San Francisco, California

Whew!  This was a whirl wind trip but I did get some great food in.

First stop was breakfast of course.  There was a gaggle of us with many particular food requirements including gluten free, healthy, hearty, suitable for a 2 year old, San Francisco-esque and close by. We decided on the Union Square Hyatt.  I was a little skeptical.  I had been there during my last trip for a drink.  Gluten Free!  Anyway, the view is breathtaking with a scape that includes the financial district, both bridges, North Beach, Coit tower, and Alcatraz.  I figured, even if I could only have mimosas and look out the window I would be fine.   I once again didn't get any pics.  Sorry.  I had a good, not great, but good omelet (spinach tomatoes and super yummy fresh mozzarella) and a dish of very nice fruit.  The mimosa was darn good as well.  They were happy to ask the chef any questions I had and served me a good, gluten free meal with a great view.

Next was an early dinner, late lunch after a busy day at Steinhart Aquarium and the Golden Gate Park.  I convinced the group to head to one of my favorite spots to eat in the city,  Chow.  This has been a favorite since well before I realized I was gluten free.  It is a little difficult to look at all the glutenous options on the menu and remember how they each tasted.  Fortunately, I can always find many things gluten free as well. This place is wonderful,  the staff is always helpful, it is cozy, everything tasted great and it is quite affordable for San Francisco.  This time we started with some shared appetizers.

Grilled calamari with fennel and lemon.  This was great.  It is SO rare that calamari is not breaded and fried.  It was a real treat.

Fine.  There is only one left.  At least I remembered to take a picture!

Steamed mussels (sourdough bread on the side)

Since we were going to have a second dinner later, I had something light.  I had the Thai style organic chicken salad. This was a favorite of mine when pre-celiac.  It was just as good as I remembered.  Great flavors with a little kick.

Everything was so good we actually ended up there again the next evening for dinner.  I had a juicy pork chop.  The server was great about checking multiple special items for me.  Another successful meal.

For our second dinner that evening we went to my old San Francisco standby, Tangerine.  Everything in this place is interesting and fantastic.  Even the water tastes great.  The butter has rosemary and orange zest.  I admit I eat the butter alone it is so good. My companion and I decided to share appetizers, an entree and desserts.  The wait staff is incredible.  I don't even live there any more and they still recognize me when I come in.  I simply ask what is safe and they go over the entire menu.  "Yes, no, yes, we can make this GF..."

We started with yam cakes with pine nuts, Parmesan and pesto.  They are so good I have to close my eyes so you can concentrate on the delicate tastes and texture.

I did have to eat a few before taking my pic.

Then scallops.  These were not originally gluten free but they replaced the soy sauce with browned butter and brown sugar. 

We shared a special, a piece of white fish with peppercorn sauce over bok choy and jasmine rice.  We devoured it before i got a picture.

Then dessert of course.  We had to have two.  Chocolate mousse and lemon cello ice cream.  The mousse is not as good as it used to be but still okay.  It is made with milk chocolate now so not all that rich.  All of their ice creams are luscious though.

The next morning we tried to go to THE best breakfast place in the city, Mama's.  The food is unbelievable!  Everything that should be GF is and they are very helpful.  If you ever get the chance, try it!  There is usually about a 1 hour wait but, it is completely worth it.   It had been raining all morning so, I thought maybe the line wouldn't be so long.  Instead, it was two hours long!  I had too much shopping to do to wait that long this time.  We headed to the other end of Washington Square Park to Cafe Divine.

We started with, big surprise, mimosas!  This is yet another place that is not specifically GF but happy to check on everything for me, even on a busy morning. I had an egg scramble with Italian sausage, bell peppers, scallions and mozzarella.  The sausage was very tasty and the side of potatoes was super good.

For lunch we just wanted something quick to keep our blood sugar up for shopping.  We stopped in the fancy food court of the Westfield Shopping Center.  This no ordinary food court.  Check out the previous link for the list of quality eateries.  While my companion went to Bristol Farms for bread, cheese and fruit, I stood overwhelmed with my soup choices at the San Francisco Soup Company.  I had been aware that they had GF soup choices but, wow!  The soups were all clearly marked GF and all but a few were GF.  Everything looked good.  I settled on a chicken curry soup over rice.  Just right for shopping fortification.

