Travel Tips for Gluten-Free Italy

 GLUTEN-FREE ITALY: TRAVEL TIPS

Before I left for Italy a couple of weeks ago, I sat down for lunch with a friend of 
mine at a popular restaurant in Westchester, NY. I asked the waiter if the chef 
could prepare me gluten-free meal and he eagerly responded, "Yes no problem, 
they can make something without sugar!"

A week later, I sat down for lunch with a friend in Rome in a popular restaurant and 
I asked the same question. The waiter said to me "Yes, no problem, we have tons 
of clients who are gluten-free."  

(By the way, this restaurant is La Scaletta and it is right near the Pantheon on Via 
della Maddalena 46/49 --tel. 066792149.)

As I devoured my delicious gluten-free pasta with mushrooms, I discussed the 
gluten-free scene in New York with my Roman friend. She was not a celiac, but she 
was well aware of celiac disease and had herself been tested at an early age. This 
was no coincidence; it was merely because she was Italian. Italians all know about 
celiac disease and are all tested for it.

Great for them, but also great for us because as tourists we benefit!

So many people have expressed to me an interest in exploring a relatively 
underdeveloped area of Italy, namely the heel of the boot, Puglia. But they're 
generally afraid because this region is not yet as well geared towards tourists as, 
for example, Tuscany is. So I decided to check it out for myself: I brought two 
friends of mine (who don't have celiac disease, but are generally serious foodies) 
along for the ride.

This was great fun because every time the restaurant owners brought out some 
gluten-free food that they had prepared, they also brought out the "gluten version” 
of the same thing. My friends tried each version and described to me the 
differences. And just like the gluten-free pretzels in the US are tastier than the 
wheat pretzels, we found that there were a number of gluten-free foods in Italy that 
were tastier than the gluten version of the same food! These fried calamari won 
one of the taste tests:

We  had a great time and met some people who are really dedicated to the gluten-
free cause. Take for example Luigi, the pizza guy (Atelier della Pizza Capri ‘91), 
who has won awards all over Puglia for his outrageously good pizza (check out his 
trophies in the background of the picture!)

He has a family friend who has celiac disease, and so he decided to make gluten-
free pizza as well. Now on the weekends he makes 50 to 60 gluten-free pizzas a 
night in a special "laboratory," a room to the side of his regular kitchen. He has a 
separate oven, separate utensils, basically separate everything. He said it makes 
him so happy to see kids get excited about having gluten-free pizza. And let me tell 
you, that pizza was the best pizza I've ever had! (Notice the variety: part 
mushroom, part pepperoni, part prosciutto, part artichokes and part plain!)



A few tips for tourists who are going anywhere in Italy this summer and fall:

•        plan your day carefully: Use Google maps to figure out where the sites are 
that you want to visit, and where the nearby restaurants are that serve gluten-free 
food. It is always a good idea to call ahead to the restaurants to make 
reservations, request a gluten-free meal, and ensure that they are actually open! 
This last part may seem a little silly, but for example, when I was in Bari on a 
Sunday and Lecce on a Saturday at lunch there weren’t many restaurants open, 
for various reasons, especially because of private parties being held in the 
restaurants.

•        Keep in mind that when you inquire about getting gluten-free food in 
a restaurant, the first response might be “no”. In this case, ask again in a 
different way! Here's the deal: the Italians have a national, very well coordinated 
celiac society that works  closely with restaurants to serve gluten-free food that 
has been prepared in a completely uncontaminated environment. The restaurants 
are equipped with a separate "laboratory" with a separate oven, stove, utensils, 
and cookware to prepare gluten-free food. The restaurants’ special labs are 
inspected every six months. If there are any violations of the food preparation 
rules, the restaurants are taken off the gluten-free restaurant list until the 
violations have been remedied. This keeps restaurant owners hyper-vigilant about 
the gluten-free food they prepare and serve.

So if you go to a restaurant that is not working directly with the Italian Celiac 
Society, the owners/managers may automatically say that they are “not prepared” 
or “not set up” to serve you a gluten-free meal. This is just a way to indicate to you 
that they don't participate in the program. You can still get an excellent meal at a 
restaurant that doesn't participate directly in the program, because the restaurants 
often have gluten-free pasta stashed away for their regular clients, and they're 
already well familiar with celiac disease and gluten-free food. Even if they don't 
have gluten-free pasta stashed away, they can still easily prepare you a “second 
piatto”, that is, a meat, chicken, rabbit, veal, or fish dish that is gluten-free. So you 
should let them know that you understand they don't participate in the Italian 
Celiac Society program, but that you would love to have a gluten-free “secondo” at 
their restaurant.

•        If  you're looking for gluten-free pizza (“pizza senza glutine”), you're better 
off looking for it at night instead of during the day because Italians tend to have a 
bigger lunch and a smaller dinner. A lot of places don't even make gluten-free 
pizza during the day. In addition to the restaurants and pizzerias that participate in 
the Italian Celiac Society program, there are a number of restaurants and pizzerias 
that offer gluten-free pizza under the tutelage of a commercial venture, DS. This is 
a brand of the Dr. Schär group that provides restaurants with all the right cooking 
tools, gluten-free foods and ingredients and the training operators need to 
prepare meals safely. The restaurants that participate in this program are called 
DS Pizza Points.

•        When you stay in a hotel, make sure to phone ahead and asked them if they 
can serve you a gluten-free breakfast (“colazione senza glutine”). Most hotels 
and B&B's serve a complimentary continental breakfast. With advance notice, they 
can order gluten-free food for you from a pharmacy or make it themselves. You 
can have, as I did, warm gluten-free croissants (called “cornetti senza glutine”), 
breads and little cakes for breakfast.

•        farmacia, farmacia: if your hotel says they cannot provide you a gluten-free 
breakfast, you can go to any pharmacy and buy some GF products to bring to the 
hotel breakfast. You can also buy gluten-free bread there and use it for lunch with 
some fresh cheese and cold cuts (when you walk into any food store in Italy, they 
will tell you which cold cuts are gluten-free and most of them are).L. 06792149

•        Ice cream (“gelato”): you can't go to Italy without sampling the delicious ice 
cream but be careful. Just as in the US, gluten is thrown into things you wouldn't 
expect, in Italy it is thrown in as well. Obviously you need to stay away from flavors 
that have cookies in them, but additionally, to be absolutely certain there is no 
cross contamination; you should go to the designated ice cream stores that serve 
GF ice cream.  There you can often get a gluten-free ice cream cone (“cono senza 
glutine”).You can also get pre-prepared ice cream in bars or restaurants just about 
anywhere if you look for this poster:


The restaurants, pizza places, and ice cream stores that are part of the Italian 
Celiac Society program and the DS program, as well as the pharmacies that carry 
gluten-free food are all listed in The Gluten-Free Guide to Italy.

If you find yourself in Puglia, check out the following excellent 
restaurants/pizzerias:

Trani:   Donna Rosa          Corso Vitt. Emmanuele, 138           tel. 0883764958

Bari:     Da Bari Napoli       Via Piccinni 187/189                        tel. 080.9905452

Alberobello: Il Forno di Cristo        Via Monte Sabotino 24    tel. 080.4324040

Palmariggi:   Sciarabba                     Via Roma 45                      tel. 354497

Taviano:        Atelier della Pizza Capri ’91                
          Corso Viareggio-Marina di Mancaversa
            tel. 392 5336716

Meantime, buon viaggio e buon appetito!

Gluten-free foccaccia in Italy’s colors