Gluten Free Travel Blog

New York Wins GlutenFreeTravelSite's Most Celiac-Friendly Destination Contest

The reviews have been tallied, and the results are in...New York is the winner of GlutenFreeTravelSite's first annual contest to find the World's Most Celiac-Friendly Destination. If you're lucky enough to live there, you're probably familiar with the numerous restaurants adding gluten-free options to their menus and grocery stores adding gluten-free items to their shelves. This is a great place to live if you have Celiac Disease...awareness is good, and restaurants are eager to stay relevant by catering to the fast-growing group of diagnosed Celiacs lobbying for more dining options. You have your pick of many regional and national chains with gluten-free menus, as well as numerous independent neighborhood restaurants throughout the state...some with gluten-free menus and others willing to tailor just about anything on their menu,within reason. Many of these independent restaurant owners began offering gluten-free items on their menu when they, a family member, or a friend was diagnosed with Celiac. 

Coincidentally, our family recently returned from visiting relatives in Rockland County, New York (a suburb just 30 minutes outside of New York City). We were so excited to finally try so many of the restaurants our gluten-free sister-in-law had raved about like Peter's Restaurant in Manhattan and Posa Posa, a popular local Italian restaurant serving gluten-free pizza in a nearby suburb of Nanuet. (Read full reviews of these two restaurants -- and dozens of others in the New York section of GlutenFreeTravelSite.com.) And the grocery stores...there's one in New City called Back To Earth, with a second location in Nyack. They have one of the best selections of gluten-free food I've ever seen...it's like a mini Whole Foods Market, but with even more gluten-free items...literally every brand you can think of. I stocked up on many items I typically have to mail order. 

New York...the honor of World's Most Celiac-Friendly Destination is, in my humble opinion, well deserved. For those of you who live there, I'm jealous. For the rest of us...oh, what a great place to visit! So many (gluten-free) restaurants to try...so little time! 

Even High-End Resorts Can Miss Opportunities to Wow Gluten-Free Travelers

Our family spent the Thanksgiving holiday at the gorgeous and historic Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pennsylvania. Reopened in July 2007 after being closed for 20 years, this top-notch resort has been renovated and restored to its historic splendor. Dating back 200 years, it is full of rich history -- including visits by 10 U.S. Presidents. The resort has several restaurants to choose from, and I was assured by the Executive Chef when I called well in advance of the trip that preparing gluten-free meals was something they handled every week and that we'd be well taken care of. 

Although our experience at the resort was wonderful and we'd return again without hesitation, I have to say I was not overly impressed with the wait staff and kitchen staff's handling of our requests. Most of the wait staff looked at me like I had three heads when I uttered the term "gluten-free," and although I'd personally spoken with the Executive Chef before our arrival, we never got a chance to meet him during our stay. Granted, it was a busy weekend, and the height of the Thanksgiving dinner hour may not have been the best time to walk us through the buffet...but I always felt like the assistant chefs that we did speak with were a bit too quick to tell us what was gluten-free. Either they are really well-versed in the preparation of everything or they were just anxious to be done with me. I guess we'll never know. Our son did have some mild intestinal problems one day, but it's hard to say if it was from being "glutenized" or if it was just from overeating or too many sweets! 

I think I was expecting them to make more of a fuss over my son, offering to make special things like gluten-free waffles or pancakes, but instead the chefs staffing the breakfast just quickly pointed out which items were gluten-free on the buffet (but the "gluten free bacon" had pieces of bread at the bottom of the chafing dish to absorb the grease). If and when we return, I'll go about things differently, setting up a meeting with the Executive Chef upon arrival. To read my full review of our experience at the Bedford Springs, visit the Pennsylvania reviews at our sister website GlutenFreeTravelSite.com.