“Finally Friday” has even more meaning for me than usual, as it’s the last of 5 Days eating all my meals and snacks without gluten. This has been a tremendous education for me, and I can tell from the dozens of other blog posts this week that it has been for my colleagues in Cornell Dining, as well.

No bun? No problem!

For my last 5 Days lunch, on such a nice day, I decided to head to West Campus and 104West!, Cornell’s remarkable multicultural dining room. It’s not just Kosher but Halal, as well, and I’ve enjoyed my meal every time I’ve been there. Best of all, Friday is burgers and dogs day!

Unfortunately, unlike some of the eateries I’ve been to this week, 104West! doesn’t have any gluten-free alternative bread, such as hamburger rolls, available. There is such a thing as Kosher gluten-free bread, but that may be too niche a market for Cornell Dining to stock it. No worries, I’ve had a burger without a bun before! This time, I topped the delicious hand-ground beef patty with some tomatoes and fresh guacamole.

One nice thing about eating Kosher meat is you know there are no fillers added. This was a great burger! Veggieburgers are available, too, but those are labeled as containing wheat, so that’s out for today.

Great salad bar at 104West!… but none of these faux “bacon” bits or crispies for me!

I also availed myself of 104West!’s extensive salad bar, which includes tofu and hard-boiled eggs to boost the protein of your meal if you’re not having meat. But wait! Are those bacon bits?! Bacon wouldn’t be Kosher even at a meat meal, such as Friday lunch here, so the 104West! salad bar features soy “bacon” bits! I was curious to try these, but since they’re processed or manufactured food, I figured I’d better ask if they were gluten-free. Sure enough, they’re not. They contain wheat flour.

The dessert table also had lots of temptation, including some beautiful-looking baklava, but I had to pass. I’ll come back for some of that baklava another time, though. Of course, I realize hundreds of people on the Cornell campus can’t just stop eating gluten-free, the way I can after this week. I’m lucky, and after 5 Days, much better informed.