Plan ahead to avoid allergic reactions to foods

The twin arrivals of the allergy season and travel season put one in mind of food allergies and what they mean to both restaurants and diners. The American Restaurant Association has posted an extensive set of food allergy guidelines and commentary on travel on its Web site.

As it notes, travel means eating at unfamiliar restaurants and having to be very direct in asking questions of servers. Even so, some foods and sauces and even names make excellent hiding places for allergens. Who would guess, for example, that Arachis oil is actually peanut oil?

Kristi Phipps, author of “Knit-Wits in the Kitchen” cookbook, recently took a bite of carrot cake in an upscale chain restaurant. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the Poudre Valley Hospital emergency room.

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“I had asked if there were peanuts in anything,” she said. “I don’t think anyone imagined that a carrot cake would be prepared with peanut oil.”

Phipps had an entirely different experience when she went to HuHot Mongolian Grill in downtown Fort Collins.

“I explained that I was allergic to mushrooms,” she said. “Immediately they were scraping and cleaning that grill. They prepared my food, served me and then went back to their other customers. I don’t know if they had allergies and were sensitive to the problem, but it was reassuring.”

In fact, the cooks were aware of allergy problems, but not because they had them.

“All our cooks are trained to clean and clear off that grill if anyone mentions a food allergy,´ said Jennifer Garcia, assistant manager of HuHot. “They will change their gloves and use new spatulas. People who have severe allergies can call ahead, and we will heat up a separate stir fry pan.”

Garcia also mentioned that there are allergy guidelines available on the HuHot Web site. It outlines what diners with nut, shellfish and wheat allergies must avoid as well as what vegetarians and those on low-sugar or low-sodium diets should pass up.

The National Restaurant Association, which has an interest in keeping American diners from collapsing while eating carrot cake, has developed a Food Allergy Dining Card program in collaboration with Phil Lempert, the Supermarket Guru.

People with allergies can log onto the Food Allergy Buddy Web site, supply the necessary information and print out a personalized card. Presenting the card that details specific ingredients or food allergens to a restaurant’s staff and chef can cut down on uncomfortable (and, worse, confusing) explanations. Any menu items that start from scratch can be adjusted. Others can be avoided.

Short Bites

There is good news and not-so-good news in the recently released report on Colorado restaurant sales for the fourth quarter of 2005. The good news is that Colorado restaurant industry sales increased 6.5 percent, to about $1.6 billion, over the fourth quarter 2004. Larimer County increased by 9.1 percent ($88,515 to $96,529) and Weld County increased 2.5 percent ($43,546 to $44,648).

The not-so-good news is that sales in fourth quarter 2005 dropped a good 10 percent from third quarter 2005. For the past three years, the third quarter has represented a spike in a general upward trend, with the fourth quarter falling back to second quarter levels.

As for the near future, the Colorado Restaurant Association predicts that Colorado eating-place sales will grow 6.8 percent in 2006, 1.4 percent higher than the 5.4 percent average for the rest of the U.S.

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Chimney Park Bistro, 406 Main St., Windsor, no longer serves lunch. Instead, chef Florian Wehrli will concentrate on his evening menu, Sunday brunch, which comes with live music and mimosas, and on the new $28 Sunday prix fixe meal. Every Friday at 4 p.m., Chef Wehrli posts his menu on the restaurant’s Web page, www.chimneypark.com. Also new at Chimney Park is the art of Leah Fanning Mebane, an abstract artist who grew up in New Orleans, studied painting in Italy and now lives in Boulder.

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Somi’s Steak House, 1544 Oakridge Road, Fort Collins, has changed almost everything but its name. In April, Marietta and Walter Neuhold, a chef with international credentials, bought the restaurant. Chef Neuhold, a native of Austria, joins the ranks of European-born and

-trained chefs who have chosen to settle in Northern Colorado. There must be something irresistible about the combination of the region’s growing demand for fine food preparation and its reputation as an ideal place to set down roots and raise a family.

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While Somi’s future seems to be settled and bright after a couple of good-but-not-quite-right starts -first as Mulligan’s Food and Ale, then as the first Somi’s – the restaurant location at the southeast corner of Fort Collins’ Poudre Valley Plaza, at Shields Street and Horsetooth Road, has yet to find the ideal tenant. The latest occupant, Flambé International Grill, closed its doors after less than a year. The location, with arguably the best outdoor patio in the city, deserves a concept that will let it thrive. Stay tuned.

If you have a tasty tidbit for Short Bites, send it to Jane Albritton at news@ncbr.com.