For the end of Spring Break, we decided to take a quick trip to Los Angeles, staying at an airbnb near Griffith Park. Even though it was a short visit, we were able to squeeze in some tasty gluten-free food that made me wonder why we go to LA so infrequently. When we arrived, we headed straight for the entirely gluten-free Erin McKenna’s Bakery on Larchmont for a snack. 
We split two doughnuts, banana bread and a cookie sandwich filled with icing.
Not only were the items we selected delicious, they brought back great memories of going to BabyCakes in NYC when I was younger. The next morning, we got an early start to the day at Fonuts, an entirely gluten-free donut business. These “faux donuts” are baked rather than fried. Not only is this spot completely GF, it was also free of my daughter’s allergens which made a 5-year old very excited to be able to choose anything from the case. 
I chose the breakfast sandwich which consisted of a biscuit-type of donut/bread. I loved the flavor of it and considered getting a second one until I remembered we ordered lots of fonuts to sample.
These three were the banana, churro and raspberry vanilla fonuts. We also had a banana chocolate and chocolate with sprinkles fonut. We did not leave hungry. After our hearty breakfast, we spent the morning exploring Griffith Park.
Everything was so green due to the recent rains. Our favorite part was the Ferndell Trail which was a shady, winding trail along a stream. It was mellow enough that both kids could walk it and sparked the imagination of our 5-year old who envisioned that fairies were hiding behind every corner. After tiring the young and not so young out, we headed back to our airbnb for nap/rest time. Thanks to a hot tip from April of Gluten is My Bitch, we got takeout from Stuff’d. Holy moly gluten-free dumplings. 
We ordered three of these deliciously light and flavorful nuggets of goodness. The Corny For You was filled with cream of corn, ricotta and spinach.
The Siberian Classic dumplings were filled with beef and pork and were served with a sour cream sauce on the side. My personal favorite were the Hot Chick dumplings.
They were filled with chicken and veggies and drenched in a Thai coconut curry. The good thing about eating these in the comfort of your home is that no one can judge you when you lick the container clean. How do people in Los Angeles eat anything other than these dumplings every day?
The next morning before we drove back to Santa Barbara, we ate breakfast at Hugo’s. As soon as we started talking to our waitress, it was clear that they took allergies very seriously. I ordered the Desayuno Fuerte which was two poached eggs over potato pancakes with sautéed spinach, garlic, onions, tomato and shredded parmesan.
The potatoes were so crispy and good. The dish was served with the restaurant’s homemade gluten-free flatbread.
This bread would be great for a sandwich. With our bellies full, we drove back to Santa Barbara.
This morning, I noticed on the Find Me Gluten-Free app that there is a restaurant listed that has GF pancakes. 
I had heard that new restaurant, 
Although I was bummed to not have gluten-free pizza for lunch, I was glad to have some safe GF options to choose from. I do love that the restaurant is in 
Last night, my husband and I decided to try a new restaurant before heading to the Santa Barbara Bowl to see The National. We ended up at 
Although I enjoyed the butter chicken and the tikka masala sauce it came in, I preferred the coconut curry flavor. I had some papadum on the side so that I could scoop up all of the extra sauce. 
Because they are very clear on the menu about being unable to accommodate sesame allergies, we won’t have this restaurant in our usual rotation as my daughter is severely allergic to sesame and nuts. However, it will definitely be a top pick for date nights.
Last week, we went out to dinner with some good friends. We decided to try 
These were served with an english pea risotto, asparagus and sugar snaps. Once again, the combination of fresh ingredients and a great execution made me incredibly satisfied with my choice. We skipped dessert, but I was almost enticed by their GF chocolate cake that was being served that evening. To be honest, I didn’t find a huge difference between Somerset and Smithy. Regardless, we will definitely be returning both for the food and the ambiance.
I had my mind set on trying a new restaurant today for lunch, which led us to 
The fries were prepared with white truffle butter, pesto and parmesan cheese. The side patio was the perfect place to enjoy the food while people and dog watching. This is understandably a popular spot on the weekends as it is steps from all of the watering holes that the Funk Zone offers, including two spots within the Waterline.
One of the first spots in the Funk Zone when it was more funk than trendy was 
I love the taste of truffles, so these potato chips were a big hit. They also had some fantastic looking gluten-free pastas that I couldn’t resist buying.
Look at these beauties! If you’ve been to Italy, you know that their attention to making great GF products is second to none. I’ve never been so excited to make pasta!
I had to run an errand downtown so I took the opportunity to try 
However, I got the impression that other than knowing there was this paper, he hadn’t been trained on how to avoid cross contamination. I took my chances and ordered a bowl with quinoa brown rice, tuna, albacore, salmon, pico de gallo, cucumber, corn, red onion, jalapeño, sprouts and their gluten-free vegan sushi sauce. Not even a hour after finishing, I started to feel sick and knew that I had inadvertently consumed gluten. I know that every time I eat out, I put myself at risk. But it had been so long since I had been glutened, that I had almost felt invincible. Lesson learned… I need to be more careful and trust my (now damaged) gut when it seems that a restaurant doesn’t have their act together.
Happy Celiac Awareness Month! Thanks to Gluten-Free in SB reader, Ellen, I got a tip that 
gluten-free in sb 