Tag Archives: travel

Besaw’s

6 Aug

rosemary-garlic roasted potatoes

We just got back from spending a few days in Portland, Oregon to celebrate my birthday and our wedding anniversary. Holy gluten-free awesomeness. I think Portland is my new favorite place. One morning, we decided to try a place called Besaw’s for breakfast. We shared an order of the rosemary-garlic roasted potatoes with melted gruyere. These were fantastic. I then ordered the gluten-free french toast, because why on earth would I order something else when that was on the menu?

GF French ToastThis was pretty tasty too. They use a bread called Jensen’s which was perfect consistency for the french toast.

Tags: , , , , ,

Tre Piani

19 Jun

Penne with Tomato SauceThis past weekend, I was in New Jersey for a family wedding. The night before the wedding, they had a dinner at Tre Piani in Princeton, New Jersey. Lucky for me (and my celiac brother), they had gluten-free pasta available. I ordered the GF penne with basil, garlic and mozzarella. Even luckier for me, I sat next to my brother so I could eat his dish which was tastier than mine.

Penne with Spinach and Goat CheeseHe had ordered the GF penne with spinach and goat cheese. This had a lot more flavor than my dish. It is always nice to have GF options when out of town!

Tags: , , , ,

Blue Ridge Grill

17 Apr

Escarole SaladOne of the dinners we had in Atlanta was at Blue Ridge Grill. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a gluten-free menu upon sitting down. I started with their Escarole Salad. This had spiced walnuts, local apple and a poppy seed vinaigrette. The salad was very unique, yet tasty. For my main dish, I had the Dayboat Sea Scallops with red peas and rice and a mustard vinaigrette.

Sea ScallopsThe scallops were very hearty paired with the peas and rice. In addition to our main courses, my Celiac brother and I split the brussel sprouts with pancetta and the sauteed spinach. We both really enjoyed the sides as they were flavorful and fresh.

Tags: , , , , ,

Pure Taqueria

16 Apr

Shrimp TacosWhile in Atlanta, we found a Mexican restaurant with a gluten-free menu. We found our waitress at Pure Taqueria was very informed as to what we could and could not have. When she brought chips to our table, I asked about how they were fried. She knew that we could not have them as the oil was contaminated. She then offered to bring out some GF chips for a small charge. I thought that it was pretty awesome that they had the option of GF chips. I ordered their shrimp tacos with the shrimp grilled rather than fried. These had poblano slaw, chipotle mayo and cruda tomatillo salsa and were served on corn tortillas. In Santa Barbara, we have no shortage of Mexican restaurants. However, it would be great to have at least one that is this proactive in knowing about the gluten-free diet!

Tags: , , , , ,

Radial Cafe

13 Apr

GF PancakeOne morning in Atlanta, we tried Radial Cafe for breakfast. Our waiter’s grandmother also had Celiac, so he was very well informed. I ordered the gluten free pancakes, which he assured me they prepared on a designated GF surface with clean utensils. These were ridiculously good. They consisted of quinoa, corn, tapioca, buckwheat flours and ground flax. There was some cinnamon in them as well. The short stack was plenty as the pancakes were huge. He also recommended a very GF friendly spot to us in Atlanta called Urban Pl8, which we didn’t get a chance to visit, but sounded as if they would take care of Celiacs.

Tags: , , , , ,

Yeah! Burger

11 Apr

GF BurgerThis past weekend, I was in Atlanta for the Final Four. After being sick and eating chicken broth for way too long, I was craving a burger. Luckily, we found Yeah! Burger, which was the most fantastic place for my Celiac brother and me. The first thing I ordered was a grass-fed beef burger. On it, I had cheddar cheese, bibb lettuce, plum tomato, grilled onions and their Yeah! Sauce which was chipotle based. It was served on Pure Knead gluten-free bun. This was unbelievably good. It was so good that a couple days later, we visited their other location where I got another one of these. The bun held up really well and everything just had so much flavor. I also ordered a chili cheese dog on a gluten-free bun.

