The Traveling Celiac Eats…..

Sunrise in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Lovely.

We are just home from traveling. More about that in another post. This post is about food. There are many conditions way, way worse than celiac and in fact, I have a couple. The issue with celiac is that humans need to eat fairly regularly and when one is traveling and has the autoimmune disease celiac, finding safe, appetizing food may or may not be problematic. At home I manage just fine, as long as I’m careful.

In February, we flew to the lovely little town of Loreto, located in Baja California Sur on the Sea of Cortez where we stayed at La Mision Hotel. Because my guy is one of the good ones who looks out for me, he contacted the hotel general manager ahead of our visit, explaining that I have celiac. The GM contacted the chef who instructed his staff and voilà, the food part of our travels were worked out — as long as we ate at the hotel. Contacting places ahead of time is a best practice and allowed the chef to bring in safe corn tortillas for me since most local ones contain wheat. Go figure.The chef at La Mision prepared this beautiful array of vegetables and seafood for me. Yum.

Of course, eating only at the hotel means we forego the travel pleasure of spontaneously buying street tacos or popping into a local joint to eat. That doesn’t work out for someone with celiac. Since we booked our tours through the hotel, the concierge and tour guide also partnered to make sure I was given safe food on tours. On one tour, we stopped at a restaurant in López Mateos, a small town that is a launching point for gray whale viewing. The restaurant owner/chef spoke with our guide and our hotel several times to make sure she prepared a safe meal for me. Traveling adds complicated layers to any trip for us but mostly works out, in part because I have a partner who helps me.

Grilled shrimp and fish tacos at Los Olivos at the La Mision Hotel and the view from the restaurant’s outside dining area. What is not to like?

All went well until we hit Monterey, CA where we’d planned to spend a few days. Before checking into the hotel, we stopped at a restaurant we’d been to before. I ordered from the gluten free menu (salad with grilled fish), asked the server to tell the kitchen I am celiac, and guess what — I got really, really vomiting sick back at the hotel from what must have been hidden gluten or gross cross contamination. Our stay was cut short because I was so ill and we both decided to head home. Even for those of us who are careful, planful travelers things can go wrong because as celiacs we rely on servers and kitchen staff to be upfront about what they can do and to follow safe practices. That did not happen in Monterey.

I’ll be back with more about the trip.

Eating on the Road

Most travelers anticipate enjoying food as well as experiences while on the road. But for a celiac, eating while traveling, and for me especially on road trips, can be tricky but navigable with planning. Oddly, destinations like African safari camps with their own chefs who ensure safe food have proven easier places to eat than many a restaurant in our neighboring state California. 

Black bean soup, Think Thin bars and other snacks fill in when safe food is scarce when traveling.

Options for a celiac pescatarian-semi vegan are good in Monterey, CA, where we stayed four nights. After a long day of driving in heavy traffic, we reached Monterey late on a Saturday afternoon. A quick search of gluten-free friendly restaurants yielded Alvarado Street Brewery and Grille, which was open and within walking distance of our hotel. The kitchen staff understands celiac and I ended up with a decent meal of tilapia street tacos with a side of sautéed brussels sprouts, minus bacon and cheese. Not a bad start to the trip.

A highlight of our stay in Monterey was kayaking the Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing where we made fast friends with sea otters, harbor seals, and lots of birds. While kayaking the slough was an exceptional wildlife treat, the food after at Phil’s Fish Market was a delicious food treat. I brought some Schär’s gluten-free bread with me in preparation for Phil’s cioppino. While I ordered the individual size ($25), the portion was large enough for two people — but I ate the whole serving by myself. It was the best cioppino ever and I’ve made a hobby of sampling cioppino whenever I find it on a menu.

Officially, the best cioppino I’ve ever eaten.

Next, we traveled south to Cambria, a delightful little Central California village located on the coast where we spent three nights and celebrated our 38^th wedding anniversary. On our anniversary, we lined up with a colorful collection of wine sipping (gulping?) folks for a table at The Sea Chest (no reservations, cash only).  I ordered their small cioppino which is still huge. While I enjoyed the stew, the cioppino at Phil’s Fish Market is the best.

