who gets to go out to eat (safely)

Yesterday's food section included "With more patrons with food allergies, restaurants cater to every need". I was excited to hear about chefs taking food allergies and sensitivities seriously. I was grateful for the inclusion of a famous chef being denied service because of his son's food allergies. This is stuff we deal with all the time.

But I was still left with a bad taste in my mouth. It is clear that even with the 2009 passing of Bill S.2701, there aren't universal standards for how to "handle" food allergies in restaurant kitchens. Don't get me wrong, things are a lot better. Awareness has significantly increased. But this article points to the fact that not all of these chefs, and their kitchen and front-of-house staffs, are doing the same thing. Some are using separate preparation surfaces, some aren't.

The other elephant in this article is that only high-end restaurants were profiled. This begs the question of who can afford a safe meal? I understand the allure of profiling high-end chefs and famous restaurants. It makes sense; it drives readership; I get it. I am really excited that a chef at Clio has Celiac Disease. I wish I could check out what she is offering, but it is just not financially feasible. And I am ok with that. I am not saying the because I have Celiac Disease I should be able to eat at Clio. What I think we need to talk more about it what does it really cost to prepare a meal safely for those with food allergies/sensitivities?

Those of us saddled with the task of trying to find safe food know that you don't go out to eat to a new place for the first time on a weekend. You don't go the night of a menu change. You don't go on a Monday when most chefs have their day off. You don't go to a new place during a lunch or dinner rush. You do ask a lot of questions. You do leave if you don't feel comfortable. And you do tip very well if the staff works as a team to get it right.

These are not "tips" they are essentials for not being poisoned.

I don't think you can talk about allergy awareness without highlighting all of the invisible work* that goes into getting it right. This article talks about some of this work from the chef's side, but ignores the diners experience, except for the person who asked for a gluten-free meal and then eats a conventional dinner roll.

For a second can we please just imagine that I am going out for dinner and my friend orders a gluten-free meal with me, so we can share (because I have the most awesome friends) and she still eats from the glutenrific bread basket. There are lots of different types of food negotiations happening. Granted, there are those who are selectively choosing when and when not to eat gluten, but that doesn't mean it is ok to be dismissive. How we eat, who we eat with, and sharing food is really complicated.

It is really complicated. And it is more complicated than the Globe piece points out. Nonetheless I am grateful to hear about more places taking things more seriously and offering more options. I am still hoping for more.

*I am invoking/borrowing Marjorie Devault's ideas here because food allergies make visible so much surrounding food safety, preparation, and knowledge acquisition required to get it right. 

Daly Dogs - worth the drive

I couldn't believe it was true. Fried dough. Real, gluten free fried dough. Those words are like a unicorn, a mythical beast not to be found, only to be spoken of with yearning. Hold on friends, gluten free fried dough can be yours and it shall be delicious.

Daly Dogs, in Haverhill, MA does it and does it right.

I didn't expect to order a sandwich, but the Ruben was awesome. Overstuffed and messy, on buttered toasted bread - it was nearly perfect. The pizza is Sicilian style with a surprisingly sweet sauce - if I got it again I would cover it in chili flakes to help balance it out. The fried dough is really why I showed up. The texture isn't an exact replica of the gluteny kind, but there is a fantastic crunch and softer interior. The generous amount of cinnamon and sugar help to bring me back to summers on Hampton Beach.

The menu is about half gluten-free, half gluten-filled but the staff is really knowledgeable. The family that owns the restaurant also runs a small detached gluten-free store. They also have ice cream... which I foolishly did not leave enough room for. Who is up for a second trip road trip?

satay you stay - very best Thai food

I was always fond of Thai cuisine. Sweet, spicy, sweet, tangy, what's there not to love? Since 2007 I have really ramped up my appreciation and consumption. I think I have unintentionally sought it out almost everywhere I have traveled.

Bloomington, Indiana - Esan Thai (best northnern Thai I have ever had)
Chicago, Illinois - Pho's Hot & Spicy Thai Cuisine (best green papaya salad I have ever had)
London, UK - Manorom Too Thai Restaurant (really knowledgeable staff that double checked everything)
Cambridge, MA - Pepper Sky (always a slam dunk, eat in or take out)
Smile Thai closed in Cambridge, which broke my heart. They actually brewed their own gluten-free soy sauce.
Boston, MA - Chili Duck

See what I am saying? And there are just my greatest hits.

