Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese in NYC

A few weeks ago I received an email from Sarita, the owner of S’mac, a restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village. She wanted to let me know that they were now offering a gluten-free version of all of the Macaroni and Cheese on their menu. It’s always exciting to hear about a new gluten-free menu/restaurant option, but I tempered my hopes until I could confirm a few things. I looked at the gluten-free info on their Web site and then asked Sarita how they were preventing cross-contamination. I also wanted to make sure that the cornflake crumbs they were using were indeed gluten-free.

Sarita alleviated my concerns: “We have limited the possibilities of cross-contamination as much as possible right now — the only products that we now serve in the restaurant that contain gluten are the “regular” elbow macaroni and whole-grain elbow macaroni, as well as cookies and brownies. The two pastas are cooked in separate pots than the gluten-free pasta.

As far as the cornflake crumbs go, it did take some work to find genuine GF cornflake crumbs (in bulk quantities) but here is the brand we are using.”

Sarita is even working with the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program to become a participating restaurant. I followed the positive reviews on the NY Gluten-Free Meetup Board and The CeliacChicks coverage of S’mac and finally made a trip to try their gluten-free wares yesterday afternoon.

I ordered a gluten-free Cheeseburger S’mac and a gluten-free Parisienne S’mac. While I love a good cheeseburger, I really enjoyed the flavors of the Parisienne – a great combination of sweet and savory – rosemary, brie, roasted mushrooms and figs. It absolutely lives up to their promise of addiction.

The gluten-free versions are so good, it was difficult for me to believe that they hadn’t made a mistake with my order. I even double-checked my receipt to make sure they both were designated as “gluten-free.” I wish I lived close enough to get S’mac delivered to my apt though I’m sure my waistline appreciates the fact that I don’t….

S’mac – Sarita’s Macaroni & Cheese
Address: 345 East 12th Street, NY, NY 10003
Phone: 212-358-7912