Category Archives: Eating out

Dining out gluten free

February 24, 2013

How To Avoid Gluten Bombs When Eating Out

The other day my girlfriend, who has just discovered that she can no longer eat gluten, asked me about a meal she recently had while dining out. Did I think that her steak au poirve was made with gluten, or can steak au poirve be made without gluten? I can’t remember the exact wording, but that’s the gist. It reminded me of how I felt during the early days of eating gluten-free. It reminded me of times where I assumed there was no way a particular meal could have any gluten in it and sure enough it did. I often found myself nauseous and with an upset stomach for days. Thinking about the challenges my girlfriend, and many people who are just starting out face, I have decided to share some simple and easy ways for you to do your part in avoiding a gluten bomb when you are out to eat.

- Call ahead and tell the host that you are gluten-free & and ask if they have a gluten-free menu
- Tell your server that you are gluten-free
- Ask your server what items on the menu are gluten-free. If they don’t know, ask them to please check with the chef. Better safe than sorry!
- Always ask about sauces and condiments. Gluten lurks in the most unsuspecting spots, salad dressing and soy sauce to name a couple.
- If something arrives and looks like it has gluten in it, never feel embarrassed in double checking that it’s the correct dish. Mistakes happen.
- If you order fries make sure that the fries aren’t dusted in flour before frying. Curly fries are NOT gluten-free.
- Fries are high on the list of foods that can be and often are cross contaminated. If you see lots of fried dishes on a menu assume your fries will be fried in that same oil.
- NEVER ASSUME A DISH IS GLUTEN-FREE ALWAYS ASK!!!

Gluten bombs can happen to even the most savvy of gluten-free diners. Follow these suggestions and you will be doing your part to ensure a nice gluten-free dining out experience.

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February 21, 2013

New Gluten-Free Delivery In San Francisco: Motek Treats, A Must Try!

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Motek Treats, a gluten-free bakery with a “Storefront” online at Zaarly. Motek Treats bakes their treats and delivers them to the Bay Area. They invited me to visit their store, and if anything piqued my interest Zaarly delivers to San Francisco for them on Mondays and Thursdays. Motek Treats hand delivered their food to my door. All I had to do in return was review them here, on my blog. I love reviewing freshly baked or handmade gluten-free foods! I’m always looking for a gluten-free food “find,” something that pleasantly surprises me. I went to the site and was very excited to see fresh pasta and pizza crusts. Of course they have cookies, scones and bread, but since I have never had freshly made gluten-free pasta that was something special to sample. Of course I chose the pizza crust, because I love pizza! The only place to get a good frozen pizza crust is Mariposa Bakery, and I’d have to drive to one of their two locations. This place delivers!

In the end I received pasta, pizza crust, a peanut butter cookie and an olive and sea salt roll, still warm from the oven. It looked so inviting that I took a bite. The roll was crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. I dipped it in some good extra virgin olive oil and savored each existing bite. After enjoying the roll so much, I couldn’t help but try a peanut butter cookie too.

Soft & chewy, yum!

Soft & chewy, yum!

My plan for the pasta was make it for dinner that night. However having an infant means that plans always need to be flexible. Pasta dinner didn’t happen. When I finally did get to make it I brought a big pot of salted water to a boil and added some olive oil. I added the pasta and it swam through the water, unlike the dry stuff that clumps together. I poured the pasta in to a colander, tossed with olive oil and tasted it. The texture was exactly what I remember fresh pasta to be like. It was fantastic! I made a nice sauce to go with it and was in pasta heaven.

Fresh pasta!

Fresh pasta!

My husband who is not gluten-free loved the pasta too!

A few days later I tried the crust. I cooked it on my stone at 500 degrees and the crust was crispy. However the center of the pie, where I added sauce, didn’t cook through. I think I must have done something wrong, because everything else they made was incredibly delicious. I wonder if cooking the crust all the way through, and then adding the sauce and cheese, would have yielded better results.

