True Food Kitchen Review
www.truefoodkitchen.com
Fashion Valley
8/15/12
"This is a restaurant that I would expect would be the top-notch in avoiding cross contamination and in their understanding of how important it is for gluten free marked foods to be truly gluten free. Their location in Newport Beach has a totally separate prep area and oven (or at least they keep it all separate or on a separate plate) for gluten free pizza and pita bread. I was so excited one was coming to SD!
When I called the new San Diego location to check, I kept getting conflicting answers, so I went into the restaurant personally to find out. When I spoke to the manager, I still kept getting conflicting answers, so I asked to speak to a kitchen manager. I ended up speaking directly the chef (Alex?). He told me that because they do not have a separate oven for the pizza and cannot guarantee it will not be cross-contaminated in there, they do not “bother” to prep the pizza in a separate area, or take special precautions in the prep area, or use separate toppings that are different from the toppings used for their regular pizza. I was shocked and disappointed.
I asked why they did not create a separate area when they built the location so that it was the same (or better!) than Newport Beach? The manager's answer was that there was not enough room at this location!! (Have you seen the place – it is huge!) I asked multiple times if they would be able to at least put separate toppings on the pizza and place the pizza on a separate pan and he said there is no reason to because they cannot guarantee there will be no cross contamination. He seemed completely unconcerned that celiacs and those very sensitive to gluten would not be able to eat there. I plan to call the parent company to complain. They probably have a disclaimer on their menu, but I think most people expect that a restaurant claiming to be so health-aware and which prints gf on their menu items would be more savvy and willing to avoid cross contamination."
Paula H., Chula Vista
