During half-term, we went to a Lakeland shop (the one at Cheadle), to get various bits and pieces, and decided to go to the cafe upstairs. The children see going to a cafe as a big treat …
The staff at Lakeland are always helpful, and the Lakeland cafe is pleasant enough, but not fantastic (the not-gluten-free chocolate cake the non-coeliac children ordered was too cold to eat). They did, however, offer some gluten free toast, when I asked if they had anything that was gluten free. The toast came with wrapped portions of butter and a range of tiny pots of jam – so no cross-contamination issues – and could have come with bacon, if we’d wanted, and was made from their own gluten free multigrain bread mix. We liked it enough to buy some mix later to make our own loaves – though it was a shame we were given a crust as one of the three pieces of toast made. The crust of the loaf was very difficult to eat anyway, and having the end-crust meant that that slice of toast became inedible, particularly for the child it was ordered for.
Still, credit to them for having it available – though it wasn’t on the menu, and should have been. They do sell various gluten free items in the shop, notably an italian almond cake, so it would have been good to see that on the menu too.
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I’ve written a book summarising what we’ve learnt over 20 years of dealing with the gluten free diet, and it might be just what you’re looking for. It packs the lessons we’ve learned into what I hope is a helpful and straightforward guidebook. It’s available on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle… |
