Saturday, August 11, 2012

Wolfgang Puck Express at Denver International Airport


Airport Food Choices

How much do you fly? How many airports do you go through in a year?

Have you flown recently?

Do you have trouble finding safe, gluten-free food?

Here is one safe bet for fresh, safe food if you happen to have time to get to the middle of Concourse B in the Denver International Airport.
Wolfgang Puck Express on Urbanspoon

Wolfgang Puck Express at Denver International Airport

I have now eaten here safely twice. On two different trips through the airport.

The first time, I asked the cashier if she knew which were the gluten-free options. She directed me to the Rotisserie Chicken and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. When I ordered them, the guy behind the counter cautioned me that there was a lot of flour floating around the place. I could see that. The chicken was being served up right next to where the pizzas were being served.

So, I looked again at the setup. Were utensils being shared between dishes? Was the chicken placed on the same countertop or dish as a pizza? Were glutenated gloves handling my food?

No. The answer to all of these questions was happily no.

So, I went ahead and asked for the chicken and potatoes anyways.

And I was safe.

The second time through, I again asked the cashier on duty about gluten-free offerings. This time, I was told that I could order a salad to be made, but to request just oil and vinegar instead of any of the dressings.

Perfect! I had wanted a salad the first time, but when comes to eating safely, anything will do in the short term, as long as it is safe.

Now, I could get a salad made to order!

As I stood in line waiting for my turn to order, I watched the handling of the croutons as they were tossed on an earlier salad. It is easy enough to ask for no croutons on my own salad, but what about those gloves handling lettuce and then chicken and then croutons?

Then I got lucky! A new server guy walked up and put brand new gloves on. And this was to be the server that would make my salad. Hurray! Clean gloves!

I would have asked for clean gloves, if a new server hadn't walked up right then.

I ordered chicken on the spinach and apple salad, but instead of balsamic vinegrette I requested just oil and vinegar. The server kindly put them in a small, lidded cup on the side of my salad. And then he asked if I wanted apples (yes), but he shook he head as he told me he couldn't give me the candied walnuts.


That's okay. I'll miss them for a second, but I am ever so thankful that he was warning me that they might not be safe. Fine with me. I appreciate the attention and warning.

And everything I did get was fresh, delicious, and safe!

Congratulations, Wolfgang Puck, for being consistently safe for me and informing your servers appropriately!

2 comments:

  1. One thing is for sure, when you are at the airport, whether waiting for a flight or has touched down, the first thing on your mind is good food. Back home, there are a number of people I know who can't eat on the plane, thus they wait for airport transfer sydney before they eat a decent meal.

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  2. You're joking right? That sounds really good. I have heard of the fun to be had at Denver airport before but I didn't realize that it really was that good. This is yet another positive story. It's great that they put so much effort into making sure that the place is comfortable for guests.

    I agree with you- vegan dishes do deserve their own special section. Can't lump those in with regular food at all- they are too good.

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