Very important update!!!

I decided that being allergic to peanuts and tree nuts wasn’t enough, so I decided to add something else to the mix! Just kidding, in all reality, this totally sucks, but about a month or two ago, I found out that I had developed OAS, or oral allergy syndrome. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s an allergic reaction in the mouth following eating raw fruits or vegetables. The mouth reacts to the trace amounts of pollen found in raw fruits and vegetables, and it gets itchy, scratchy, and swells up.

As you can see from that graphic, oral allergy syndrome can often change with the seasons. Since it’s a pollen reaction, it can go hand in hand with seasonal allergies. However, my allergist says OAS is year-round most of the time. He also says it’s different for everyone. From what I’ve learned so far, oral allergy syndrome can be as mild as an itchy throat when someone eats strawberries to as extreme as a swelling mouth when eating any foods or vegetables. In very extreme cases, certain instances of OAS can also accelerate to anaphylaxis, but my allergist says most of the time it’s just an itchy/swelling sensation whenever one eats foods with traces of pollen.

I have to admit, adding another allergy to the list always makes me kind of sad. As if I didn’t already have a bunch of things I have to avoid. Fruits and veggies have always been kind of a safe haven for me.  Luckily, this is actually not as bad as it could be. As I said, only raw fruits and vegetables make someone react. If one were to cook the fruits, then in most cases they would be totally fine to eat. Also, I only react when eating certain fruits and vegetables. So far I’ve found that I react to blueberries, strawberries, and apples, but I can eat bananas, watermelons, grapes, and tomatoes. My mom has started a chart.  Haha.

Of course, like I said, OAS is different for everyone. If you find you have the symptoms, I strongly recommend talking to your allergist and finding a plan that’s appropriate for you. From what I heard, every case of this is unique, so my situation could be completely different from yours. I’ll be sure to post updates as I find new things that I can and can’t eat with my OAS, as well as anything new I learn about my new condition.

Until next time!

Gary

All right. It’s finally time to reveal my favorite restaurant from my last Disney trip! It’s a really nice restaurant on Boardwalk called Tratorio al Forno. At night it’s an Italian restaurant, but in the morning, it serves an amazing breakfast! The breakfast is exactly what my favorite meal in Disney is.

It’s a fantastic character meal, with Ariel, Prince Eric, Rapunzel, and Flynn Rider. My mom really really loves Rapunzel, so I think she was the most excited by this breakfast. She brought a frying pan to the breakfast and had Rapunzel and Flynn Rider sign it. She still has it somewhere now. She refuses to let anyone use it, it’s like one of her most treasured possessions.

As for the food, I admit I was a little disappointed at first, because I couldn’t have the bread, and the pastries on the menu weren’t safe. Luckily, I had a fantastic chef, who talked my family and I through the food on the menu and which things were safe or not safe. She was super nice, and then after I had picked something on the menu, she made me a double portion because I couldn’t have some things on the menu.

Not only did the chef generously give me extra food, but it was by far the best food I have had at Disney that trip. I ordered the steak and potatoes, with eggs on the side, and it was fantastic. The potatoes and eggs were amazing, and the steak was the best thing that I had that trip. It was seasoned fantastically. Honestly I loved it.

Here’s me with my double steak, potatoes, and eggs. Honestly this meal was so so so so so delicious and filling. The entire place in general was amazing too. I really liked being able to take pictures with Rapunzel and the others. The whole thing was a definite twenty out of ten.

That’s about it for my “Dining in Disney” collection of posts. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I love taking trips to Disney, not just because it’s Disney and the best place ever, but because all of the restaurants are super allergy accommodating. I’ve always said that the best place for someone with an allergy is Disney. It feels great that I can enjoy what I love to eat at the most magical place on Earth.

Until next time!

Gary

My all-time favorite quick service restaurant in Disney is probably one of the simplest. It’s a place located in the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street, right by the Emporium. It’s called Casey’s Corner, and it specializes in it’s hot dogs and fries. It might sound simple, but hot dogs are my favorite thing in the world. I love hot dogs. All I need is mustard and they’re perfect.

Luckily for me, Casey’s Corner has a LOT of hot dogs. If you’re really hungry though, which I always am, you can order the big ol’ foot-long hot dog. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a hot dog. It’s a foot long. It’s delicious. Period. I couldn’t find any pictures of them from this trip, but I do have a picture from last year (I go there every trip. It’s a thing.)

The hot dogs and fries are totally safe for my allergy. Even more, they’re really delicious. I’ve had a lot of fries over the course of my Disney trips, but I think the one’s from this restaurant are by far my favorite. The hot dogs from here are the best ones in Disney as well. By far. The only small negative is that this place is pretty popular, and there are only a limited number of inside and outside seats. It’s usually hard to find a seat after we order food here. We always manage though. My mom has eyes for that kind of thing.