It takes a lot for a place to nudge on my list. It takes even more for me to be surprised. Well Krua Thai blew my expectations out of the water. It is a tiny spot that would be easy to miss because there is a giant service bridge overshadowing this small 10 table restaurant. Photos of food don the walls, but don't let you think there is anything cliched about this find. Dishes are made to order, and before I could even snap pictures half of our meal was devoured. We expected greasy, overcooked pad thai, but could not be more wrong. The server was incredibly well versed in the entire menu and understood allergens and double checked ingredients. I don't have anything bad to say - nothing. The food was fresh, interesting, well prepared. I am not even a fan of eggplant and truly could not stop eating the basil eggplant special we ordered. The satay was truly the best I have ever had... and I sure do enjoy me some meat on a stick.

I didn't realize how much I liked this place until I was plotting how or why I needed to be back near Buzzards Bay just to get a chance to eat here again. 

When a restaurant gets it wrong

I tweeted about Jamie Oliver's Restaurant getting fined, and it sparked some interested discussions. Stories about getting glutened at restaurants poured out. What was most fascinating was the stories about the secondary effects of ingesting unwanted gluten. What happens after the initial pain/problems subside and what people have to cope with, sometimes for months. 

The last time I received unwanted gluten at a restaurant I was throwing up for a day, but had to manage dizzy spells, exhaustion, bloating to the point of not being able to button my pants, and brain fog and food regurgitation for two weeks. This is no where near as severe as the woman in England who was unable to receive life-saving organ transplants because of Oliver's staff members mistake, but it is an extreme example that when a restaurant gets it wrong, it is not just the initial response, there are significant lasting effects.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that $12,000 isn't enough. A chef with as much media presence (and money) as Oliver needs to do more. He needs to publicly apologize and implement a system where this will never happen again in any of his restaurants.

Even if he did do all of that, and make a donation towards celiac research, I am still not sure I would ever dine in one of his restaurants. Is it possible to forgive and trust a restaurant/chef again? I mean that in all seriousness. I haven't been able to go back to any restaurant that has gotten it wrong, it is too much of a transgression .. but maybe you have.

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living the dream

I did it. I finally had my dream meal.

For over 4 years I have been pining, experimenting, tasting (sometimes wanting to spit said taste out), tinkering, hemming and hawing, all over pizza.

Last week I went to Risotteria restaurant.

You need to look past the late 90s geo-cities themed website. You must prepare yourself for dining in a sardine can. It helps to have friends who know how awesome a gluten-free restaurant is and who offer up their order to you, so you get to try more things. You should walk around and work up an appetite... because you will need it.

Gluten free bread sticks arrive at the table and the glutenmouths eat them up and go for seconds. A very solid sign and the first time in 5 years I HAD a bread stick! (They had a little bit of gummy-ness in the middle, the only real tell that they aren't the real thing.)

Gluten free beers - check
Surprising wine list - check
Knowledgable servers - check
Solid vegetarian options - check
Menu full of things you can eat - check

I ignored most of the options because I had come for the pizza. The generous friends, noted above, allowed me to sample several types - we got two that were thin crust, one Scicilian. Honestly, skip the thick crust it really didn't work and tasted like a gf knock-off. The thin crust however - actually tasted better than the gluten option one fellow dinner ordered. Everyone noted that the gluten pizza (which is made off site, and shipped in) wasn't nearly as crisp or flavorful.

At the end of the meal my face actually hurt from smiling. I never thought I would get to have New York-style pizza again. Not only did I, it was truly the best pizza I have ever tasted!

I cannot wait for another reason to visit New York!!!!!

(The desserts were nothing to write home about. They weren't bad, they just weren't great. Save room for another slice of pizza.)

naked pizza

There are few things I miss more than pizza and beer. Yes, there are a lot more gluten-free beers out there, and more places than ever are offering gluten-free pizza crust options... but let's face it, most of them suck. Gluten-free beers are bad. They either have a sour finish and/or taste way too sweet; and they all are missing true hoppy-ness. The carbonation is lacking, and they just don't taste like BEER. Gluten-free pizza crusts have their own host of problems, both taste and texture related. Please don't even get me started on ones filled with soy or chickpea flour - mehhck flavor and lead to tummy bubble city.

