Gluten-free fried chicken draws crowd

FOOD DETECTIVE

On a stormy Wednesday evening in the West Loop, Ina's restaurant was serving up fried chicken dinners for a crowd hungry for just a regular night out.

That's because many of the 100 diners were either wheat intolerant or suffer from celiac disease, set off by eating a protein called gluten found in wheat, barley, rye and many processed foods.

That includes the flour often used to make crunchy, juicy fried chicken. Even a dusting of white flour, which contains wheat and barley, can make someone ill.

And that makes it difficult for the gluten-intolerant to enjoy a meal out.

But not on this night.

After the kitchen underwent a deep cleaning, the staff at Ina's, 1235 W. Randolph, set out to make gluten-free chicken.

After soaking 208 chicken pieces in buttermilk (for those who were dairy intolerant and called ahead to let the restaurant's chef know, the chickens were put in a brine of honey and water), chef-owner Ina Pinkney and her staff coated the pieces with a mix that included potato starch, tapioca flour, brown rice flour and white rice flour.

The chicken was then fried in a special transfat-free oil. It was paired with mashed potatoes and special gluten-free rolls. And for those who were so inclined -- and 21 years old -- gluten-free beer and gluten-free vodka also were available.

"Have you ever heard that [Spanish] saying panza llena corazon contento -- 'full stomach, happy heart' -- it was that kind of feeling," said Maeve Kanaley, who has celiac disease and was pleased she had leftover fried chicken to enjoy for days.

For some, this was an emotional night out, Pinkney said: "We were getting people choked up, saying this is the first time they can go out with my friends and feel normal."

Pinkney decided to host a meal after talking with customers who found the experience of dining out often exhausting as they questioned the waitstaff about anything from ingredients to making sure the cooking oil wasn't "contaminated" by cooking other foods that contain gluten. So she decided on a gluten-free fried chicken night, advertised it in her monthly newsletter and "it went viral, there are so many Web sites dedicated to helping people with celiac disease," Pinkney said.

Indeed, in the United States alone, 1 in 133 people suffer from celiac disease, according to the University of Chicago's Celiac Disease Center.

The response was so overwhelming to the May 7 dinner that the restaurant is planning to do it again June 11 -- and every second Wednesday of the month after that.

For more information, visit www.breakfastqueen.com.