Wednesday, March 14, 2012

K38 - Las Olas

Just ate at the newest installation of the K38 empire, Las Olas, at the Forum Shops at Landfall (in the out parcel).  The manager (I think his name was Teddie) told me they now have a new stand alone kitchen (for all their restaurants) that makes all the chips in a dedicated fryer and that they now are gluten-free (unlike in the past).  He also told me that for people like myself with severe food allergies (or auto-immune reactions in my case) that they can do all the prep at Las Olas in a separate clean part of the kitchen to address cross-contamination issues.  I was truly astounded by this manager's knowledge of gluten-containing sauces, items, etc. on menu!  There are many restaurants where we all can tell the staff is "winging it" and really barely understand the issue -- NOT the case here.

4 comments:

bweick said...

Im here now and they said the don't have a separate frier or kitchen or anything gluten free. I spoke with the manager and he said that k38 does but they DO NOT.

mia d said...

I also have auto immune reactions to gluten. A friend brought these yummy K38 chips to a party yesterday and as I was eating them I worried about the gluten content. I had a stomach ache pretty quickly after eating and really was curious if it was from the chips?

celiacdoc said...

Sorry to hear others have not had the same experience at Las Olas. I am very, very cautious at restaurants and have gotten good at recognizing when staff seem to be "winging it" and have no clue on the gluten thing. The manager (Teddie?) really seemed to know his stuff. He told me all the K38 shops chips are now made in a single kitchen and are GF. Having a very severe form of Celiac, I always have a terrible reaction, even with the slightest amount of gluten. I had zero after eating the chips and my meal at Las Olas. However, I could have just been lucky (maybe they just brought the chips in that night and usually cook them in the restaurant?). As always, I would always confirm when you go anywhere that nothing has changed since your last visit (even places with GF menus, etc.).

Unknown said...

Mia D: I was severely glutened at my last k38 experience (off Oleander) when I was misinformed and fed gluten containing items. The manager informed me after the fact that I should not have eaten the tortilla chips as they are made with both wheat flour and corn. I had called ahead of time and double checked when I got there and before ordering as well. I have not eaten at any of k38 's restaurants since.