Meet Clio
🍲 My Love of Food (sans Gluten)
I’ve been there – sat with a painted smile claiming it’s fine, that I’m not hungry as I sip my drink and my tummy grumbles, or had anxiety about being the odd one out again, sat with my own plate of food whilst my friends exchange grunts of happiness over the tapas they’re sharing, or been unsure if something is actually gluten free but too worried to ask questions again in case I’m being a burden (Thank you, British politeness)…
The thing is, nothing makes my eyes shine brighter than being sat about to be tucking into a great plate of food. Eating and sharing food with friends and family is my greatest love language (I come from a family of feeders) and treating yourself by going to a restaurant while out just exacerbates that celebratory feeling.
I love trying new foods, new restaurants and new flavours, and I don’t want coeliac disease to prevent that for me or for you! So I’m here sharing my experiences to help us expel the anxiety and live gluten free-ly!
🗺️ My Location
I’m a London girl, born and raised, and West London is where I call home.
However, I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of travel! Most recently, I lived in a beautiful small pacific archipelago called Vanuatu which was breathtaking in itself, and also a great base to explore other countries in the Oceania region. But I’ve also travelled throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Africa.
In fact, there are only 2 continents that I haven’t visited yet (and one of them is Antarctica!)
✈️ My Love of Travel
If there’s ever anything new to go to, I can’t say no. It’s a borderline problem as it means at some points in my life I have been way too busy, but I LOVE to explore. Different countries, different cultures, different activities, even just going for a walk somewhere new. Sign me up.
But my favourite way to explore is through food – Do you want to go for a walk with me? “Yes, sure, where shall we lunch at the end?” Do you want to go to Rome with me for the weekend? “Yes! I know a place we can get a fantastic calzone”.
On trips where other people can stumble into anywhere to get food, I can’t do this – 1) because ok, coeliac disease but 2) because why would you? You could miss the place next door that serves the best gluten free perogi and you’ll never know.
🚀 My Mission
As I’ve touched on, though I love food, sometimes eating out can be quite anxiety inducing. I feel like a burden to ask too many questions, or to ask to find a new place if I’m not happy with answers to the hungry people I’m with. I have been there! And sometimes there‘s not a lot of information out there to find in the first place.
I spend a lot of time before any trip scouring menus and restaurants and marking them on maps so at a drop of a hat I know somewhere safe I can eat. As even if a place we pop into has a salad that is most likely gluten free, it really is a comfort to know.
So I’m sharing all my experiences and limited knowledge, for those of you that love exploring food like me to hopefully save you some hassle!