Overall, this place is a total ten out of ten. I really love hot dogs, and this place is like a hot dog lover’s dream. It’s basically all hot dogs though, so if you don’t like hot dogs, you’re out of luck. I, however, love them, so this is by far my favorite quick service in Disney.

Until next time, when I announce my favorite restaurant pick in Disney!

Gary

I decided to write about a quick service restaurant I went to during my Disney trip for this post. A bit of a change from the norm, I know but this one was special to me, and I’ll explain why in a bit. For those of you unfamiliar with the Disney lingo, a quick service is like Disney’s fast food stands, but really good.

If you’ve never heard of the Lotus Blossom Cafe, I don’t blame you. I didn’t either. It’s one of many many quick service restaurants within Disney, this one within Epcot China. The reason this one stood out to me so much was because, to be honest, I’ve never had Chinese food before. It’s almost guaranteed to be not safe for someone with my allergies, so I’ve made it a rule to just steer clear of Chinese food by principle.

However, like usual, Disney did a great job making the food safe. We were presented with an allergy menu, and found, to our extreme delight, that almost everything on the menu was safe for me. It was a very exciting moment for me to be honest.

I ended up choosing the spicy chicken meal. I still don’t know whether that was a good or a bad choice. Positives: It tasted incredible. Probably the best chicken I’ve had in… ever? It was just really really good, especially for a quick service restaurant. Negatives: I could only make it about two-thirds of the way through my meal before I had to stop eating. It was just SO SPICY. Personally I like spicy things, but this was just crazy. I regret nothing though. It was delicious and I would order the same thing again, even if it did make my mouth feel like it was burning. Ten out of ten.

Here I am with my dad eating the fire chicken. When I couldn’t finish it he ate the rest. He also ate what my sister couldn’t eat. Actually now that I think about it he ate the majority of the food we bought at that restaurant. He really liked the food there.

There’s one more quick service that I want to discuss on here, and then I’ll do the grand reveal of my favorite restaurant of my last trip!

Until next time!

Gary

Hello readers!

For my next post, I thought I’d highlight one of the more unique dining experiences that I had within Disney. Around the beginning of my trip, my family and I had lunch at a really nice restaurant in Epcot Japan: Tokyo Dining.

Epcot Japan has two really nice sit-down restaurants located in the same building. One is a hibachi style restaurant where they cook the food in front of you, called Teppan Edo. The other is a more traditional style restaurant where guests can order Japanese style dishes like sushi.

Normally during my Disney trips, my family likes to visit Teppan Edo. I’ll admit, it is one of my favorite restaurants. I love the hibachi style and I’ve eaten at similar restaurants closer to home. With that being said, I actually prefer Tokyo Dining, as does the rest of my family.

I decided I was gonna be extra adventurous when I went there, so I ended up ordering the Bento Box meal. It’s five separate meals in a Bento style tray. There’s sushi, steak, chicken, salad, and tempura. It looks like the picture below.

When I ordered, we had the chef come out and talk with us about making the meal to fit within my allergy requirements. He was super helpful, and walked us through each thing that I could have or not have, and was sure to supplement the things that I couldn’t have with extra sushi.

I’ll admit, this was the first time I had ever eaten raw fish, so I was kinda concerned, but it was all good. I ended up really liking it!

Gosh, just look at me. I’m using the starter chopsticks and everything. Haha. I was so into it. Anyway, it was probably my second favorite meal of the entire trip (I have yet to reveal the first). The sushi was actually amazing, I discovered I like raw fish. The steak and the chicken were great, but what really stood out for me was the tempura. It was shrimp and vegetable tempura, and HOLY COW I loved it! Like I said, the majority of this was completely new to me, and I had never had tempura in my life before this but dang, it was really good.

Overall, it was just a really great experience overall. The food and the atmosphere were amazing and I would totally give it a ten out of ten.

Stay tuned for my next post when I discuss some of the quick-service places I went to in Disney!

Until next time!

Gary

Hello everyone!

For my next post on my Disney dining experience, I thought I’d tell you about my mom’s favorite restaurant (and we had to talk her into going to this one) that we visited. It’s a really great Italian restaurant in a corner of Hollywood Studios called Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.

When my mom asked me for two restaurant suggestions before we went to Disney, the two that I suggested were my favorite restaurant ever, Crystal Palace, and Mama Melrose’s. That’s how much I love this restaurant. I really like Italian food in general and this restaurant does it very well.

The entire place is like, Italian times ten. The decorations are extravagant and fabulous. Italian flags hang everywhere, little statues of babies holding wine and grapes decorate the entrance. I remember seeing spaghetti hanging from the windows. I love it.  It is like going to my Nona’s house.

