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Downey’s

20 Mar

Tonight we went to Downey’s, which is consistently rated one of the best restaurants in Santa Barbara. I was interested to see how gluten-free friendly they were. Our waiter was really good, running down the menu and letting me know what was safe and what to avoid. I started with the mussels. They were prepared with a bit of curry and served on lentils. Then I had the steak prepared with grilled asparagus and pureed potatoes.

This was very good. After this course they brought out a cheese platter that we could choose from. I asked if we could have a plate made without the stilton since blue cheeses typically start their mold from bread. When they served the cheese though, it was on a plate with bread and crackers. I thought that they would have remembered that I could not have bread and crackers near my food. I ended up just eating the ends of the cheeses that were furthest from the gluten. Overall the two dishes I had were wonderful, but I was disappointed that at that stage of the meal, there was such a careless mistake.

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Breakfast at Four Seasons Westlake Village

17 Mar

Growing up, one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast was bagels with lox. So when I saw that there was a smoked salmon platter on the breakfast menu at Four Seasons Westlake Village, I got excited. I asked if they had gluten-free bread, and since it was a Four Seasons, of course the answer was, “yes”.

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Room Service

17 Mar


Do you know what is fun about staying at the Four Seasons Westlake Village? You can call down to room service and have them bring you up some GF cookies and ice cream. These cookies reminded me of the WOW cookies I had recently. They were soft and chewy. The ice cream with the fresh berries was really good too.

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Onyx

16 Mar


Get ready to hear about how great Onyx is for us gluten-free eaters. We were lucky enough to stay at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village for a night this week. For dinner, we went to the hotel’s Onyx Restaurant. I started with a sake sampler which was interesting in a good way. When I started asking our waitress questions, she amazingly informed me that they could make tempura dishes GF by using potato starch and that they could prepare the fried rice with GF soy sauce! She then brought out a bottle of soy sauce for me to use for the meal.


On her recommendation, I ordered the Red Dragon roll which had spicy tuna and (gluten-free!) shrimp tempura.


I really enjoyed this roll. Prior to being diagnosed, I used to LOVE shrimp tempura, so it was incredibly exciting to have it again! The other roll I got was called the Hawaiian Volcano. It had spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, spicy aioli and pickled red ginger. Even though it had similar ingredients, it had a totally different taste.


I enjoyed it, but I liked the Red Dragon roll better. We also shared a side of the vegetable fried rice because how often can I order fried rice at a restaurant?!


Overall, we had a fantastic time at Onyx. It was so nice to have so many options at a Japanese restaurant. The music, which was surprising (80s rock and pop), somehow enhanced the whole experience.

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Recipes Bakery

11 Mar

Yesterday, I met up with a friend to explore the wonderful Saturday Farmer’s Market in Santa Barbara (where I got the most amazing cranberry and walnut goat cheese). As we were getting ready to leave, we saw the cutesy Recipes Bakery building across the street and decided to go in to see what they were all about. As we were both excitedly noticing the “GF” label on the menu, one of the staff members mentioned that they can make all of the items shown above gluten-free except for the banana bread. Even the pancakes? Yes indeed. So I ordered the GF pancakes and my friend ordered the egg scramble with a GF muffin substituted for the toast. Here comes the weird part. As we were waiting for our food we scouted the area to find where we would be eating our breakfast. It turns out they aren’t really set up as a restaurant. Therefore, there really isn’t a seating area set up. This is also why were served our dishes in to-go containers. We both felt this was odd since they had breakfast menu items on the menu, and not just baked goods. We got over that pretty quick once we started eating.

These had lots of chunks of fresh pineapple dispersed within the pancakes. I found them to be really flavorful. The vanilla infused cream complimented them perfectly.

I had a bite of my friend’s GF muffin and it was good, but I was still happy with my choice of the pancakes. If you are looking for breakfast to go, this is your spot!

 

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Talking up an Appetite

8 Mar

First off, thank you to those of you who made it out to the Whole Food talk tonight. It was so nice to meet some of you in person!

Since we were really hungry, we headed over to Fresco as soon as it was over. Their pasta special for the night was a fusilli pomodoro. It included roasted garlic, diced tomato, and basil sauteed in extra virgin olive oil. I love that they have gluten-free pasta  available. While we were paying, the cashier was pointing out some GF desserts to me. One in particular, a flourless chocolate cake, looked really tasty but after last night’s excess, I thought it was better to hold off for the night.

 

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Jane

7 Mar

I have been meaning to try Jane for quite some time since it just looks appealing from the outside. We started our meal by sharing the grilled pasilla chiles with swiss cheese, fresh cilantro and a tomato vinaigrette. This was very good. I just love the taste of pasilla chiles. For my main dish, I had the Gorgonzola Salad Bowl without the gorgonzola.

This had grilled chicken breast, avocado, bacon, tomato, chopped romaine and a red wine vinaigrette. The chicken was still warm from the grill and the ingredients just tasted very fresh. We weren’t planning on getting dessert, but then we saw the Jane Sundae on the menu. It consisted of soft serve vanilla ice cream, caramel, homemade toffee and whipped cream. After the waitress confirmed that all of the ingredients were ok for me, we dove in.

If they sold that toffee, I would buy it by the ton… seriously. It was that good.

Don’t forget to stop by at Whole Foods Market tomorrow night for the big event!

 

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Brophy Brothers

6 Mar

With no clouds in sight, it was the perfect day to have lunch with a friend at Brophy Brothers. When I was explaining what my restrictions were, the waitress informed me that she too was gluten intolerant! I ended up getting the Cold Combo.

It came with two clams, two oysters, ceviche, crab meat and eight peel-and-eat shrimp. It was the perfect portion for lunch. This is one of my favorite spots in Santa Barbara since the fish is fresh and you have spectacular views of the coastline while you eat!

As a reminder, if you have nothing to do this Thursday, stop by our local Whole Foods Market to learn about some alternative gluten-free grains AND to find out the right questions to ask when you are eating out! I will be there 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM!

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Saturday Sandwich at Savoy

4 Mar

This Saturday, I had a longer than usual work break so I visited my favorite gluten-free sandwich spot, Savoy Cafe and Deli. I had the Gaviota on the GF bread and then a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

Ordering this cookie was a very good decision as it was especially good. While I was there, I noticed the signs up advertising the fact that they will be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives tomorrow, March 5th, at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM. From their facebook site:

Savoy Cafe is going to be on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and to celebrate we are throwing a party! We will be doing two showings, one at 7:00pm and at 10:00pm, with music from Joan and Tonic and specials in between. It’s going to be a night you don’t want to miss. See you then!

We have already set our DVR to capture it! Have you?

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Dos Carlitos

2 Mar

Dos Carlitos in Santa Ynez is owned by the same owner as Carlitos and Cava. For this reason, we thought it was very important to try it out to make sure that it was as tasty as its sister restaurants. We started with the nachos which were very good. I then had the grilled chicken salad which was served with avocado, grilled peppers, corn tomatoes, scallions and a vinaigrette.

There was so much chicken in this salad that I couldn’t come close to finishing it, but it made for great leftovers later on!

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