Of the restaurants we tried in Cambria, Robin’s is the place for consistently excellent, safe, healthier, though pricey food.  One evening I devoured prawn enchiladas in a tomatillo sauce that were gluten-free, delicious, but not quite vegan.  Rather than salads, that evening we ordered crispy brussels sprouts without cheese. Everything was wonderful.

 After hiking one day, I ordered Robin’s veggie tacos for lunch — butternut squash, black bean purée, lettuce, onions, avocado cream, cashews. These gluten free beauties were unbelievably delectable.

I can’t decide which I liked better — the veggie tacos or prawn enchiladas.

Next we headed further south to the desert, making our way through torturous Los Angeles traffic. Our reward was dinner at Guillermos’s Restaurante in Palm Desert. While Guillermos’s does not offer a huge selection of celiac safe, pescatarian options, the restaurant takes care to ensure safe food.

 

Shrimp fajitas which were photographed poorly but quite delicious.

Our other favorite in the desert is Pacifica Seafood Restaurant. Richard loves their Quinoa Kale Salad and I love most everything on the menu.

Until next time, safe eating.

A Midsummer Coastal Escape

From our ferry, watching a ferry cruise past us as we head to San Juan Island.

Central Oregon is hot in July and wildfires are burning throughout the state, but then hundreds of places in the US are hot and battling wildfires. Fires have become a part of life in the west. Climate change. Global warming.

To break up the summer, get out of the heat, and visit some family, R and I headed to the Oregon coast and then made our way to the San Juan Islands to cycle and finally on to Victoria, BC. I’ve learned that when we are on the road, I must pack some food which I did for the first day or so and that as we move from place to place, I need a list of restaurants that serve safe, gluten-free food.

How’d we do? We stayed two nights in Astoria, Oregon where I safely ate at the Bridgewater Bistro  (www.bridgewaterbistro.com) though apparently I was so hungry I failed to snap photos. The Bridgewater Bistro offers excellent seafood, including delicious gluten-free fish cakes and gluten-free bread (extra charge for the bread).

From Astoria, we headed to the Swinomish Casino & Lodge in Anacortes, a nice place to stay when one is booked the next day on an early ferry to the San Juan Islands.

The lodge, located about 20 minutes from the ferry port, has an excellent, though pricey restaurant, 13Moons. I ordered a salad, beautifully grilled halibut with fresh vegetables and we enjoyed a view of Swinomish Channel while eating dinner.

Pricey, fresh delicious halibut. 

Off we were the next day on an early ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, a place known for its seafood and easy living.  Who knew we’d find a great restaurant with lots of gluten-free, plant based options in this island community. Mike’s Cafe and Wine Bar (mikescafeandwinebar.com) offers an excellent menu for people like me. Both times we ate at Mike’s I ordered sweet potato tacos, yummy tacos of seasoned potato wedges, black beans, corn, and vegan sour cream. Yum. Really, you cannot believe how good these tacos are.

Unbelievable sweet potato tacos. Looking forward to making these at home…..

Our other favorite at Mike’s was the Thai Crunch Salad, a combination of cabbage, onion, and edamame tossed with peanut sauce and peanuts. Heavenly.

We also enjoyed huge, fresh prawns at the Cask & Schooner.  The service was good and the servers knowledgable about celiac.

After several days of cycling and eating on the islands, we headed by ferry to Victoria, BC. Truly, it is probably difficult to have a bad meal in Victoria, whether you are a gluten- free, veganish-pescatarian or not. Some faves were Cafe México (cafemexico.com) were I ate superb salmon tacos and vegetarian black beans and The Tapa Bar (tapabar.ca) a place we shared prawns, both spicy and garlic, prepared with a Spanish flare and washed down with delicious Tempranillo.

We loved the Tapa Bar and these spicy prawns. And the wine wasn’t bad, either.

On our last night in Victoria, we enjoyed a more intimate meal, this time with our aunt (my side) and uncle who, as always, treated us royally. That evening included wine, sautéed scallops, a view of Vic harbor and lots of catching up and chat about travel and life. Best meal of the trip.

My beautiful aunt Toots, 83 years young.

