There’s a fine line between healthy and high-maintenance.
Between intolerant and ignorant.
Between picky and pain-in-my-ass.
I love working at The Crest. Today some one asked me what a lentil was. Her neighbor told her it was a vegetable. I died a little. I bit my tongue.
We have an incredibly unique menu featuring tons of local, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free goodies amidst grass-fed burgers piled high with pulled pork served alongside sweet potato fries and house-made chili garlic aioli. We have a kale and quinoa salad with pumpkin sage dressing that’ll knock your socks off and flash-fried goat cheese balls drizzled with local honey that’ll make you cry a little. We grow the herbs in your falafel on our rooftop garden. We’re committed to supporting the community and protecting the environment by serving great food from sustainable and often local sources.
There’s truly something for everyone. Food intolerances are a piece of [gluten-free] cake.
But when you come in with a laundry list of food “intolerances” forbidding processed grains, gluten, “industrial oils” like soy or canola oil, and added sugar, I’m gonna scratch my head. And then I’m going to go outside and fetch you a piece of organic tree bark because that’s about the only thing in a mile radius that meets those requirements. I could probably put mustard on it too, if you want. I’ll even serve it up with water on the rocks.
Don’t get me wrong—allergies and intolerances are no joke. I have friends that are sick for weeks if they eat gluten. This post is obviously NOT directed toward those who are legitimately allergic or intolerant to gluten, dairy, corn, eggs or soy. I don’t want to come off as insensitive or offend any one who can’t eat certain foods for legitimate health reasons. If you came in and were intolerant to all those things, I would feel so bad that I would go in the kitchen and whip you up something delicious myself! But when you order your burger on a gluten-free bun followed by a local draft, I have to wonder how “intolerant” you really are. Everyone is completely entitled to eat or not eat whatever they choose, and if you don’t want to eat gluten or sugar or soybean oil, I totally respect that.
But maybe…maybe you should eat at home.
Because for the chef to leave the kitchen so he can whisk together a special dressing of olive oil and vinegar and find some wild salmon that isn’t already marinated in the blended oil, that’s a little ridiculous. Now if you were actually allergic to the canola oil, that would be a completely different story. If you’re one of those people that’s actually allergic to that laundry list of food, you shouldn’t eat at home. You should come on in to The Crest and we will most definitely find something that works for you!
And trust me, the chef was more than happy to do it. They want to cater to everyone’s needs, as do I. I love describing our vegan and gluten-free options and I’m extremely proud to work at a restaurant that’s so accommodating to different diets and allergies. That said, if you think you’re going to go out to eat and not consume soybean or canola oil, you’ve got another thing coming. If The Crest could afford to only cook with olive oil, I bet they would. But that will never happen. They can’t afford to incur those costs because you as the customer wouldn’t want to pay them. They’re a business. They’re doing their best to serve a healthy product with integrity, but it’s not realistic for a large-scale food operation to only serve that caliber of food unless the clientele is not only willing to pay for it, but also able to afford it.
I’ve studied nutrition for six years. I know a quite a bit about what it means physiologically to be allergic or intolerant to a certain ingredient. And yes, I understand why people don’t want to eat soybean and canola oil. Cook with your ingredients of choice at home and respect that those may not be exactly the same in the food service industry. They’re trying. They really are. But honestly, a little canola oil when you go out to eat isn’t going to kill you. There are far worse things you could eat at a restaurant. Pick your battles.
Restaurants are already making huge leaps and bounds by offering so many healthy, gluten-free and plant-based options. We should be celebrating that! Being insanely picky to the point of awkwardness isn’t fun for anyone, and that’s how us “healthy” eaters get a bad rep.
Don’t get me wrong….I ask the server if the salmon is wild and if the bread is whole wheat. I order salads on the side instead of fries. I was vegan for over a year, and I’ve made my fair share of restaurant requests. I’m annoying too. We all are, to some degree. And we’re entitled to that. We’re allowed to care about our health. But there’s a big difference between being health-conscious and being completely unrealistic.
Don’t be that person. Celebrate the good company and bite your tongue.
At least you know it’s gluten-free.
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All photos are from The Crest’s website. The Crest had no part in this post. All opinions are my own.
