed her lunch as well. Two less than positive aspects: 1) Our server started out strong but completely ignored us and his other diners from the moment our meals arrived until the moment we walked out the door. I would have ordered coffee and I wanted to try a gf tartine, but the moments ticked on and he didn't return. 2) It was pretty expensive for what we got: Approx $35 for a sandwich, a piece of quiche, iced tea and water. This is likely the New York pricing -- they don't list prices from other cities' LPQ's on the website to compare, so next time I'm near a Philadelphia location I'll take a peek and see how it measures up. The next day after our visit to Ellis Island and before we hopped on the Staten Island Ferry to begin our return trip, we decided to visit another LPQ location. This time we WERE looking for predictable and relatively fast. From our generally positive menu experience the day before, we knew I could get something else interesting. We went to the location in Battery Park City -- not as warm and squishy feeling, and the place was sparsely populated. We did sit at the big table that time, since it seemed to be the warmest seat in a dining room that was a little chilly. Plus, it was near an electrical outlet and both our cell phones needed a little goosing. This time I ordered the organic black bean hummus with avocado and spicy tahini on a gf tartine, which was vegan. A non-gf tartine is a sort of stiff regular bread, and the sandwiches are served open faced. You pick them up and eat them like a slice of small pizza. The gf tartine is more like a cracker. It's thin and stiff and did a good job of not falling apart upon being bitten into. Jenn had the egg salad minus capers and anchovies. My food was very much something I would fix myself and it was very good, though if I'd made it, I'd probably have used some cayenne to give it more kick. The spicy tahini dressing came on the side and I used all of it. The gf tartine was of a less generous proportion than the egg salad, which was a little dissappointing. Jenn and I both agreed this time that the $30+ for two sandwiches and an iced tea seemed like a lot for what we got. Still, I had an interesting gf vegan lunch which is huge, and I would definitely keep LPQ in mind as a fall back restaurant on any of my travels. Next up: Dinner near the Met! |
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