INTERVIEW
Liza Wetanson, owner
Sambuca Restaurant
20 West 72nd St.
(bet. Central Park West and Columbus)
New York, NY
How did you become involved in serving those who are gluten-
free?
My son's good friend was always sick. When he was finally diagnosed
with celiac disease, his father, Doug, who was a friend of mine,
developed a line of gluten-free food products. He would borrow my
kitchen in the mornings to sample recipes. I happened to be in the
kitchen often when he was doing this, and I was able to learn a lot
from him (previously I knew nothing about gluten-free food). The
more I learned, the more I realized how easy it would be to serve a
gluten-free clientele and to make them very happy. Doug put me in
touch with the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program people
and one thing led to another . . .
How often are you successful at meeting the customers’
gluten-free needs?
I'm proud to say that we get many gluten-free customers and we have
never had one who was dissatisfied. Sometimes the gluten-free
customers are so excited about our gluten-free meals that they insist
on going into the kitchen themselves to thank the chef.
We have gluten-free everything including homemade gluten-free
bread to go with your pasta, gluten-free beer and vodkas, and
fantastic homemade gluten-free brownies.
Our style is family-style, but we do offer gluten-free meals in individual
portions. We aim to please -- not only in-house but also by offering
delivery, take out and catering for private parties, of gluten-free meals.
What is the process for making sure that your food is
completely gluten-free?
We prepare our gluten-free meals in a separate area in the kitchen.
We use color-coded pots and pans: anything blue is strictly for gluten-
free cooking. We also distinguish gluten from gluten-free pasta by
shape. We serve only gluten-free shells or elbows and we do not
serve wheat-based shells and elbows. In this way none of the wait
staff or the cooks will be confused.
We make our gluten-free bread when there is nothing else being
prepared in the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination. We buy gluten-
free pasta instead of preparing it in the kitchen, and then we boil it in
a designated pot.
We are very careful about our ingredients. We wanted to serve
sausage with our gluten-free pasta but ultimately decided to eliminate
it from the gluten-free menu when the sausage manufacturer told us
that although the sausage was gluten-free, it had not been prepared
in a gluten-free facility.
We do as much as we can to ensure that our food is gluten-free, but
we also post disclosures for our clientele to let them know that the
restaurant is not a completely gluten-free environment.
Which recipes are the hardest/easiest to adapt to be gluten-
free?
What we realized when we first started out doing the gluten-free menu
was that at least 40% of our regular recipes were already, by
definition, gluten-free or could easily be prepared as gluten-free
dishes. Adapting the pasta dishes was easy; our sauces didn't
contain gluten and we just substituted gluten-free pasta for the wheat
pasta.
As we were developing our gluten-free menu, we were careful to know
our limits and not to take on anything too challenging, for fear of
accidental contamination. For example, we had wanted to make some
dishes in the parmesan style (like Chicken Parmesan). We got gluten-
free bread crumbs and stored them in a special place in the kitchen.
But quickly we realized that we only had two fryalators and it would be
too difficult to designate one of them to be exclusively gluten-free.
The other thing we realized was that once we had put sauce over a
Parmesan dish, it would be too hard to distinguish whether the dish
was gluten-free or not. So we did not put anything Parmesan on the
gluten-free menu.
What would you advise customers to discuss with the
restaurant staff regarding the preparation of a gluten-free
meal (i.e. cooking utensils, ingredients, etc.)?
I would advise them to tell the staff immediately upon entering the
restaurant that they would like to have a gluten-free dish. Also to tell
the staff if they have any other allergies, such as dairy, or any
concerns. After that, I would say relax, have a great time, and feel
normal. It is very rewarding for us to see kids smiling with a plate of
gluten-free pasta, knowing that they can enjoy their meal and not feel
like the odd man out.
Gluten-free customers should realize too that their special needs
requests are not a burden to us. It is no problem to accommodate our
gluten-free clientele -- in fact, it is our greatest pleasure. Our biggest
challenge as restauranteurs is always to please our customers. Our
gluten-free customers have been extremely appreciative and kind, a
true gift to us -- as much of a gift to us as the gluten-free menu is to
them!