The food is no different. Spaghetti, tiramisu, the whole shebang. I love it!

Unfortunately, none of the desserts were safe, so even though I love myself some tiramisu, I had to hold off. The chef, however, was incredibly accommodating. Since I couldn’t have the bread served or the dessert, he gave me double the spaghetti and meatballs I ordered, as well as free Enjoy Life cookies to act as dessert instead!

Okay I know I look terrible in this picture but in my defense this was a candid shot and the main feature of the picture is just how much spaghetti I got! It was super delicious and I was stuffed at the end.

Oh, I almost forgot!  I also ordered an appetizer because I couldn’t have dessert or bread. I ordered this delicious mozzarella  cheese and tomato dish. I have always loved this appetizer, but I had totally forgotten that I couldn’t eat raw fruits or vegetables anymore (more on that in another post) and I was only able to eat the cheese.

All in all, I really enjoyed my dinner. The spaghetti was amazing, and the chef was super nice and accommodating to my allergy. A definite ten out of ten. It was a ten out of ten for my mom too, as I said. It was her favorite restaurant of the trip and she went on and on about it for days.

Anyway, that’s all for this post, but stay tuned, because next time we’re going to Epcot Japan!

Until next time!

Gary

Hello everyone!

I definitely enjoyed my experience at all of the restaurants I visited at Disney; however, the one I visited the most was a fantastic place called Beaches and Cream!

During the vacation, my family and I had stayed in the Beach Club resort, in the villas because my parents are a part of the Disney Vacation Club. We all love the resort, and I definitely think the room we stayed in was one of the nicest hotel rooms we have ever stayed in at Disney. The resort is home to a whole bunch of pools, a huge marketplace, and of course, Beaches and Cream.

It’s an insanely popular 50s themed restaurant on the Beach Club resort grounds that serves a relatively decent dinner menu, but its specialty is without a doubt its ice cream. It’s arguably the best dessert you can get at Disney, and by far the most accommodating restaurant in Disney for those with allergies.

That’s right, the award for safest allergy restaurant goes to, against all odds, a restaurant that specializes in dessert.

The first time my family and I went to the restaurant, I wanted to save some room for dessert, so I ordered from the kid’s menu and got a hot dog. Even though it was from the kid’s menu, it was still a very decent dinner for what it was.

I really like hot dogs, and that was a very good hot dog. The fries were great too. Of course, the main event was the ice cream. Beaches and cream has a variety of different ice cream choices, but the most impressive thing about them are their allergy accommodations.

The restaurant, like almost all Disney restaurants, has an allergy menu, but in addition to that, they have a separate allergy kitchen for guests who need allergy accommodations. Supervisors use separate equipment in a separate location, as well as separate containers of ice cream to make ice cream for all different types of allergies. They’re serious about their safety.

We went to the restaurant three different times and each time I ordered the same thing: three scoops of cookies and cream with marshmallow topping and extra whipped cream.

It’s a whole lot of ice cream, and it was really good. The entire restaurant is definitely an eleven out of ten, and I would recommend it to anyone going to Disney who feels like they won’t be able to have any desserts. Its accommodations are truly excellent, and so is its ice cream.

I’ll be sure to talk about more of the restaurants I went to in the future, the good and the not so good. Until next time!

Gary

Hello again!

I understand it’s been a while since my last post, but I’ve had a lot of other things to work on during the school year, but summer vacation has left me with a lot of material for posts, specifically about my recent trip to Disney World. As I’ve said before, Disney World does a great job in ensuring that their food can be enjoyed by guests of all allergy backgrounds, so many of the restaurants I went to were able to serve delicious food.

My next few posts will be discussing this in detail, similar to the posts I made after my previous trip to Disney. Most of the restaurants I went to were different, so don’t worry about repeats!

By far my favorite restaurant in all of Disney is Crystal Palace breakfast. It’s an awesome buffet style sit-down restaurant where Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends go around and take pictures with you. As a hardcore Winnie the Pooh fan, that’s enough to make the restaurant my favorite, but the food is also incredible.

I especially like the French Toast puffs. They’re technically in the kid’s food section, but that doesn’t stop me or the rest of my family from taking a bunch. They’re like little delicious cinnamon clouds, and they’re only served at the Crystal Palace. Better yet, they’re safe for my allergy!

When we got to the palace during the trip, the waitress brought out the chef, who was incredibly nice. She walked me around the buffet table and pointed out each thing, telling me what I could or couldn’t have from the buffet. Then, she asked me what I wanted, and she prepared a special meal for me in the kitchen, free from the inherent cross contamination of a buffet style restaurant.

