Congratulations to Suffolk County Celiacs for a successful Gluten-Free Vendor Fair!
At yesterday's event, throngs of celiacs grazed food samples inside a Long Island warehouse made available by generous host Comfy Cuisine.
At the booths, I was glad to see the familiar faces of the Celiac Chicks, Ann Whelan of Gluten-Free Living, Rory Jones (co-author of Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic), and nutritionist Anne Roland Lee (who earlier in the week got raves from folks at the New York City Celiac Disease Meetup) as well as folks from the Ramapo Valley Brewery, Philadelphia's Mr. Ritts Bakery, The Silly Yak Shirt Co., Gluten Free Bread Basket, Inc., Plainview's Dr. B. Well Naturally (a.k.a. Safe Harbor Foods), and Whole Foods, which is about to introduce hearty nutmeal-raisin cookies and some new breads to its gluten-free inventory.
I wasn't able to sample everything at the fair. But I enjoyed the LifeField Buckwheat as well as the baguettes of Everybody Eats and the bagels of the East Meadow bakery Joan's GF Great Bakes (gfgreatbakes at yahoo dot com). Outstanding crusts in both cases--no wonder they were popular!
Meet Pedro Arroba and Bruce Bassman of Everybody Eats.
Here's Joan (third from left) with some of the posse from Joan's GF Great Bakes.
And here's the energetic and enterprising Suffolk County Celiac Michael Thorn. He says he doesn't photograph well, but I think that might just be a result of the bolts of inspiration forever shooting through his brain. Looks like he's just come up with another brilliant idea!
Photos: David Marc Fischer
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4 comments:
The Gluten-Free Vendor Fair was amazing! I had a great time with my family and thought it was a wonderful event. It was a bit crowded at times, but it was so awesome of Comfy Cuisine to donate their space for the fair. My favorites of the day were the cakes from GoodEatz and the bagels from Joan's GF Great Bakes. The free entrees and pizzas from Comfy Cuisine were a huge bonus as well. I thought most food items were reasonably priced, except for the overpriced Celiac Chicks t-shirts.
The vendors certainly knew a tremendous amount their products and celiac disease. My only hope is that no one got sick from the buckwheat samples. The woman giving out samples said there was soy sauce in the buckwheat dish. When I asked her if it was wheat-free soy sauce she said that it was such a small amount no one would get sick. I said she clearly didn't know the severity of some celiac reactions and that she should tell anyone sampling this dish that it contained soy sauce.
All in all the day was a huge success and I hope they make the gluten-free vendor fair an annual event. Kudos to the Suffolk County Celiacs for setting up this fair and making the day fun for all!
-LV of Queens
Thanks for your take on the vendor fair--much appreciated!
I'm surprised to learn about soy sauce in the buckwheat dish. I should have been more vigilant. Had I known that a wheat-containing soy sauce had been used in the dish, I wouldn't have tried it. Even small amounts are a concern--especially for people who are wheat-free due to a real allergy, one that can result in anaphylactic shock.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for checking in on the soy sauce. I am not as sensitive as other celiacs, but I did want to raise my concerns. Congratulations to Comfy Cuisine and the Suffolk County Celiacs on a huge success!
-Lizzy V. (of Queens)
Thanks to those sellers because it is quite hard to get that kind of food (gluten-free).
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