This leaves me on my important mission of trying and reporting back on any and all pizza and beer options. Yes, it is a difficult task, but someone needs to do it.

I first heard about Naked Pizza from a friend living in New Orleans. He mentioned that all locations have gluten free crusts, but these were sight unseen. When I heard they opened up a branch in Brookline, MA, I knew what I had to do.

I was a bit surprised when I walked in. The shop is very small, only 2 tables and a few counter seats. The menu is cute and quirky; imagine if your android phone made 2-d, minimalist icons for toppings. The decor is a combination of silver and GREEN. The place clearly is not designed for people to linger, but there is a large tv playing little videos about how the pizza's are made, where the ingredients come from, etc. Staff were super friendly and knowledgeable... but you are reading cause you want to know about the pies!

 This is probably the best restaurant gluten-free pizza I have had. This beats out every gluten-free frozen pizza too. I still think my homemade version is better, but not by much. The crust is thin, crisp, but not cracker-like. It is substantial enough to hold up to toppings and cheese without disintegrating. Oh and it doesn't taste like cardboard! It actually tastes pretty great, but the flavor does not outshine the toppings - and the cheese is worth a shout out. It is some of the best mozzarella I have had on a pizza. Guys, this pizza was so good, after it was devoured, I ordered a second one.

This is the look of surprise and shock at such a great crust. (Or I have been hypnotized by the neon green walls.)

 Yay for pizza!!!

Dam good eats - Amsterdam Falafel

I have a thing for most things deep fried. Honestly, there are few items that I would refuse once they have taken a hot bubble bath in oil. (The list is short, if it contains fenugreek, juniper, pine nuts, canned water chestnuts, forget it.)

A lot of falafel is cut with bulgar - a type of cracked wheat - which saddens me. So when I was directed to Amsterdam Falafel  in Adams Morgan, I was skeptical. I was at first stupefied by their toppings bar. There were over 5 hot sauces, and 20 or so other pickles, salads, and sauces. The staff were able to quickly recite ingredients and once the balls were deemed gf, I was off to the races. At a place that only offers falafel and french fries, you order fries.

I topped my order of 3 golden orbs with pickled beets, tahini, hot sauce, one of three of the cucumber salads, cold chickpea salad and pickles. They do not have forks, but they do offer a device that looks like a split popsicle stick - with the end sharpened into two points, great for scooping and stabbing falafel balls into falafel pops. Genius. The balls were perfectly crisp and flavorful and the toppings were great compliments, none tried to steal the show.  The fries were ok, not great, but the offerings of ketchup, Dutch mayo, and garlic cream came to their aid.  

Oh yeah, there is an "Amsterdam theme" to the small, restaurant. There are no plates, everything is served in cone-shaped paper wrappers that easily sit on the tables with 3" holes gauged out of the top. The sign dons an XXX in the logo and there are posters and images - including a painting of a topless woman that greets eaters as you walk in. If a topless woman can be subtle, this one is, I honestly didn't notice her till after I was half done my meal.


I will most certainly dine here again, and maybe scope out more of the decor.

Modern Times Coffeehouse @ Politics and Prose

I am currently noming the quinoa salad at Modern Times Coffeehouse located inside Politics and Prose. It is the best quinoa I have ever had. Carrots, cashews, sun-dried tomatoes and lightly dressed with balsamic and oil; it rules! Yes Rena and Sarah, better than Passover 2008 quinoa, that good.

Shagga Coffee - relearning how to go out to eat

Originally written in September
College town and coffee shops are usually rather synonymous, not so in College Park. There are a few of those round, green signed shops, but with a campus of 40,000+ I assumed that there would be at least one independent coffee place on or near campus. No dice.

The closest is Shagga Coffee & Restaurant on Route 1.

The coffee is good; probably the best I have had in Maryland thus far. The atmosphere is extremely laid back (read: no one kicked me out while I sat there for 4 hours reading) and the food, the food blew me away. I have never had Ethiopian food before (yes there are two places in Boston, and no, I was never adventurous enough to dare). But the prevalence of Ethiopian food - you can find injera bread at some gas stations - coupled with the lack of coffee shops and places to read for hours, won me over.

