Dining Out

Fox Valley GF Friendly Restaurants

Notes from FVC meeting - GF Friendly Restaurants

Peg and I attended the March meeting of the
Fox Valley Celiac Support Group. This meeting had representatives from 7 different area restaurants explaining their GF menu options and how they provide those options.

We also got to meet Andi and her husband from Manitowoc County Celiac Support Group. She's the one that tipped me off to this meeting! Thanks Andi and thanks FVCSG!

Restaurants represented:

Chef Michael Short - Cafe Bon Appétit (Lawrence University)
Nicole - Happy Joes
Joe Zehren - The Bar
Dona & Mary (baker) - Plum Hill
Shirley - Sangria's Mexican Grill
Doris - GingeRootz Asian Grille
Corporate Chef Foster Deadman - Supple Group (Fratello's, Melting Pot, Red & White, Dockside, etc..)


Cafe' Bon Appetit (Lawrence University Andrew Commons)


Chef Michael Short

Bon Appetit is a national food service management company.

They don't advertise it, but this cafe is open to the public.

Scratch cooking

"Made without Gluten" logo - Focus on naturally GF foods.

Have GF pasta, bread, buns, cookies, brownies, etc available for students

Take pride in training their staff. Servers get hours of training each semester.

Their catering dept has much more control over their foods. They've done GF weddings, luncheons, meetings, etc.


Lawrence University
Cafe' Bon Appetit - Andrew Commons
711 East Boldt Way Appleton, Wisconsin 54911
(920) 832-7000
http://www.cafebonappetit.com/menu/your-cafe/lawrence



Supple Group (Fratello's, Melting Pot, Red & White, Dockside, etc..)


Corporate Chef Foster Deadman

GF diners are not a burden!

Very well trained staff.

Fratello's everything scratched made - will modify dishes to make it GF.

Even Golden Corral is scratch made, however there is a higher CC issue due to the buffet style. GC is the riskiest place due to the customer contact with the food.

I was very impressed with Chef Foster's presentation.

Note: Melting Pot is a member of GIG's
Gluten Free Restaurant Awareness Program

Fratello's Appleton Menu
Fratello's Oshkosh Menu
Melting Pot - Appleton GF Menu


The Supple Group of Restaurants
http://supplerestaurantgroup.com/



Plum Hill Cafe


Dona Nie, Manager
Mary Pahl, Baker

My apologies, my notes are sparse on Plum Hill as I was speaking to Chef Foster.

All soup bases will now be GF.

Any sandwich can be made GF

Mondays are GF bake days - Separate prep area for GF Baking

Oats = Bob's Red Mill certified oats.

Designated cutting boards, knives, utensils - all color coded.


Plum Hill Cafe
313 Dodge Street
Kaukauna, Wi 54130
Telephone: 920.766.9090
http://www.plumhillcafe.com/



Ginger Rootz


Doris, Owner

Fell in to the GF options. Had lots of requests for GF. 2007 started a GF menu.

Changed menu around just for GF

Tell the staff if you are celiac/have allergy so the entire process is GF [properly address CC issues]. They are seeing customers eating GF for various reasons. Some are celiacs, some want to remove gluten because they feel better without, some want to eat healthier.

Have separate GF woks

An allergen order is clipped so staff knows this order must be handled differently. The remains in place thru the entire process.

Looking into getting special plates for GF food so it easy to recognize.

Trying to convert entire kitchen to GF, but they are running in to taste differences between NGF and GF dishes. They are trying to maintain the same taste and quality.

Will do customer orders even if menu item is not marked as GF.

#1 staff training is for GF.

5 - 10% of weekly guests are GF.


GingeRootz
2920 N Ballard Road
Appleton, WI 54912
(920) 738-9688
http://www.gingerootz.com/



Happy Joe's Pizza


Nicole, Manager

2 teammates have CD.

Only have small GF pizzas

Separate utensils,etc for GF - color coded

Separate prep area for GF pizza

Dedicated oven for GF pizza (3rd oven is GF)

Crust is frozen and made off site

All toppings are GF except meatballs

All dressings are on salad bar are GF (
as with all buffet-style layouts, must be mindful of cross contamination)

Standardized training nationwide


Happy Joe's Pizza
3401 East Evergreen Dr
Appleton, WI 54913
920-954-6000
http://www.happyjoes.com/stores.php?action=ViewStore&storeid=81



The Bar


Joe Zehren, Owner

Joe's niece has CD. His sister was telling him how hard is was to eat out. They educated themselves on cross contamination issues, ingredients, etc. Also worked with Festival Foods. [
they have knowledgable RDs on staff].

Dedicated friers

Color coded kitchen

Pizza toppings are taken from "clean" stock [not from the line]

Udi's buns and bread. They have special MONSTER sized loaves of bread! 2x - 3x larger than consumer bread!! They will sell buns, bread and pizza crusts. A loaf of bread is 10.72 - not really a bad deal considering. Pizza crusts are 2.25 - 2.50. Just call and ask for the kitchen manager.

The Bar's Menu


The Bar
Appleton - The Avenue • Appleton - Lynndale
Green Bay - Lime Kiln • Green Bay - Holmgren Way
Oshkosh • Wausau
http://meetatthebar.com/



Sangria's


Shirley

Lots of options - over 600 different combinations

Have laminated GF menus

Staff is trained

Kitchen shuts down for special tickets - pull clean pans, special grill, dedicated fryer,

Chips & Salsa, Bean Dip are all GF

Sauces are GF

Soups are GF - home made

Burritos, tacos & enchiladas can be made GF

Fajitas are popular item

Have GF desserts


Sangria's Mexican Grill
700 North Koeller Street Oshkosh, WI 54902
(920) 230-6818
http://www.sangriasmexicangrill.com/index.html




For more area GF dining options checkout our
Dining Page.