When she takes her son James, 13, on vacation, Mary LaPlante packs a large tote full of gluten-free snacks—tortilla chips, Cheetos, beef sticks, and specialty baked goods and more. “Basically we’re prepared to supplement or snack out any meal,” says LaPlante, a Cleveland, Ohio-based doctor. James has celiac disease, one of several conditions that make a person unable to tolerate gluten in their diet. Gluten is mixture of proteins found in foods processed from wheat and related cereal grains such as barley and rye.

The first time the family found a hotel restaurant with gluten-free choices, LaPlante says, “James was ecstatic knowing he could sit there, look at the menu, pick anything and eat it. Even cookies.”

“We’d go out of our way to stay there because it’s safe and he’s happy,” she says. James is not alone. Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts says, “People with celiac disease have been the natural drivers of the gluten-free market. However, there is evidence suggesting that eliminating gluten from the diet may relieve autism in children and adult rheumatoid arthritis. Add to that the healthy ‘aura’ some consumers have attached to gluten-free products and you create a demand for these foods and beverages that mainstream food manufacturers and retailers are increasingly happy to satisfy."

Billions in Sales
In fact, Packaged Facts estimates the U.S. retail market for gluten-free foods and beverages was $2.6 billion in 2010 and will double by 2015. Those numbers cover retail, not hospitality demand. But some hoteliers see that driving consumer expectation.

Gluten-free doesn’t just mean the food itself. It means the food hasn’t touched anything containing gluten or a cooking surface used to prepare food with gluten. For example, says Deborah Ceizler, director of marketing for the Celiac Disease Foundation, “It’s not so hard offering gluten free, but the contamination issue is the thing to watch for. You can serve hamburger with no bun, but if you’re using the same utensil to put a hamburger on a regular bun there’s [gluten] contamination.”

“If you’re making a gluten-free pizza you have to make it in a different place, using different pans,” she notes. “You can’t just pick off croutons from a salad. It’s more than just saying we have a gluten-free menu.”

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotels & Resorts and Ritz-Carlton Hotels are among the chains tweaking their menus and their kitchens for gluten-free guests. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts handles requests on a guest-by-guest basis.

Different Approaches, Same Goal
“It’s not a gluten-free menu, it’s a menu that happens to be gluten-free,” says chef Constantine Vourliotis, at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland. Still the gluten-free menu, which includes items from the “regular” menu, is printed separately for gluten-free guests.

A recent visit to 65-seat Muse restaurant in the hotel found summer sausage soup with white beans & kale, made with homemade gluten-free chicken stock. Citrus-dusted sea scallops with a coconut risotto and a salsa of summer squash, yam and pineapple weren’t cross contaminated in the kitchen. And, the finale—rice pudding—was nothing to complain about.

A gluten-eating guest would be more than happy with this menu that includes 11 appetizers and entrees.

Creating a gluten-free cooking environment doesn’t challenge Muse’s kitchen. “With sanitation and soap buckets on each station the cooks are cleaning and sanitizing as they go about their busy day,” says Vourliotis. “Just like any allergy, when the ticket comes in off the machine, the issue is identified and we make sure there is an area free from the allergen. We set up a cutting board and whoever is able to take care of that guest’s needs owns the ticket.”

Vourliotis is one of many chefs in the Ritz-Carlton portfolio who’ve taken individual initiative to do the same.

Frederic Chartier, chef de cuisine at Fyve in the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, Arlington, VA, is actually creating a guidebook to help his staff. He’s identifying every item in the kitchen that contains gluten.

The Ritz-Carlton Naples, FL introduced a series of gluten-free menus in 2010 to address the growing number of people diagnosed as celiacs or gluten-sensitive and families with autistic and Asperger’s children who may be on that diet. “Given all the requests we received for tasty, gluten-free dishes, our culinary team wanted to give these guests more options when dining,” says Jorian Weiner, the hotel’s public relations manager.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has centralized and formalized its approach to special menus. The company partnered with a nutritionist and spent a year putting together a training program. In spring 2010 it brought hotel chefs to Chicago to immerse them in everything that had to do with dietary preference, including diabetes, heart healthy, vegan, raw, macrobiotic and gluten-free.

The only way to be successful in this is through education, says Mariano Stellner, Fairmont’s corporate director of food & beverage for the Americas. And, that includes sharing the information with the wait staff.

No Cookie Cutters Here
“We didn’t tell the chefs ‘You have to serve these three dishes’ or give them 15 recipes,” says Stellner. “We told them to be creative and come up with their own dishes but meet certain criteria set by the nutritionist.”

To support those efforts chefs are equipped with recipe analysis software, Nutritionist Pro by Axxya Systems.

“We’re not talking about food that has its primary goal to provide you with food,” notes Stellner. “We’re a luxury company. This is food that experienced chefs prepare. It’s exciting and interesting food, with high-quality ingredients, locally sourced, that happens to be gluten-free. Guests aren’t going to a hospital; they’re going to a luxury hotel.”

Stephen Rosenstock, senior vice president of food and beverage of Omni Hotels, recognizes the trend and its importance. “For a number of years, there’s been a growing recognition of people with gluten intolerance,” he says. “I’ve noticed that, what five or six years ago was a small section in a grocery story, is turning into almost a full aisle in some stores. A lot of what hotel food and beverage does follows what’s going on in the consumer side.”

Omni Hotels is rolling out a gluten-free breakfast buffet station companywide. The station will include gluten-free cereals, granola and a variety of breads and muffins. It has its own table—and toaster—to avoid cross-contamination with products containing wheat.

“We’re getting great positive feedback from our hotel guests on recognizing the importance of people with celiac disease,” says Rosenstock, who, personally, keeps gluten-free by choice and claims improved health as a result. “We’re getting letters from people who say they’ll always stay at Omni.”

Rosenstock points out the gluten-free options don’t cost a hotel more money. It’s all about sourcing differently and planning for it.

Customized Cuisine
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts approaches each guests independently. Instead of a special menu, the company’s restaurants depend on the chef to modify existing menu items into allergen-free items and that includes gluten-free.

“Each guest who identifies themselves as having a food allergy is met by a chef or leader to discuss their individual needs,” say Gary Jones, Disney’s culinary dietary specialist.

The need to do so has been evolving since the early 1990s, says Jones. In 2010, the company served 440,000 guests with special dietary needs between Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. That includes all allergies and intolerances, gluten among them.

“Our guests with food allergies deserve to have the same experiences provided to all our guests,” says Jones. “From a business perspective we want to meet these expectations and create legions of repeat guests.”

At the end of the day, says Stellner, “Our guests, and people in general, want to live their lives according to their own rules and preferences. It’s our responsibility to pay attention to all of our guests.”