Tag Archives: california

Alchemy Arts Cafe

17 Oct

I decided to try out Alchemy Arts Cafe for lunch today since places that focus on health tend to be gluten-free friendly. After looking over the menu, I asked the waiter which items were GF. He wasn’t sure so he went to the kitchen to check. Moments later, he returned to inform me that EVERYTHING on the lunch menu was gluten-free. I tried to conceal my sheer joy at being able to order anything on the menu. After much perusing, I finally decided on the Cabbage Wraps and the Pumpkin Soup with Dandelion. The wraps were light and refreshing. These by themselves would be plenty for a light lunch.

The pumpkin soup was very good. It was very hearty though and I found myself struggling to finish both items. The one thing I would say is that I wasn’t too crazy about the taste of the dandelion. I know that it is supposed to be very healthy and cleansing for the body, but I just wasn’t a huge fan. Luckily for me, it was very easy to avoid the dandelion and enjoy the soup. Overall, I found the cafe to be the perfect place to have lunch while I immersed myself in a book.

Tags: , , , ,

Le Crepe Shoppe

17 Oct

I finally gave Le Crepe Shoppe a call since I was very excited to hear that they have buckwheat crepes (GF). It turns out that they do have buckwheat crepes, but they make them on the same surface as the wheat flour crepes, and therefore they are not entirely GF. So if you eat GF just to be healthier, go try them out, but if you are a celiac like me, we will just have to drool from afar.

Tags: , , ,

Dinner and a Movie

16 Oct

After a long day of volunteering at the Cancer Run and house hunting, we decided to keep it low key and do dinner and a movie. We went to Pascucci since our movie was at Paseo Nuevo and that seemed easy. They were out of the GF pasta, so I ended up getting the caesar salad sans croutons and the Toscano risotto. If I were to pick my top three caesar salads, I would put this one in that category. It was extra garlicky tonight which made it even better. The risotto was good as well, but I could barely finish half of it since it was pretty heavy.

When we were done, we headed to our movie, 50/50. I loved this movie. It made me cry (which isn’t really a hard thing to do), but it had some great funny moments as well. As a bonus, the soundtrack was fantastic. Definitely worth seeing while it is still in movie theaters…

Tags: , , , , , ,

Savoy Cafe and Deli Part 2

14 Oct

 

 

I know I was just at Savoy yesterday, but I couldn’t curb my enthusiasm for a gluten-free sandwich in Santa Barbara. I got the Lorraine which included avocado, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, cheddar and dijon on toasted GF bread. YUM.

Tags: , , ,

Savoy Cafe and Deli

13 Oct

I don’t know why it took me so long to make it to Savoy Cafe and Deli, but I am so happy I finally did. You know when you find one of those places where there are so many gluten-free items available and you can’t pick just one? That was me this morning. Above is the GF banana nut bread that I started my breakfast with. It was as good as it looks. Then, I had a hard time deciding between gluten-free french toast or pancakes. I ended up picking the french toast.

With strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and powdered sugar, this dish was unbelievable. It was also a very large portion. But I didn’t stop there. There were GF cookies in the display case. I ended up taking a chocolate chip cookie and snickerdoodle cookie to go…. you know… for the blog. I wouldn’t want to skimp on showing you how fantastic these looked.

While there, I noticed that there were sandwiches offered for lunch. Since they clearly had gluten-free bread available, I asked an employee if they could make their sandwiches with the GF bread. She informed me that they can! Woohooo! I have found a gluten-free sandwich place! AND… if you are a chocolate person (which I am not), you can also find a GF brownie here at Savoy. Looks like I have found my new favorite place in Santa Barbara!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Jungle George Grill

11 Oct

Three years ago, my husband and I used to go to Dish Cafe on Calle Real a bunch. Since then, it has become Jungle George Grill. The exciting thing? They still have the sandwiches which are made with plantains and are GF! Woohoo! I got the vegetable plantain sandwich without the tabbouleh. It comes with corn chips and salsa. I also got a side salad without croutons. There must have been a little communication error because it came with croutons, but that was easily remedied by the staff.

Tags: , , , ,

Tupelo Junction

9 Oct

If you were to ask me what my top three breakfasts in Santa Barbara were, this would be one of them. It isn’t even a breakfasty type dish. But for me, it is the most wonderful way to start a day. Tupelo Junction‘s red beans and rice is so colorful and delicious. It consists of red beans, rice, roasted shallots, corn, spinach, tomatoes and parmesan. Yum.

Tags: , , , , ,

Ca Dario

9 Oct

 

See that really dark picture? It is hard to make out, but that is a delicious bowl of GF pasta with bolognese sauce ready to be pounced on. We went to Ca Dario last night, which was clearly the right decision when I saw on the specials menu, “Gluten-free pasta with choice of any sauce.” It was the most hearty, rich bowl of pasta I have had in a long time, which was perfect after not having anything to eat all day. Even better, they gave me a side of parmesan that I dumped on the pasta to make it even more fantastic. When making the reservation, I had asked if they would have GF pasta available tonight and they confirmed, but I would check with them if you are planning on dining there. 

Tags: , , , ,

Pizza Mizza

6 Oct

The Classic Margherita Pizza

We tried to go to Taffy’s tonight to try their GF pizza. When we got there though, they told us that they didn’t have any crusts at that moment. We were kind of set on pizza, so we decided to try Pizza Mizza instead. I am very glad we did. These GF pizzas were 9″ so they were more of a personal pie size. I liked the crust a bit better than Pizza Guru’s. It was firm enough to pick up, and it had a good taste to it. We ordered the Classic Margherita Pizza with garlic and the Pesto Veggie Combo without mushrooms. My husband and I both liked the Pesto Veggie Combo better than the Margherita but they were both tasty. As far as the cross contamination issues, I was told that they use a different pizza cutter for the GF pies. However, I had to request that the pizza be placed on a separate surface than their regular pizzas. So, if you eat GF out of necessity, make sure that you follow-up with the staff.

Pesto Veggie Combo Pizza

Tags: , , ,

Our Daily Bread

4 Oct

GF muffin, cookie and thumbprint

This morning, I really wanted a muffin, so we tried Our Daily Bread. They have loaves of GF bread for purchase, carrot cake muffins, cookies and thumbprint pastries. I asked if they could make their sandwiches with the bread, but they said no. It also seemed like they weren’t too careful about cross contamination. After using tissue to handle my husband’s muffin, the man then went to use the same piece of tissue on my GF items before we stopped him. It is definitely exciting to have more options in town, but I hope that businesses take the whole GF thing seriously and educate themselves and their staff.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →