One of my favorite things about Four Seasons is their gluten-free friendly breakfast. The Four Seasons in Chicago was no exception. With items like GF Nutella Hotcakes and GF cereal on the menu, I knew I would be fine. I ended up getting the GF blueberry muffin which had plump and juicy blueberries. Along with my scrambled eggs, I also had gluten-free toast.
Our waitress assured me that they had a dedicated gluten-free toaster to prevent cross contamination!
The restaurant that was top on my list to try during our trip to Chitown was Frontera Grill. We love our Rick Bayless cookbook and the only salsa that we ever buy is the Frontera Chipotle Salsa. Our waiter was very good about running back to the kitchen to check if things were GF for me or not. I started with the Grill Roasted Corn with serrano mayo, cilantro and homemade fresh cheese. Holy ridiculousness. This was unbelievable. I then had the Brothy Corn Esquites.
This had sweet corn, pozole corn, rich corn broth, cilantro mayo, anejo cheese and guajillo powder. After giving this a good mix, the flavors blended nicely. We order some guacamole for the table. The chips were not GF, so I just had some with fresh corn tortillas. For my main dish, I had smoked chicken queso fundido tacos which were served with fresh corn tortillas.
The smokiness flavor from the chicken was fantastic. This would have been plenty but we also ordered some side dishes. We got the Grilled Green Beans which had to be prepared without the garlic due to cross contamination.
Without the garlic, there wasn’t as much flavor. I think it would have been better to try ordering something that didn’t need alterations. We also a side of black beans with fresh cheese.
One last note… if you are of age, and it is still on the menu, order the Summer Margarita. You are welcome.
Some Celiacs may see a sign like that and run the other way. I did the opposite. I asked a bunch of questions. I found that Hannah’s Bretzel in Chicago did a great job of preventing cross contamination when making my GF sandwich. A chosen staff member went to put on a different color of gloves, and then went to a separate area where the GF baguettes were individually wrapped. He then used a special knife kept in that area that had been wrapped up when not in use. The end product was Hannah’s Club on a gluten-free baguette.
This “Über Sandwich” had organic smoked turkey, bacon, gruyère, avocado, vine tomatoes, red onions and romaine hearts. It was quite good. I know that every time I eat out I am making the decision to put myself at risk of being gluten-ed. My experience at this particular spot was great though and I appreciated their sign to show that they were educated on what gluten-free truly means.
When we sat down to eat at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba in Chicago, I was given a gluten-free menu. It turns out that this restaurant is part of the Lettuce Entertain You Restaurant Group, just like Mity Nice. Is this a gluten-free friendly company or what? I started with the Summer Market Vegetable Salad.
I loved that there were beets in this salad. It was lightly dressed with lemon and olive oil. I then had the fried green peppers and coarse salt.
Our waiter assured me that these were made in a pan to avoid cross contamination in their typical frying oil. The last thing I ordered was the shrimp with garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes.
I loved the fact that there was so much garlic and oil in this dish. I made sure to put it all to good use with the gluten-free bread that I was given!
Get a good look at that deliciousness. When I hear “Chicago”, I think deep dish pizza. Then I remember that as a Celiac, it is unlikely that I will get a taste of that goodness. We visited Lou Malnati’s while in Chicago, and saw that they have a gluten-free option! Instead of a flour based crust, they use sausage! I really enjoyed the bulk of the pizza with the thin layer of sausage and then heaps of cheese and sauce. The edges were a little too much for me though with tons of sausage.
The first night we were there, we dined at Riccardo Trattoria with my cousin and her soon-to-be husband. The brother of the owner used to own a restaurant in NYC that we always went to, so we were excited to try this place. I called ahead of time to let the know that I was coming and to ensure that they would have GF pasta on hand. We all shared a couple of dishes to start. The first was the Fava Beans with black truffles and Tuscan pecorino cheese. We then had the Eggplant and Zucchini Timbale au gratin Parmigiana.
After our waiter assured me that there were no breadcrumbs in the preparation of this dish, I dug in. I am such a sucker for dishes that are gooey and cheesy. I then had the arugula salad which was prepared with artichokes and shaved Parmesan.
This was simple and light with a lemon vinaigrette. For my main dish, I had their special pasta dish which had lobster meat in a spicy tomato based sauce.
The flavor on this dish was so wonderful. Our first dinner in Chicago was a success!
For the past few days, my husband and I were visiting family and friends in Chicago and exploring all that the city had to offer. I was so excited by all of the great GF options that we came across. Our first meal there was at a restaurant called Mity Nice. It was located in Water Tower Place alongside the most amazing looking “food court” as another option for dining. The food court was known as foodlife and had different stations that clearly labeled “G” for the GF items. As soon as I started explaining my needs to our waiter at Mity Nice, he brought me over a GF menu. He then brought us a basket of their bread which happened to be GF. In this basket were the tastiest popovers still warm from the oven. Seriously… how can we get these popovers to Santa Barbara ASAP?! I ended up ordering the grilled chicken sandwich which came with lettuce, tomato and a chipotle mayo.
Served on a GF bun, this chicken sandwich was quite satisfying. Our whole experience at Mity Nice was really great.
gluten-free in sb 