Gluten-free chef strives to help those with food sensitivities enjoy meals

To him, it’s more fulfilling when residents and tourists compliment his meals, especially if they have a food sensitivity.

“It’s a lot of hard work. I’ve worked 117 hours in six days once, but I love it because I meet so many good people here,” Knoll said. “Plus, it feels great to have people thank you for making food they may not be able to enjoy anywhere else.”

Great Grubbing, 8505 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 103, opened last August and offers a variety of gluten-free food, such as pizzas, sandwiches, smoothies and muffins.

With the help of registered dietitian and nutritionist Michelle Konstantarakis, Knoll provides nutrition facts on most of his products.

“Our cheesecakes and muffins have no oil, butter, shortening or flour in them,” Knoll said. “We also have a vegan chef now, so he can make all our vegan items.”

Raised in California, Knoll said he helped open a few coffee shops and smoothie bars as a young adult before transitioning into the film industry, where he worked with musicians and mixed martial arts fighters.

“I came out to Vegas to consult for a restaurant when the chef dared me to make something from scratch when I called him out on the ingredients he used, so I made a protein cheesecake just for fun,” Knoll said. “I met (Konstantarakis) there, and she ran a background on it, and she couldn’t believe how I made it.”

With a healthy and gluten-free cheesecake, Konstantarakis pushed Knoll to create more recipes and flavors.

“(Konstantarakis) really helped me out because at the time, I didn’t even know how to read nutrition labels,” Knoll said. “I would just text her all these ingredients, and she would tell me if it was a good idea to add them or not.”

In January 2014, Knoll rented a commercial kitchen but was forced to remove “gluten-free” from his logos because of potential cross-contamination.

“It’s not fair to people who have conditions like Celiac to come into a place that’s mixed half and half because you can never guarantee something is gluten-free unless your entire kitchen is,” Knoll said. “So, I left the commercial kitchen and opened my own place with my business partner, Sierra (Sapunar).”

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of gluten, a protein composite found in wheat, can damage the small intestine. Although Knoll does not have any food sensitivities, he has a passion in helping people who do.

“My manager Briana (DelMonte) has Celiac, and she loves this place because it’s one of the few places she can eat,” he said. “She told me she had to quit her culinary class in high school because she would break out and start itching while working with flour.”

Henderson resident DelMonte said she was hired on the spot after visiting the cafe for the first time with her mom. Knoll promoted her to manager within four months.

“I literally talked to him at the counter for, like, 40 minutes with my mom, and he just offered me a job out of nowhere,” DelMonte said. “I emailed him my information, and I was working the next week.”

DelMonte, 18, hopes to translate her skills at Great Grubbing into opening her own gluten-free bakery in California.

“(Knoll) wanted someone that liked to bake, and I’ve always liked baking, so it was, like, ‘Wow, I get to do this all the time as my job?’ It was awesome,” she said.

Passionate about expanding his services, Knoll hopes to open a gluten-free restaurant on the Strip by summer 2016.

“I think if you’re going to open a food establishment, you have to be a foodie, and I am,” Knoll said. “Regardless if it’s gluten-free or vegan or organic, it has to taste good.”

Great Grubbing is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit greatgrubbing.com or call 702-982-8080.

To reach Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher, email cbelcher@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0403. Find her on twitter: @caitlynbelcher.