A Gluten Free Guide

I Want My FOOD TV

I love eating food, cooking food, photographing food and writing about food. I also have a love of TV that developed at a very young age, despite all my dear mother did to try to limit my exposure to something she considered “noise.” My love for food on TV developed later, as an adult, once I really started cooking.

I remember my early days watching Food Network and learning how to chop an onion. It was a revelation. I went to The Flying Biscuit in Atlanta after seeing the now ubiquitous Rachael Ray eat there on “$40 a day.”

Now I can’t seem to get enough food programs. From Top Chef on Bravo to The Best Recipes in The World on PBS, my DVR is constantly overflowing with all types of cooking shows. Food Network is one of the few networks I will just leave on rather than watching pre-recorded shows. (Of course there are still shows on FN I record to ensure I don’t miss an episode – Easy Entertaining, Everyday Italian – I have a total girl-crush on Giada, Healthy Appetite, Barefoot Contessa– Ina Garten is my personal food hero, Iron Chef, and Good Eats to name a few)

When my friends and I were discussing the reality food trifecta – Top Chef vs The Next Food Network Star vs Hell’s Kitchen. I was a vocal advocate for Top Chef and argued against Hell’s Kitchen. Yes some of the challenges in Top Chef are a little unrealistic – “make a meal from food you buy in a vending machine” but I think it does the best job of making good tv while highlighting the beauty of cooking and food. It is the show that actually makes me want to try the recipes I see them prepare. I still enjoyed The Next Food Network Star even if it didn’t inspire me to cook. Hell’s Kitchen, however, I found completely grating and Gordon Ramsay seemed like an over-hyped bully.

During my trip to Denver, my hosts Brooke and David made me sit and watch a show with Gordon Ramsay on BBC America called “Kitchen Nightmares.” I begrudgingly gave it a chance because they were letting me stay in their beautiful home, but I really didn’t have high hopes. Well much to my surprise, the show was fantastic. Gordon was a superior chef and business man who brought a fresh perspective to failing restaurants. The stories were not sugar-coated or overly-dramatic and Chef Ramsay seemed to truly care about the people he was helping and the food they were serving. Yes, he still revealed harsh truths and used foul language but it all seemed to come from a good place. Sometimes the restaurants turned around, sometimes they failed – it seemed like a real look into their kitchens rather than over-produced “reality tv.”

Last night, Kitchen Nightmares premiered on Fox with an American version. I was excited to give Gordon Ramsay another slot on my DVR record list. Unfortunately, the Gordon Ramsay on this show is hardly recognizable from the BBC America version I had grown to love. Back was the bully I met on Hell’s Kitchen. Reality TV producers swoop in with contrived antagonism (putting the owner in the kitchen as a chef), extreme kitchen makeovers, and staged dramatic interviews. I may give the second episode a chance but I’m not terribly optimistic.

Of course I’m not the first food blogger to talk about Food TV – The Amateur Gourmet, expresses his love for Mark Bittmann in a post that takes the words right out of my mouth. Allergic Girl makes mention of both Top Chef and two other programs on her blog. Where else is Food TV making a splash in the blogosphere? What do you think of Chef Ramsay?

Gluten Free Chinese Food In NYC – GourmetLand on the Upper East Side

UPDATE March 2009– GourmetLand is now closed but for GF Chinese food in Manhattan – try Lilli and Loo – it is fantastic.

On Saturday night I told a married man “I love you!” No, I’m not cultivating a new identity as a home-wrecker. I just couldn’t contain my joy when I learned of all the accommodations Eric, the manager of a new Chinese food restaurant, is making for gluten free customers.

I saw a single posting on the Celiac listserv a couple of weeks ago mentioning “GourmetLand’s gluten free Chinese food on the Upper East Side.” What? How could I not know about this? It can’t be. There must be some sort of mistake. Well, I decided to do some research and came across this menu online. Hmmm, no mention of the GFRAP or cross-contamination issues. I still had my doubts, but decided to check it out with my lovely friend Emily. I figured worst-case scenario, I could head to one of the other gluten free restaurants in the neighborhood.

When we arrived at GourmetLand, we found a small upscale restaurant with a beautiful bar and affordable prices. I asked the hostess about their gluten free menu and she responded “Oh, I’ll let you talk to the manager, he’s really into the whole gluten free thing.” Hmmm, that’s a good sign. Eric, the manager came over to our table. I asked him about the gluten free menu and how they prevented cross-contamination with all of the other gluten containing foods in the kitchen. (Chinese food restaurants are usually quite difficult because they use the same woks repeatedly) He said “Oh, we have a whole section of the kitchen just for gluten free dishes. In fact, next week we will be getting a whole new menu offering a much wider range of appetizers, side dishes and main courses. I am also working with a pastry chef to get some more gluten free desserts on the menu. He’s just working to get certified with the proper Celiac groups.”

It was at that point that I burst out with my declaration of love and asked Eric how he became acquainted with gluten free diners’ needs. Eric and his wife have a dear friend who was diagnosed with Celiac Disease last year. He told me that they would cook at their house and have a separate set of dishes for their friend. When they decided to open GourmetLand they included six gluten free main courses. I was also informed that I could order any of the veggie dishes and the Chicken Lettuce wraps “gluten free.” Oh my! The only problem then became how to make a choice.

Emily and I shared the Chicken Lettuce Wrap appetizer with gluten free sauce.

After much debate, I selected the Mandarin Shrimp for my main course. I loved the sauce and the extra water chestnuts.

Emily and I shared the Sichuan Asparagus – hot and spicy but oh so good.

I can’t wait to go back once the full gluten free menu is available. Oh, and even better news for me – I live in their delivery zone! I didn’t think I would ever see the day that I could have gluten free Chinese Food delivered to my door. While we didn’t get to sample the entire menu, the breaded (with cornstarch) Cheng Du Chicken was highly recommended. They serve Redbridge gluten free beer (Bard’s Tale and more are on the way), potato vodka, and for dessert they have a rich chocolate gluten free brownie.

Now if YOU want to declare your love to a married man and enjoy dinner with other gluten free friends, support GourmetLand with the NY Celiac Meetup group on March 28th. Sadly I won’t be able to make it, but I will be there in spirit!

UPDATE March 2009– GourmetLand is now closed but for GF Chinese food in Manhattan – try Lilli and Loo – it is fantastic.
UPDATE June 2007: I have Gourmet Land’s new gluten free menu sitting in front of me. It is too good to be true. Almost the entire menu can now be made gluten free! There are 14 appetizers and salads including egg rolls, ginger spare ribs and warm duck salad; 15 seafood, beef, pork and chicken dishes including Orange Beef, Chinese BBQ Pork and Devilish Calamari; 10 vegetable, tofu, rice and noodle dishes including Singapore Noodles, Chow Fun and Tam Noodles; 4 desserts including a chocolate tort, chocolate truffle and mango sorbet; and Redbridge Beer and 2 potato vodkas! Book your plane ticket to NY now or if you are lucky enough to live in NY, go eat some gluten free Chinese food!

Gourmet Land 1588 2nd Ave, New York 10028 Btwn 82nd & 83rd St Phone: 212-772-8700

Forget Disneyland – visit “YES Land” in Denver

Debys Gluten Free Montage, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

I spent Labor Day weekend eating my way through Denver. During my first 24 hours in the gluten-free mecca, I may have consumed more calories than I typically eat in a week. I found “YES Land” (also known as Deby’s Gluten-Free Café and Bakery) on my first full day in Colorado.

Haven’t you been told NO enough? That is the mantra employed by Monica and Doug Poole, owners of Deby’s Gluten-Free Café and Bakery in Denver, CO – hence the name “YES Land.” And trust me, for anyone living gluten-free, Deby’s is a wonderland of food worth a trip to the Rocky Mountain State.

