If food allergies or intolerances have ever made their way into your life, you likely know the apprehension that comes with eating out at truly any restaurant. There are a number of questions that might run through your mind like:
What ingredients did the cook use?
Were all the ingredients listed on the menu truly the ones that end up on the plate in front of me?
Was there any cross contamination?
Maybe when I’m further along on my journey these types of questions will become less overwhelming, but I’m a bit of a newbie on the journey today.
A couple days ago I ate out for the first time which meant having to give up a bit more control as I obviously didn’t know how the meal was sourced, exactly what would be included in the meal and if there was any cross contact that would be an issue for me later.
I’ve learned that clear is most kind in these situations. Obviously anxious, I needed to get myself out of fight or flight mode to ensure I’m clearly communicating with our waitress about what I could and couldn’t have. Ask any of my people, ordering is not my strong suit, even after I practice it a couple times first. Sadly, not a joke.
I’ve learned that even if my situation is complex, the simpler and more straightforward I can make the order, the easier for everyone involved. So I shared that I’m currently only allowed to eat a set number of foods, three of those being chicken, broccoli and olive oil. The waitress was amazing and said she’d ask the chef before coming back to ask how those three ingredients should be prepared to eliminate as much cross contamination. Truly a gem of a human.
Most of the time that doesn’t happen. If you’re on this journey, you know you can really get the range of responses including “we don’t accommodate changes to the menu,” but rarely does a place do their best to accommodate your situation. That said, if that’s just me, please tell me where you all are eating.
Although the food was as cleanly done as possible, I still had minor reactions in the restaurant and throughout the night. Obviously, a bummer, but not unexpected.
That said, the reactions didn’t carry over into the next morning, so I took the wins where I could.
I’m still so far from knowing how to do this eating out socially thing, which definitely causes a bit of sadness and anxiety. But with everything, we take big things on one bite (literally) at a time and evaluate from there. My goal has just been to continue to try, obviously monitor, and see what next steps to take as I make this food intolerance journey livable with the world around me.
If you have any tips from your food journey on tackling the restaurant piece, please let a girl know!
Always with you on this journey, thanks for joining me.
With love,
Ashley
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