How Does a Gluten-free Dinner Club Work Exactly? (Part 2)

The very first thing to ask a restaurant that you want to host your dinner club is if they are willing to offer you separate checks. If they are not, there is no need to continue the discussion. Unless you’re Oprah or Bill Gates, you should not pay the bill on your credit card and hope to collect money from your members. You’ll likely be short changed if you try that, so I suggest you not taking a chance in the first place.  

Assuming the separate check issue doesn’t kill the deal, find out how many people the restaurant can accommodate. If you’re going to be in a private room, make sure they don’t expect you to pay a free for it. We’ve been offered lovely private dining rooms before, but there has never been a charge to us for them. Ask if your group will all be at one large table or several smaller ones. It’s best to have eight people at each table if you are not at one large one.

If the restaurant is planning a special menu for your event, confirm who is responsible for printing the copies of it. On several occasions I’ve had to frantically print thirty menus at the last minute because I didn’t get in writing that the person I planned the event with was going to do it. Having them tell you on the phone won’t do. You need to go over details via e-mail so there is no confusion who is responsible for what.

Obviously, there are a lot of details you need to attend to like choosing a venue, date, time and menu planning for any event you’re planning. However, the most important thing is that when the big food comes out of the kitchen, you’ve done everything in your power to make sure it is truly gluten-free. Organizers absolutely can NOT assure that mistakes will not happen. Human error is always a factor and there is no way to control what every person working your event does or doesn’t do.

Here are the things you need to cover with any place you’re planning an event at – regardless if they have a gluten-free menu or not. Go over ALL ingredients, sauces, dressings, meats, veggies, starches, ice cream – EVERYTHING. There is a Mexican restaurant in Atlanta that puts flour in their flan. Never ever assume anything when it comes to gluten-free foods and menu options.

Cover cross contamination concerns including utensil uses (a knife that cuts bread can’t cut tomatoes for your salads), clean water for gluten-free pasta that has not been used to cook gluten pasta for example, salads mixed in clean bowls where croutons have not been. Based on your menu for the event, there are likely many more concerns you’ll need to cover with the person (or persons) you’re working with at the venue.

If you are being served special gluten-free foods at an event, that are not normally available, make sure to let members know this is a special treat. They need to know not to show up to the venue later and expect the same special dishes. This is a very important detail to take care of. While it’s optimal to have the person who helped plan your event actually oversee it, always make sure to ask for another contact name in case the person you worked with is sick or has an emergency and can’t attend the event.

Keep in mind that as an Organizer, you can only do so much and then it’s up to the restaurant to come through for you. If they mess up, they do. The world will not end because an inept server mixes up the soup and serves a few people the wrong version of it. Years ago in Atlanta, every plate arrived to the gluten-free table with a piece of gluten bread on it. All the meals had to be remade, of course. Luckily these gaffes have been fairly far and few between for our events. 

If someone gets sick and wants a refund – they need to deal with the restaurant. It is not the job of the Organizer to be involved in such transactions. However, it is the job of the Organizer to work with the restaurant to figure out what went wrong so they correct the situation. The only way you can ever assure your members that their meal will be guaranteed to be 100% gluten-free, is to have your event at a completely gluten-free restaurant, period.

To all of you out there thinking of starting your own group – good luck! Also, to those who already have a group, send us your website and we’ll make sure to add it to our Celiac Support Group Directory if it’s not already listed!

Have a question about the gluten-free diet which we haven’t covered yet?  You can now submit your questions here! (Note: All medical questions should be directed to your physician)