Deby’s Gluten-Free Café and Bakery opened about two years ago. Named after Doug and Monica’s daughter, Deby, they initially offered 175 gluten-free products. They have since expanded to more than 400 different gluten-free items. They have everything from bread, muffin and cookies to ravioli, chicken nuggets and lasagna. While the location is a little off the beaten path from downtown Denver, visitors from every single United State (including Alaska and Hawaii) and seven different countries have made the pilgrimage to Deby’s. The less traditional location for a restaurant and bakery keeps rent low and enables them to keep prices affordable, especially compared to typical gluten-free baked goods.

After our huge brunch, Monica and Doug gave me a tour of their kitchen complete with pizza oven, waffle maker, bread slicer – (ah, the comfort of crumbs that won’t make me sick!) massive amounts of gluten-free flour, and more. Monica and Doug are zealous advocates for the gluten-free lifestyle after seeing dramatic improvements in their health when they eliminated gluten from their diets. Monica has been gluten free for over 8 years, since being diagnosed with Celiac disease. Today the entire family, Doug, their 13 year-old daughter Deby and their twin 11 year-old boys are all on gluten-free diets. They are all feeling significantly stronger, healthier and eating better than ever.

While I highly recommend making the trip out to Deby’s in person, you can order from a huge selection of items to be delivered straight to your home. Not getting to taste EVERYTHING during my trip to Denver, I ordered two boxes to be shipped back to my apartment in NYC. In fact, I hosted a gluten-free tasting/dinner party at my apartment this week. (I’ll report back soon on how all of my gluten-glutton friends enjoyed Deby’s offerings and more culinary highlights from my trip to Denver. )

Deby’s Gluten Free: address 2369 S Trenton Way, Suite M Denver, CO 80231-7628 phone: (866) 473-2155 email: info@debysglutenfree.com

Ms. GF Guide’s Summer Soft-Serve Summary

40 Carrots Yogurt, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

Yes, Bloomingdales even has expensive Frogurt. You, the readers, demanded it – so I was forced to deliver. After my reviews of the gluten-free soft serve options at Tasti D Lite, Pinkberry, and McDonalds, I was asked to investigate the gluten-free status of “forty carrots” frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales. Good news for everyone looking to spend even more money satisfying your sweet tooth – forty carrots’ frogurt is gluten-free.

After following the many signs necessary to navigate oneself to the forty carrots restaurant tucked away on the 7th floor of Bloomingdales’ 59th Street location in Manhattan, I found only a short line of customers waiting to be served (nothing compared to the throngs of people currently crowding Pinkberry). When my turn came, I asked if they had ingredient or allergen information. Yes, he nodded, and delivered to me my very own nutrition and ingredient flyer. I stepped aside and read furtively ……………. yes, I could indulge.

The regular toppings are in a cross-contamination minefield, so I didn’t bother with the yummy sounding coconut or goji berries. The fresh fruit toppings are in an entirely different area, so I felt relatively comfortable with my choices.

I ordered a plain small with fresh blueberries. $4.50 for a small plus $2 for the single fruit topping meant my total with tax was…choke…$7.04!!! Man I hoped it was good. I let it get a little melty before digging in – I enjoy SOFT ice cream or froyo. It is quite tasty. It has a bit of the tang sought out at Pinkberry, but it’s a little more mellow and creamy. It was delicious, though for me I don’t know that it is worth the price or the hassle of navigating the halls of Bloomie’s.

The famous forty carrots dessert is made by a company called The Wards Ice Cream Company in Paterson, NJ. It is branded as “Frogurt” which coincidently is served at a bakery right by my apt (I will have to investigate pricing outside of the luxe Bloomingdales environs).

Probably the best tasting soft-serve I had this summer was after the Gluten-Free BBQ in NJ. We went to Applegate Farm, where I enjoyed a vanilla soft-serve that rivaled the Frozen Dairy Bar Ice Cream I had during my childhood summers in Virginia. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a photo of the creamy deliciousness.

But given price, convenience and calorie considerations I still have to give top billing to McDonald’s. Yes, this Gramercy Tavern loving, jicama eating, quinoa making, GF Guide LOVES McDonald’s ice cream. What is your favorite soft-serve?

