My gluten allergy forces me to be very careful when I eat out. I was at l’Orée du Bois recently, and they really took care of me. I’ll briefly tell you how they handled it.
l’Orée du Bois is a restaurant with high-end food and relatively moderate prices. If you’re on a tight budget, this is not an ideal restaurant for you, otherwise you can certainly afford it occasionally. They are located in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada. If you have allergies, this is a good place to treat yourself.
Note that l’Orée du Bois Restaurant is unaware that I am writing this review. I receive not gain, financial or otherwise from them. And if there was something I didn’t like about them, I would certainly tell you, don’t worry!
When I told the waiter that I have food allergies, he brought out a clip board with an allergy form. It covers different allergies you can tick off, like gluten allergy, shell fish, peanuts etc. They also ask if you get anaphylaxis.
Unlike many restaurants these days that seem to “cook” based on prepared or semi-prepared foods, l’Orée du Bois makes everything from scratch. This allows them to individualize your meal quite a bit.
Many items are made in big batches. For example, the soup may have been made in a big batch, it is frequently gluten-free. They may hold the sauce, more likely they will come up with an alternative sauce to go with your meal.
The other approach, which I recommend for all restaurants, is to ask the waiter what is gluten-free, and then choose from that shorter list. This restaurant does not bulk out their food with cheap filler, so most items are a good bet, although there are still some items on the menu you have to avoid. I still feel there are plenty of great choices left over to choose from.
The one desert you can eat there is the sorbet. There are several types which are dairy free as well.
l’Orée du Bois Restaurant does a great job of catering to people with allergies, and I was happy with how they handled my gluten allergy.