Was surprised during a recent visit to Williams Sonoma to see Bouchon gourmet gluten-free cookie mix. Thomas Keller has partnered with Williams Sonoma exclusively to sell this gluten-free chocolate chunk cookie mix as well as a gluten-free brownie mix under his ad hoc restaurant label.
Unfortunately, both mixes have dairy ingredients, so I’m unable to try them, but I’ve ate at Bouchon, and the food is incredible. If anyone tries these, let me know how they are!
This article from the SF Chronicle is a must-read guide for anyone gluten free living in, near or planning to go to, San Francisco. There are more and more restaurants offering gluten-free options – Vietnamese, Japanese, Italian, Venezuelan, Pizza and more. Print this article out – it’s a must-have!
Here’s a list from the Chronicle’s article:
Dosa, 1700 Fillmore St.; (415) 441-3672. Also 995 Valencia St.; (415) 642-3672 or dosasf.com.
Eagle Pizzeria, 1712 Taraval St.; (415) 566-3113.
Extreme Pizza, various locations; extremepizza.com.
Gracias Madre, 2211 Mission St.; (415) 683-1346 or gracias-madre.com/web.
Ike’s Place at Lime, 2247 Market St.; (415) 553-6888 or ilikeikesplace. com.
Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant, 2154 Mission St.; (415) 864-1888.
Moya, 1044 Folsom St.; (415) 431-5544 or eatmoya.com
Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, 401 Valencia St.; (415) 400-5453 or picapicakitchen.com.
The Plant Cafe Organic, various locations; theplantcafe.com.
Power Source Juice Bar, 81 Fremont St.; (415) 896-1312 or powersourcecafe.com.
Ristorante Bacco, 737 Diamond St.; (415) 282-4969 or baccosf.com.
Saha, 1075 Sutter St.; (415) 345-9547 or sahasf.com.
Tao Cafe, 1000 Guerrero St.; (415) 641-9955 or taocafe.com.
Zadin, 4039 18th St.; (415) 626-2260 or zadinsf.com.
Gluten-free Chinese food isn’t easy to find. Besides P.F. Changs, there aren’t a lot of restaurants where you can find gluten-free versions of your favorite noodle dishes or entrees such as beef with broccoli and moo goo gai pan. Well, if you live in the San Diego area, you are in luck.
Del Mar’s Rendezvous Chinese Fusion Cuisine is a destination for gluten-free eaters! They have an extensive menu of gluten-free dishes, and also have vegan and vegetarian choices.
They offer koonyaku noodles (in addition to rice noodles). These are actually a Japanese root vegetable, from the taro family. These noodle substitutes are high in fiber, low in calories, and they taste amazing. When you’re anywhere near San Diego, give this place a try. *Tip: Wednesday and Sunday are half-price wine nights!
Woodstock’s Pizza now has a pizza with gluten-free crust that you can order for just $2 more than a regular large pizza. I stopped by the Davis, CA restaurant on my way down from Tahoe. I ordered a pesto vegetarian pizza and it was probably the best GF pizza I’ve ever had! Check out their website at: www.woodstocksdavis.com.
Fortunately, finding gluten-free Mexican food isn’t too difficult. Using rice and corn as staple ingredients, people with gluten-intolerance generally do okay at Mexican restaurants. However, there is often gluten hidden in ingredients at all types of restaurants.
Rosa Mexicano, a higher-end Mexican restaurant chain (I’ve been to one in NYC and the one in downtown LA.), offers a special gluten-free menu to make it easier to confidently order a gluten-free meal.
For more on gluten-free restaurants, click here.
Typically, I avoid Italian restaurants at all costs. While there’s usually something I can find that isn’t pasta, the idea that so much gluten is floating around is scary. Risotteria in NYC is a safe haven for gluten-free eaters. There’s gluten-free pizza, pasta, paninis, beer and baked goods! I tried them all.
I’ve been here on two trips, and go home happy and full every time. Tip: arrive early, the lines can be long.
Risotteria NYC
270 Bleecker Street
212-924-6664
Heather’s in New York for a couple of months for work, so I recently took a trip to visit, and we made sure to check out all of the gluten-free options NYC has to offer. First stop: Friedman’s Lunch in the Chelsea Market. Heather stumbled upon this place while checking out the market and was pleasantly surprised to see the menu was extremely gluten-free friendly.
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, available on a gluten-free bun. Perfectly toasted, this tasted like the real thing. The gluten-free bread costs an additional $2.25, but it was absolutely worth it. Looking forward to my next visit so I can try more items on their menu.
On a recent trip to downtown San Diego, I met up with some of my family who lives there for dinner. We went to Bice, a nice Italian restaurant that has an extensive wine and cheese bar. Being gluten-intolerant, I usually avoid Italian places, but I did a quick scan of the menu beforehand and saw some fish and meat dishes that sounded safe.
The restaurant is modern in design and has a nice bar area. When we were seated, I scanned the menu and noticed on the bottom that gluten-free pasta was available. Great new for me! I ended up ordering the homemade marinated, quick smoked salmon, which was covered with acacia honey and pink peppercorns and served with brussel sprouts for a starter. And for my main, I chose the Capellini alla Cacciatora–or pasta, slowly braised, free-range chicken with wild mushrooms and tomato sauce–gluten-free of course! Both dishes were excellent.
I cannot recommend this place enough for anyone gluten-free in San Diego who wants to dine at an upscale Italian establishment and enjoy pasta.
I’m not a huge fan of frozen pizza, but having this in the freezer for those days you don’t want to venture out to track down a gluten-free pizza is a smart idea.
I’m also dairy-free, so I’m always checking the Whole Foods freezers for a pizza I can eat. This one didn’t disappoint. It is thin-crust and not too saucy. The next time I make this, I’ll probably add some meat or fresh vegetables.
For more gluten-free pizza options, visit this page: Gluten-free Twins Pizza!
The Plant Café organic, at 101 California Street, offers many organic, gluten-free and vegan options for a quick lunch. This is a café version of The Plant Café and Restaurant on Embarcadero. I went in around noon on a Thursday and the place was crowded. All seats were occupied and I had to wait approximately 3 minutes before placing my order at the counter.
I ordered the Quinoa Bowl, which has vegetables in a ginger miso sauce next to the quinoa. I also ordered (for the sake of this blog, of course) a delicious and moist GF hazelnut chocolate ganache cake pictured. While the quinoa was a good lunch, dessert was amazing! Other GF lunch options include green curry, salads, chicken, and rice bowls. They also offer smoothies that can be made with soy or almond milk.
Shaun
Heather