 

A Traveling Celiac Eats on Land

A happy traveler outside Sagrada Familia

We disembarked the Crown Princess in Barcelona where we stayed for a few days before joining the bike tour in the Costa Brava region. Barcelona is a fabulous food city, even if one is a celiac who mainly eats a pescatarian-plant based diet.

One of our first food stops was the Mercado de Santa Caterina where the restaurant Cuines Santa Caterina is located. Even though Barcelona offers all kinds of yummy options, we were looking for some basic, satisfying food. With that in mind, we ordered a wonderful salad and a rich, fresh, savory lentil soup which we washed down with several glasses of Spanish wine.

 

Ah, savory Spanish lentil soup.

As we strolled around the elegant, artistic Barcelona, admiring the architecture, we stumbled upon Flax & Kale, a flexitarian restaurant. I instantly felt happy and relieved that we’d easily found our next food stop. At Flax & Kale, 80% of the items are plant based while the other 20% are recipes made with oily fish. All dishes are gluten-free so I had no worries about limited options or cross contamination.

We ordered a margarita pizza covered with a pretty good vegan cheese and a salad. Bliss.
We ate there twice — pizza both times. I left Barcelona happy but frustrated that crusty, delicious gluten-free bread and authentic-tasting pizza crusts are mostly elusive in the states.

Gluten-free Margarita pizza with vegan cheese. Looks good, doesn’t?

After Barcelona, we headed north by express train to the charming, old city of Girona, the beginning point for our bike tour. Since our guides knew about my food restrictions and could interpret for me, I mostly relaxed my worry about food while on the bike tour.

Catalonians eat rice, lots of rice. At first I called their rice dish paella, but was quickly corrected and told in the Girona region, they eat rice. This delicious rice can be made with seafood, vegetables, or meat.

Vegetarian rice

Two nights the group stayed at the Castell d’Empordà, a charming hotel crafted from the ruins of a castle. One evening before dinner at the castle, we sat outside in perfect weather, sipping cava and sharing crudités served with a dreamy Romesco sauce for dipping. This was my first ever encounter with Romesco and I was smitten at the first bite. Back at home I’ve learned to make this tomatoey-nutty concoction.

Luscious romesco sauce with veggies. 

On the tour, we often ate dinner as a group but some evenings we were on our own. That evening at Castell d’ Empordà, we enjoyed dinner in the Drac restaurant. I ordered white fish with polenta that was smothered in fresh peas and a creamy dairy-free sauce served with hot gluten-free crusty bread. I love Spain

White fish smothered in creamy peas with polenta. Yum.

After the bike tour, we flew from Barcelona to Lisbon. At that point, we were tired after four weeks of traveling and decided we needed a slower pace. One afternoon, we ate simple tomatoes and gluten free bread in our hotel as we checked emails, plotted possible activities, regrouped and then went to bed early.

The next day, feeling somewhat refreshed, we took the subway toward the port where we searched for the gluten-free friendly seafood restaurant Cais ao Mar.

The restaurant, located on the busy Rua Bernardino da Costa in the heart of tourist activity, draws a steady flow of international customers. Armed with a trusty Portuguese celiac card, I easily navigated the menu with the additional assistance of staff who spoke pretty good English. I asked the server to recommend something and I ended up with the beautifully grilled giant tiger prawn. It was delicious.

A giant perfectly grilled tiger prawn

From Lisbon, we traveled by train to Porto, a wine region in Portugal. At this point in our travels, our interest in food was waning, although occasionally we chatted about food we missed from home. The highlight of our three day stay was a day tour of the Douro Valley wine region. Food may have lost its appeal, but happily wine had not. Our lunch at a winery came with a stunning view and lots of delicious red wine and port.

The impressive Douro Valley, Portugal

Overall, on our five week trip I managed to eat a veganish-pescatarian diet about 95% of the time and the necessary gluten-free all the time. Almost everywhere we visited in Spain and Portugal, I found gluten-free bread but not the mostly tasteless, dry type available at home. Bread in these countries is considered part of a good life and gluten-free bread there reflects that philosophy. I wish that were true in the states.

 

 

 

 

Celiac Eats at Sea….

