Italy!!!

This is a long delayed post -- we spent about two weeks in Italy this past summer and had a great trip.  

General

I found it helpful to identify a few options in whatever neighborhood we were going to be touring in around the various meal times.  Although it is probably possible to get a plain salad or plain meat in many places if stuck, there are so many restaurants with extensive gluten free options that it seems a shame to waste a meal time opportunity!  Many restaurants are not open 7 days a week, and will often close between lunch and dinner, so check times and days in advance.  If a restaurant has an email address, I sometimes found it easier to make the reservation by email rather than phone.  This way, I could use Google translate to compose the message (and use it to interpret the response as well!)  Also, download some Italian language restaurant cards. 

Some supermarkets had some gluten free foods, but most gluten free provisions are found in the Farmacies.  Every Farmacie had a slightly different supply, but most had crackers, cookies, breads, pastas, and even muffins.  I think we stopped into almost every Farmacie we passed, just to see what was available.

Finally, make sure to check out the Italian Celiac Society website, http://www.celiachiaitalia.com/locali-senza-glutine.html  There are sections which list (among other types of places) restaurants, pizzarias, hotels, and bars which have approved gluten free menus.  The site is in Italian, but you can use google translate to read it.  The listings are organized by province, and are particularly helpful if you are going to be in an area that doesn't get a lot of tourist traffic.  When I found likely places, I tried to look them up in Trip Advisor or other web searches, to get general reviews -- after all, we didn't only want places with good gluten free menus, we wanted places with excellent food, for both gluten free and non gluten free diners alike.

Rome

We rented an apartment near the Pantheon, which was an ideal location for us.  We walked almost everywhere, and it was a charming, lively area.  Every morning, there was a fruit market in the Piazze delle Coppelle right in front of our apartment, where we could stock up on fruit.  There was also a supermarket a couple of blocks away, where we purchased drinks and snacks, but we didn't really use the kitchen for much else!

Where we ate (favorites are starred):

* Caffe Universalle, http://www.universalecaffe.it/ -- between the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon -- the most elegant restaurant we went to, with fabulous, personalized service!  Great value if you get one of the 30 or 35 euro prix fixe menus -- four courses, all of which can be adapted to be gluten free.  Gluten free pasta and pastries also available.  No outside seating.  This was a definite highlight for us.

* La Soffitta Renovatio, http://ristoranterenovatio.it/  -- not too far from the Vatican/ St. Peters.  Another highlight.  Full gluten free menu, with excellent pizza, lots of pasta choices, and gluten free desserts.  A traditional atmosphere, but no outdoor seating.

* Ristorante Il Tulipano, http://tulipanonero.biz/ -- in Trastevere.  Another great experience.  An extensive gluten free menu, with many options.


* Voglia di Pizza, http://www.italybedbreakfast.it/ristorante/index.html -- between the Jewish quarter and the Campo di Fiori (the website is of a bed and breakfast that I think runs the pizzaria  Excellent gluten free pizza, also has other gluten free pasta and meal options.  More of a lunch place.  Has a few outside tables and some inside seating.

La Scaletta, http://www.lascalettaroma.it/Home.aspx -- near the Pantheon.  Gluten free pasta available.  The food here was good, but not outstanding.  However, the location is excellent, with very nice outdoor seating. 

Fa Bio, no website -- near the Vatican.  Not a typical Italian restaurant.  A small, hole in the wall type place with sandwiches (not gluten free), salads and smoothies.  A good option for take out (no seating), the staff is accommodating and salads and smoothes can be gluten free.

Mia Market, http://miamarket.blogspot.com/  -- Monti  Another atypical place if you are looking for a change from pizza/ pasta.  A small market/ deli with seating available.  Sandwiches (not gluten free) and salads.

Gelato   Gelato can have gluten in it.  In general, however, we found that the "artisinal" places had gluten free options.   Grom identifies its gluten free flavors right on the menu so you don't need to ask.  At Fatamorgana, in Monti, all flavors were gluten free and all cones were gluten free as well.  Il Gelato di San Crispino also had gluten free options.

Other places  We never got to try these places, but here are a few other places that were on our list of possibilities: 
Obika' Roma Campo Dei Fiori, http://www.obika.it/english/restaurant-in-rome.html (a few locations), aka the Mozzarella bar, no gf menu, but salads and cheese are available
Taverna Barberini, http://www.romaristoranti.info/ -- near Trevi fountain, has a gluten free menu
Marco G, http://www.marcog.it/ -- Trastevere.  Has gf pasta.
Ad Hoc, http://www.ristoranteadhoc.com/inglese/home.htm
Casa Coppelle, http://www.casacoppelle.it/dove-siamo.html -- near Pantheon, outdoor seating.

