I’d been invited to go for a meal with one of Matthew’s colleagues and her brother, who was visiting from the US, and found out it was at Carluccio’s. Hm – Italian food: not always great for those who can’t eat saturated fat, but it is part of the “Mediterranean diet” region, so we’ll see. I had a look at the menu and identified one of two things I could eat, but I learned recently not to make assumptions, so I took the precaution of calling them.
Bonus point one: the chap who answered the phone was matter-of-fact and welcoming. He assured me that I would just need to ask for the allergy menu, and that they could tweak many of the dishes to suit me. He left me feeling that I was very welcome to visit the restaurant, not a weirdo or a pain.
We got there a bit early, so I took advantage of being the first ones there to quiz the person who seated us about the menu. Now, bear in mind that this was 7pm on a Saturday evening in bustling BrindleyPlace, in a full restaurant. The person I was talking to turned out to be Nicole, the restaurant manager …
Bonus point two: Nicole went through EVERY ITEM on the entire menu, including the dessert menu, identifying the few things I couldn’t have and the many that they could tweak, swapping butter for olive oil, leaving things out … so I actually had a CHOICE. This almost never happens to me.
Nicole assured me that our waiter would understand, and she said to ask for her if there was any doubt. She left us with a gluten-free menu for another member of the party (they do a dairy-free menu as well. A whole menu. For each type of requirement. A whole page menu) and me with a smile on my face at the thought of A CHOICE.
When our waiter arrived, he understood what I needed, made no fuss, no mention of “Oh, just treat yourself” (that annoys me so much. To a stomach ache? Yum! If you don’t eat fat for a while, your system does not like it when you do), just matter-of-fact and friendly service. He assured me that my mushroom pasta would be made without butter, and so it was.
Come pudding time, and …
Bonus point three: I had a CHOICE OF PUDDINGS. One special, one on the menu. And although the one on the menu did offer that old favourite, lemon sorbet, there was mandarin and melon sorbet, too.
Bonus point four: We were confused as to why sorbet wasn’t on the gluten-free menu. Surely … The waiter agreed that it seemed odd: but he still took the time to pop to the kitchen and find out that, no, it wasn’t gluten free. How many other places would have assumed and not checked?
So, a good meal, no drama, nice food and I didn’t feel I was having a limited choice or stuck with something dull and dry. The price came to £47 for M and I but that was three nice courses, drinks and a tip: I don’t think that is that bad for a good meal, and the experience of having my dietary requirements accepted as normal and not made a fuss over was wonderful!
There are branches all over the UK which is great news – I am confident that the attitude will be similar in other branches, too.
Well done, Carluccio’s Birmingham – I will be back!
This is one of a series of posts about places to eat and food suppliers who are useful for my cholesterol beating diet (set out in my book). Read more by using the High Cholesterol category or sign up to receive email alerts on the blog (see the right-hand sidebar for links), and read more about my book.
Kate
Jun 23, 2013 @ 13:54:06
Sounds wonderful – I must go and try their gluten free menu. I had heard about them but not visited yet. It is so nice to have a choice and staff who understand and don’t patronise.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:04:00
Yes, it was brilliant, so refreshing and anxiety-free!
LikeLike
Bren Renouf
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:19:04
Don’t visit the one at St Pancras! Rude, rude and even more rude. Our waiter made us wait for ages before giving us a menu and didn’t mention anything that was not available. When we came to order, from the regular menu, the things we wanted were not available that day. We asked what was available and he mentioned only 2 or 3 of each course.
The waiter spent ages telling us how many staff had been made redundant, how he’d just come back from his holiday and how he had no idea what was going on there.
I’ve eaten in other branches of the restaurant and have had good service, and a full menu to choose from. However, I must say it isn’t a patch on what it was like when Antonio Carluccio owned it and only had 2 restaurants instead of a large chain owned by his ex wife.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:23:29
Fair enough – as I hope is clear from my post, I can only comment on the Birmingham one right now. I did buy a few things from the Covent Garden shop, and they were always very nice there, too. As I live in Birmingham, I imagine that this will be the one that I go to most often, anyway …
LikeLike
Coral
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:22:58
One to try with my family! One veggie, one allergic to dairy, one super taster and then there is me and Phil who will eat nearly anything.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:24:11
Yes – go ahead and report back!
LikeLike
heavenali
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:51:55
I’ll have to try it out – I love Itallian but often avoid it as so much cheese and meat – and end up with Penne and basic tomato sauce.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 23, 2013 @ 14:56:04
They have all sorts of lovely things and can really tweak it all – lovely tomato soup was on offer and the pasta can be done with all sorts of things. I bet they could even dry “fry” the mushrooms etc as everything is done from scratch.
LikeLike
anewlookthrougholdeyes
Jun 23, 2013 @ 15:50:06
Very interesting review. I can also vouch for their menu for vegetarians. Good to have carluccis in Birmingham.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 23, 2013 @ 15:56:27
Oh, that is good!
LikeLike
Alex
Jun 24, 2013 @ 16:48:01
You mean I might be able to go there and get something that is acid free? I am going to try them out the very next time I am in the city centre.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 24, 2013 @ 16:49:25
I would imagine so – all you have to do is ask to have a chat with the manager and explain you have dietary requirements, and they will go through the menu and discuss options with you. Oh – if anyone does go there because of this blog post, I hope you’ll mention it to them!
LikeLike
Jan Carr
Jun 27, 2013 @ 06:45:29
I just love Carluccio’s and have tried several even though I don’t have the restrictions you found they were so helpful about. For a special treat they are just great. None in New Zealand alas.
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 27, 2013 @ 08:35:42
It’s great that everyone can do the same there – just have a nice time and a treat, whatever they can and can’t eat. I see they are spreading all over the world so maybe you’ll get one one day!
LikeLike
Gill
Jun 27, 2013 @ 08:48:49
That sounds fantastic! I must admit that I do ‘treat myself’ at new places (the ‘old places’ either know me, or I always have the same thing) quite often. Unfortunately, I do not have the same bad reactions in terms of tummy ache, Liz – I say ‘unfortunately’ because I have to be extraordinarily self-disciplined to eat properly.
LikeLike
Gill
Jun 27, 2013 @ 08:50:24
Hmm…I feel a BC outing coming on. Should have known about this before my birthday. Whose is next?
LikeLike
Liz at Libro
Jun 27, 2013 @ 08:54:34
We have a bit of a lacuna now, don’t we … It has a veggie menu, too, apparently. And the tummy ache is all very well but I wish I could indulge occasionally without feeling horrible …
LikeLike