I did make my companion stop at a gluten friendly bakery for some snacks.  Again, overwhelmed.  Crepe O Chocolate  is a very organicy, fresh kind of place.  There were so many GF option.  Approximately half of the options were GF.  I bought many things to taste test later.

OMG

All in all a very successful, no contamination, lots of food trip!!!

Berkeley, California

Tonight I am back in the Bay Area, one of my favorite places on earth.  I meat some friends from PA school at a central meeting point in Berkeley for dinner.  We went to a swanky farm to table restaurant just near the university.  Gather  is gluten free and vegan friendly as well as delicious.

 Unfortunately, I was too busy catching up with my old friends to take any pictures.  Check out the web site for some beauties.  The menu is not all gluten free but everything GF was labeled.  There were at least 2 dishes in each category that were gluten free, including dessert.  All of the specials were gluten free as well.  Also, the waiter was knowledgeable regarding the GF diet.  It was nice to not have to go through the whole celiac schpeal.

They had two dishes made from a wild boar bred with regular hog from a local farm.  I had a chop from that animal.  Super good!

Portland, Maine

Here we are, full "circle" back to good ol' Portland.  I planned to get back to Portland a little earlier than my flight left to have lunch at one of my favorite pizza places, Flatbread's.  I have been here many times both pre and post celiac.  Their gluten free crust is wonderful and all of the toppings are organic, fresh and completely delectable.  I can't even tell they are gluten free.  My companion, who is not celiac, thought it was extremely tasty as well.

I could eat this everyday.

Bethel, Maine

We went to the beautiful town of Bethel for a Gould Academy reunion.  What a perfect time of year to go. All the leaves were turning brilliant autumn colors and the weather was fresh and crisp.  I was very concerned about this part of the trip.  Bethel is a very small town.  We stayed at a condo at the Bethel Inn Resort.  It had a full kitchen.  It worked out beautifully.  I brought my bag of groceries from Whole Foods with me.  I really worked out.  We even had a fabulous late night dinner of french toast one evening.  it was actually a great time.

We had lunch at the inn tavern one day.  There was definitely not a gluten free menu and the staff wasn't very informed but they were very helpful.  It limited my choices but they were very careful and provided me with a flavorful bowl of chili.  Satisfying!

I was surprised to find a pizza place in town with gluten free pizza AND beer.  In Bethel!  I can never pass up the pizza.  We gave it a try the very first opportunity.

    

This was fun.  There were gluten free signs everywhere.  This was good for such a remote place.  The crust was starchy.  It seemed to be made of all white starch ingredients but it was not bad overall.  It certainly didn't prevent me from eating  the entire pizza.

Kudos Bethel!

Brunswick, Maine

I did a little gluten free google before going to Maine this trip.  I know we would be driving around a little more than usual and wanted to see what I could find.  So, on our way out of Boothbay, I insisted an a quick stop in Brunswick.  I wanted to check out the claims of gluten free whoopie pie.  Whoopie pie as a Maine tradition, one I dearly missed.

We stopped at Wildfour Bakery.

 I was dumbfounded.  There was SO much there and everything gluten free.  Some things I have never even seen or heard of before.  It was a gluten free smorgasborg.

I tried to use some restraint.  I failed.  Okay, maybe not failed but certainly got more than necessary for a 2 hour car trip.  Here's what I found.

First, I was starving so, I started with a sandwich.  They make there own bread.  It was not fabulous, but good, it satisfied my empty belly.

Then on to the good part.  Cupcakes and whoopie pies and twinkies, oh my!  

Lemon cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

The cupcake was very good, not a very strong lemon flavor but delicious.

GF vs the real thing.

WHOOPIE PIE!!!

Isn't it beautiful?  Unfortunately, this beautiful creation had garbanzo bean flour in it.  Darn it!  I can't not stand that taste! It was a good try though.  The center was sinfully sweet and yummy.  If you can take the garbanzo bean flour this would be excellent.  

GF Twinkie!

Finally, my GF twinkie.  It really was wonderful.  Now, I realize that this is just a vanilla cupcake in a different shape but it is fun, fun, fun.  It was very tasty.    It tasted much like King Authur's vanilla cake mix.  Worth the trip!