Eating out getting easier for those with special diets

Asking for special foods in restaurants can take the pleasure out of dining out. Thankfully, many restaurants now have food allergy- and special diet-friendly meals on their menus.

There’s still a lot of work to be done to educate front- and back-of-house restaurant staff, and diners. The Newton Tab recently highlighted my work in their article, “Newton non-profit a resource for diet restricted diners”

The “Yes, You Can Eat!” series offers cooking demonstrations for certain dietary requirements and classes are held frequently. During these demonstrations a famous chef is paired up with a dietician to show participants how to make a delicious food that can accommodate their needs. Each session focuses on a certain type of diet: cooking with diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, etc…

“[Participants are] provided with info and are able to ask questions…form a community of individuals following a special diet…and come away with techniques, resources regarding medical and dietary,” said Diamond.

Diamond also hopes to be able to address some of the psychological impacts of a restricted diet. In addition to just providing the tips, she hopes it builds a community.

“There is a huge physiological component [to a special diet]…people feel alone, feel their life is altered…[it] affects going out to eat, traveling,” said Diamond. “This builds communities.”
The cooking demonstrations are ticketed and the capacity is 80 people. Participants can purchase tickets on Eventbright [sic] ahead of time.

Foodicine is working with the Dine Out Boston program to encourage participating restaurants to serve gluten-free, low-carb and low-sugar desserts.

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