Celiac disease is not a fad. More commonly known as a gluten allergy, Celiac disease is activated when an ingested protein called gluten, found in all wheats, ryes, and barleys, attaches to the digestive tract and triggers a platoon of white blood cells to assault the intestinal lining. Celiac disease is a very real, objectively unsexy autoimmune disorder in which a person’s intestines inflame, causing symptoms such as fatigue, constipation, and frequent, unscheduled diarrhea. I cannot stress this enough—Celiac disease is not a fad. The only way to treat this unfortunate disorder is to avoid gluten in your diet altogether. No pasta or pizza or fried chicken. No cookies. No monosaccharides or polysaccharides. None of those delicious wheat carbohydrates that fuel and energize your body. None.
Sometime in the late 2000’s, this aspect of Celiac disease, this low-carb regimen, caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey. Within a few months, she and a wealth of other celebrities had endorsed the Celiac treatment, praising its dietary benefits and its correlation with weight-loss. Drew Brees, Scarlet Johanson, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and countless others started publicizing their own Gluten-free diets. Even though it affects only around six percent of the population, Gluten sensitivity had become mainstream.
The question remains: should you climb aboard the bandwagon and offer your restaurant guests gluten-free dishes? Well, yes. Absolutely. By explicitly including allergen-free options on your menu—not just options for gluten, but for shellfish, peanuts, treenuts, and lactose—you’ll endear your restaurant to those with special dietary needs. People with food allergies have it rough already. Small courtesies like special, intentionally designed allergen-free menus with clearly listed ingredients for each dish make dining out a less stressful enterprise. Most customers won’t notice, but those who do will greatly appreciate it. (It’ll also give you an excuse to splurge on new menu covers for your restaurant.)
And who cares if this whole Gluten-free obsession is nothing more than a misleading fad, just another iteration in the Atkins cycle that has been recurring over and over for the past few years? It takes courage to go on a diet. Who’s to say gluten-content is a less worthy criterion in dish selection than spiciness or doneness? Successful restaurants appeal to a large swathe of dissimilar people and diverse menus attract diverse peoples. You shouldn’t have to tailor your menu to fit gluten-free diets, it should be varied enough already that the words “Gluten-free” could truthfully precede a few of the names of your signature dishes. Food fads will come and food fads will go but if you don’t make an effort to appeal to a wide range of people, your restaurant won’t live to see the next one.
