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Italy is unusually good at this, and unusually stubborn about it
Eating with a restriction in Italy is easier than newcomers expect, for a reason that has nothing to do with food fashion. Celiac disease is diagnosed at a far higher rate here than in most countries — schools screen for it, diagnosis is common in childhood, and the national health service pays a monthly grocery allowance to registered celiacs. The result is that senza glutine is a mainstream category rather than a specialty one: supermarkets stock a full aisle, the Associazione Italiana Celiachia certifies restaurants with a spiga barrata, a crossed-ear-of-wheat logo, and a pizzeria with a separate gluten-free oven is ordinary rather than remarkable. EU law also requires the fourteen major allergens to be declared, so a menu will either list them or the kitchen will have a folder you can ask for. What does not follow is any willingness to modify a classic. A carbonara has four ingredients and none of them is cream; asking for it without egg is asking for a different dish, and the answer will be a polite offer of something else entirely — which is exactly what Alex gets. This is not obstruction, it is a different theory of what a menu is: the kitchen will happily cook you something off-list, but it will not serve a named dish in a form that is not that dish. Two useful distinctions to carry in. Italians separate un'allergia from un'intolleranza carefully and take the first very seriously, so say allergia if you mean it. And senza glutine, senza lattosio and vegetariano are all widely understood, while vegano is newer and better checked in advance outside the cities.