As I am about one week from my due date, I have been trying to make healthy options when I go out to restaurants. Cafe Luna made that easy for me as they offer a quinoa tabouleh option for lunch. With quinoa, diced tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and fresh herbs, it was both tasty yet light. It came with a side of mixed greens and hummus. Typically it comes with bread, so you just need to omit that for a perfectly yummy gluten-free meal.
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Cafe Luna in Summerland
4 MarNapoléon’s Macarons
6 Feb
While downtown last night, we stopped in to what used to be Ben & Jerry’s at the Paseo Nuevo Mall. It is now Napoléon’s Macarons. As a HUGE fan of Ladurée’s Macarons, I was excited to try these. There was a big sign that greeted us letting us know that they were all gluten-free.
We ended up getting a box of different flavors – Passion Fruit, Raspberry, Pistachio, Chocolate and Salted Caramel. The consistency wasn’t quite like the Ladurée macarons. The salted caramel and chocolate flavors actually felt a little chewy but it might have been because it was the end of the day. It was still nice to have a GF snack option downtown!
LYFE Kitchen
26 Jan
One night in Palo Alto, my Celiac friend and I went to LYFE Kitchen. The first thing that was cool was that when you walk in, you grab a menu depending on whether you are GF, vegan, vegetarian or can eat everything. We ordered a kale caesar to start which came with a little stick that showed it was GF. We then split two of the gluten-free flatbreads.
The one that I preferred was the BBQ Chicken Flatbread. The cilantro and BBQ sauce gave it a lot of flavor. We also ordered the Margherita Flatbread.
I still enjoyed this as the crust had a good consistency. However, it might have been a bit more flavorful with some garlic. This restaurant clearly understood what cross-contamination meant and how to prevent it which was very comforting while away from home!
The Counter
25 Jan
Last weekend, I spent a couple of days in Palo Alto as a way to relax before our baby arrives. After getting up there, my first stop was The Counter in Palo Alto. This incredibly GF friendly burger chain offers customized burgers with a GF Udi’s bun. I ordered a cheddar cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, sautéed onions and a chipotle aioli. It felt so normal being able to order a burger on a bun. The only thing that would have made the burger better would have been to use Canyon Bakehouse’s bun as theirs is less dry. The waitress also informed me that they had a dedicated fryer if I wanted to enjoy some fries.
Of course I did. And of course it made sense to add some cheese to those fries since I only have a couple more months of wearing expandable pants. The Counter has locations all over California, so I am crossing my fingers that Santa Barbara will get one of their own!
Rubirosa Ristorante
8 Jan
While in NY, we tried a place in Soho called Rubirosa Ristorante. They had a gluten-free menu and after asking our waitress a bunch of questions, it was clear that they were aware of what cross contamination was and how to avoid it. We started with the mozzarella sticks. Fried cheese = Perfection. We then split the Classic GF pizza.
We really enjoyed the pizza as all of the ingredients involved were tasty. I can’t wait until we get back there so I can try the pasta… and the chicken parmigiano… and the rice balls… and the meatballs.
Crumbs Gluten-Free Bakery
7 Jan
The hubs and I made a last trip back home while I was still allowed to fly. While in NYC, we decided to try out the new Crumbs Gluten-Free Bakery. As we were there early in the morning, it didn’t seem right to have a cupcake.
They did look very enticing though. Instead, we ordered a blueberry muffin and an apple crumb muffin.
The blueberry muffin was a little bit dry. The apple crumb muffin was great though.
One thing that I would suggest is to put in a couple of tables and chairs to enjoy the items there. It was snowing outside so we wanted to just sit somewhere to eat the muffins. When I asked the girl behind the counter, she said that they didn’t have any seating so that people would not be inclined to bring in outside food that may not be GF.
Merritt’s Store & Grill
6 Jan
Behold the tastiest BLT you will ever have. In November, my brother got married in North Carolina. After doing a search on the Find Me Gluten-Free app, I found out that Merritt’s, his favorite BLT spot was GF friendly! They even have a choice of GF breads to use for their sandwiches! My parents picked me up a sandwich when they were out running errands. She said that when she told the lady at the counter that I was Celiac, that she was extremely careful. She washed her hands, used a clean surface, and even opened up a new jar of mayo to make sure there was no cross contamination from the non-GF items that they serve there. The result was an amazing BLT on a gluten-free sourdough roll!
Blue Tavern
6 Jan
Holy moly it has been a long time. I will try to catch up on some posts this week. My whole family was here to end 2013. While they were here, we tried Blue Tavern. Let’s start with the positive. The food that I had was really tasty. They serve some corn and salt on the table when you sit down, but this is not gluten-free as they use a contaminated fryer. I started with the Beet and Heirloom Tomato Salad. I would order this again as the combination of the beets, tomatoes and pesto was quite good. For my main dish, I had the Quinoa Risotto.
This had parmesan, wild mushrooms, arugula and parsley oil. I have always had an aversion to mushrooms but I didn’t find these offensive. Rather, I found the dish was nice and flavorful. Overall, I enjoyed my food. But there were two incidents that overshadowed the night for me.
When we sat down, they asked if we wanted Santa Barbara water or bottled water. We said the tap water was fine. They brought over two carafes of water. Half of our table had normal tasting water from one of the carafes. My half of the table however was poured water that tasted like extreme salt water. When we said something to our waitress after spitting it out, she asked if we wanted bottled water then. I asked her if she wanted to taste it as there was something very wrong and I wanted her to see what we meant. She then said that they had heard that from other people, but she did not apologize or offer to get other tap water. She asked us if we wanted to then order bottled water. It was so ridiculous of a situation but we said fine so that we could have water. At the end of the dinner when we got the bill, we had spent an excessive amount on just bottled water as we were a party of nine.
Our table had ordered two orders of the potato gratin (which was GF). When one of the food runners brought out the second order, she said this is compliments of the kitchen. I then explained that we had actually ordered the item, so there was no need for it to be complimentary. She responded, “That is what the kitchen told me to say” and then walked away. When we checked the bill at the end of the meal, they had charged us for both orders, so it was very odd that they would have said that at all.
Even though the food was good, these other things that happened just seemed so off that I have a hard time wanting to go back. Hopefully, they figure out their water situation and their communication skills so that they can be successful!
The Bourbon Room
24 Oct
Tonight, we headed to The Bourbon Room as I was craving a burger. I had heard that they offer gluten-free rolls for their burgers so I was very excited. Once we got there, I found that in addition to the rolls, they also had GF pizza! Since I am eating for two, I rationalized that it was totally normal to order two main dishes. The gluten-free cheese pizza was pretty good. The waitress assured me that they cook it on a different surface than their regular pizzas. The crust was on the thin side and stayed together well. I also ordered a cheeseburger on the GF bun.
I couldn’t have the fries since they were in contaminated oil, so I got a side salad without the croutons. It was so nice to be able to have a burger with a bun! As I had just consumed a whole lot of food, I turned down dessert as tempting as it sounded. Our waitress had informed us that they had a GF chocolate chip cookie pie. This is definitely a reason to return!
As a reminder, we will be holding our Fall Gluten-Free Santa Barbara Meet-up on Wednesday at Shoreline Park. For more details, please visit our Facebook page.
Arlington Tavern’s Menu Addition
20 Oct
One of the joys of social media includes finding out that places like Arlington Tavern now have GF macaroni and cheese. As soon as I read about it, I dreamed about the time when I would finally get to try this dish. Before going to a show at the bowl on Thursday, we headed over there. I found out that they cook the GF pasta in a clean pot and use separate, clean utensils when preparing it. They also omit the bread crumbs that typically come with their mac & cheese. The gruyere cheese made this wonderfully gooey. I think this may be my new go-to craving when it eventually gets cold here in Santa Barbara!
gluten-free in sb 