Of this there can be no doubt: Silly Axe Cafe is a unique entity.
“The Silly Axe chops out gluten and wheat and is the only gluten free dedicated restaurant in Louisville, KY,” the restaurant’s web site explains. “We are a safe haven for food allergies of all kind. In addition to being gluten free, we are also a nut free and lactose free facility.”
Silly Axe’s page at Facebook elaborates.
Dedicated gluten free restaurant featuring a rotating menu, 7 totally gluten free beers, 12 hard to find craft ciders on tap, chef driven, family friendly, allergen friendly, large grab and go, house sandwiches, weekly meal specials, chicken fingers.
Owner/chef Angela Pike speaks from personal experience. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the small intestine is damaged by eating gluten.
A little over three years ago I set out on a mission to bring this city its first dedicated gluten-free restaurant. I had been a personal chef for 10 years and a celiac diagnosis not only made my career almost impossible, it made me see that there are not nearly enough restaurants in any city for people with severe food allergies. I set out on a mission to not only give our city a gluten free restaurant but to also create a safe haven for people of allergies of all kinds. I have succeeded in creating a community and a place for people to go who cannot go anywhere else.
Alas, Pike’s testimony can be found at GoFundMe, where Pike has launched a campaign for breathing room: Save Silly Axe Cafe.
At this point we are struggling to continue another week and although we are ALWAYS busy, business does not always equate success when you are faced with hurdles our industry has never seen before.
As of Thursday evening, the GoFundMe campaign had gotten past the halfway point. For those with access to Louisville’s newspaper of record:
‘At this point I’m drowning’: Gluten-free cafe owner posts GoFundMe to save business, by Dahlia Ghabour (Louisville Courier Journal)
“I’m well aware I’m not the best restaurant in the city, but I do think I’m the most important in the city. There’s no one like me out there where the whole family can go and not worry about their allergies,” she said. “I thought, this community has proven they want me here with the lines out the door. It would be very sad, a big loss, to lose us.”
