NHL All Star Weekend - Gluten Free Raleigh Style

As you may know, this weekend Raleigh will host the NHL showcase event All Star Weekend.  If you are from out of town visiting Raleigh, see some tips below to help you have an excellent Gluten Free weekend, Raleigh style.

Carolina Hurricanes Treat Food-Allergic Kid To First Live Hockey Game

I've written numerous times about Raleigh's professional sports team - The Carolina Hurricanes - on this blog.  As a season ticket holder for several years, it was important to me to be able to enjoy games like a normal fan.  That means enjoying food and beverages that are safe for those eating Gluten Free.  As you can see from the link above, the Hurricanes and the fine folks at the RBC Center have been extremely accommodating to those of us with special diets.  But what is more important to me is that children with special diets are taken care of and made to feel like other normal kids.

So this story I found in the current issue of Living Without magazine doesn't surprise me in the least.  The story is about a 7-year old boy named Joseph, who gets to attend his first Carolina Hurricanes game live at the RBC Center.  With the help of All star center Eric Staal and his organization called Eric's Entourage, Joseph was able to safely attend a hockey game without the worry of coming into contact with food he is allergic to.  Joseph gets to attend his first game with his dad by his side - what a special treat!

So allow me to offer a special thank you to the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Staal and the folks at the RBC Center.  We are lucky to have you here in Raleigh.

Article text is below.

Carolina Hurricanes: 2010-2011 Gluten Free Update

I have previously written about Gluten Free options at the RBC Center during Carolina Hurricanes games over the last couple seasons.  See below for the 2010-2011 season update.

Carolina Hurricanes/RedBridge Update

Now that hockey season has officially ended for Caniacs, I decided to check in with the Food & Beverage folks over at the RBC Center to get an update for the number of RedBridge sold during the 2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes season.  I also did this same thing last year - the number was 106.

Kinda shocking to me, but the number sold this year was only up slightly to 113.  This is shocking in the fact that the beer was only available to folks with a special pass to the club level last year while this year, the beer was more widely available (all 3 levels w/o special pass).  Economy maybe?  I do know that average attendance was down this year (15,240) from last (16,572).  Leave your theory in a comment if you have one.

Regardless, thanks so much to the RBC Center and Carolina Hurricanes organization (organ-iii-zation if you are Canadian) for being very Gluten Free friendly.  See ya next year (hopefully with playoffs)!  Wonder if we'll be drinking RedBridge next season?

Carolina Hurricanes: 2009/2010 Gluten Free Update

I have previously written about Gluten Free options at the RBC Center during Carolina Hurricanes games last season. I was able to work with the food and beverage department last year to get RedBridge GF beer carried and they ended up selling 106 during the 42 game regular season. In addition, there were a few GF food options sprinkled throughout the arena.

A few weeks ago, I checked in with the food & beverage department again to see if we could make any improvements over the GF options from last year. One big complaint I heard often was the people knew there was RedBridge, they just didn't know where it was located. You actually had to contact a ticket representative to request a special pass to access the club level of the arena in order to find RedBridge at a single bar called The Ledge Lodge.

I'm happy to report a huge improvement in the Gluten Free options for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. The Food & Beverage Department at the RBC Center has done a great job accommodating those on a Gluten Free Diet. Not surprising from an organization that sends it superstars out to personally deliver season tickets to fans. I'd like to send a huge thanks to Chris Diamond and all the folks responsible for these GF options.

2009-2010 Carolina Hurricanes Gluten Free options @ RBC Center

1) RedBridge beer will now be carried at the following locations. It will be carried on all 3 levels of the arena and no special access passes are needed.

• Upper Deck - Section 312 - Pub 300
• Club Level (2nd Deck) - All private Suites, Arena Club Restaurant, Ledge Lodge bar and Champions Club
• Lower Level - Bud Light Deck

2) The following Gluten Free food options are available.

