The fascinating rise and rise of gluten free cafes, restaurants and products continues to gain traction. A lot of traction. Its super interesting on so many levels - a very different story 15 years ago when I started to look at my diet and figure out that some things were and weren't working for me and changes needed to be made. It was a barren landscape back then, let me assure you. Even in Sydney where I lived there was very few options and it was hard work choosing food that supported you.
And today - well there are aisles of food stuffs ion the supermarket - its a thing. So starting a cafe and claiming that we are Gluten Free back then in 2011 was a challenge. We didn't and still do not want to ostracize and separate anyone and so we went 'under the radar'. We did our thing in the back ground and went about making everything we could gluten free, and we didn't really advertise it.
If you asked we told you that yes pretty much everything you buy from us is at least gluten free if not dairy free. The menu reversed things - we put an asterisk on everything that could contain gluten - we had fun and we got more popular because what we were offering was something a little bit different.
Today there are so many options...
Today after many years of hard work, supporting staff to get an understanding of Gluten Free of getting chefs to understand the importance of cross contamination, of developing the customers to get clear on what can support them or not. Its a huge investment.
But we love it and whilst now the trend has far out grown what we imagined we still maintain a quality and a connection with everyone who comes to our gluten free cafe, because, ultimately, that holds the key and is the vitally important ingredient in any relationship.
For us it makes it simple - if we are not connecting and deepening with our team, our suppliers and our customers - why bother?
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