Motek Treats has some great gluten-free food. The pasta and the olive roll were amazing! I truly felt like I was eating pasta and bread and that weren’t gluten-free. Having bread and pasta this delicious delivered to my door was incredible. Baked goods that are fresh from an oven being delivered to your door is a treat, a Motek Treat!

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January 31, 2013

Destino- Modern Latin Bistro

Eating out is infrequent these days, so when I do go out I want to make sure I am really going to enjoy my meal. This usually means sushi, because I can happily find something on the menu and not feel like I am settling. My husband gets tired of the same old same old so he went in search of a new dining experience. Well done, love!
Destino, was a great find with a gluten-free menu to boot. The menu has vegetarian, meat, seafood and shellfish options ensuring just about anyone can enjoy a meal there. They also have a full bar, another challenge to find in San Francisco due to the limited number of liquor licenses issued. winter-2013-menuThe menu changes seasonally, so the menu pictured here will only be relevant until spring 2013.
When we arrived the restaurant was very full and lively. We were seated with two menus, one with all the offerings for my husband and a gluten-free menu for me. I was delighted! My menu, as you can see, was filled with lots of tasty sounding dishes. We opted to share the charcuterie to start. I then had a lovely piece of fish, Corvino sea bass. corvina-seabass The skin on the fish was crispy and the flesh moist and flaky. It was served with a light, buttery sauce and simply prepared vegetables highlighting their fresh, seasonal quality. The vegetables were carrots, golden beets, fingerling potatoes and pea shoots.
My husband order the chile relleno and scallops, both also gluten-free. Since there were only two scallops, beautifully presented in a large scallop shell, I didn’t try them. chile-rellenoThe chile relleno I did taste, and it was fabulous! Instead of frying it, they bake it and serve it in a small cast iron pan, topped with guacamole and crema (Mexican sour cream). I’d consider sharing that as an appetizer next time. We passed on dessert, but there was a cheesecake with a gluten-free vanilla cookie crust for those of you who miss your cheesecake and don’t bake, chocolate mousse and Panna cotta.
This place was really delicious and not very expensive. I highly recommend it to any of my gluten-free friends and followers.

Destino
1815 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 552-4451

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May 15, 2012

Gluten-free options in unlikely places

It always pays to ask what the gluten-free options are. Of course we always ask if something we would like to order is gluten-free, but sometimes items you would never suspect to be gluten-free or have the option of being made gluten-free are. This happened to me in the SFO Airport.

D and I were leaving for our long awaited vacation to the Dominican Republic. Since we were boarding the redeye we wanted to grab a bite to eat. Airports in general are my least favorite locations to eat. I always pack my own food, but hope for a little something there so I can save my snacks for the plane. What a pleasant surprise terminal 2 of San Francisco International Airport turned out to be.

Lark Creek Grill is apparently known for their seafood and their locally sourced produce. My plan was to get the mussels, without bread. When the waiter came by he offered up some suggestions. After telling us about his favorite sandwiches I said, “I’m gluten-free.” He told me that would not be a problem, because they have gluten-free bread available. Wow, really!? He told me he would double-check, but he was pretty sure they currently had some available. Lo and behold they did. I ended up ordering the Grilled Pacific Snapper sandwich and really enjoyed it. The fish was fresh and cooked perfectly. Properly prepared fish, that was another surprise in airport dining. I left for my flight having eaten one of the best fish sandwiches I have eaten in a long time.

This is why I always recommend asking what gluten-free options are available and not simply asking if the item you are choosing is gluten-free. Sometimes you find the most pleasant surprises in the most unlikely of places.

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May 1, 2012

Gluten-Free Eats in Philly- Little Fish

I absolutely love my hometown of Philadelphia. The history is amazing, the scenery is stunning, the people have character and the food is sublime. During my most recent visit home I got a bit of all of it. During this weeklong trip I ate at several places I had never been to, let alone heard of, as well as some oldies but goodies. My favorite meal of the entire trip was at a cozy B.Y.O.B. called Little Fish.

