Tag Archives: vegan

Oliver’s

12 Apr

img_6847-2.jpgMonday was a record-breaking warm day, so the idea of having an al fresco dinner as the day cooled off sounded really appealing. We decided to try Oliver’s since their outside patio always looked so nice when we would drive by. The entirely vegan menu has gluten-free items noted, but I made sure to check about cross contamination as we ordered our food. I was excited to find out that they use GF tamari rather than soy sauce.

IMG_6849 2.JPGWe ordered three things from the sides menu which happened to come out first: The Kung Pao Broccolini, Long Beans and Shishito Peppers. My favorite of those three were the shishito peppers which were perfectly cooked.

IMG_6850 2.JPGWe also ordered the artichoke “crab cakes” from the small plates menu since they sounded unlike anything we had tried before.

IMG_6845 2.JPGThe hearts of palm closely resembled the consistency of crab. I especially enjoyed the corn and the spicy aioli. For our main dishes, we ordered the veggie burger and the pad thai. The gluten-free option for the veggie burger is for it to be served with lettuce to wrap the burger in. However, once we saw the dish, it was clear that we would be fork and knifing the burger instead of attempting to pick it up.

IMG_6852 2.JPGThe burger was good, but I might try something different next time to mix things up. The pad thai was a generous portion.

IMG_6854 2.JPGYou might think that after ordering (and eating) so much food, there is no way that we would order dessert. You would be wrong. Both of the desserts they offered that night were gluten-free, so we went with the one that sounded more interesting to us – an apple crisp topped with coconut ice cream.

IMG_6855 2.JPGAs this was made with oats, I made sure to confirm that the oats were certified gluten-free. Our overall experience at Oliver’s was really good – the staff was helpful, the outdoor patio was beautiful and the food and drinks were tasty. I’m already looking forward to returning to the patio to have another Johnny’s Alive cocktail and a small plate or two.

 

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Green Table

26 Sep

FullSizeRender 2.jpgI had been meaning to try Green Table in downtown Santa Barbara for some time now. The entire menu is organic, gluten-free and vegetarian with lots of vegan options for those who choose that lifestyle. I am quite indecisive, so I asked the employee helping me what their most popular lunch item tends to be. That led me to the Raw Veggie Wrap. It was a raw veggie burger with their house dressing, cucumber slices, avocado, arugula, shredded cabbage and goat gouda cheese all wrapped up in a coconut tortilla. When I first got the wrap, I thought that it looked like a lot of lettuce as filler, but I was pleasantly surprised as to how dense it was when I bit into it. I really enjoyed the goat gouda that I added to it as well. Not only does Green Table have a nice variety of made-to-order foods, they also have an extensive juice and matcha menu. Fans of the autumn favorite PSL will be happy to find a Pumpkin Spice Matcha Latte on the menu, prepared with freshly made almond milk. Now if only it would start feeling like fall around here…

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Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill

15 Jul

IMG_2144.JPGBraving the smoke in Goleta from the Whittier Fire, we decided to try Hollister Village’s newest restaurant, Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill. When I looked at their menu online before heading there, I found that they seek out organic, local ingredients which was very appealing to me. I ended up ordering the Sharky’s Quinoa Salad with tofu added on. This salad was uber healthy but filling at the same time. It had organic red and white quinoa, organic baby spinach, cabbage, jicama, cucumber, sweet peppers, green onions, cilantro, avocado and toasted flax and chia seeds. The dressing was an avocado vinaigrette. Online, they have a gluten-free menu guide which is very helpful, noting that the fryer is used for items that contain gluten.

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Dellz Uptown

1 Jun

Turkey GoddessI just got back from my first visit to Charleston, South Carolina where we attended a friend’s wedding. As we were there with a group a friends, we all rented a house together through airbnb. It was my first experience with airbnb but I loved it. If you need a recommendation for a house to rent, I have one for you! Close to the house we rented was a great spot called Dellz Uptown – a vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free friendly restaurant. Most of the food here has a Caribbean influence which was very appealing to me. I ordered the Turkey Goddess Wrap with a GF wrap and no sauce just to be safe. The wrap held together amazingly. This was definitely one of my favorite spots during our trip. I am still regretting that we didn’t make a return trip!

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Gló Restaurant

31 Aug

Coconut Curry SoupAfter a long morning of hiking to and from Thrihnukagigur Volcano (and descending into it), we were quite hungry when we got back to Reykjavik. Walking distance from our hotel was Gló Restaurant, a healthy restaurant that focuses on using organic ingredients. I started with the coconut curry soup. It was ridiculously delicious. They were very knowledgeable about gluten-free ingredients, giving me a GF cracker rather than the bread that usually accompanies the soup.