I’ve delayed posting for weeks while traveling because a nasty spam bot attacked Word Press, creating phony, potentially troublemaking blog followers. I wasn’t sure what would occur if I posted. Luckily, Word Press has been working on the problem, mostly their security held, and WP is adding more filters. That’s good.  Now on to food…..

Almost everyone who travels enjoys indulging in local cuisine, experiencing a culture through its food, perhaps sharing a meal with locals. That same wish holds true for those of us with celiac disease; we like eating local foods during travels, but we must be super vigilant about what we choose to eat. Hidden gluten and cross contamination are real dangers for us and ingesting gluten can ruin a trip.

CELIAC AT SEA

Previously, I’ve written about cruising on Celebrity ships and the ease and safety of eating on a cruise. This trip, we sailed on the Princess line, a first for us. Eating safely on the Crown Princess was easy, once I learned the system. While I think the food in the Blu dining room on Celebrity cruise line is immeasurably better than Princess in terms of selection and quality, Princess provided decent, healthy meals if I chose carefully. Like Celebrity, Princess requested that I order the night before for the next evening’s dinner, always allowing me to add or subtract items at the time of the meal. That worked. I could always special order items, too.

Smoked salmon appetizer. Yum.

Gluten-free pasta with prawns in a delicious red sauce.

Mostly for lunch, we ate at the Horizon buffet. In this restaurant, under the careful oversight of chef Martin, I was well tended to. While the restaurant offered a gluten-free section on the buffet, because of concerns around cross contamination, the chef requested that I tell the kitchen which gluten-free item I wanted and someone from the kitchen would bring me the item from an uncontaminated pot. While I felt a bit like an ongoing annoyance, the staff did not seem bothered, I ate safely, and the system worked. Martin also prepared decent vegan/vegetarian gluten free curry or dal everyday so we really liked Martin.A Chef Martin curry

Cruises are one way of traveling that provide celiacs safe, dependable food.

Next up Celiac Eating on Land…..

In Bend, Where Does This Celiac-Veganish Pescatarian Eat

 

Gorgeous salmon tacos — hold the cheese but add avocado — at Barrio. I’m always surprised that my X-rays don’t reveal a belly full of tacos.

I’ve written about the challenges of finding safe, mostly healthy gluten free, pescatarian food when traveling.  But I’m home in Bend more than I’m roaming the world which means I eat at local restaurants. Here are a few I favor, though more linger on my to-try list.

R and I love Mexican food. Fortunately, many Mexican dishes are good gluten free, veganish-pescatarian options if the kitchen is trained to cook without adding gluten and avoids cross contamination.

LaRosa in NWX is one of our weekly hangouts. We love the owner, the staff and that the restaurant is a quick 18 minute walk from our house. LaRosa offers gluten free chips prepared in a dedicated fryer and pays careful attention to safe kitchen practices. I like many items but my favorites are the Enchilada Del Mar, Tacos de Pescado, Sopa de Vegetables, and the lunch bowl (pictured below) all ordered dairy free.

The vegetarian lunch bowl is a wonderful mix of sautéed veggies, black & pinto beans, and sauce.

Our other Latin American fave is Barrio in downtown Bend. While the chips are not safe for me to eat — no dedicated fryer —the food is so delicious that I don’t miss them. At Barrio, I’m a creature of happy habit. I often order yummy salmon tacos with avocado but no cheese or mushroom & corn tacos. Frequently at lunch I order their delicious mushroom & corn enchiladas. R is addicted to the paella, which is also gluten free. We are regulars at Barrio, which I think is a good thing.

Barrio’s heavenly mushroom & corn enchiladas. Gluten free and vegan.

R loves Barrio’s mixta paella, also gluten free.

A favorite that is only open for lunch is the friendly Sunny Yoga, which actually holds yoga classes when the kitchen is closed.  Sunny Yoga offers a host of excellent options for gluten free vegans. The Sunny Bowl is one beauty filled with spinach, kale, peppers, quinoa, garbanzo beans and topped with a curry sauce. It looks delicious and some day I will order the bowl when I’m less smitten with the Sunny Burger, a veggie wonder of spinach, walnuts, onions and arugula (I leave off the mayo and cheese but add avocado) available either on gluten free bread or on a bed of arugula with a splash of sriracha hot sauce.