A lengthy discussion about bread - mainly the fact that there isn't a place in the D.C. area that makes a teff-only injera (teff is the grain that injera is typically made from, its a thin, crepe-like bread that is made from fermented teff flour). Acknowledging that all the bread was cut with wheat flour, the kind staff woman informed me that I could just order food and it would come not on the bread, but on a plate and she would bring utensil for me to be able to eat with. (Ethiopian food is usually eaten with the injera bread as the plate and utensil).

So here is where I feel like its important to note that a lot of my first-diagnosed-with-celiac-disease-panic came back. Moving to a new place, I didn't have any safe foods or safe places to eat. I got nervous a lot. There is not a lot of Thai food, nor Mexican restaurants. I felt like my go-to safety net of dining out options were gone. I got neverous at the idea of going out to eat. Would it be safe? Would I be able to explain what gluten is? Would I just give up and not eat and just get coffee or tea?

I say this because as I type it I know it sounds childish, but I truly got physically uncomfortable about many steps of the process. My hands sometime shook; my underarms sweat. I was almost in disbelief that it was happening. I AM ALMOST 30 YEARS OLD AND I AM AFRAID OF ORDERING LUNCH?!
It sounds nuts, but its very true. I felt like I was regressing back to the days where I would rather be hungry, deal with the pain that I knew, rather than risk the pain of being sick.

Transitioning to a new place is hard and it made me very aware of how careless or risky my dining habits had become. I became comfortable in Boston and didn't self-identify every time I went out to eat. I didn't want to; I still don't want to. I just want to be able to get food. I don't want to be "that person" who "makes a big deal" about ordering. Even though I know its not true, I KNOW that I am not being "finicky" it still feels that way. I miss being able to mindlessly order and eat food. And sometimes I get mad at old me for not taking advantage of it.

In other ways I recognize that I am a lot more aware of certain sensory experiences. I smell things much differently than ever before. If I cannot eat it, I usually smell it, and not a casual huff, no I am talking about a good, long inhalation and then I go back for a follow-up. I smell with a purpose, with the intention of knowing what something might taste like. Its weird, and I don't do it in front of everyone, but if we have gone out to a bar, there is a good chance I consider you a friend if I ask to smell your beer.

I miss beer.

Injera bread reminds me of beer, because its fermented and has a sourdough/beer smell to it. But I order the vegetarian tasting dish sans bread at Shagga Coffee and had a feast. It was far too much food, there were 11 different small dishes, and it took me over 1.5 hours to finish, but I did. There were 4 different lentil dishes, all with very different flavors and textures - there was a light tan, creamy lentil mash with crisp jalapenos throughout that was sour, spicy, addictive  and delicious. The meal reminded me a lot of the small dishes that come out before the main dishes at Korean restaurants - many little portions of spicy and cooling dishes. The collards were some of the most delicious greens I have ever eaten.

Its going to take a while to not get lost every time I leave the house, to explore beyond the 1/4 mile strip of dining options around College Park and take full advantage of D.C., but I am really exited to have found good coffee and new-to-me-food to try.

Seafood, news and more news

I have been a bit absent here. A bunch of things have happened and are happening.
1. I hurt my foot and thus have not been cooking anything delicious or noteworthy.
2. I am packing, slowly and with a hobble.
3. I am moving.
4. I am pretty grateful that I made faux lara bars a few months ago. They will sustain the trip.

I just got off the crutches and felt it important to celebrate with something fried, so yesterday I took a trip out to Essex, MA to Woodman's. Touting a nearly completely gluten-free menu, I purposely skipped breakfast to ready myself. Ordering up the Down River Combo, I was pleasantly surprised at the kitchen staff offering to enter the meal as "gluten-free" in their system and keeping it separate from the other food. It arrive just a few minutes later, hot, crispy and delicious. It was way too much food, even for two people, but it was worth it. I did have a bit of a hankering for onion rings - dredged in a different, gluten-filled batter - so they were off limits. Honestly the scallops stole the show. They were fantastic and I sort of wishes I just got a plate of them.

I don't think the fact that I am leaving New England has really set it, but its there, immanent and looming.  I feel an overwhelming desire for salt water taffy, baked beans, indian pudding, corn chowder; all those warm comforting flavors. I know that Maryland is not that far away, and as I pack up my crockpot I am reassured that come fall, it will be easy to throw together a meal that tastes like home, I just also no that it won't be the same. I never really felt like a Yankee, but perhaps, well at least as far as my stomach is concerned, I am.

