Restaurant Highs and Lows
The summer air was cool that night in Newport. A breeze from the bay swept over the town as my sister and I walked to our dinner destination with our grandparents. Going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in town wasn't something my sister and I did often. The very thought excited both of us. Especially me, since I knew it was safe.
Upon learning that my sister and I would get to stay with our grandparents for a weekend last summer, I had some serious planning to do. I hadn't traveled much since developing my food allergy, simply due to schedule constraints and lack of opportunity. Now, though, the chance had arisen. I knew my grandparents dined out for almost every meal, which presented the challenge of locating safe restaurants in their area. I'm severely allergic to shellfish, so taking precautions was even more important than usual because Newport is such a seafood town. So I had my grandparents create a list of restaurants they were considering during the visit, and we discussed the allergy situation.
The first task was determining how the restaurants handled allergies. We called every single restaurant ahead of time to ask. Most restaurants put the general manager on the phone, who verified that they could accommodate my allergy. We then discussed menu options that would be safe for me to eat. Almost all of the restaurant staff we spoke to over the phone recommended that we make it known that there was an allergic member in our party when we made reservations, and that we remind the management staff about my allergy after arrival. They were all very accommodating and reminded us that the wait staff is busy, so it's essential to ensure that management knows about your allergy so they can manage it appropriately in the kitchen.
Our first dinner in Newport went smooth as silk. We had called ahead, and they flagged my order as an allergy. There were no problems with cross-contact or ingredients. The next afternoon, however, lunch was a close call.
I was a little nervous at the restaurant we lunched at. This time we hadn't called ahead. Originally, the plan had just been to get milkshakes at this particular restaurant, but after walking around town and shopping all morning, all of us had worked up an appetite. My nerves were justified when I spoke to the manager, who told me everything was cooked on the same surface – with a minor wash in between. After some discussion about cross-contact, the restaurant staff offered to grill my quesadilla in a separate pan. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, and washed my lunch down with a vanilla milkshake.
The rest of my meals in Newport went very well. All of the management teams were very nice and handled my allergy very well. Calling ahead made a big difference. Unlike lunch, there was no last-minute hassle to find something safe on the menu. I had a lot of options to choose from, all of which were 100% safe for me to eat.
I'm planning to go back to Newport this summer, for a week instead of just a weekend. I'll have some more investigating to do, but I know I'm in charge of managing my allergy and the steps I need to take to keep safe.
