If you cannot eat gluten - what do you want from a cafe?

[Lila288]

I run a coffee shop and would like to provide more GF options aside from the usual brownies/ bars.

If you are GF what would you like to see/ what would make you return?

I will obviously be getting a separate toaster/ panini press etc and separate colour coded utensils.

My menu is quite bread heavy, think bagels/ avocado on toast/ wraps etc. I can't seem to find any suppliers that do a good GF alternative but I will keep looking.

I did try the genius bread as part of my research but it just fell apart

Also, the GF products do cost me significantly more. Would you be annoyed if the GF options were say 30/40p more than the regular items?

Thanks!

Genius bread needs a lower toasting temperature than toasters give. I like wraps and make easy Drop scones using free from flour, yogurt and xanthan gum. Wraps work well but what I really want is a clearly labelled menu and cake that isn't dry as a bone

How about baked potatoes?

My favourite cafe has GF bread in the freezer so they always have some in, and toast it using toaster pockets so they don't need to worry about a separate toaster.
Having a clearly marked menu, helpful staff, and a decent cake is all I ask though!

Child friendly GF options if you are offering child friendly food on your main menu. This is what I always find tricky for my son, there might be an expensive piece of GF cake but nothing he can eat. We went to a GF pub in the summer and they were using schar bread products-the rolls were really nice (check the instructions I think you had to
sprinkle with water and pop into the oven for a couple of mins).

Genius cinnamon & raisin bagels aren’t bad. The plain I think are too dry.

Genius bread breaks easily which is fine at home but a bit of a pain when paying for it.

I’ve used schar ciabatta rolls cut in half with poached egg.

A decent vanilla sponge would be my idea of heaven. I’ve come to loathe brownies unless my SIL has made them (hers are heavenly). Not helpful I know

Clear information, bread for sandwiches etc, most places only seem to offer jacket potato near me which gets boring. Definitely good cake. I would be annoyed at being asked to pay more for gluten free.

Warburtons gf wraps are ok. I have a ready stock in my freezer.

Thank you for thinking beyond brownies! My son is coeliac and, while he loves brownies, I don’t want him always to be eating chocolate. Many coeliacs wouldn’t feel confident if these items aren’t individually wrapped. Most adult coeliacs are bored to tears with brownies and yet another bloody jacket potato.

As stripes says, so child friendly options would be great.

My mum is celiac but hates brownies. She likes GF toasted tea cakes, scones and Victoria sponge. I know she'd be happy to pay a bit more to cover the extra cost.

A lot of GF bread products are, frankly, crap and I resent paying more for a sub-par sandwich! But there are loads of things cafes can offer without the need for bread. As someone suggested above, baked potatoes, or perhaps nice salads, rice-based dishes and ‘naked’ versions of your non-GF menu items. I also LOVE any café that offers GF cake that isn’t a brownie and doesn’t involve polenta 😂 GF flour can be subbed in in most non-GF cake recipes and I don’t mind paying a little bit more for those because the flour does cost more. I had a lovely GF apple and hazelnut cake at a local café yesterday!

Have you looked at wheat free bakery direct - they are on line, there bread/bagels / doughnuts etc are fab, almost real !

Shar ciabattas are great one of those with mashed avo bacon and salad would brighten up my day even if it was more expensive..

You get used to the cost!

Genius bagels are great (according to my three coeliac DDs). Bread is always more expensive, but you can find some good ones...Genius Toastie is the fave in this house.

I bake a lot, and substitute GF flour in all recipes with great success (and you'd never know the difference!). It does absorb more liquid, so worth adding a few extra tbsps of milk (for example).

We have a local cafe which has gluten free pasta and pizza bases. Obviously care needs to be taken to avoid contamination (especially with the pizzas) but this might be an option, and would be child-friendly.

Thank you for thinking about this and for taking the cross contamination issues so seriously as well. For example, toaster bags are useful, but in a busy cafe I'd prefer a separate toaster, just to be on the safe side.

If u do soups, make them GF and all will be happy.
I most miss GF scones especially if my friends are having normal ones.

I think you need to think about foods that aren't bread based, and therefore no bread substitutes.

Salads, soups, protein plates, baked pots, etc

My DD is coeliac

She recommends Schar products - hates the Genius ones

She also gets fed up with brownies or jacket potatoes so would love a range of different cakes or stuff like soup to choose from

We have made loads of successfull GF cakes over the years - xanthum gum seems to be the answer.

It wouldn’t annoy me to pay more, I know that GF is more expensive to produce.

I've had wonderful polenta cake before and avocado and courgette (like carrot cake but different). Don' know how its made though!

Watch baking powder if you make them - that can have gluten in it without realising.

At our local cafe they do everything in a GF version and my favourites are their small plate salads using GF grains, roasted veg, cheese and nuts. They vary the ingrediants daily so its not always the same on offer. Soups made with GF flour and a GF roll are a good winter option too.

There's a spiced fruit loaf you can buy in Free From sections of supermarkets which is like a teacake - you could try that as the GF substitute for a toasted teacake. I freeze a loaf and then toast from freezer. Two/three slices will probably cost 50p though.

If you take GF seriously I wouldn't mind paying extra. We all know the extra cost it is ourselves.

I've just made French Onion soup with GF flour and then cut Scaher rectangle rolls in half and toasted them with cheddar for the crouton.

Tesco own brand free from bagels are nice. Much nicer than genius!

I live in a scone heavy area (west country) and have never found a good GF scone but.......somewhere I went to served a cream tea with GF Devon split buns and they were heavenly!

I'm not bothered about bread alternatives really but I give another vote for decent cake. I also love when gluten-free options are main options iykwim and not "alternatives".

Quinoa salad, avocado with poached egg and sunblush tomatoes on a big mushroom, good coconut yoghurt snack pots with coulis and nuts, apple and rhubarb crumble substituting flour with gluten free oats and ground almonds.

Gluten free options that are also other allergen free, I am gf but breastfeeding my lo, all 3 of mine have had dairy allergies as a minimum. It would be useful to have full ingredients available as well as some coeliacs can't tolerate gf oats (I am one of them) and not knowing if something has them in can cause problems. Also vegetarian gf options rather than the only choice being chicken sandwich or cake which is common in so many places!

I've just seen all the replies - thank you everyone. Some great suggestions.

So it seems most of you wouldn't mind paying a little extra? It's not something I want to do, but I have to pass on the cost somewhere because I have really tight profit margins as it is. Still feel bad though

I'm planning on making all the soups GF from now on as I can do that pretty easily while I look in to the other suggestions.

I would add to what I have said above:

Please avoid “needless” gluten where you can. So many things have unnecessary gluten in them, like wedges, sausages etc and it makes it a real pain.

Also not all kids like pizza.