In other news:
New research has identified what part of the gluten protein cause an autoimmune reaction in persons with Celiac Disease.
Thanks to Adam for sharing.

The Grog

Sometimes the urge to get the hell out of a city is grand. After a hot day at the beach, only snacking on cherries - the best fruit in the world - a substantial meal was in order. The Grog in Newburyport is a restaurant with history and a gluten free menu. Dating back to the 19th century, there is now a bar, lounge, live music, fireplace and free take-one/leave-one library that lines the dark-wood back wall.

The gluten free menu was surprisingly inclusive and listed onion rings, ONION RINGS! To be fair, they were not fantastic, they were really oil-logged, but they were crisp and real and I ate them all. We also shared the broiled haddock (slightly over cooked) but served with really delicious smashed potatoes and the farmers market sausage, which was a delicious surprise. The more than generous portion was grilled, and filled with peppers, tomatoes, cheese and spices, really well balanced. It came atop some decent potato salad (I really hate potato salad, so I am not going to knock it), and a slice of watermelon. The fish also came with some oily weird corn on the cob, which was pushed aside.
Portions were really giant, easy to share and the food was good. My only regret was not trying this place sooner!

Bloomington

I didn't realize how much I missed having access to a kitchen until I spent a week away from one. I was in Bloomington Indiana last week for a conference, which was amazing, but I found it hard to spend so much time at an amazing farmers market and not be able to come home and cook anything!

Sour cherries, strawberries, green tomatoes, shell peas, this was just one over over 40 stalls.

Chilies!

Even bonsai plants!

Cheese - mostly goat, some very very good.

Lots and lots and lots of plants for sale. These were wrapped in newspaper.

There were several groups singing, dancing and playing instruments.

I dined on one of the best tamales I have ever had. (no photo, sorry I was busing eating)

I fell in love with Soma cafe, a small coffee shop with amazing espresso and fantastic decor. They carried gluten free muffins - the orange poppy seed blew me away. As great as that was, the Thai food at Esan Thai really stole the show. Pressed bellow the glass on the table was a warning about ordering. It informed all diners if you order a dish, you will pay for it. There are no substitutions and many of the flavors are strong, and it warned against ordering new dishes or ordering hot items, and listed 6-8 menu items that we (the diners) should probably not order. I was grateful to be eating with a group of people who shared the same enthusiasm for ordering as many items off the "you shouldn't order these" list as possible. The Som Tum (cold, green papaya salad) was really good. The yellow curry was solid, tasty and not too hot. The Moo Num Tok was almost my favorite, it was thinly sliced pork, chilies, mint, cilantro, shallots, fish sauce and toasted rice. It was hot, sour salt and crunchy and perfect with the sticky rice. But then came the Pan Nang curry. The tofu arrived enrobed in a coconut milk curry filled with roasted cumin, but the smell of freshly sliced kefir lime leaves sprinkled across the top really set the dish apart. It was spicy, floral, slightly sweet and complicated. I wanted to have a second stomach just to eat more. We went back there two days latter and I ate the best Larb of my life. Who knew some of the best northern Thai cooking was in Indiana?

I came home and made a cobbler - the I have ever made. I didn't measure a damn thing and it turned out wonderfully.
It also made a mess, but I love the colors.

New iPhone app & a really good meal

I received this press release yesterday about a new iPhone app:
“My Grocery Master” App Features:

• Database of over 100,000 products for Kosher, gluten-free and lactose-free diets
• Over 360 name brands
• Future updates to include searches for Vegan, Organic and diabetic suitable diets
• Search by category, brand of product name
• Frequent, FREE updates with new products and brands
• Includes most Top 100 grocery store chains in the country and the leading online grocery stores
• One-touch link to the “My Grocery Master” website providing recipes and more information
• No connectivity required unless you utilize the one-touch website links
• Save searches for easy future access (such as”Beach House”, “Grandma’s Condo”, etc.
• Driving directions to store included
• A low annual $4.99 fee

 “My Grocery Master” is available at the Apple’s App Store in the iPhone and iPod Touch.

 For more information please visit: www.mygrocerymaster.com

I don't have an iPhone, so I have no idea how jazzy this thing is. That said, it sort of gets my goat that people need to pay for information that should be available for free, clearly labeled and accessible from more than one place. One should not have to be able to afford (or choose to) own an iPhone to be able to find food that is safe. My Grocery Master is clearly fulfilling a need/demand and its great that they are, I just still think this information should be ON THE PACKAGING.