My girlfriend LL and I love to eat, we’ve been doing it at some of the best places for years. Since she lives in Philly, I always defer to her and she never steers us wrong. Little Fish was no exception. Hands down this restaurant was the finest meal I ate in my week back east and perhaps one of the finest meals I’ve eaten in months.

The restaurant is small, like 10 tables small. Reservations are not easy to come by, at least if you want to eat after 6pm and before 9pm. We arrived early, unheard of for the two us, and had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. Once we were seated we were given a small hand written menu. I asked the sever what on the menu was gluten-free and she replied, “everything.” Don’t you just love hearing those words? Even though the menu is small everything sounded great and I had trouble choosing. LL and I decided to share our dishes so we would have more options.

Dinner began with appetizers, of course, which were absolutely incredible. We had the scallop with foie gras and rhubarb puree, my personal favorite, and the octopus with chickpeas, marcona almonds and piquillo picholine. I love scallops and I adore foie gras, but together the flavor combination and the texture on my tongue were out of this world. The octopus was tasty too, but next to the scallop I have a little more difficulty remembering it as well.

After all but licking our plates clean our entrees arrived, a spectacular striped bass with artichokes, favas, fingerling potatoes and ramps, and halibut topped with uni (yum!) and served with sunchokes, shiitakes and asparagus. The striped bass had a nice crispy outside and moist inside. Each item on the plate had its place and paired perfectly with the fish. The halibut arrived and it was stunning! I frequently find halibut to be dry, but just like all the other dishes we were served it was prepared perfectly. Separately each bite was delicious, but together it was to die for. I am reliving the taste as I type this review.

We finished dinner, but needed a little something sweet to finish things off. Dessert is often a dish I am unable to enjoy, but again Little Fish had me covered. No it wasn’t sorbet, ice cream or fresh berry with cream, it was way better than that. Dessert was chocolate pot de crème with a crumbly orange marmalade on top. Oh yeah baby, that’s what I’m talking about! The only issue I had with the dessert was that it was too small. I could have eaten the whole thing myself and ordered a second. When the spoons were no longer able to scrape the sides sufficiently, we used our fingers.

We left this hidden gem satisfied with our meals and not so stuffed we were on the verge of feeling ill. It was perfect and I loved it! I will without a doubt want to go back during my next visit.

Little Fish BYOB
746 South 6th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-455-0172
Mon thru Sat 5:30pm – Close
Sunday Tasting Menu – $33
6:00pm & 8:00pm Seatings
5:30pm & 8:00pm Seatings – starting in Jan 2012

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March 19, 2012

Mmmmmmmmmm, Bobby G’s Pizzeria

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing?” I sure know I have, and yesterday at Bobby G’s Pizzeria was one such occasion. I have been to Bobby G’s before, and I have eaten the entire small gluten-free pizza before, so I knew what I was in for. Nevertheless I have issues with restraint when it comes to pizza.

My first experience at Bobby G’s was a few months back. D and I each ordered our own small pies, me gluten-free and him not. We both loved our pizzas so much that yesterday we headed back for our second time. The first thing that I noticed was that they get their crusts from Mariposa Bakery. Mariposa sells their crusts to many establishments around the bay area, so the level of deliciousness really rides on what the place does with the crust. In my opinion Bobby G’s makes the best pie with Mariposa’s crust. My first pie was the pizza Bianca, Extra virgin olive oil, fresh mozzarella, aged parmesan, garlic, and fresh herbs. It had a crispy crust and they used great ingredients.

