Should I Eat Here? Dealing with Food Anxiety and Eating in Restaurants

It's a hard thing to decide when and where to eat when you have celiac disease. I have a reaction to gluten so severe that I've had to leave restaurants in an ambulance. People often say to me "well, why bother going out to eat?" To them, it's not worth the risk.

I've had a hard time reconciling this. Sure, common sense dictates that I should just avoid going out. But I refuse to be a slave to my disease. For one, it would mean shutting myself off to many social events. Whenever setting up a date with friends or family, the first thought is "so do you want to grab dinner/lunch/brunch?" Our culture and socialization revolve around food.

I also just love food. Sure, I consider myself to be a good cook. But I can't cook a lot of stuff, and I want to eat what I want to eat. Most restaurants can offer at least one gluten free option -- in fact, catering to food allergies is the law in Massachusetts. Restaurants must provide allergen awareness training here, and I love that.

More than anything else, what kind of life is it to live in fear the whole time? Obviously, I exercise common sense and don't take risks. But I'm not going to live as a shut-in, not when there are so many restaurants that really get it. There are some restaurants where I KNOW I'll be safe, and if I'm feeling nervous. I will eat here:

• Legal Seafoods
• Twist Cafe in Millis, MA (entirely gluten-free)
• Pica Pica Maize in San Francisco, CA (entirely gluten-free)
• Uncle Cheung's in Framingham, MA
• Anywhere in Disney World

It's hard not to have anxiety about food when a mistake or carelessness can land you in the hospital. This happened to me at Rancho Chico in Plainville, MA. Despite their insistence that they understood celiac disease, I was clearly exposed and had a seizure at the table. They put me in the hospital, and the manager insisted that I must have brought outside food in, and forced my party to pay for my food (I was in the ambulance so I couldn't pay), saying that if they didn't cough up, the server would have to cover the cost. 

I didn't eat solid food for a few weeks after this incident, because I was just so afraid and I'd start to panic whenever I looked at food. But I came to realize that this was no way to live -- food is amazing! It's just about going to places that aren't run by megalomaniac douchebags who still won't own up to it. So do your research! Be educated, and don't be afraid to ask for the manager or to speak to the chef. It's your body and you are the consumer -- be your own advocate and don't eat anything you're not comfortable eating. 

SUSHI!

I love sushi. Raw salmon is probably one of my favorite foods, whether it be prepared in a tartare or in a piece of sashimi. There is even a cartoon with sushi fighting crime.


Sushi Pack!

There are a number of good places to get sushi in Boston, thankfully. The obvious favorite is Fugakyu, in Brookline. While expensive, Fugakyu's creativity is unrivaled. The fish is always fresh and the atmosphere is always fitting, but plan on bringing a full wallet. It is definitely not cheap.

I also love Maluken in Kenmore Square. While it used to be the site of much pre-legal age drinking in the city, the new ownership has changed it into much less of a sketchy place. The karaoke is always fun, and the sushi always fresh. They have my favorite spicy salmon rolls in the city. And at around $5 a roll, the prices are great. The service is cheerful and the sake bombs are plentiful. Plan on seeing a lot of college age kids belting out bad Journey covers, but if you avoid Friday and Saturday after 9, you'll be fine.

My favorite non-city sushi place would be Fuji Steak House in Needham. The prices are unbeatable, while the sushi is always fresh. While they aren't great in terms of creativity -- everything is pretty standard -- the lunch specials are unbelievably cheap. I'm talking $9.95 for two sets of fancy rolls, including soup and salad. My favorite combo is the America maki (shrimp tempura, avocado and roe) and the Alaskan maki (salmon, avocado and cucumber).

I personally avoid the Sushi Express places. The one on Beacon St. has amateur sushi chefs who often cut the fish badly. I've had mealy fish there with a weird texture. The price certainly reflects the quality. The one on Newbury St. isn't too bad, but I find it's hit or miss. When it comes to things like sushi though, I would rather pay the cash for good quality fish. I've had food poisoning too many times to have a different philosophy.

There are some great sushi places in Somerville as well, such as in Porter or in Davis. What are some of your favorite sushi places?

Greetings!

Wow, my first blog post. I'm not going to lie, this is pretty exciting for me. As both a journalist and a foodie, the idea of combining what I'm paid to do plus what I love to do makes me really happy. The idea for this blog came about when I was waxing poetic on the delicate intricacies of bacon (yet again) with my friend, and she told me, "Why don't you just start a food blog?!"

And here we are. Just so you understand, I'm not just some chick who likes to eat. While yes, that is true, I also worked in the restaurant industry for seven years, working everywhere from front-of-house to the kitchen as a prep cook. I worked in a variety of restaurants, from Chinese to nouveau American to seafood to French, from takeout places to luxury dining. Most importantly, I worked with some of the best people in the industry in Boston, and what I learned about food, I learned from them. (So for those former coworkers of mine reading this, thank you.) I left the food industry to pursue my career as a journalist, and this is my way of combining my two passions.

I do love to eat in restaurants, from cheap to high end, but I also love to cook. The goal of this blog isn't just to review restaurants and either encourage or discourage people from eating at certain places, but also to further people's knowledge of food by sharing my love of it. I plan on sharing some of the best recipes I've come up with over the past few years. And there will be a running feature on bacon, quite possibly the most perfect food ever created.

Thank you for taking the time to visit -- if you share even a fraction of the amount of love I have for food, I think you'll really enjoy my blog.

In the wise words of Jasper White of Summer Shack fame, "FOOD IS LOVE."