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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