Sorrento and Florence report to come in a later post

Grand Palladium in Mexico -- an all inclusive that does gluten free well

For the past few years, we had avoided all inclusives, choosing instead to rent condos where we could have more control over our meals.  However, we had heard good things about the gluten free provisions at the Grand Palladium (between Akumal and Playa del Carmen in the Riviera May, Mexico) and, I am glad to report, overall we had a very good experience.

The Grand Palladium is a very large property that includes 5 different areas.  We stayed at the Riviera, but since you can eat at any of the restaurants (about 8) , bars or buffets in the property, the particular area that you stay in doesn't much matter.   We were there during February school break, but even so, it didn't feel too crowded to us.  I thought that the beach area and the pools were really lovely.

At the time that we visited (February 2012), the hotel had a system in place to assist guests with food allergies and celiac.  Once we checked in, we met with one of the higher level managers in charge of dining services. He gave us a special color coded restaurant card (in English and Spanish) setting forth the gluten free requirements. (There are other cards for other food allergies.)  The text of this card was quite similar to other restaurant cards -- however, the magic of the card is that everyone in the property's restaurants and buffets has been trained to follow certain procedures once a guest shows them this particular card.  In the buffet, they made sure that we were brought to a table with a fresh tablecloth, and a manger came over to take my daughter's order. In the beach bar, they offered to make up fresh batches of french fries and tortilla chips, that had been fried in clean, fresh oil.  There is also a basic gluten free menu at each of the restaurants offering items such as grilled chicken, grilled fresh, etc. -- however, at La Adelita (Mexican restaurant), Porta Emilia (fish restaurant by the beach) and Portofino (Italian), they were able to adopt menu items from the regular menu to make them gluten free.  (The hotel does have gluten free pasta and pizza listed on the gluten free menu as well; however, it is best to let the restaurant know in advance that you want to order one of those items, so they have it in stock.  My daughter was able to enjoy a very nice gluten free pasta dish at the Italian restaurant.)

In general, one cannot make reservations in advance at the restaurants.  However, because we had a gluten free person in our group, we were allowed to make reservations, and this was also very helpful in ensuring that things went smoothly.  Our gluten free needs were noted on the reservation, so the restaurant knew to expect someone with celiac and could arrange to have some gf breads and other products on hand.

The only night things didn't go so smoothly was the very first night.  This was because we hadn't received the magic card yet as the manager we needed to speak with had the day off on the day of our arrival.  As a result, we couldn't make an advance reservation, and there was some confusion about what kind of gluten free food was available at the restaurant (the steak house.).  So, if you do arrive on a day that the manager can't meet with you, I'd encourage you to insist that you nonetheless be allowed to make a dinner reservation in advance anyway, with a notation about needing to eat gluten free.

The hotel also stocks some gluten free specialty products, including breads, muffins, pancake mix, brownies and some other desserts.  I give full credit to the hotel for ordering these products -- however, some were clearly better than others!  Luckily, the brownies and pasta were both quite tasty.  There were also plenty of naturally gluten free foods available.  Also, when it comes to "processed" foods, the hotel is quite conservative in what they consider to be gluten free, and I think only considers such a food to be gluten free if it is labeled so by the manufacturer. The ubiquitous soft serve ice cream did not have a gluten free label, so they originally told us my daughter could not eat it.  When I pressed a bit, the manager very willingly tracked down the ingredient label for me, and the ingredients were indeed gluten free. Since Mexico does have good labeling policies when it comes to gluten, we were comfortable with her eating the ice cream -- however, I did appreciate that others might feel differently and I think that the hotel's conservative approach (in combination with their willingness to let me see the ingredient label) is the best way to accommodate the range of guest needs.

One of the best things about the all inclusive was that we did not have to explain what gluten free was time and time again -- we just showed our card, and then the existing procedures were implemented.  The waitstaff and servers were incredibly kind and accommodating.  We generally ate breakfast at the Riviera buffet, and lunch at the Riviera pool bar.  At each of these places, they quite readily made up fresh orders of items such as eggs and fresh fruits for breakfast, and grilled chicken, fresh french fries, and fresh tortilla chips for lunch (the guacamole was naturally gluten free, and was amazing!) 

I've heard that the hotel is continuing to develop their food allergy and celiac friendly approaches, and that they might be developing a gluten free section of the buffet.  However, even without this, we found it quite easy to have an enjoyable, relaxing stay, and we would definitely return!

Grand Palladium Riviera May http://www.fiestahotelgroup.com/en/hotels/destination/america/mexico /riviera-maya/  (We booked through Expedia, but it is definitely worth it to check around to different tour packages, as prices to this hotel (and, indeed, most all inclusives) can vary widely.)