Here it is! The picture was kinda taken after I had eaten half the cheese from the bowl, but it’s mostly an accurate representation of my breakfast. I had asked for bacon, roast potatoes, cheese, and those things in the upper left corner are the french toast puffs. By far the best thing in the restaurant. When I had finished with the ones on that plate, the chef brought out another plate-full because I love then sooooooo much. Honestly, if you go to Crystal Palace for breakfast, you’re totally missing out if you don’t at least try these bad boys.

All in all, I’d give the place a ten out of ten, which is actually how many of the French toast puffs I ended up eating. The food was fantastic, the chef was super nice, and Winnie the Pooh was there. Totally my favorite restaurant in all of Disney.

I decided I’d post some more pictures of the meal as well:

Here’s me in the process of eating the cheese that was missing in the previous picture…

And I of course took a selfie with Winnie the Pooh. Squad goals.

I of course went to many more restaurants over the course of the vacation, so stay tuned for future posts, where I eat raw fish for the first time! It actually wasn’t horrible!

Until next time!

Gary

Hello everyone!

Food allergies are a serious matter, and the frequency of food allergy cases are only going up, with more and more people being diagnosed with dangerous food allergies every year. I often find that families who have only very recently become a part of the allergy “scene”- whether it be from learning that their child has an allergy, or finding out that an adult in the family has developed a food allergy (while rare, it does happen)- have very little knowledge about the dynamics of living with an allergy, or living close to someone with an allergy.

I personally know people who have developed food allergies relatively recently, and in times like that, it can be a very scary scenario. It’s similar to being put into another world, having to learn about the dynamics of allergies. All of a sudden, an infinitely greater amount of care has to be put into the food chosen for the family, the restaurants visited, and even the events being planned.

In times like that, it is a fantastic help to have a source (or sources) that provide oneself with much of the knowledge that they need. Personally, my family and I received much of our initial information that we needed from our allergist when we found out about my allergy. However, our supplementary knowledge was almost exclusively provided by educational websites and our memberships with communities of allergy families.

Because of this, I thought I would post some helpful websites for those looking for guidance, assistance, or education on food allergies. These sources were invaluable to me, and still are, so I hope that you guys find them just as useful!

https://acaai.org/ —The website for the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Fantastic resource for those seeking basic information about allergies and allergy safety.

https://www.foodallergy.org/ — The website for FARE- Food Allergy Research and Education. My personal favorite, this website has absolutely everything a family facing a food allergy could ever need. From allergy information, to supplemental information packets tailored to specific family members, to helpful graphics with information, to instructional videos and articles, this website is truly the one stop shop for someone looking for allergy information.

https://www.allergicliving.com/ — An allergy news website that is at the forefront of allergy information. Whenever I want to find out what’s going on in the world of food allergies, whether it be news about Mylan, or the test results for the latest allergy treatment, Allergic Living has it. I always like to check it at least once a week.

If you need further informational supplements, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide you with extra websites that I found useful.

I hope this helps!

Gary

A while ago I wrote an article about this really cool thing called the Viaskin Patch, made by DBV technologies SA, a French biotechnology company.

For those who haven’t read the article, the Viaskin Patch is essentially a patch that people stick to their bodies that increases tolerance to peanut and tree nut allergies. The FDA recently reviewed it, and it results don’t look too positive.

Previous trials for the DBV Viaskin patch were not able to outperform the placebo, so DBV technologies definitely had a lot to fix, and their new Viaskin patch is much more effective than their previous version, but it still comes short. Based on newer statistics, the Viaskin patch only decreases sensitivity to peanuts by 35%, as opposed to the 13% from the placebo group.

Of course this is a large improvement from previous tests, but they’re still coming way short of their goal, and their patches to decrease sensitivity to milk allergies haven’t been doing much better either. Current projections for the Viaskin peanut patch say that, with luck, it will be on the market by 2020, but they will have to make some serious improvements by then.

This testing failure comes at an especially sensitive time for Viaskin, as the phase 3 testing for Aimmune Therapeutics’s peanut allergy treatment AR101 reached its testing goal. This means that the future for peanut allergy treatment might not lie in the Viaskin patch, but in the Aimmune Ar101 pills.

Of course, only time will tell what solutions work, and I am not one to trust anything until there has been a significant amount of testing over a significant amount of time. However, I think I’m now beginning to hold out hope that the solution to the peanut allergy community’s problems lie in these pills.

If anyone wishes to read more about this patch, or the AR101 pills, I’m posting some news links below.

https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/aimmune-dbv-peanut-allergy-results-data/517397/

https://www.ft.com/content/7a7a673c-163a-11e8-9e9c-25c814761640

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180220005722/en/Aimmune-Therapeutics%E2%80%99-Pivotal-Phase-3-PALISADE-Trial

If there are any more important updates on Viaskin or AR101, I will make sure to notify you readers.

Until next time!

Gary