I LOVE this! I think one thing that’s super frustrating is those picky, just being annoying people kind of ruin it for those of us who have serious allergies. I find a lot of wait staff assumes I’m just being difficult, when I have an anaphylactic reaction to wheat and get severe sinus infections from gluten. I actually had one waiter say “it only has a little bit of gluten, but you still want it right?” after asking about a menu item. And, I think you made a really good point with the olive oil thing. I prefer to cook with olive oil exclusively at home, but when I go out to eat, I know that’s not realistic. I don’t want a ton of processed crap in my diet, so I make my selection wisely at restaurant, select certain restaurants based on product quality and minimize the amount I eat out. I think people get a little carried away with fads and take it a bit too far. As much as I’m super grateful it’s easier to find gluten free food–because it was NOT 5 years ago when I was first diagnosed with my allergies–at the same time the fad dieters have kind of ruined the seriousness of it for people who really cannot have gluten. I always feel guilty when we go out to eat, apologize for being difficult and say thank you about 12 million times, which isn’t necessary. But, usually tip well above 20% if the server goes out of their way to accommodate or answer questions I have to make sure I have a safe dining experience. I also am smart enough to not go somewhere where there are obviously not going to be options for me and then pitch a fit that they can’t accommodate my special request/need. I choose my restaurants wisely and I’ve had really good experiences overall. Again, love this post! You did a great job!
Love Chelsea’s comment and perspective. You have a great outlook, Chelsea, and are completely right about the difference between actual allergies/dietary restrictions and people just being a little too unrealistic/overboard for the sake of a fad diet or the guise of health. Cheers to you, girl!
Thanks so much for your comment, Chelsea. People seriously do NOT understand how gluten intolerance works. You seem SO understanding. I’m so glad that there are so many more mainstream gluten-free options for you now. And you have no reason to apologize. It’s not your fault, sister! I’m sure waiters love you because you sound super sweet 🙂 Thanks for your awesome comment, girl!
There are truly both sides to every story so they say, but I completely understand what and how you are coming across. People just need to be real. That’s all.
You’re totally right about that!
Girlfran – I love you. GREAT post and I know you are being respectful of those with true allergies. In my humble opinion, being “healthy” to the extreme is unhealthy. Anything to the extreme is no bueno. This is something I have thought about a lot. As a society, we condemn overweight and applaud stick thin. It bothers me. When I had an eating disorder and obsessed over every calorie and worked out multiple hours a day, people complimented me like crazy. I felt so much pressure and I was killing myself to weigh something unrealistic for my body. I honestly never felt worse about myself. I am lucky that I have no food allergies (that I know of or at the moment), but I have been on both ends of this extreme spectrum. Call me an extremist, if you will. In my college days, I didn’t think about oil or gluten or fried food. Or exercising regularly. I definitely was not taking good care of myself – but I was having a damn good time! Then, I decided to get healthy and took it to the other extreme – and was not even eating natural or local or whole foods or listening to my body one bit. Plus, the anxiety and stress were so, so toxic. Anyways, my point here is – it’s all about balance. I weigh somewhere inbetween now, and make mostly healthy choices for different reasons these days – because I care about myself and want to feel good. I don’t deprive myself of anything. I do often ask to swap out a side or some simple accommodation. But I don’t claim to be something I’m not. All things in moderation – even moderation. Great post, chick. You are my sunshine. And I’m dying to come visit you and eat at The Crest. AND I went wild and stirred cookie butter into my overnight oats with blueberries this morning. Not even close to healthy. C’est la vie. My almond butter will be waiting for me again tomorrow. All good in da hood.
Your comments seriously always make my night. SO thoughtful, so sweet, so insightful. You writer, you. I’m so proud of your for overcoming your obstacles with eating. You’ve made a huge transformation and it’s honestly so inspiring! All things in moderation is right. YOU are my sunshine. Come visit so we can down goat cheeze ballz and mimosas on the patio. We’ll snap chat it to err’body. PS the cookie butter in the oats has me drooling.
Hit the nail on the head. Sometimes I worry about how much organic I can afford and getting only local meats, eggs, and dairy. It’s been driving me crazy lately. I have to realize that I just can’t afford to eat that way, at least not right now in my life. The other day at Trader Joe’s I bought the organic garbanzo beans because I would have felt guilty buying the conventional. WTF? Eating conventional beans is not going to kill me. I think the local movement is great, but for those of us who easily take things to extremes, it can be unhealthy. So, for now I am trying to buy only what I can afford that is local/organic. This means one or two things a week. And the rest is conventional. I will be okay. I will live. haha
This is gonna sound weird, but honestly sometimes I have to think looooong and hard about if I really am in the position to spend more on organic apples and spinach. Everything adds up, and it definitely isn’t in everyone’s budget (espesh not mine at the moment). We do what we can, right?! Every step in the right direction counts! We’ll all survive, even if it’s just off toast and almond buttah 🙂
Definitely true! I worked in a restaurant during my Dietetic Internship, and some of the requests were just ridiculous. I’m all for being healthy, but if you’re too nutrition obsessed, I recommend eating at home. Well said! I have a friend that’s vegan and one that’s gluten free and when we go out to eat we plan ahead to find a restaurant that can accomodate them both instead of going somewhere where everything has to be a special order. The Crest menu sounds super yummy and versatile!
