Our Celiac-Friendly Options
Conservative estimates suggest that Celiac Disease affects around 1% of the Canadian population. Most experts think that an equal number are undiagnosed. What is Celiac Disease? Well, since this isn't Wikipedia, I'll keep it simple. If Celiacs eat gluten (found in wheat and other grains), they get really sick and suffer permanent damage to the small intestine. That's the short version. It's awful, uncomfortable and - long term - very, very dangerous.
So what does this have to do with EAT! bistro? EAT! bistro is very likely Winnipeg's best restaurant for people with food allergies/intolerances. Almost all of our food is made from scratch, right here at 274 Garry Street. As a result, it's very easy for our staff to tell you what's in our food.
And why do we do this, you ask? Good question. Eating out is a social thing that everyone should be able to participate in, even if they have food challenges. We have done everything we can to ensure that we're as accessible as possible.
For our Celiac-Friendly nights (about twice a month), we close the restaurant for an hour, and everyone in the kitchen cleans everything down (to prevent cross-contamination). On those nights, our customers can have our famous fries and chicken dippers, without worrying about getting sick. Some recipes are changed for the night to ensure that everything is as safe as possible. The rest of the time, about 15% of our menu is Celiac-Friendly. These items are prepared separately from our other menu items, using only ingredients that we believe are safe for celiacs. (We regularly consult with the Canadian Celiac Association, plus our many customers with the disease.) We even serve Frio from our secret cache. (Frio is the gluten-free beer that just stopped being made due to their production contract ending.)
Can we say that anything made here is gluten-free? No. In Canada, the rules for all this are still somewhat hazy. Unlike the U.S., Canada has no restaurant certification program for serving gluten-free food. For food labelling, the current Canadian standard is 20 ppm and less to be designated gluten-free. Many restaurants claim to serve some gluten-free foods, and many of our celiac customers have horror stories from those same places. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is a slow-moving bureaucracy, but will at some point have to tackle this. In the meantime, we stand on our record. We have served thousands of meals to people with celiac disease in the last two years, and we have not had one single health-related complaint. (Every once in a while, someone just doesn't like something, but what can you do?) If you would like more info, or if you'd like to be on the list for announcements about Celiac-Friendly nights, email Kelly at kelly@eatbistro.ca. Here are some of the things people have been saying about our efforts:
"As a celiac it is VERY hard to find a restaurant that is as careful and can provide good gluten free food. When I found out about their gluten free nights I was very excited and couldn't wait to try it out - and I can assure you that I have not gotten sick there and they are the most careful and knowledgeable restaurant that I have ever gone to eat. Not only was the food amazing but they didn't charge you above and beyond what other restaurants do. (It's) amazing...to have places like Eat! bistro to go to and to feel normal when you go out to eat.", Chelsea
" After years of illness, severe anaemia, a miscarriage, and other health issues - I deserve to know what restaurants will take care of me the way Eat! has and for them to advertise to those of us with these conditions. Eat! Bistro is one of the few places in Winnipeg that I can go and feel comfortable to eat and be with friends without worrying that I'll be sick because of it. Other restaurants around the city advertise that they serve celiac-friendly, gluten-free foods on their menus, but no one has yet met the standards I have come to expect from these wonderful people.", RH
"What has been a nearly pointless exercise for my wife to find restaurants that are safe to eat has finally given way to the relief we experience when we enter this great establishment. We have never had a negative experience with their gluten free menu and are convinced that what these big chain restaurants [names deleted] profess to do (and in fact have let us down) this wonderful, little establishment has been successful at pulling off.", Alex