The Gluten-Free Life is Good in Colorado!

You may have noticed that the blog has been pretty quiet lately. That’s because we were enjoying a wonderful vacation in Denver, Colorado! Here are some highlights from our trip.

• A hike through the mountains at Vail, powered by granola bars from Annie’s and Kind (sadly, neither of which are available here yet)
• An amazing time at the Great American Beer Festival, where I sampled brews from Omission, New Planet, Rickoli, Sprecher, Lakefront, and more
• A visit to New Planet Brewing, which makes gluten-free and gluten-reduced beers
• Delicious gluten-free sandwiches at the Olive & Finch eatery
• Gluten-free fried chicken at The BSide
• An amazing shared-plates meal at Root Down, where 90% of the menu is or can be gluten-free
• Plenty of fabulous Mexican food!
• A late-night gluten-free ice cream cone at Little Man Ice Cream
• Amazing gluten-free pizza from Tony P’s (probably the best I have ever had, in fact!)
• Tons of varieties of cider from Woodchuck Cider, the Colorado Cider Company, and Stem

Now, all of this didn’t happen by accident. My very thoughtful brother-in-law did a ton of research and checked out the Denver Celiac Support Group before our visit. It certainly paid off, and in the future I’ll be sure to check out local Celiac associations for dining ideas!

Thanks to Damian Cardone!

I’d like to say thank you to Damian Cardone, the asinine Colorado chef who sparked an Internet uproar a few days ago by ranting on Facebook about how gluten-free food is nonsense, and how he often served customers regular pasta when they asked for gluten-free pasta.

Cardone’s infuriating remarks have spread like wildfire throughout the Internet, hitting major media outlets like the Denver Post and The View. In turn, allergies in general, Celiac disease, and the gluten-free diet have been thrust into the spotlight. Awareness has been raised and people are becoming more educated.

So thank you, Mr. Cardone. By publicly displaying your ignorance and intolerance, you have raised awareness for the very cause that you called “bullshit.”

Head Chef at U.S. Restaurant Calls Gluten-Free “BS”

Damian Cardone, a chef at Florindo’s Italian Cuisine in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, has posted this on his Facebook page:

“Gluten free is bullshit!! Flour and bread have been a staple of life for thousands, THOUSANDS of years. People who claim to be gluten intolorent dont realize that its all in there disturbed liitle heads. People ask me for gluten free pasta in my restaurant all the time, I tell em sure, Then I serve serve em our pasta, Which I make from scratch with high gluten flour. And you know what? nothing, NOTHING! ever happens! People leave talking about how good they feel gluten free and guess what, They just had a full dose! Idiots!”

There is also this gem: “May god help the Liberal hippie idiot whos going to ask for gluten free pasta this weekend.”

This is just appalling. It looks like the Reddit hivemind is taking some action… but it’s terrible to see such appalling, harmful behavior from someone who is supposed to be an executive chef in the food industry.

UPDATE: The Facebook pages referenced above are now unavailable. Will keep you up to date if I hear more on this winner of a chef!

UPDATE 2: Here