Tag Archives: santa barbara

Natural Cafe – Goleta

25 Oct

 

After stopping at Alpha Thrift Store in Goleta to pick up items for our Halloween costumes, my husband and I decided to go to Natural Cafe which we have always liked. We started with the hummus appetizer with the pita placed on a separate plate. For some reason, the hummus tasted a little like tuna fish to both of us which was a turn off. We have had it downtown before and enjoyed it, so maybe it was this particular batch. I ordered the Natural Caesar Salad without the croutons (I forgot to take a picture). It was really tasty. A quick note though… the tahini dressing which I used to eat years ago apparently has soy sauce in it so avoid this dressing if you are going the salad route.

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Olio Pizzeria

21 Oct

Tonight we went to Olio Pizzeria to try the gluten-free pizza. We started with the Calabrese-style olives which were very spicy. I then had the Favorite Salad which was good. It was a pretty large portion for a starter salad so I would share it in the future. Then, my husband and I shared two gluten-free pizzas.

The Umbra pizza had robiola cheese, crimini mushrooms and umbrian black truffles. I am not a fan of mushrooms, so I just pushed them off, but the truffle taste was fantastic.

The Margherita Pizza had fresh bufala mozzerella, san marzano tomatoes, parmesan, basil and e.v.o.o. My only complaint about this pizza was that the cheese wasn’t melted enough as shown in the picture above. I would also prefer more cheese coverage on my pizza. As far as the crusts themselves, I found that they were good. The bottom was firm enough to hold the toppings. The edge was crispy and had a nice flavor. I asked the waiter where they get the crusts from, and he told us that they were supplied through Sysco. Overall, the individual ingredients in these pizzas were far superior to the other pizzas in Santa Barbara that I have tried thus far, but it comes at a price.

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Just a little picture to make you drool

21 Oct

Where can I get this delicious sandwich you are wondering? Savoy…. big surprise there. This is the Gaviota Sandwich which includes garlic-rosemary chicken breast, tomato, provolone, Savoy greens and dijon on the toasted gluten-free bread.

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Olio e Limone

18 Oct

I was craving some carbs tonight so we went to Olio e Limone. The starter I ordered was on the specials menu (it has been on the specials menu every time I have eaten there), and I understand why. It is just so darn tasty. It consists of Burrata Cheese, Tomato, Eggplant, Red Peppers, Greens, Olive Oil and Balsamic. When I ordered, I had asked the waiter if they GF pasta available. He told me they have spaghetti and a noodle similar to penne on hand. Gluten-free pasta choices? Nice. I went with the Rustichelle d’Abruzzo all’Amatriciana which is pasta with pancetta, onions and a spicy tomato sauce.

It was so delicious. I wish I could eat those onions everyday for the rest of my life. I prefer my sauce a little spicier, so the waiter brought out the hot oil they use next door at their pizzeria. I started talking to the waiter about gluten-free pizza offered at the Olio Pizzeria next door. He said that they had been getting a lot of interest and that they were working on it. He thought it would be sooner than later. Just moments later when he returned with the check, he said, “Guess what? I was in the kitchen and saw a pizza that looked a little different. It turns out they have the gluten-free crust now!” I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear this news. I started grilling him about how they handle the crust, and he assured me that they use a thin baking sheet to keep it off the same oven as the regular pizza and they use a different cutter as well. So there you have it… it has finally happened as of this week! Olio Pizzeria now has pizza available for us GF food connoisseurs!

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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!

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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.

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