Gluten Free Spokane

Shallan Knowles, Owner
Gluten Free Spokane

Shallan Knowles is the founder and owner of Gluten Free Spokane and has put in some serious time exploring the gluten-free dining options around the Inland Northwest since being diagnosed with celiac disease in 2008. Reviewing restaurants was a natural fit for Shallan, who maintains that her parents rarely cooked, which left them bouncing around the cafés and kitchens of her home town Coeur d’Alene, ID for dinner each night.

Hounding servers and chefs about the purity of ingredients and cross contamination awareness for reviews on GlutenFreeSpokane.com, on the other hand, took some getting use to. When not writing about and photographing her favorite restaurant meals and other gluten-free foods and products, Shallan is working on a degree in web design, does free-lance photography for the Spokesman Review, and teaches yoga.

Shallan started this web site as a blog in 2009 in part to help learn about and deal with being diagnosed with Celiac Disease the year before but also to share what she was learning about living gluten free with others. “I recognize the difficulty of transitioning to gluten free,” said Shallan.  “I will never forget that day in January of 2008 when I received the results of the biopsy. The letter said I had severe celiac sprue. The paperwork came with a long list of all the things I could no longer eat: ice cream, french fries, bread, pasta, crackers, soup, seasonings… the list went on for two pages. I started to cry. What was I going to eat?”

Since then, she has enjoyed learning about and sharing information on all of the delicious gluten-free foods and restaurant options out there. “I learned that not only can I do it, but that I would never go back. The health benefits outweigh the struggle and occasional tough decision of not eating out at certain places with friends. Feeling good about my body and my life is well worth it.”
I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, or good information to share please fill out this form and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks! ~Shallan

 

Derrick Knowles, Editor
Gluten Free Spokane

Derrick Knowles, a native of Spokane, got a crash course introduction to the gluten-free world when his now wife Shallan Knowles was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2008.  “I didn’t even know what gluten was before that, but since I’ve always loved to cook, I saw cooking gluten free as a new challenge that could introduce us to new ingredients and different dishes.”  Since 2008, there has been an explosion of new gluten-free products on Spokane store shelves that has made cooking and eating well so much easier and more fun.

The same gluten-free revolution has begun to play out in the Spokane restaurant scene.  “When we first started looking around for restaurants where Shallan could safely eat, it was one disappointment after another, and many times she would have an allergic reaction the day after eating somewhere we thought was safe.  But today there are dozens and dozens of amazing restaurants with gluten free menus and dishes to choose from.  It’s been exciting to watch gluten awareness catch on and now to be a part of helping let the growing number of people eating gluten free know about all the great Spokane area restaurants and products out there with Gluten Free Spokane.”

Derrick is a free-lance writer and editor who enjoys keeping a gluten-free kitchen and cooking celiac safe meals.  He also loves eating out and testing new gluten-free items at local restaurants from the taste-bud perspective of someone who can and does occasionally eat breads and other gluten filled foods.