2023 14-4 September Business Issue Number

Dining out with your GFF (gluten-free friend) in the ByWard Market

By Dave Chapin and John Chenier; Photos by Dave Chapin

Outside the J’TM Resto Bar on Clarence Street.

Deciding where a group might go for lunch or dinner used to involve the two main decisions: cost — how much people wanted to spend — and type of cuisine — Italian, Asian, steak or chicken house and so on.

In recent years, getting that same group together to dine out has become more complicated.  Though cost and cuisine still figure prominently, more groups are likely to include people following various dietary regimes that exclude foods containing dairy, meat or gluten.  Since groups or families dining tend to follow the Musketeer Principle “One for all and all for one”, they look for a place where all can find something they can eat.

Years ago, you might have needed a mathematician to develop an algorithm to find a place where people with various food preferences could dine together.  It’s much better now.  Most restaurants in our limited sample said that demand for menu items that were gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan was growing and that meeting the demand was becoming a more important part of their business.

Dave Mangano, owner of The Grand Pizzeria and Bar, says it is important to offer food options. He says all the dietary options they offer are taken up by customers — and demand continues to grow.  “If there is one in a group of six looking for a place to eat that I can’t serve, all six will go elsewhere.” he explained.

Those sentiments were echoed by Sofia Borsten, Director of marketing and advertising for Zak’s Diner and Starling.  She says, “Zaks is a family diner. If we can’t serve the needs of everyone in the family, the family will find someplace else to eat.”

Borsten also says that more specialty items are becoming available to meet this increased demand. “Not long ago, you could only get vegan eggs and such in the USA,” she says. “But now, we can offer a complete vegan breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast.”  

Pure Kitchen at the corner of William and Rideau (previously the Highlander Pub) is a recent addition to dining options for vegans and vegetarians. As the name suggests, it is purely vegetarian.  Manager Bronwyn O’Connor says everything on the menu can be done gluten free on request, and everything is vegan until cheese is added — and there is cashew cheese if you want that.

Overall, there was a range of options in our small sample of restaurants.  They varied from extensive, well-considered approaches to minimal add-ons. The best place to start was on the posted menus. Do they have symbols to identify possible options such as VG (vegan) V (vegetarian) or GF (gluten-free)? Are there many offerings, or just a few? If nothing is identified, it is wise to check inside. Often the restaurant will have a separate menu marking all the options or staff will be knowledgeable about the meals that can be adapted. We encountered this approach at Luxe and Starling.

However, in some places the selection was a meagre part of the overall menu — a salad and perhaps options on a GF bun. However, in the ByWard Market, a better selection is often no further than the place next door.

Overall, there was a range of options in our small sample of restaurants.

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