“Endive Swap”
So I just celebrated my _ _ birthday!
And as usual, we went to my favorite Italian restaurant, Trattoria L’incontro.
It’s a yearly tradition, not to be missed (we’ve even gone in snow storms)
One of my favorite parts of the meal that I look forward to every year is the
OLIVE TAPENADE.
They serve it with grilled flatbread, ciabatta bread, and breadsticks to dip into it.
If you can eat bread (without discomfort), it’s DIVINE!
However, I’ve stopped eating gluten and processed foods in general for digestive comfort. With that said, I was not about the miss, my FAVORITE part of MY BIRTHDAY MEAL!
Here’s what I did instead:
*Having already eaten at this establishment, I knew there was endive in the kitchen. I knew because they have a salad made with endive leaves. (Many “fancy” Italian restaurants have such salads)
*Knowing that already, I simply asked if we could have some endive to enjoy the tapenade with in place of the bread. The restaurant graciously agreed and carried out a first, second, and even a third plate of endive for us. (As you may have guessed, the company I was dining with also enjoyed the endive for the dip). I got to enjoy the dip I’d been pining for without any discomfort or deprivation and I introduced a new way of dining to my guests. No doubt they will be ordering it that way in the future. Win! Win!
Feel free to use this tactic for your own dining out adventures.
And share your creative menu hacks with me!
