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Just had to share a great GF experience.

We are extremely careful where we are willing to take my celiac  
daughter to eat out and thus don't eat out as often as we used to.  We  
have had a few good experiences along the way, as well as a few bad  
ones.  I began calling around to various restaurants in Atlantic City  
to see if there might be option for us while we were on vacation.  The  
customer service people I spoke with at the various hotels had no idea  
what gluten was or if any of their restaurants could accommodate.  I  
found this to be true of the staff who answered the phones at the  
various restaurants as well.  I learned not to give up until actually  
speaking with the chef.  Several of the chefs I spoke with were  
wonderful - they have gluten free pastas and sometimes pizza that they  
can make upon request.  There was a wide range of experience with  
servers, however...all tried to accommodate but some just didn't have  
enough knowledge/training to take the necessary care to prevent cross  
contamination.  They followed our requests but we still had a problem.

There was, however, one stand out.  I don't think it could have been  
much better if we were eating in our own kitchen (and the food  
definitely tasted MUCH better than my our own kitchen! :)  ).  PF  
Chang's at Harrahs in Atlantic City (Chef Charles) was by far the most  
careful, knowledgeable and systemically oriented to manage gluten  
place I have ever been to.  They had a staff that was more well  
trained than any place we have ever been.  (It's important to note  
that while all PF Chang's have a gf menu and system, staff differences  
can be significant..we had a terrible experience a few years ago at  
one in PA and thought we would never go to any PF Changs again.  So  
glad we caved and tried the one at Harrahs!)

Anyway, the Chef explained to me on the phone that "no one would get  
sick on my watch" and that it wasn't about PF Chang's alone but just  
"being a human being" - he was committed to the people he cooked for.   
When we arrived, the matre de (Bill) came over and spoke with us and  
asked us questions about Celiac disease.  The server (Luiz) came over  
and told us not to worry, he "had our backs" and then the Chef came  
out and went over the menu with us and explained in detail how would  
all work to make sure that all gf food stayed gf. They were each  
amazing!  I must confess, however, that even with all these great  
reassurances and kind people, we were afraid to let our guard down.    
We quickly saw, however, that their words were indeed backed by  
actions.  They truly took it seriously and went to such great efforts  
to make sure that every possible step was taken to control cross  
contamination.   Just as one example...my non-celiac daughter ordered  
a fried rice that was not GF while my celiac daughter had one that was  
GF... the chef came out several times to remind us and make sure we  
knew which one was which and remind my celiac daughter not to take  
from the non-GF one.  When it was time to leave and we had leftovers  
to bring home, including the fried rice, we were concerned about  
getting them mixed up when they took them back to the kitchen to  
package.  We barely got the question out of our mouths when the server  
came over with 2 trays - one with a black napkin covering it and one  
with a white napkin covering it - he put the non-gf rice in a  
container over one tray, labeled it, put it in it's own bag and handed  
it to my non-celiac daughter and made sure we all understood that this  
one was NOT GF.  He put that tray away and took the other tray and  
packaged the GF items, right in front of us, over this new tray,  
labeled them and put them all in a different looking bag, again making  
sure we all understood which was which.  We all just sat there with  
dropped jaws...grateful and impressed.  What more could one ask for?

Our first thought upon leaving this amazing place was...maybe we  
should move to Atlantic City!! :)  While we may not quite pack up and  
move, we will most definitely be looking for reasons to return to PF  
Chang's in Atlantic City!  Thank you Chef Charles, Luiz & Bill - for a  
delicious, safe and completely enjoyable meal out!!  It was the most  
carefree meal we have had since my daughter's diagnosis 5 years ago.   
I highly recommend PF Chang's at Harrah's in Atlantic City!

Happily,

Kim in PA

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