We wanted to try something new for brunch today, so we went to Cafe Stella. I had the fines herbs and gruyére omelette with caramelized onions added in. With the egg dishes, you have your choice of home fries or potato gratin. After confirming that there was no flour used for the potato gratin, I ordered my omelette with that. Well done, me. I will order a side of the potato gratin next time I go here because it was that good and cheesy. The restaurant was pretty large. It felt like a good place to have a rehearsal dinner or special event. They even have a nice outdoor patio if you want to bring your pooch.
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Cocktails and a Concert
19 Nov
Before going to the Santa Barbara Symphony tonight, a friend and I got a couple of drinks at the Marquee. I had their signature drink, the Marquee which included vodka, fresh orange juice, cranberry juice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, serrano chili and a sugar-rim garnish. I substituted a potato vodka for their absolut mandarin vodka. This was incredibly tasty. As a celiac, I usually play it safe and order wine, so this was especially exciting as it was delicious and GF! After drinks, we went to see the Santa Barbara Symphony at the Granada Theater.
The theater is absolutely beautiful. Tonight, they were performing Beethoven’s Pastoral and Emperor. The reason I was there was because of Emperor, my favorite classical piece. It was a really nice night in a lovely setting. I will definitely return to the Granada as well as the Marquee for some more delicious beverages!
Pancakes with the Pup
18 Nov
This morning, we took the pup for a walk at the Douglas Preserve. It is a great off-leash area for dogs that has an amazing view of the Santa Barbara coast. After our walk, we decided to go to the back patio of Savoy since it is dog friendly. This was the perfect time to try their gluten-free pancakes. YUM. I don’t know what it is about powdered sugar, but it just makes everything look and taste better. There was also some GF pumpkin bread for purchase but I held off as I was trying a new thing called self-control.
Brewhouse and Dessert
15 Nov
We decided to return to our old neighborhood and go to Brewhouse tonight. It was pretty dark in there, so no food pictures came out. I started with the Fire Roasted Artichoke which had an awesome grill taste to it. I then had the Salmon Salad which had two pan seared pieces of salmon on Mixed Greens with Tomato, Red Onion, Capers, Feta Cheese and Champagne Vinaigrette. The pieces of salmon were a smidge overcooked, but overall it was a good salad. Make sure to request it without the bread. I noticed on the menu that they had a “Tanka Dog” on the menu that mentioned that it was gluten free. I asked the waitress about it and she said the actual hot dog was gluten free but that it wasn’t on a GF bun which pretty much defeated the purpose of it for those with allergies. Seemed silly to me. After dinner, we headed to Yogurtland.
On each of the flavors, they mention any specific health tidbits including whether or not the self-serve flavor is gluten-free! How cool is that?
Your Place
14 Nov
More often than not, we crave Thai food. We are very loyal to our favorite Thai restaurant, Your Place, located on Milpas Street. Tonight, I started with the Tom Kah soup. This sweet and spicy soup was great since it was a cold night. I then got the Pad Thai as a main course after I verified that they do not use soy sauce in their Pad Thai dish.
This had tons of cilantro on top which was very much appreciated. I think that one day when I have the time and energy, I want to grow my own cilantro so that I can just throw it on everything that I consume.
Woodstock’s Pizza
13 Nov
This weekend I had my lacrosse alumni game at UCSB. It is a tradition to go to Giovanni’s in Isla Vista after the game for some pizza and pitchers of beer. Now I couldn’t drink the beer due to it being gluten-filled and the fact that I was one of the drivers. However, I knew that Woodstock’s Pizza nearby has gluten-free pizza available now. I decided to call and see if they could deliver one of their GF pizzas to Giovanni’s. The guy on the phone had to make sure it was ok with his manager, which it was. About twenty minutes later, I met the delivery guy outside and got the delicious looking pizza shown above. This was a larger GF pizza. The sauce on the pizza was really good. I really liked this pizza since it wasn’t trying to be gourmet. It was just good sauce and good cheese on a decent crust. I ended up having plenty as leftovers, so this would be a good pie to get for sharing.
On a side note, congratulations to my fellow Gaucho lacrosse alumni who beat the current school team 8-7.
Fresco Take-Out
9 Nov
The hubs had a work call tonight so we decided to get some take-out from Fresco. I called to see if their soup of the day was GF and it was! Soup and salad sounded mighty fine to me, so I got the caesar salad and the potato leak soup. The salad was smothered with cheese which is just the way I like it. The soup looked pretty unappetizing as depicted below.
However, I love potato and leek soup and this was no exception. It was the perfect thing for a cold night!
Cantina
6 Nov
We were at UCSB to train for my upcoming alumni weekend so we decided to bring some dinner home from Isla Vista. Although I really wanted to try Woodstock’s gluten-free pizza, the nachos at Cantina were beckoning me to take a trip down memory lane. These brought me right back to college as I used to have them at least once a week. YUM.
Scarlett Begonia
6 Nov
I love when I don’t have work on Sunday mornings because there is something about going out for breakfast on a Sunday that is just so enjoyable. Today, we tried Scarlett Begonia. As soon as we sat down, I saw that there was a gluten-free polenta and pear muffin on the menu. This was served warm and had a really good taste to it. While we started to devour that, we were served an amuse bouche. It didn’t appear GF so I stayed clear. I then had the soft scrambled eggs with spinach and aged gouda.
As I mixed the dish around, the aged gouda melted perfectly. This was a hearty dish as there were plenty of potatoes on the bottom. Finally, at the end of the meal, there was a little surprise that came with our check. It was homemade toffee. When I was trying to check what the ingredients were in it, the woman who I asked made it seem very difficult to get an answer. This brings me to my next point. I thought the food was really good but there was something about the service that rubbed me the wrong way. I was eavesdropping at the conversation between the waitress and the table next to us. The diners were explaining how they had seen the iPad ordering system at another local eatery. The waitress then had some attitude saying that they were the first ones to do it. Additionally, the way certain things were presented to us felt like they wanted a pat on the back. It wasn’t enough to prevent us from coming back, but it just felt like they thought very highly of themselves and wanted others to know that.
That toffee by the way? Pretty fantastic.
Intermezzo
3 Nov
With the lighting, that doesn’t look too appetizing. But the smoked ham, lentil and red wine braised chard soup I started with at Intermezzo had a lot of flavor. I wasn’t looking to eat too much tonight so I just got some soup and vegetables. The market vegetables were fresh and perfectly dressed with some balsamic.
Now both of these items were great. But what I really wanted was the truffled parmesan french fries. Unfortunately, they are not made in a dedicated fryer. However, the husband enjoyed them immensely.
After eating, we went next door to the Au Bon Climat tasting room. This is one of my favorite pinots from this area, so I am very excited that they finally opened their own tasting room!
In other news, there appears to be a large hole on the butt of my jeans that was discovered while out tonight. Apparently this blog is not good for my waistline.
gluten-free in sb 