McDonalds Ice Cream with Peanuts, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

Bloomingdales plain low-fat frogurt contains: Yogurt cultured Grade A milk, sugar syrup, yogurt cultured nonfat milk, corn syrup sodium citrate, mono and diglycerides, carbohydrate gum, locust bean gum, polysorbate 80, guar gum and diocityl sodium sulfosuccinates. A 4 oz serving contains 100 calories, 2 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, and 20 grams of carbohydrates.

Gluten-Free Ice Cream on a Global Scale

McDonalds Ice Cream with Peanuts, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

I love well-prepared food – even as a child I was never eager to eat at any fast food “dining” establishments. So it is with some surprise that my friends greet my frequent pleas to go to McDonalds. I can’t tell you the last time I ate a full meal at this American institution, but in the last month I have had dessert there more than once a week. Even before going gluten-free, McDonald’s Ice Cream held a special place in my heart.

I remember going to McDonald’s with my Mom and brother whenever the coin tray in the car was full enough to purchase three cones. I traveled throughout Spain with friends after graduating from college – rather than spend $4 on imitation gelato (I was a little bit of a snob about real Italian gelato) I would spend less than 50 cents on a refreshing vanilla treat. Now that I’m in NY, as friends and coworkers would stop at the ubiquitous Mr. Softee trucks, I would try to convince them of the error of their ways, as equally easy to find were the golden arches with a more tasty and less expensive cone and sundae offering.

Once I started living gluten-free, I was pleased to discover that I didn’t have to give up McDonald’s Ice Cream. While I’m not advocating basing one’s entire diet on McDonald’s food, the Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream is surprisingly low in calories – 150 per serving. I usually order a “plain sundae with peanuts” since I can no longer have the cone. I don’t usually want the double calories that come with the decadent hot fudge or caramel sauce, though they are occasionally worth the splurge.

Even when dining at restaurants with gluten-free dessert options, I frequently ask my friends to indulge me with a trip to McDonald’s. My cousin Lisa looked at me as though I were crazy when I first suggested MickeyD’s last summer. After much cajoling, she eventually agreed. I paid the $1.50 for her sundae since she was such a good sport (at some McDonald’s the sundae is on the $1 menu – so you can look out for those extra savings). She was not disappointed. Later that summer, she informed me I should ask for the sundae without the top – that way she usually got extra ice cream. I was proud as the teacher had become the student.

After reviewing Pinkberry and TastiD, McDonald’s frozen dessert comes out on top for taste and price. While the McDonald’s version does have 3.5g of fat, the overall calorie count is still low. And best of all, you can find this gluten-free goodie almost anywhere in the world.

Gluten-Free at Tasti-D

Tasti D Lite, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

Tasti D Lite is a New York institution. The chain offers a range of “low-calorie” desserts for a price that’s arguably too high. But despite that and the fact that it tastes only slightly better than the ice milk served in my college dining hall, I still find it holds an inexplicable lure.

When I was diagnosed with Celiac almost three years ago, I went in for my endoscopy after eating a slice of pizza and a large Tasti-D Lite waffle cone. (For a proper diagnosis you should keep eating gluten until you have the endoscopy.) The ingredients at the time included oat bran. Since then, Tasti-D has changed its formula and confirmed via email that the vanilla flavor is gluten-free. I was unable, however, to get a response about the gluten-status of their other flavors.

I don’t feel safe getting any of their toppings – who knows if there was a waffle cone sitting in the peanuts.

And their method for putting on toppings is rife with cross-contamination potential.

Tasti-D Lite survived the Crema Lita attack and the lines are still long even with the current Pinkberry invasion of Manhattan. Its status as a NY institution was confirmed when it made an appearance on HBO’s Sex and the City.

I know that Tasti-D Lite will never taste as good as real ice cream, but the pleasure I find in spending a warm summer evening with a friend walking and eating a cup of vanilla “frozen dessert” makes up for anything it may lack.