For my second visit I absolutely had to go for a pepperoni pizza. Pepperoni is my all time favorite pizza so to really judge a place and give a fair review it is imperative that I order one of these. Well my friends I have to say that it was AWESOME!!!! The crust was crispy from first bite to last crumb. The sauce was tangy and flavorful with a perfect ratio of sauce to ooey-gooey, tasty cheese. Another fantastic aspect of this pie was that the pepperoni was in abundance, but without grease pooling in the center. I loved this thing so much in fact that I once again uttered the words, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.” I mean look at the crispy edge of the crust, how could I not?

The pies aren’t cheap, but nothing gluten-free is. What I can say is that they are fantastic and worth every penny. Nom, nom, nom this pizza gets to thumbs up.

Bobby G’s Pizzeria
2072 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-665-8866

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February 12, 2012

Delivery Gluten-free Bread in San Francisco, does it get any better than that?

Actually it does get better than that. Not only was this bread delivery convenient, but they also tasted delicious.

Last week I received an email from breadsrsly.com asking if I would try out her delivery bread and review it my blog. Now who am I to say no to a new product? Of course I agreed and then anxiously waited for my Tuesday delivery. Breadsrsly.com sells two different kinds of bread and two different sandwiches four days a week in San Francisco. Mondays and Wednesdays she makes and sells sandwiches on the Yerba Buena Center Steps and at the Beach Hut Cafe, at Crissy Field, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays she delivers bread via bicycle. To keep things interesting she sells different bread and sandwiches on each of those days. I passed on the sandwiches, because I’m not around Mondays and Wednesdays, but jumped at the opportunity for a Tuesday bread delivery.

The bread arrived in a brown paper sack. I excitedly removed the two loaves and immediately photographed them.

The loaves upon arrival

The two I received were cornbread and whole grain with fig and fennel.

I’m always looking for good sandwich bread and I found it in these loaves. First I tried the bread at home. They were both better toasted than fresh, but the fig and fennel was pretty good either way. First, I tried the corn bread toasted with butter, and quickly realized that it was more than a mere corn bread. Studded with sundried tomatoes, which I could swear, had a picante flavor I decided to top it with melted cheese. I used a creamy sheep’s milk cheese that was similar in consistency to Brie, and it was a great choice.

Corn bread with melted cheese

Since a slice of bread with cheese hardly constitutes a meal, I decided to make a sandwich with the whole grain bread with figs and fennel, leftover rotisserie chicken, tomato and mayonnaise (I was out of lettuce). I find that sandwiches with condiments and tomato are the best indicators of how good a bread truly is, and how well it’s going to hold up. Most of the time when I add those two components the bread gets mushy and by the time I finish the sandwich it is a pile of wet, doughy scraps. This was not the case. Perhaps it had something to do with me keeping the slices rather thick, or maybe it was the bread itself. Either way it was a fine sandwich. Check it out for yourself!

Chicken sandwich on fig & fennel bread

After trying the bread at home I decided to try it at work. I toasted the bread at home, packaged it separately from the egg salad I made, and joined the two at lunchtime. To my happy surprise the bread not only held up, but also was good. The toast didn’t get hard and crumbly, and when I added the egg salad it didn’t turn in to a soggy mess. This bread gets two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Check out the delivery schedule and the various flavors at Breadsrsly.com.

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October 31, 2011

The Slanted Door- Always a crowd pleaser

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The Slanted Door is one of the those places that I dream about at night. Whenever I get the chance to do a nice lunch this is where I go. Getting in for dinner is near impossible and even with a reservation I could only get in at lunchtime on a Monday, at 11AM. The restaurant is on the Embarcadero and every table has a view of the San Francisco Bay. Last Monday, just like most days this October, the weather was glorious and we could see all the way to Angel Island. Still this is San Francisco, and things can get a bit blowy, so we opted for a table inside. The view was spectacular! The food is served family style, but make no mistake the portions are pretty small so it is ideal to order many dishes, and that is just what we did.