In other news, I had another meal at Highland Kitchen, noshing off their Gluten-Free Menu (ask for it from your server, they keep them in the back) and I was really impressed. Two weeks ago I had fantastic blackened catfish, last night I chowed down on the scallop appetizer special with pancetta, shaved fennel, blood oranges over a white bean puree. I wanted a hint more of acid, but it was a generous and delicious appetizer. The fried confit chicken wings with celery root slaw were perfect. Sweet, spicy, crunchy and a little tangy - some of the best wings I have had in a long time. (I was indoctrinated with Wings of Amherst and my love lead me to my first published piece of food writing in the Globe, I like wings, a lot.) The celery root slaw was sort of a distraction. It wasn't crunchy - understandably celery root is not known for its crispness - and it just didn't do anything for me. Honestly, I didn't much care. The wings were that good.

science, the unknown and food that is fun

I have been thinking and reading a lot about autoimmune diseases lately. (I feel this is the time where I apologize to anyone who has been near me when I talk about wanting a hookworm... but a girl has got to dream.) I have been looking for, but haven't found, a really good explanation about what is going on in bodies with autoimmune diseases, and specifically what isn't working. On the whole, I have been disappointed. Information is spotty or so overly scientific, one needs a specialized degree and some medical dictionaries to get through it. (Yes, I have read Dr. Green, and while it is good, it is still lacking a solid and clear definition about what is physically/chemically happening in the body of a human with active Celiac Disease.) I spent some time talking with a scientist this weekend, and what I learned was both clarifying and confusing.

1. In general there isn't a ton of information known about autoimmune diseases or the human immune system in general. (This made me feel slightly better about not really being able to find/understand good information about the processes and problems.)

2. My theory and questions about bone marrow transplants was pretty much dispelled. (Radiation was a form of treatment therapy for lupus, so I thought maybe it would be a feasible - though probably undesirable thing -for persons with other autoimmune disorders)

3. There are multiple possibilities for how and why intestinal damage occurs in persons with Celiac Disease. The specifics of how and why the body attacks gluten AND its own body, the intestines, its 100% known. (This makes a ton more sense to me. Especially considering how many people have non-GI issues, it seems like there are several things happening at once and villa damage is just part of it)

Part of the reason why I really want to figure this stuff out is mostly curiosity and the desire to be able to better explain it to other people. Ideally, I would like a better visual representation of what the hell is going on in bodies that decide to wage war on gluten. (For some reason I always use a military or pac-man analogy.)

All in all, I have to admit that things have been easier for those looking for gluten-free options. I am surprised daily about people who actually know what gluten is, and food establishments with better and better offerings. Here are a few happy surprises:

I used the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix for cupcakes on my birthday and they were good, better than good. Fluffy, dark and not-too-chocolately, I was amazed. They even fooled a few people into thinking they were the traditional kind, when covered in burnt sugar cream cheese frosting. They were so good. Apparently they are even up for an award!

At a very indulgent dinner last month, I was surprised at how wonderful the service remains at Oleana, and at their attention to detail. After letting the server know that gluten was a no-no, he brought out a side plate of fresh cut veggies for me in lieu of the bread basket for the other diners. Not only was it thoughtful, it was a great compliment to their carrot puree - the best thing! - and sported a few sliced watermelon radishes, a personal favorite.

This past weekend, I was excited to find out that Highland Kitchen has a gluten-free menu that is not only extensive, it had offerings that were beyond the "hamburger sans bun." The house-made pickles rule and the braised pork was tender and flavorful. Not to mention their very interesting cocktail list.

Red Lentil in Watertown

I wasn't so sure at first, but Red Lentil in Watertown came highly recommended as a great place for food that also offers gluten free options.

Its a completely vegetarian restaurant with many vegan options. The menu clearly listed vegan, gluten free and nut containing dishes, with veggie and fruit juices as well as smoothies on the menu. I started off with the beet-potato latkes. They arrived hot, and vibrant - the magenta pancakes were topped with two sauces: a cilantro vinaigrette and an apricot sauce. The cakes were more soft than crispy, but were light and not greasy.