A Gluten-Free Farewell To Summer – Pinkberry Style

Pinkberry “Yogurt”, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

The Chocolate Bar Decatur, Georgia

Chocolate Bar, originally uploaded by A Gluten Free Guide.

The Chocolate Bar Decatur is a culinary treat all-around. As one might expect, this cute bar in Decatur, GA serves a wide area of chocolate truffles and other desserts. But they also have a great selection of (gluten-free) appetizers and “culinary cocktails.” Sitting outside on a warm summer day, quite few people in our party ordered the watermelon soda made with cava wine and garnished with a basil jelly. At only $5, it’s quite the bargain.

The curried popcorn made with brown butter is one of those dishes that I now crave, and again with a $2 price point, it’s your waistline rather than your pocketbook that feels the effects.

Chaya Venice – A cross-country gluten-free dining adventure

After meeting my friend Kris in London last year, he has accompanied me on many gluten-free dining excursions across the U.S. – Risotteria and a cookie party in NY, MF Sushi in Atlanta, and El Cholo in Santa Monica. His first attempt at picking a restaurant without my input led to an incredible gluten-free dinner at Chaya Venice. As embarrassing as it was for this native SoCal girl to be shown around California by a European, all pride was forgotten when the food arrived.

We both ordered the scallops wrapped in sirloin strips served with a grain mustard sauce. The sauce is usually thickened with a touch of flour so to ensure that there was no mix-up the server had the chef prepare both dishes without the gluten-based thickener. Kris was kind enough to oblige – he has said on more than one occasion “you don’t even miss the gluten” (with a note of surprise in his voice).

To finish, I opted for a simple cheese plate that included manchego, St. Andre, queso blanco (a fresh Mexican cheese), and fresh fruit. Much to Kris’s chagrin I didn’t let the server bring the bread that normally accompanies the dessert. But after going to my cheese course at Artisanal, and learning that bread is merely viewed as a palate cleanser, I didn’t feel obligated to include it and risk contamination.

Chaya’s décor is chic yet comfortable. I didn’t feel any of the “too cool” attitude I sometimes experience in LA. A remarkable meal is one that you remember long afterwards. I have no doubt that I will continue to mark this dinner among those most memorable.

Chaya Venice: Address: 110 Navy St Venice, CA 90291 Phone: (310) 396-1179

El Cholo – Gluten-Free Mexican Food in Santa Monica

To continue the theme of dining outdoors, I want to share with you a recent dinner I had during a trip to Santa Monica. I find when I go to restaurants that don’t have established gluten-free menus that I usually experience one of two extremes. I show my handy Triumph dining card to the waiter and/or manager when I arrive. On one hand there are the waiters that push the card aside and say, oh our chef is familiar with “gluten-free.” I try to get them to look at the card anyway (after all, it was like learning a second language for me, so I’m not entirely trusting that they fully understand). When they return asking me if potatoes or rice are “safe” I eagerly hand them the card again. The other extreme comes from the restaurants that approach the allergy card with the trembling fear. While I appreciate the concern, the offer of plain lettuce as the only “safe” menu item is not terribly appetizing either.

El Cholo, a fun Mexican restaurant in Santa Monica, initially took the latter approach, offering me a simple salad and no main course. However, after a second conversation with the manager, we were able to put together a tasty if not flavor-packed dinner.

I was told to avoid the chips, salsa and guacamole the rest of our group enjoyed, but I definitely didn’t leave hungry. I ordered the shrimp fajitas served with mixed vegetables and beans.

I saw mushrooms and corn on the menu in various main dishes, so I asked if it would be possible to get a side of each. They brought them together as one side. I can’t say that the flavors were incredibly harmonious but I appreciated the effort.

I also asked for a side of guacamole. They weren’t comfortable with all of the guacamole ingredients and instead brought fresh sliced avocado – which to me was even better.

I did enjoy my dinner, and I have full confidence that with a couple more visits from patrons like me they will be able to offer even more gluten-free options. And even if the food doesn’t strike your fancy, the outdoor dining in Santa Monica can’t be beat.

El Cholo Address: 1025 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90401 Phone: (310) 899-1106