The food at The Slanted Door is upscale Vietnamese and no matter what you order you simply cannot go wrong. As I said, the servings are not particularly big so we ordered five items and some rice for three of us. However soy sauce was a part of the broccoli dish so I did not partake. We ordered wild California yellowtail with crispy shallots (not dusted in flour) and Thai basil, wild California uni with black tobiko (caviar), avocado and cucumber, a Vietnamese crepe (banh xeo) and halibut that I can’t seem to find on the menu as I compose this post, but it was delicious nonetheless.

The dishes arrived to our table together and they all looked so amazing that I didn’t know where to start, I wanted to be sure to savor each and every delectable bite. I began with the California uni with black tobiko, avocado and cucumber served on a spoon. The bottom was a creamy avocado puree with a julienne of cucumber then layered with a gorgeous piece of uni topped with the tobiko. This was divine. The flavours were fresh and clean and the tobiko popped in my mouth. I licked the spoon clean. Next was the yellowtail and all I can say is, wow! The yellowtail was expertly sliced, it just melted in my mouth. Then it was on to the Vietnamese crepe, the best one I have ever eaten. The crepe was light and crispy, the shrimp had it’s tails removed and everything was evenly spread out inside. Perfecto! Last was the halibut with it’s nice crust on the outside, moistness inside, served with a fish sauce with ginger and chiles (I think) and a refreshing pear salad.


Slanted Door is not only one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, but they happily and easily accommodate gluten-free diners. I emailed the restaurant before writing this post and was told that dishes that are not already gluten-free can often be made gluten-free, and ANY server on the floor can help you with this. The response came within ten minutes of me emailing them. I double checked my dishes were gluten-free before I ordered, but wanted to make sure that most menu items could be easily altered before recommending this place.

The Slanted Door
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 861-8032

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October 21, 2011

Wonderful Weekend Eats

Leisurely breakfasts and lazy lunches are some of the joys of the weekend. After five days filled with cereal bowls, handheld meals, catered lunches or quick runs to the closest to-go spots, sitting down and enjoying a meal is not only a luxury, but a necessity. Last weekend I enjoyed both a leisurely breakfast and a lazy lunch to their fullest.

My Saturday mornings usually consist of waking up, feeding the kitties, brewing coffee and catching up on current events. In the middle of sipping some delicious freshly brewed coffee D suggested we go out to breakfast. It was a sunny San Francisco day so I picked a place we could easily walk to, Rocco’s Cafe.

Egg white omelet with hot sauce and sliced tomatoes

Rocco’s Cafe is a small restaurant that specializes in old world authentic Italian cuisine. It is a family owned restaurant that prides itself on being “a family tradition and a neighborhood favorite.” The family itself dates back five generations with Italian restaurants opened and run by various family members through the city. We go to Rocco’s because I really like their frittatas and they have many to choose from. On this visit to Rocco’s Cafe I ordered the tomato, basil & provolone cheese frittata. It was delicious! D ordered an egg white omelet served with a side of tomatoes.

Frittata & potatoes

Sunday was equally as wonderful as Saturday, but instead of breakfast with D (D for David) it was lunch with a different D, Dara. Dara loves trying new restaurants and I love that too! After much research on my part (another thing I love is choosing the restaurant), I found a little place in the Mission that serves a gluten-free lunch and brunch. Radish, a relatively new restaurant has a seasonally changing menu that strives to use high quality locally sourced ingredients, makes most menu items from scratch, and does it’s best to accommodate the ever growing gluten-free community. With a mission statement like that how could I pass this place up.

Dara and I agreed to meet at 1:30pm, for a lazy lunch on what turned out to be another gorgeous San Francisco day. The restaurant is small and cozy with a wine bar and an open kitchen. Our server was fun, energetic, knowledgeable and quick to offer us bottomless mimosas. There is a brunch menu and a lunch menu so if you aren’t seeing what you want from one ask for the other. Dara is one of the sweetest people I have had the luxury of meeting. She always has a kind word, she is open to anything, she is judgment free, and as I said before she loves to try new things. With those qualities it was no wonder she offered to share two gluten-free items off of the menu when she saw me struggling with my choice. After 20 minutes of chatting and sipping mimosas we finally ordered. We shared the gluten-free flat bread and the BBQ pork (GF BBQ sauce) sandwich on gluten-free bread.

