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This article about a celiac friendly Bed and Breakfast in San Antonio, Texas
was in the San Antonio Express News recently. You can read the story at the
link at
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA120905.01C.ChickenParadise.
1c2edb8b.html or you can read the story below.
Between the phone call at 4pm one day, and 9am the next day when he came
with a photographer, Mr. Pesquera happened to catch Richard Paul's feature
about celiac disease on the local NPR station. When he came for the
interview, he was very interested in the dietary restrictions that we all
know and travel with. He got some of the details wrong, but most of the
information was correct. At least, he did explain about celiac disease in
the article. There were photos, but they are no longer on the web version.
Web Posted: 12/09/2005 12:00 AM CST
Adolfo Pesquera
Express-News Business Writer
Right in the heart of the city, the surviving 1 1/2 acres of an old farm is
making its debut as the city's latest bed-and-breakfast inn.
No fancy Victorian mansion here — this isn't King William. It's a jog up
Jackson-Keller Road from the San Pedro Drive Range and a rooster's crow
north of Olmos Creek.
In fact, it's called Chicken Paradise.
As Ann Barfield tells it, she and her husband, Joe, were sitting in front of
the television last year, trying to think up a name for the establishment
they were planning to open. They were watching the claymation film "Chicken
Run" when it hit them.
Their home was a real-life version of the chicken Shangri-La those wretched
hens suffering in the gulag that was Tweedy's Egg Farm were inspired to
escape to. Ann Barfield's feathered pets — 15 at last count — include such
exotics as Charlie, a Chinese Cochin rooster, and Lily, a Bardrock hen. She
also has Polish chickens with their distinctive topknots and South American
Araucana hens.
Most bed-and-breakfasts have a theme. Chicken Paradise has two, as it will
also cater to people with special dietary needs, and specifically people
with celiac disease. Barfield has celiac disease and is a spokeswoman for
such sufferers.
Gluten — as it is produced in wheat, rye, oats and barley — cannot be
digested by people with celiac disease. Foods containing that type of
protein cause the intestinal celia, a key part of the digestive system, to
shut down. Because nutrients can't be absorbed, starvation and diarrhea are
common symptoms.
"One of 133 people have this," Barfield said, "but the average time it takes
to discover it is 11 years. Doctors think it's rare, so they don't test for
it."
Chicken Paradise has a lot of land for a bed-and-breakfast. Separated by a
garage from the main house, there is a one-room cottage to rent. For this
size operation, Barfield thinks the procedure to get a certificate of
occupancy was too cumbersome.
"We thought it would be a simple process," Barfield said. "We had to change
the zoning, so we had to send out notices to the neighbors, have a hearing,
go before City Council. After all that, we had to have seven inspectors come
out and inspect in their area of expertise."
Barfield is joining a relatively elite group. There are 20
bed-and-breakfasts in town that are members of the San Antonio Bed &
Breakfast Association. Most are in King William or Monte Vista, gentrified
neighborhoods near downtown.
"The average bed-and-breakfast has about five rooms," said Art Link,
association president and operator of Columns on South Alamo Street, an 1892
Greek Revival home in King William that has 13 guest rooms.
Chicken Paradise's charm, Link said, is offering a slice of country so close
to town.
Barfield’s success is pegged to good food and happy chickens.
"We don't butcher our chickens if they don't lay eggs," Barfield said.
[log in to unmask]
We hope you will stay with us next time you come to San Antonio! For
pictures you can go to www.chickenparadise.com .
Anne Barfield
www.chickenparadise.com
210 340-0648
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