Whenever I see gluten-free bread listed on a menu, I am always skeptical. More often than not, it is prepared with no consideration to the people that actually will get ill if they consume gluten. So when I visited Little Kitchen in downtown Santa Barbara, I was pleasantly surprised. Upon asking the owner how they prepare the sandwiches with gluten-free bread, she asked if I was celiac and then explained that her good friend is as well. She then assured me that my sandwich would be prepared in a clean pan rather then the usual flat top. Additionally, she proactively walked over to the chef making the food to have him change his gloves and clean the work space. I ordered the Vineyard Chicken Sandwich with chips (the fries are made in a contaminated fryer). It had organic chicken with a balsamic glaze, goat cheese, caramelized onions, butter lettuce, tomato and rosemary garlic aioli served on BFree’s GF Brown Seeded Sandwich Bread. I had never had this GF bread before but found that it had a really good consistency and taste. The restaurant itself has a super cool decor. It is located right next to the Kitty which seems perfect as they also offer up a very appealing late night menu. I can’t wait to go back to try their grilled cheese (hello Sriracha mayo)!
Miso Hungry
6 Nov
One of the great things about the Axxess Card is that it gets you to try new restaurants out. Japanese cuisine is always scary to try as a Celiac due to the risk of cross contamination, but I was so pleasantly surprised with my experience at Miso Hungry. I spoke with the gentleman behind the counter and learned that of all of their sauces, only the Teriyaki, Ponzu and Japanese Curry are not gluten-free. They use gluten-free tamari for their salad dressings (just avoid the Ponzu dressing). He also was sure to put on new gloves to be safe. I got so excited that I decided to order two items. First, I had the blackened salmon salad. This was dressed with their orange vinaigrette. The guy helping me encouraged additional sauces on top so I gave him free reign as long as they were gluten-free. I also had their spicy tuna sushi wrap.
These are about the size of a burrito. You have the choice of having it wrapped in nori or rice paper. I loved this as their spicy aioli gave it a kick. When I was getting my water, I saw a great Iced Tea Bar around the corner. I will definitely take advantage of this the next time I go!
Jane
7 Mar
I have been meaning to try Jane for quite some time since it just looks appealing from the outside. We started our meal by sharing the grilled pasilla chiles with swiss cheese, fresh cilantro and a tomato vinaigrette. This was very good. I just love the taste of pasilla chiles. For my main dish, I had the Gorgonzola Salad Bowl without the gorgonzola.
This had grilled chicken breast, avocado, bacon, tomato, chopped romaine and a red wine vinaigrette. The chicken was still warm from the grill and the ingredients just tasted very fresh. We weren’t planning on getting dessert, but then we saw the Jane Sundae on the menu. It consisted of soft serve vanilla ice cream, caramel, homemade toffee and whipped cream. After the waitress confirmed that all of the ingredients were ok for me, we dove in.
If they sold that toffee, I would buy it by the ton… seriously. It was that good.
Don’t forget to stop by at Whole Foods Market tomorrow night for the big event!
Panino Montecito
26 Jan
It is really warm out today (I am not complaining) so I wanted something light for lunch. I picked up the Chicken Salad Salad from Panino in Montecito. This was incredibly tasty and filling. If you ever go wine tasting up near Los Olivos, they have a location up there that is the perfect place to get salads to go and have a picnic on one of the winery properties! (And for your gluten-eating friends and family, they have great sandwiches to choose from too. Now if only we could get them to carry GF bread…)
gluten-free in sb 