Gluten-free flatbread of the day

BBQ Pork Sandwich

When the food arrived it looked absolutely delicious. The flat bread arrived first and I knew straight away that they had purchased the flat bread itself from Mariposa Bakery. I was already smiling, because I knew it wouldn’t disappoint. The flat bread was topped with roasted garlic and peppers, caramelized onions and creamy goat cheese. I loved it! The flat bread was warm and soft, but with some crispness too. The garlic, peppers and onions were sweet and the goat cheese though creamy added a little bite. The BBQ pork sandwich was also good, but not my favorite of the two. The pork was fork tender, the flavors of the pickled jalapeno and the chili remoulade worked really well together, and the crunch and coolness of the lettuce added the contrasting texture the sandwich needed. The bread however, though it looked very similar to a biscuit was a little doughy. It could have been that once it is topped with the BBQ pork the bread starts to breakdown, but I can’t be sure. Next time I will try a different sandwich so I can decide what I really think about the bread.

I love living in a city where gluten-free options are springing up all over, especially brunch ones!

Rocco’s Cafe
1131 Folsom St
(between Langton St & 7th St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 554-0522

Radish
3465 19th Street (at Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 834-5441

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October 6, 2011

Ngoc Mai and the deliciously gluten-free Vietnamese crepe

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I don’t know how many gluten-free people in this world know about the banh xeo, but it is fantastic! Banh xeo, also known as a Vietnamese crepe, is a crispy crepe made from rice flour and coconut milk and filled with mung beans, shrimp and pork. My first experience eating one was as a child in Philadelphia, but where my mom and I used to go it was called a “happy pancake.” Banh xeo is named for the sound it makes when the batter hits the griddle, or so I have read.

One afternoon, a few years ago, a friend and I were meeting for lunch and wanted a new place to try. We had eaten at a few Vietnamese places, but so far none of them were particularly good. We looked on Yelp for reviews, but honestly it’s a to each their own sort of thing. By random luck we chose Ngoc Mai, and I am so happy that we did. I have no idea how it was that I stumbled upon this place so I certainly have no idea how I figured out that banh xeo was a happy pancake, but I did and it became my new passion.

Fast forward to last weekend when I decided that I must have some good Vietnamese food to make up for the crappy Vietnamese food I had eaten the weekend before. D and I started with the bahn xeo. The crepe was crispy, but it had a hole in it. The filling was perfectly cooked and everything was fresh, but they left the tails on the shrimps. Since the crepe looks more like an omelet I was able to open it up and remove them. Banh xeo are served with lettuce and fresh herbs as well as fish sauce and pickled veggies. The way to eat a crepe is to cut a piece of the crepe off, place it in a lettuce leave, top it with herbs, hot sauce, pickled veggies and fish sauce, then wrap it up and it eat. This is a great gluten-free, egg free, soy free and dairy free dish that not every Vietnamese restaurant makes it.

Next we ordered soup. I had the duck curry noodle soup (breast meat only & upon special request) and D had the #8. The duck soup is the best soup in the house. They’re known for their bun bo hue (#1), but the curdled blood cubes aren’t for me. D liked his soup until he crunched down on a knuckle. He was not a fan and called it, “cartilaginous.”

Needless to say, Vietnamese is a staple in this gluten-free gal’s life and Ngoc Mai makes some great soups and a tasty banh xeo. You should definitely check it out! CASH ONLY

Ngoc Mai Restaurant
547 Hyde St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 931-4899
Hours:
Mon-Sat 10 am – 7 pm
Sun 10 am – 5 pm

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