Oyyyy that can be super hard, especially when you’re out with a bunch of people. You’d love the Crest!! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it 🙂
Those photos are amazing and 100% agree with your opinions in this post. Love your honesty!
Thanks so much doll! I can’t take credit for the photos (they’re from the Crest’s website), but thanks so much for your sweet comment about the post 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
such a great post..allergies and wanna-be im allergic/intolerances are totally different things..Its nice to see restaurants with chef that are aware and able to cater to special diets.
Agreed–there’s a big difference between being intolerant to gluten and simply doing it to be trendy, which is totally fine too 🙂
but g-free is in, right?!
SO in 🙂 Everyone’s doing it!! But really…
I’m not sure you are being totally fair to people with genuine allergies, I can not eat gluten (celiac) dairy, eggs, corn or soy because they make me really sick. My life is a nightmare, I hate being invited out for food, I try to eat at home as much as I can, but why should my fiancé or family have to miss out on enjoying dining out because of me. It’s stressful and embarrassing and I hate it and hearing people like you basically say maybe you should just eat at home, makes the realisation of how difficult my allergies make my life all the more real and how intolerant people can be. No I don’t order a gluten free bun and then a beer, because this isn’t a fad it’s a real illness most of the time gluten free food doesn’t even cover my allergies. You are lucky if your choices are just for healthy clean living, but not everyone’s are!
Hi, Nikki. Thanks for the comment! I really didn’t intend to come off as insensitive to those with legitimate allergies and I’m so sorry if I did. I’m referring to the people who complicate their orders to be 100% gluten free and then order a beer right afterwords. I can’t imagine living how difficult it would be living with all those allergies, and I truly apologize if I offended you. I just added this to the post after reading your comment: ” This post is obviously NOT directed toward those who get sick after eating gluten, dairy, corn, eggs or soy. I don’t want to come off as insensitive or offend any one who can’t eat certain foods for legitimate health reasons. If you came in and were intolerant to all those things, I would feel so bad that I would go in the kitchen and whip you up something delicious myself!”
Hi Alexis,
Thanks for replying – I really appreciate it :o)
It sucks having so many allergies, but I have found some really nice recipes on your site so that keeps me happy at home.
If I’m ever in the US I’ll be sure to pop in so you can whip me up something special.
Kind Regards
Nikki
You’re very welcome 🙂 I really appreciated your honesty. You better come to the U.S. so we can whip you up some humbelievable allergy-friendly goodies! xo
I totally understand the frustration. And I can’t help but giggle to myself over the fact that the stress those people probably put on themselves over trying to eat ‘perfectly clean’ is probably way worse for them than if they were to just ease up and be more relaxed with their food choices.
oh gosh, amen! I always tell people stress and worry is just as “unhealthy” than if you were to just eat the dang thing!
Well said, my dear 🙂 LIKE JUST CHILL AND HAVE A FREAKING COOKIE.
Oops…THE Crest. 🙂
So well said! I probably go to far in the opposite direction when I go out to eat because I hate to be a bother or draw weird attention to myself. 🙂
On another note, you have me totally sold on Crest! I just pulled up Google maps to see how far it was from my house…hour and a half! Not bad. I may have to make a trip just to eat there!!
I didn’t realize you lived so close! I say you come on over for a blogger meetup and we can chat about life over some honey glazed cheese balls 🙂
You know my thoughts on this- preach it buddy. I have a post in the works digging this very notion- through experiences with day to day people. The ordering something gluten free then getting a gluten filled food after it? Yep, gluten free right there.
What is a lentil? What is food? Is Alexis French for Hummus?
WHO ARE ALL THESE LENTILS ALL UP IN MAH GRILL.
Great post! I am a pain-in-the-ass 80% of the time, that 80% is spent at home feveriously following splendid clean recipes etc etc, but the other 20% is spent wallowing in my local eateries – enjoying their (vegetarian) delights! All hail the 80/20 of sane reasoning here!
I’m totally down for the 80/20 rule my friend! All good 🙂
Well said, Alexis!
Thank you! x
You’re so welcome, girl 🙂