Liza Wetanson, owner
Sambuca Restaurant
20 West 72nd St.
(bet. Central Park West and Columbus)
New York, NY
How did you become involved in serving those who are gluten-
free?
My son's good friend was always sick. When he was finally diagnosed
with celiac disease, his father, Doug, who was a friend of mine,
developed a line of gluten-free food products. He would borrow my
kitchen in the mornings to sample recipes. I happened to be in the
kitchen often when he was doing this, and I was able to learn a lot
from him (previously I knew nothing about gluten-free food). The
more I learned, the more I realized how easy it would be to serve a
gluten-free clientele and to make them very happy. Doug put me in
touch with the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program people
and one thing led to another . . .
How often are you successful at meeting the customers’
gluten-free needs?
I'm proud to say that we get many gluten-free customers and we have
never had one who was dissatisfied. Sometimes the gluten-free
customers are so excited about our gluten-free meals that they insist
on going into the kitchen themselves to thank the chef.
We have gluten-free everything including homemade gluten-free
bread to go with your pasta, gluten-free beer and vodkas, and
fantastic homemade gluten-free brownies.
Our style is family-style, but we do offer gluten-free meals in individual
portions. We aim to please -- not only in-house but also by offering
delivery, take out and catering for private parties, of gluten-free meals.
What is the process for making sure that your food is
completely gluten-free?
We prepare our gluten-free meals in a separate area in the kitchen.
We use color-coded pots and pans: anything blue is strictly for gluten-
free cooking. We also distinguish gluten from gluten-free pasta by
shape. We serve only gluten-free shells or elbows and we do not
serve wheat-based shells and elbows. In this way none of the wait
staff or the cooks will be confused.
We make our gluten-free bread when there is nothing else being
prepared in the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination. We buy gluten-
free pasta instead of preparing it in the kitchen, and then we boil it in
a designated pot.
We are very careful about our ingredients. We wanted to serve
sausage with our gluten-free pasta but ultimately decided to eliminate
it from the gluten-free menu when the sausage manufacturer told us
that although the sausage was gluten-free, it had not been prepared
in a gluten-free facility.
We do as much as we can to ensure that our food is gluten-free, but
we also post disclosures for our clientele to let them know that the
restaurant is not a completely gluten-free environment.
Which recipes are the hardest/easiest to adapt to be gluten-
free?
What we realized when we first started out doing the gluten-free menu
was that at least 40% of our regular recipes were already, by
definition, gluten-free or could easily be prepared as gluten-free
dishes. Adapting the pasta dishes was easy; our sauces didn't
contain gluten and we just substituted gluten-free pasta for the wheat
pasta.
As we were developing our gluten-free menu, we were careful to know
our limits and not to take on anything too challenging, for fear of
accidental contamination. For example, we had wanted to make some
dishes in the parmesan style (like Chicken Parmesan). We got gluten-
free bread crumbs and stored them in a special place in the kitchen.
But quickly we realized that we only had two fryalators and it would be
too difficult to designate one of them to be exclusively gluten-free.
The other thing we realized was that once we had put sauce over a
Parmesan dish, it would be too hard to distinguish whether the dish
was gluten-free or not. So we did not put anything Parmesan on the
gluten-free menu.
What would you advise customers to discuss with the
restaurant staff regarding the preparation of a gluten-free
meal (i.e. cooking utensils, ingredients, etc.)?
I would advise them to tell the staff immediately upon entering the
restaurant that they would like to have a gluten-free dish. Also to tell
the staff if they have any other allergies, such as dairy, or any
concerns. After that, I would say relax, have a great time, and feel
normal. It is very rewarding for us to see kids smiling with a plate of
gluten-free pasta, knowing that they can enjoy their meal and not feel
like the odd man out.
Gluten-free customers should realize too that their special needs
requests are not a burden to us. It is no problem to accommodate our
gluten-free clientele -- in fact, it is our greatest pleasure. Our biggest
challenge as restauranteurs is always to please our customers. Our
gluten-free customers have been extremely appreciative and kind, a
true gift to us -- as much of a gift to us as the gluten-free menu is to
them!
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