Columbia welcomed its first allergen-free eatery, Range Free, to Orr Street last Wednesday. Range Free is a bakery and cafe that serves the specialized diets of mid-Missourians with food allergies by offering a wheat-free, peanut-free and tree nut-free menu. Many items also leave out five of the top eight most common allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish and soybeans.
The restaurant is owned and operated by Anna Meyer, who decided to start the establishment after on her own experience with food allergies.
“The story was, I was hungry,” Meyer says. “I am allergic to seven of the top eight (food allergens): all grains, chocolate, garlic, other various spices, some fruits, some vegetables. And there is no place for me to go out and eat safely in Columbia and really anywhere I travel.”
Until now, she would have would have to drive to St. Louis for a restaurant meal that suits their needs. Range Free hopes to cater both to the needs of that market and to everyone else by offering a safe menu and specialized orders for customers.
“I saw it as a need for not just myself, but a good portion of the population,” Meyer says. “Because I have a background in food, I thought it would be a great thing to bring to the community.”
Meyer has worked at a number of restaurants and as a cake decorator in a couple of bakeries since her time as an MU student, though most of her baking is self-taught or passed down from relatives. As of now, her restaurant is a one-woman show.
“There are a lot of challenges (to working by myself),” Meyer says. “The largest is I can’t do everything all at once, and since I’m still in the process of learning throughout the space, it’s a little challenging just to wrap my head around things in a quick manner. Things are taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. The benefit is that I don’t have any clash of personality going on yet. That happens in any job, and I’m sure I’ll eventually encounter it, but right now it’s all me, and I get to say what I want to do.”
Range Free offers a varied menu, with breakfast, lunch and rotating dinners based on the day of the week. The breakfast menu includes biscuit sandwiches, waffles and quiche, and the lunch menu consists of salads, soups and sandwiches. Since it’s a bakery, it focuses heavily on cookies, cupcakes, dessert loaves, muffins and other baked goods. To fit the needs of particular diets, Range Free frequently substitutes ingredients like wheat, egg, dairy and sugar.
The restaurant is open five days a week.
“What is always really exciting for me is when people who have been without a food item for a long time come and eat something that I’ve made, getting to experience that joy again,” Meyer says. “And seeing the look on someone’s face — that’s always my favorite part.”