My photo does not do justice to the Sunny Veggie Burger pictured here on arugula.

Another terrific spot for lunch is the upscale Zydeco. Zydeco offers a gluten free menu, though many options are meat and dairy based. But along with some interesting salads is the Zydeco vegetable beet burger. I order this fabulous meatless burger on gluten free bread, without cheese but with a hearty shot of barbecue sauce.

Mystery to me how that lone crispy fry ended up on my veggie burger

Breakfast out is a dicey meal for me for I find it challenging to find an option that is gluten free, safe and worth eating. While I know egg whites are not vegan, I do, on occasion indulge in Chow’s Huevos Rancheros. I order this dish of corn tortillas, black beans, ancho and green chile sauces with egg whites but without dairy. Not really vegan but certainly vegetarian and delicious.

Huevos Rancheros at Chow, a lovely treat

Other great places in town for gluten free, veganish-pescatarian eats include Spork and Broken Top Bottle Shop.  Spork offers a savory gluten free, vegan West African Peanut Curry as well as rice bowls with tofu. Broken Top Bottle Shop, a quick walk from our house, features many traditional meat and dairy items, but also has fresh veggie salads easily topped with tofu or grilled salmon as well as a variety of gluten free appetizers.

Many more restaurants we’ve yet to try so lots of happy eating in Bend.

Driving and Eating on the Central Calif. Coast

This little guy was born just minutes before I took this photo at the elephant seal reserve near San Simeon, California.

Decades and decades ago, my late father lived in Cambria, a sleepy central California coastal town. Until the mid-80s, R and I visited Cambria several times. Then life changed, we moved out-of-state, and my father moved from Cambria. During the 29 years years when we lived in Chicago and before that Kansas City and Tulsa, our visits to California centered on attending family events and holidays and seeing friends, mostly in Southern California.

When we booked our January 2018 return flight from Costa Rica to Los Angeles, we decided it was time to rent a car and drive some of the coast and revisit Cambria on our way to Monterey and its famed aquarium.

As a celiac, there are a few things I know to do when I travel such pack some food like Think Thin GF protein bars or something similar and visit a local grocery store. While on this trip, we traveled with Think Thin bars, I went completely lazy on visiting grocery stores and buying backup gluten free food and plenty of times, I regretted my lazy ways.

The little village of Cambria presented a number of good food options. We met up with friends who were also visiting Cambria and enjoyed dinner at Robin’s Restaurant (http://www.robinsrestaurant.com)  The kitchen at Robin’s readily accommodates eating preferences, offering vegetarian and gluten free options and willingly modifies items to meet individual needs. At the restaurant, I ordered Robin’s Chow, a vegetable and prawn stir fry made with tamari and rice noodles rather than regular soy and pasta.

The next night R and I lined up for a table at The Sea Chest http://www.seachestrestaurant.com a cash only, Cambria treasure. The first 12 people or so in line earn the chance to sit at the oyster bar, chat with the chefs while watching them cook. Next time we visit, we’ll be first in line.
I ordered cioppino, a lush, tomato rich seafood stew overflowing with crab legs. I immediately regretted not finding a store that sold gluten free bread since the restaurant did not offer a gluten free bread option and crusty bread would have paired wonderfully with this dish. Grrrrr.

Cioppino at the Sea Chest, Cambria

This wasn’t the only time I regretted not toting bread and other gluten free items.

From Cambria, we headed inland to the 101 for a detoured drive to Monterey. Once in that beautiful town on the bay, our first task was finding a restaurant since we were both starving. A quick google search located an El Torito (part of a chain) situated on the bay in Cannery Row. Since Mexican food is typically a safe option for me, we headed to the restaurant. What we discovered was surly service, limited food options, and a kitchen disinterested in accommodating food restrictions. After a fair amount of negotiating, I ordered prawn fajitas with vegetables and beans. What arrived were unseasoned, rubbery prawns set a top of unseasoned, bland vegetables. It was clear that special orders were not welcomed by the kitchen. As I stared at the tasteless food in front of me, I wished, once again, that we’d stopped at a grocery store and that I had researched restaurants.