GF CrackerAfter the soup, I enjoyed their raw Italian pasta.

Raw Italian PastaThe noodles were made of julienned zucchini and the “meatballs” were made of chickpeas. Everything I had was very tasty.

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Petunia’s Pies & Pastries

7 Aug

Rose Test GardenThere are so many beautiful outdoor spaces in Portland. One day we walked to the Rose Test Garden which was massive compared to our Santa Barbara rose garden. Here, there were over 7,000 rose plants. After stopping to smell the roses, we continued to the Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese GardenKnown as the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan, this was also very beautiful. By now we had worked up an appetite so we walked back towards our hotel to think about our next meal. On the way, we just happened to walk by a completely gluten-free and vegan bakery called Petunia’s.

Petunia's BakeryThis place was amazing. After much deliberation, we decided on the Peanut Butter Crispy Bar.

Peanut Butter Crispy BarThis was like a peanut butter rice crispy treat…. how could that ever be bad? There were so many appealing looking things in the case. The bakery itself was really cute too, offering made-to-order coffee beverages and cocktails.

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Hip Vegan Cafe

17 Jul

Avocado WrapI know… it has been a looooong time since I have shared a new restaurant on here. There is something about summer that makes time fly by. Today, I had the day off, so we decided to go on the pretty drive to Ojai. There, we tried Hip Vegan Cafe. All gluten-free items are clearly labeled on their menu. Additionally, when I had questions, they were very aware of what was in each dish. I ordered the Avocado Wrap. This had avocado, lettuce, tomato and red onion wrapped in rice paper. I also had a choice of GF dipping sauces. I ended up getting the peanut sauce which was quite delicious. This came with soup or salad. I went with their special Indian Dahl soup of the day.

Indian Dahl SoupThis was incredibly flavorful. It might have been crazy to have soup since it was in the 90s, but I was glad I did.

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Adama – Santa Barbara’s First Entirely GF Restaurant!

28 Jan

Curried Onion RingsAs of last week, Santa Barbara got its first entirely gluten-free restaurant when Adama decided to revamp their menu. How great is it that we can eat out locally and know that we can order every single thing on the menu?! I decided to head over there for lunch the other day to try the new menu out. I started with the Curried Onion Rings which were unbelievably crispy and satisfying. I then had  the Twisted wrap.

TwistedThis had southern fried “chicken” strips that were wrapped in a rice tortilla with ranch, lettuce and tomatoes. Even though I was nervous about it, I liked the consistency of the “chicken” strips. For dessert, I had a chocolate chip cookie.

Chocolate Chip CookieLooking for the perfect excuse to try out the new menu at Adama? Come join Gluten-Free Santa Barbara on Tuesday, February 5th at 6:00 PM at Adama for our winter meet-up. If tasty libations, yummy food and gluten-free people aren’t enough of a reason to come (what is wrong with you?!), then I have another reason… Celiac Dietician Melinda Dennis will be there to offer information and guidance. RSVP on the Gluten-Free Santa Barbara Facebook page or send me an email at glutenfreeinsb@gmail.com.

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Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Option

23 Oct

I just got the following message from Marsha, the manager of Adama:

Hi,

I am the manager of a vegan restaurant in Santa Barbara. I want to let you know that we have a completely gluten-free bakery as well as a number of gluten-free entrees on our menu. As well, we will be doing a vegan, gluten-free Thanksgiving meal. How can I pass this information on to your gluten-free community.

Thank you,

Marsha

Happy sans-turkey day!

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Pizza By The Slice!

9 May

Is that a beautiful sign or what? Behold, the first restaurant in Santa Barbara to offer gluten-free pizza by the slice. Adama, which already had a gluten-free menu, now has gluten-free pizza and a bakery that is almost entirely GF. Last night, we shared an order of the Fritto Misto to start. It was just as good as the last time we had it. We also got a slice of the GF pizza just to try it.

The bread was good, but there was only a tiny bit that served as an outer crust. That edge was nice and crunchy, but this was definitely a fork and knife pizza as it was softer under all of the tasty toppings. I then ordered the special… falafel with their GF ciabatta bread.

I am not sure if I have ever had falafel but it was really good. The outside was nice and crispy. The bread was really good now that I could taste it a bit better. It was served with a GF tabbouleh that was made from millet. Then came the fun part… dessert. All of the desserts in the case were gluten-free other than the oatmeal raisin cookies (the oats they use are not GF-certified). We went with the apple pie served with soy vanilla ice cream and a peanut butter cookie.

They warmed up the pie which was a nice touch. There is just something about warm apple pie that makes everything right in the world. The peanut butter cookie had a good taste but the consistency was a bit off.

It is just really exciting for a local restaurant to continue pushing themselves to give us GF peeps more and more options when dining out!

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