• Call in advance (at least 4pm on game days) 919-861-5479 and request a GF meal from Executive Chef Flood. This special menu option includes a plate of grilled chicken, steamed broccoli and carrots and will run in the $15 range. You can coordinate the details on picking up the GF dinner when you call.
• Carvery Cart Meat Option with Salad - Sections 104 & 124
• Philly Steak Cart, order without bun - Sections 123 & 324
• Sausage Stop Cart, order without bun - Sections 105, 120 & 306
• Many concession stands throughout the arena serve candy options like Skittles, M&Ms and Snickers as well as popcorn - all Gluten Free.
• New soft serve ice cream (replaces Goodberries) called Twisted Waffle Ice Cream is Gluten Free, Lactose Free and Cholesterol Free (no cone) - Section 116

In addition to all these awesome changes, each concession stand will now have a Food Allergy Ingredient Listing document which details the ingredients of each concession item. If something is in question, please ask the concession worker for this document and you can review all the ingredients yourself to be 100% sure. The listing should include ingredient warnings for the following; wheat & gluten, milk, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts as well as MSG. I've shown an example below - the red letters will indicate the allergen.

Butter - Partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, soybean lecithin, natural and artificial butter flavor, TBHQ, and Citric acid, vitamin A, and palmitate. Colored with beta cartone. S

Cheddar Cheese - Maltodextrin (corn), whey powder, cheddar cheese, salt, sugar, sodium, phosphate, lactic acid, yellow #5 (E102), citric acid, yellow #6 (E110), partially hydrogentrated soybean oil, silicon dioxide, FD&C Yellow #6 (E110), disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate. M S

FYI - the puck drops on the new season this coming Friday (10/2/09). The Hurricanes will be in action against the Philadelphia Flyers - get your tickets here. Also, be sure to check out the new "Megatron" this year featuring 4 huge HD video boards!

Carolina Hurricanes/RedBridge Update

I recently spoke with the folks over at the RBC Center to inquire about the number of RedBridge that were actually sold this year during Carolina Hurricane's home games. You may remember some previous posts about this blog working with the RBC Center to make this happen. It was great to spot other folks ordering or drinking RedBridge during the game and if possible I tried to talk with them.

The official number of RedBridge sold this year during 41 home games was 106. I know there were several games when they ran out so I think this number could have been higher. Also, I only have a 26 game plan so that hurt the numbers a bit - haha. Regardless, that averages out to almost 3 sold per game. The food and beverage folks said they considered carrying the beer for us to be a success and will do so again next year. They will also continue to carry it throughout the playoffs. This is great news.

Also - Congrats to the Canes on an awesome Game 7 victory last night in NJ! On to Boston. Good luck boys.

RedBridge at RBC Center Update

I have experienced an outage of RedBridge Beer at Canes games the last few visits to the RBC Center. I have also received emails from readers wondering what was going on with the RedBridge situation. I contacted the folks over there and they assured me that RedBridge is in stock and available. The timing of this is good since I will need a few of them tonight after I see new coach Paul Maurice on the bench for the first time. What's next, home games in Greensboro?

See my previous posts about how to get and where to find RedBridge during Canes games here.

Carolina Hurricanes GF Concessions Update

I have some more information about Gluten Free options at the RBC Center during Carolina Hurricanes hockey games (Reminder - Opening Night is tomorrow!).

Items such as Popcorn, NC BBQ without the bun (Sections 104,116,123,128,306,325) and Garden Salads (Section 126 and 314 Marketplace) are indeed Gluten Free. You may also want to check with the folks at the Dos Bandidos stand (Section 112) as they have created Gluten Free options in the past.

For something more filling, please see my previous posts about GF Meal special requests.

UPDATE - After seeing how the NC BBQ is prepared when you order it, I would advise you not to purchase this as a GF option. The person which handles the BBQ meat (by itself is GF) also prepares the buns. He touches the buns and then puts the same hands back into the meat.

Carolina Hurricanes ARE Gluten Free Friendly!!!

OK - My research is now complete and I am excited to report to you that the Canes can and will support our special dietary requirements! I would like to give a special thanks to the great people at the RBC Center for their efforts.

As I have mentioned before, I have been working with several folks in the Food and Beverage Department at the RBC Center. I have been able to talk through the options for both food and RedBridge Beer. Yep - I am happy to report that we do have options! No longer do you have to sit there and watch everyone else around you enjoy a nice adult beverage.

If you would like to inquire further about making special dietary requests, please contact your season ticket representative (if you are a STH) or email Karen Prince to inquire. You may also call 1-866-NHL-CANES or email tickets@carolinahurricanes.com.

I have not listed all of the exact details here but the folks at the RBC Center request each person contact someone in the Ticket Rep area and they will get your request to the correct person(s). I can tell you that special Gluten Free meals can be made for you which will be ready when you arrive and that RedBridge will be stocked in special locations at home games this season beginning with opening night on 10/10/2008.

If you want some more information, please feel free to email me.

If you run into any issues going through your Ticket Rep, please let me know and I will assist!

Remember - Drink responsibly! (Don't be like a Buffalo Sabres fan)

GO CANES!

Some Updates

Just wanted to fill everybody in on a few updates.

• I attended last night's Celiac Support Group meeting and met a ton of great people with a lot more Gluten Free experience than me. I hope to continue to learn from these folks, many of which have been doing this for a long, long time. I intend to post some meeting minutes so that the people who could not attend last night can still know what went on. More to come on that.

• I have been making some progress on finding Gluten Free items at Carolina Hurricanes home games at the RBC Center. The hockey season is quickly approaching. I have been in contact over the last few weeks with the Director of Food and Beverage as well as their Executive Chef. I will let you know more about what is decided for those of us who require/request Gluten Free food and beverage as soon as possible. At this point, things are looking pretty good for us!

• I have also been working on the folks at the NC State Fair which is coming up in a few weeks. In the past, this has been one of my favorite events to attend and I love the food. I estimate that I usually end up consuming somewhere around 7,000 calories in about a 2 hour period (yikes). At this point, I am trying to see if any vendors at the fair can claim to be Gluten Free. This will be a difficult maze to navigate, but many vendors have meat, vegetable, fruit or dessert items that have potential. The main concern here will be cross-contamination. I will let you know what I find out there. I am bummed to have to stay away from the elephant ears and fried snickers bars though - oh well. Maybe I can still get my London Broil sandwich, sans bun. UPDATE 9-20-08 @ 8AM - I heard from the folks at the NC State Fair this morning and they are currently in the process of querying their vendors about Gluten Free Items!

• Lastly, I am a formulating a strategy on how best to contact the many restaurants in the Raleigh area about their Gluten Free friendliness. I plan to start in the Downtown area where there are over 100 restaurants and then work my way out. I have come up with a Online Survey that can best gather this input to at least get the ball rolling. I intend to contact each place and share the feedback that I gather in the Survey. This may get information out a little quicker than everyone waiting for me to eat at each place. More to come on this definitely! UPDATE 9-20-08 @ 8AM - The first 40 surveys were emailed out to restaurants last night. I am starting to get some responses and will provide this feedback to you ASAP. For the other 60 restaurants Downtown, looks like I'll be pounding the pavement on those. Wish me luck!

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Are the Carolina Hurricanes Celiac/Gluten Free Friendly?

I had an interesting thought today. I am a huge Carolina Hurricanes fan and my family and I attend many games. I got to wondering, since I was diagnosed during the off season, if the Hurricanes and the RBC Center were Celiac/Gluten Free Friendly?

So I fired off an email tonight to Karen Prince, a ticket sales representative for the Canes.

Here is what I sent.

Karen,

I have been coming to see the Canes since 2000 and my wife and I have been STH since 2006. I have a question about a food/beverage issue (you may have to pass this along to someone else).

I was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease and cannot eat/drink anything containing Gluten (think pizza, pasta, beer, bread, hamburger/hot dog buns,
chicken fingers, or anything with wheat). It is estimated that around 1 in
133 people in the USA (about 1% of the population) have this disease and I know
of quite a few other folks in Raleigh with this disease. So on a sell out game night, there could be around 200 patrons at the RBC Center with the same issue.

I was wondering if you could help me identify if there are any concessions available with Gluten Free food items. If not, I hope we can work together to get some choices at the RBC Center. In addition, at times I have been known to have a beer or two at the game and was wondering the possibility of concessions carrying a Gluten Free beer. Anheuser-Busch makes a beer called RedBridge and it has national distribution (there are several places in Raleigh that carry it already).

If you have more information about this or can refer me to someone else that would be excellent. I can also be reached via cell phone at xxx-xxxx and/or would be more than happy to meet with someone in person to discuss further.

I will let you know what I find out, more to come...