GF MENU: A piece of Pi

I know many cool people in St. Louis, including some relatives and in-laws (as it were). Every year when I visit, we go out to eat.

This year, as in one year previous, we ate at Pi Pizzeria: http://www.restaurantpi.com/.

They have WONDERFUL gluten-free pizza. It's thin-crust. I had it with fresh basil and grilled chicken. So very nummy.

I am very excited now, because they are scheduled to open a DC location in Spring of 2011. WOOT! District of Pi (since there's already a Pi Pizzeria, sadly) will be in Penn Quarter. Check them out: http://www.pi-dc.com/!

GF MENU: Hello Cupcake

I was very lucky not to be a kid with Celiac Disease. I got to do the birthday parties and treats at school. Pizza parties were great and nothing tasted better than baking Tollhouse cookies. I wasn't left out of these activities.

An an adult, I'm able to handle these situations better than I would have as a child. I can bring my own pizza, if I know in advance. I can eat steamed veggies when everyone orders Chinese food and then get more food later.

But birthday parties are still rough. Unless I know in advance and want to cook my own baked goods, easily purchased celebration foods boil down to fresh fruit and...well, fresh fruit.

Slowly, though, shops and even bakeries are starting to realize the massive amount of folks with Celiacs might spend their money, too, on treats. Two bakeries in the DC area fall into this category:

1. Hello Cupcake
2. Cakelove

Now I'm only going to mention Cakelove, because I have not had much success with them. The store on U Street NW in DC never seems to actually have gluten-free cupcakes. They aren't ready. They're sold out. They don't have them on weekdays. (This is a new thing my coworker was told when she called.) That sort of thing.

I gave them three tries at three separate times on three separate days of the week (one was a weekend). No dice. No gluten-free delights for me.

But Hello Cupcake is a different story. I'm going to rave about them. One location only off Dupont Circle in NW DC. But they are wonderful! Each time I've been, they've had a gluten-free option or two. The cupcakes are delicious and interesting. One time it was pumpkin-flavored with a GF cream cheese-based icing. Fabulous!

And yesterday, I was a kid again. My coworker was kind enough to inquire about the cupcakes (she heard me glowing about them earlier) so she could buy some for an office birthday party. We walked over together in the frigid weather. It was well worth it. We came back with a cupcake for everyone, even me. I got to be a part of the party!!

GF MENU: Maggiano's

You wouldn't know it from their website, but Maggiano's *Little Italy* is quite gluten-free friendly.

In searching out somewhere to eat a nice Christmas Eve meal in St. Louis with SW's family, someone brought up Maggiano's. I scoffed at them. A national chain of Italian restaurants? Are you kidding me?! Places like that would kill me on sight!

But some basic research pulled together a much different picture. The scuttlebutt was that Maggiano's was very GF friendly. Not only do they stock gluten-free pasta, but they have bread products as well as a gluten-free dessert brownie.

Still I remained unconvinced. So I called the location in St. Louis where we would be eating. Sure enough, it was all true. The woman who answered the phone emphasized that when we made our reservation, we should indicate the gluten allergy. Then the chef would come out and talk to me. Wow! I gave my "approval" to make the reservation.

Christmas eve came and Maggiano's was packed. But the chef still came out and talked to me. Unfortunately, they had run out of GF bread. Never underestimate the volumes of folks with Celiacs! Probably best for me, because I shouldn't have yeast, but I was sad that I didn't get a dinner roll.

What I did get was the chicken pesto pasta. It was wonderful! And the brownie was heavenly. It made it feel like a real meal, like I was somehow vastly different than anyone else ordering at the table. A lovely Xmas gift!

OH! Maggiano's also has gluten-free beer. I avoided the GF beer because of the fermenting process (the yeasties in my body would LOVE it), but I am very happy to say that Maggiano's stocks it. So if you drank beer prior to your diagnosis, Maggiano's has got your back.

It was a great evening. I joined their emailing list and got a $10 off coupon. I guess we'll just have to go back to eat there in the next month. Oh darn. [please note the sarcasm!] You can get a coupon, too, if you join the list; click here.

GF MENU: Chevys Fresh Mex

I do theatre. A lot. Last night, I opened an all-female production of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. I am one of the Gentlemen. If you don't know the play, it's the one referenced at the beginning of the movie Shakespeare in Love. The R&J audition monologue Gwyneth Paltrow does comes from Two Gents. So does the reference to "a bit with a dog".

Anyway, after opening night last night, my friends wanted to go out near the theatre. Usually when I plan for a meal out, I've done some research in advance about which restaurants offer what types of food. Ideally, there's a gluten-free menu involved too.

But last night, I had been working on my lines and not planning. So I went "blind" to Chevys Fresh Mex in Greenbelt, MD.

They have a gluten-free menu!!! I was so pleased. It was a print out, but it was already printed. The key to distinguish Gluten-free (GF) from Contains Gluten (CG) is small near the top. All of the restaurant items are listed with GF or CG after them. This makes the gluten-free list appear longers than it actually is, but there were still a decent number of choices.

You can find Chevys locations here: http://www.chevys.com/locations.aspx. Right now, they appear to be located in AZ, CA, FL, IL, LA, MD, MN, MO, NJ, NV, NY, OR, SD, VA, WA.

(As a side note, I have garlic issues too. All of their meats, except the shrimp, are marinated with garlic, so be aware if that's also an allergy for you!)