My main was the pistachio and herb encrusted tofu with corn cake and my fellow diner had the millet loaf with local farm seasonal vegetables. The tofu was the hands-down star. Thinly sliced and coated in the vibrant green nuts, it was flavorful and went really well with the sauce and greens on the plate. The corn cake under it was good, and clearly would be excellent with fresh corn. The millet loaf was really tasty when it soaked up the ratatouille, though the bechamel sauce seemed missing.

Overall, they are very light-handed with the salt, but I just dashed some on at the table and it perked everything up.

They were sold out of everything but the carrot cake, so I skipped dessert. All their desserts are always vegan, and they said they usually have one gluten free, but they were surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night.

The food was fun, more composed than I expected from the relaxed atmosphere, but worth the price and I am excited to visit again.

Soul Fire

Prior to celebrating the birth of two awesome humans, I emailed Soul Fire in Allston to see if they had any gluten free options. I was floored when the chef emailed me back and asked me to call him on his cell to go over ALL of the menu and ingredients to make sure there was something I could eat!

The collards were sweet and delicious and the perfect compliment to the spicy, vinegary pulled pork.

Go to Soul Fire, eat well and be happy.

Bertucci's adds a gluten free menu

The Triumph Dining Card blog is spreading the news that Bertucci's is now part of the Gluten Intolerance Group and now has a gluten-free menu, in some states - MA is one!

the best kind of surprise

Every once in a while there is that moment when I am so full of excitement that I cannot contain it. My eyes widen, my lips curl up, my jaw drops slightly and inevitably my voice goes up an octave as I utter something with childish glee.

Server: "I will be right back. I just had them put some gluten free rolls in the oven for you."
Me stupefied: "REALLY?!"

I was so excited I think I might have actually squeaked.

I was at Legal Seafood in Copley. They have one of the first gluten-free menus that I have come across and a pretty impressive kitchen protocol to ensure things stay gluten-free. I had heard rumors about gluten free croutons, but nothing about rolls - hot fluffy rolls. They arrived at the table warm and with butter, and with the accolades of the server who described them as "like a Bisquick biscuit."

They were better.

Not only did they have a good crumb, it withheld man handling and butter and didn't result in a sand pit at the bottom of the dish. They did have a strong onion flavor, but in a good way. The rest of the meal was ok - calamari with chick pea flour was tender but not cripsy, but the rolls - man, I could eat a million of them.

Art & Duckfat in Portland, ME

My friend Dace, of repeat press, had a solo art show at Corduroy in Portland, ME. When there was word of a road trip to check out the opening, I immediately said that there was a need to stop at Duckfat in Portland. This is the place that deep fat fries their french fries. Rules of etiquette demand art first, then greasy fingers.

Corduroy is part surf and part art gallery. I don't surf, I cannot even swim, but the boards they sold were beautiful and made me wish I could be a fish.

So the show had a few different pieces, but the largest was an instillation. He made a cave out of wood and tape:



I went in it.
I also admired his letterpress work.



And then, it was time for food!

Its not the greatest picture, but I was overcome with the fact that I was about to enjoy FRENCH FRIES FRIED IN DUCK FAT! (I got the duck confit salad too!)


Yes, that was Magnetic Poetry on the wall. (It is still fun)
Overall, the fries were too salty, but the condiments were nice. The truffle ketchup far out shined the aioli, but in the best way possible. The salad was ok, nice poached egg on top of mixed greens and a more than generous portion of duck. My fellow diners and I noticed that everyone that came in after us was ordering milkshakes, not fries and we wondered what they knew that we didn't. (The menu sports a $7 Tahitian vanilla bean milkshake - we were too stuffed to even give it a try.)

Oh, I almost forgot to mention...
When I sat down to order and do my little "are the french fries coated or dredged in flour" spiel, the waiter cut me of (in a polite way) and said there is no gluten on the fries or in the fryer.
Huzzah!!!

Gluten free Chicago deep dish

The internet is a wonderful thing. You can type: "gluten free pizza Chicago" into the googler and find places like: Marcello's Father & Son Restaurant offering both deep dish and thin crust gluten free offerings. You can even order online.

Do you think I could resist?


Deep dish with mushrooms, onions & sausage:


Thin crust with spinach, mushrooms, & artichokes:

Flavor-wise, the thinner crust won out. I am pretty sure its the same dough, just shaped differently, but the thicker crust of the deep dish tasted a bit odd or off - though both held up very well, even with delivery they didn't get soggy or fall apart.

The left overs were even better.