The cook at this El Torito did not even bother to salt and pepper these rubbery prawns. Ugh.

Happily, the hotel staff saved us from our poor planning by suggesting some excellent restaurants and pointing us in the direction of a grocery store (which unfortunately had a slim selection of gluten free bread).
One day after hiking at Point Lobos, spotting migrating whales and watching harbor seals, we headed to Monterey Fish House www.montereyfishhouse.com, an unassuming, homestyle seafood restaurant. It was late afternoon and the place was busy. The server recommended cioppino; I was not disappointed. Mussels, clams, huge chunks of salmon, white fish, calamari, and shrimp filled the rich tomato based sauce. R loved the huge crab cake he ordered which unfortunately was not gluten free but looked delicious.

Another bowl of wonderful cioppino. Heavenly.

On our last day in Monterey, we wanted pizza and found Pizza My Heart www.pizzamyheart.com on Del Monte, not far from our hotel. Many restaurants offer gluten free pizza but don’t necessarily follow the steps to avoid cross contamination (prepping GF pizza in a clean area away from wheat, using fresh utensils, gloves, and in the absence of a dedicated GF oven, placing the GF pizza on foil in the oven). Eagle-eyed Richard watched as a the folks at Pizza My Heart prepared a safe, delicious gluten free pizza.

Lessons relearned on this trip —research restaurants before the trip and visit a grocery store while traveling, if packing food ahead isn’t an option.  Duh. I’m already researching restaurants for our next trip.

 

Celiac on the Road (and trying to eat Veganish-Pescatarian)

When one eats in a less typical way or has an autoimmune illness like celiac, traveling is more complicated, challenging, and requires planning. On our recent travels, at moments I lost my planning mojo, allowing myself to slide into a “It will work out” mindset. Not a good state for a celiac.

More than half our travel time was spent on an Azamara cruise ship, a line I give top marks for thoughtful, mostly careful food preparation and variety. At every meal, the kitchen offered at least one vegan entree, several vegetarian options, wonderful fish and lots of fresh vegetable and fruit salads. I could count on a delicious vegan curry or dal each day at lunch.

One evening, the chef made me a savory seafood stir fry with rice noodles and vegetables.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

Following a tour of Carara National Park and the Tarcoles River, we stopped for a typical Costa Rican lunch at the stunning Villa Caletos.

Beautiful fish, black beans, fresh veggies.

An this was the view from the restaurant. In my relaxed state, I grew loose with planning.

Once off the ship and in California for a road trip, securing food resumed the more typical pattern of sometimes all goes well and sometimes it doesn’t. No pampering, like on the ship.

In Los Angeles after an entertaining tour of the impressive Union Station, we and our friends headed to Olvera Street for lunch, the land of Mexican food (usually a safe choice) but which offered limited options for me. The restaurants were ripe for cross contamination, the beans were prepared with lard, the cooks disinterested in answering questions about the food. A little research ahead of time could have prevented this goof. I was off my planning game.

A quick google search produced a list of gluten free friendly restaurants and we headed to True Food Kitchen (truefoodkitchen.com) in Santa Monica which offered excellent safe food, lots of vegan options, a jazzy, fun atmosphere.

Our travels continued. Next up, traveling and eating on the Central coast

Plan, Prepare, Beware — How This Celiac-Veganish Pescatarian Travels

Sunset on the Okavango delta which has nothing to do with celiac but I love this photo

I find when I travel or even when I’m planning a trip, people are curious as to how I manage as a veganish-pescatarian celiac. Actually, folks seem particularly interested in how I manage celiac since gluten – wheat, oats, barley, and rye are in foods everywhere.
When I was first diagnosed with celiac, I thought my traveling days were over. How could I travel, eat, enjoy myself, and not end up sick? Turned out, I found ways. When two years ago for health reasons, I embraced a veganish-pescatarian diet (in addition to the gluten free diet), I knew traveling and eating and staying well would be tough. The vegan part of my diet complicates travel because much of the world consumes lots of dairy in the forms of cheese, cream, and milk.
How have I managed?
By planning, preparing, and being super aware.
On our recent trip to Africa, we visited South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. We booked this trip through Africa-Adventure Company (www.africaadventure.com) so much of the food worries were handled by them. The company not only booked the trip but alerted every hotel and safari camp regarding my dietary needs. The chef at the Residence in Johannesburg was ready for me with gluten free bread and crackers and wonderful food.

