Gluten-Free Chef's Table Tour Kick-Off Dinner with Photos

Last night I was thrilled to be a part of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness GREAT Kitchens Gluten-Free Chef's Table Tour. The first stop on the tour was in New York City. Alice Bast of the NFCA and Chef Jehangir Mehta were the gracious hosts at Chef Mehta's restaurant Metaphor in Tribeca. You may know Chef Mehta from The Next Iron Chef.

Me with Chef Mehta

Chef Mehta has been involved with the NFCA and the Celiac community for a very long time. When he spoke about ingredients, cross-contamination in a kitchen, and preparation of gluten-free food, it was obvious the chef knew what he was talking about. Chef Mehta acknowledged that being gluten-free is a lifestyle choice for some but in his kitchens he takes "everyone's gluten-free requests as a serious illness request." He also said "gluten doesn't die with fire" which I think is a great reminder of why the same pans and grills shouldn't be reused in the kitchen when preparing gluten-free food.

Me with Alice Bast of the NFCA

One of the highlights of the night was meeting other bloggers. In my section of the table, I was the only person with Celiac and the only gluten-free blogger. This gave me the opportunity to educate others and reiterate the important points made by Chef Mehta and Alice throughout the night. Of course, there were some doubters of the prevalence of Celiac but I tried to set them straight. I actually thought it was a very good, strategic move on behalf of the NFCA to invite non-gluten-free bloggers. The more people we bring into our community, the greater chance we have to educate others.

You can follow the GREAT Kitchens Gluten-Free Chef's Table Tour on the NFCA Facebook and on Twitter at @CeliacAwareness and @jehangir_mehta or by tweeting #GFChefsTable or #GREATKitchens. The Gluten-Free Chef's Table Tour will cover 9 more cities in the United States through the fall and into the spring of 2014.

Thank you Alice and Chef Mehta for an informative and delicious evening!

Shout out to my girls Ingrid and Bobbi who stealthily ate their dinner behind me the whole night and didn't say hello until the end. ha! I know your are reading this. :-)