One of my favorite nooks of downtown Santa Barbara is La Arcada. I have been meaning to try Petit Valentien for quite some time since it is in such a charming walkthrough, so we went last night. Our waitress knew right off the bat what I could and could not have. I started with a salad with greens, roasted beets and really good goat cheese. For my main dish, I had lamb served with mashed potatoes and ratatouille. It was quite good. Then came the desserts. As our waitress ran down the list, there were 3 that she told me were GF! Now I am not a big dessert person, but if someone tells me that 3 desserts are GF, I think that it is my responsibility to try all of them. The three were a flourless chocolate cake, a GF cheesecake (cheesecake!) and a vanilla creme brulee.
The creme brulee had a great vanilla taste, making it my favorite of the three. The cheesecake came in a close second. It was just so exciting to be able to eat cheesecake since they typically have crusts. The flourless chocolate cake was good, but I found it to be a bit dry. From start to finish, the meal at Petit Valentien exceeded my expectations!
gluten-free in sb 
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