Grilled salmon on a puree of beetroot. Delicious and safe.

At Ngala safari camp in SA, a place known for excellent service and extraordinarily large food portions, the chef and management staff met with me, reviewed my food preferences (no dairy, meat, or gluten and fish only, lots of vegetables) and set about delivering delicious meals, complete with freshly baked gluten free breakfast rolls. While I stayed at the camp, the chef prepared all the soups without dairy. He made the creamy, yummy dairy-free pumpkin soup pictured below and everyone at camp benefited from my diet. I experienced the same attention to detail and care with food at Kanana in Botswana.

Healthy, dairy-free pumpkin soup at Ngala

A dinner of vegetables, rice, and grilled fish in Botswana

But beware — when traveling and always!

With that said and with all that went so right, I’m a vigilant traveler where food is concerned. For example, on our American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to London, I’d ordered gluten free meals. One meal arrived clearly labeled GF and included a roll packaged in plastic with the ingredients listed. First ingredient — wheat!
This doesn’t just occur on AA. A gluten free vegan meal on Virgin Atlantic was covered in cheese while another came with a cookie made with wheat flour. I travel with vigilance and strong reading glasses for decoding the tiny print on food packages because I’m concerned about hidden gluten, even if the airlines are not.
While my food concerns on the Africa trip were mainly handled by others that isn’t always the case when I travel. Frequently, R and I do lots of research using
excellent gluten free travel sites that make traveling with celiac so much easier. My favorite is glutenfreetravelblog on typepad (www.glutenfreetravelblog). The site offers reviews of restaurants, travel locales, and a link to Gluten Free Travel-US (glutenfreetravel-us.com) a travel agency focused on helping those with dietary restrictions enjoy travel.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Traveling is challenging for anyone with dietary restrictions but is doable and so worth the extra effort.

 

How has this vegan-pescaterian celiac fared so far on this trip?

Weeks before we arrived in Japan, R contacted the Hilton Hotel Tokyo, detailing my food restrictions and sending the kitchen a gluten free restaurant card. In response, the hotel promised safe food, asking that we make reservations in their restaurants. Because R is a Hilton Diamond Club member, we ate breakfast in the hotel’s executive lounge where the chef made egg whites mixed with fresh vegetables for me, using a clean pan and utensils each time. One evening, the same chef prepared gluten free vegetarian pasta and a gluten free minestrone for dinner in the same lounge. This chef’s careful and courteous attention and service impressed us; we both praised the chef to the hotel’s manager.

Salmon, potatoes, and a side of olive oil. Excellent, though pricey.

We also enjoyed a couple of meals in the Hilton’s Metropolitan Grille and Junisoh, its Japanese restaurant. The Metropolitan Grille provided careful service and I enjoyed excellent salmon grilled with oil, dairy-free mashed potatoes, and salad.

Twice we ate in Hilton’s Japanese restaurant Junisoh. On our first visit, the restaurant prepared delicious vegetable sushi as a quick, light lunch and for the other visit, the the chef grilled lovely scallops and fresh vegetables, without sauce but provided me with gluten free soy sauce. I give the Tokyo Hilton high marks; the hotel took my condition seriously and although food in the hotel is expensive, food everywhere in Tokyo is expensive.

Hilton’s Japanese  restaurant.

On our second day of touring Tokyo with a guide, she took us to Sushi Say in the Ginza District. That morning while we toured the Tsukiji Fish Market, our chef at Sushi Say shopped at the same market, buying for the restaurant. R and I shared unbelievably fresh cooked salmon and cooked crab sushi rolls. With our guide interpreting, I was able to ask the chef questions about food preparation, including whether he used soy in preparing the sushi rice (he did not). However, I wondered if Sushi Say would be a safe restaurant for a celiac who was not Japanese speaking or with a guide.

Sushi Say in the Ginza District

Richard’s prep ahead of our visit, an excellent chef, a careful Hilton staff, and restricting the food venues resulted in my faring well in Tokyo.