GF HotdogAs I ate this, I had flashbacks of my pre-celiac days eating at The Hot Grill in Clifton, NJ. It was incredibly satisfying. As I was so excited to eat normal food again, I also ordered their Fifty-Fifty which was half french fries and half onion rings. These were made in a separate, dedicated fryer to avoid any cross contamination.

Fifty-FiftyEverything I had here was really good. I found that the staff was very knowledgeable about their gluten-free offerings. I almost wish we hadn’t gone here, as I have been unable to get rid of my craving for Yeah! Burger since I had it.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Cat Cora’s Gourmet Market – Salt Lake City Airport

23 Dec

Blossom Crumb CakeWe had a couple of hours at Salt Lake City Airport before our flight, so we took a walk to see what kind of food they had. After a few minutes, we found Cat Cora’s Gourmet Market. There were lots of gluten-free items available there for purchase. One particular item that caught my eye was this cherry cream cheese coffee cake. I found it hard to finish the whole thing but it was quite good.

Tags: , , , , ,

Park City Pizza Co.

23 Dec

Park City Pizza
One of most gluten-free friendly places we found in Utah was Park City Pizza. On their gluten-free menu, they have the following paragraph:

We feel for you, we really do… we know how hard it is to find yummy GF food! Our resident celiac and owner Jeff lives this way, our manager Alyssa has major gluten intolerance! We also know how scary it can be to eat out and not know whether or not you are being poisoned (a little dramatic but you get the picture). That is why we had our kitchen certified by the gluten free institute and our co-workers trained to do the very best we can to ensure your food won’t make you sick! We hope you enjoy (and tell all your wheat-free friends!)

I just love how aware the restaurants here are about cross contamination! We ordered a cheese pizza.

Cheese PizzaThis was a good basic cheese pizza. We also ordered the baked ziti since that used to be my go-to order back in the gluten eating days.

Baked ZitiIt was warm and gooey which was fantastic after a cold day of skiing. AND… it came with garlic bread!

Garlic Bread

Tags: , , , , , ,

501 on Main

19 Dec

Utah Sweet Onion SliversAfter working up an appetite on Park City’s Alpine Coaster, we decided to head to Main Street in Park City for some window shopping and lunch. A sign caught my eye in the window of 501 on Main that said they had worked with the “Gluten-Free Institute Restaurant Certification Program“. When talking to our waiter, he showed me all of the things that were on that menu that were gluten-free. We started with the Utah Sweet Onion Slivers. These sweet onions were hand-battered with rice flour and then fried in a dedicated gluten-free fryer. They were served with a medium spiced chipotle dipping sauce that was unreal. Seriously. I could have had 5 orders of these onions with the sauce. I then had the turkey melt on gluten-free bread.

Turkey MeltThis had house smoked turkey, swiss and cheddar cheese, tomato and garlic aioli on Udi’s gluten-free bread. It was served with french fries that were fried in their dedicated fryer. This was quite good. As a note, my husband, who has had his share of veggie burgers in his life, stated that the black bean chipotle burger there was the best veggie burger he has ever had by far.

Tags: , , , , ,

Sammy’s at LAX

19 Dec

GF Symbol on MenuWe just got back from a trip to Utah for some skiing. On our way there, we had a three-hour layover at LAX (Come on SBA… how about a direct flight to SLC?!) We stumbled upon Sammy’s in Terminal 4 and noticed that the menu had gluten-free and vegetarian items clearly labeled. When we sat down, they gave us a different menu than the one that was displayed. This new menu had less options but I still had a couple of choices. We ordered the edamame to start.

EdamameFor my main dish, I had the Greek Salad with grilled chicken on top.

Greek SaladThis was certainly a step above typical airport fare. I usually don’t like to complain, especially on here, but they need to work out some kinks still with timing. My husband got his pizza after about 10 minutes. I didn’t get the edamame or salad for about 30 minutes. When I did finally get the salad, it had no dressing on it even though we had confirmed it was GF. So, if you have a tight connection, this may not be the spot for you. But if you have time to spare, you have a GF friendly spot in terminal 4!

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →