Adventures of a gluten free globetrekker

Gluten Free New York: Friedman’s Lunch

Written on March 25, 2013 by Gluten Free Mrs D in New York, United States

Friedman’s Lunch is located within Chelsea Markets in New York’s Meatpacking District.

We arranged to meet our friends and their small baby at Friedman’s Lunch since they offer lots of lighter gluten free options such as sandwiches and salads and are conveniently located to the High Line which we walked afterwards (highly recommended). Despite the name, Friedman’s Lunch offer breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chelsea Market reminds me of a slightly sanitised version on Brixton Village; small, independent restaurants offering good value food in a converted former warehouse. Next door to Friedman’s is a health food store with many naturally gluten free options (fruit, veg, cheese etc) but strangely we didn’t find any specifically gluten free items there.

Friedman’s operate a no reservations policy and we had to wait around 40 minutes for a table, although not entirely the restaurant’s fault. A table had become available before our friends arrived and their policy is to only seat complete parties so we had to wait around 20 minutes for the second table.

Since I was in New York I chose the grilled pastrami Reuben sandwich. This sandwich came served with sauerkraut, Gruyere cheese and Russian dressing, and a very generous portion of pastrami, all on toasted gluten free bread.

I was impressed that almost all items on the menu could be gluten free. The waiter explained they also have a separate fryer so if I wanted to have the herbed fries, these would be safely gluten free. Who am I to refuse chips on a cold day?!

Unsurprisingly I loved the tangy Russian dressing. Since N and I met when we sat next to each other at work in Moscow, it seemed quite an appropriate choice.

We enjoyed many great meals while we were in New York but I think the food here might’ve been my favourite. I liked the relaxed atmosphere, friendly service and the excellent quality and range of gluten free food on offer.

Address:

Friedman’s Lunch

Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10011

Opening hours:

Mon: 8am – 9pm
Tue – Fri: 8am – 9pm
Sat: 10am – 9pm
Sun: 10am – 7pm

Would I go back? Yes, top of the list on my next trip to New York

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Perk!ier Gluten Free Porridge Launch

Written on March 4, 2013 by Gluten Free Mrs D in Gluten Free Goods, Gluten Free Shopping

Regular readers of this blog and followers on Twitter will know I’ve been a big fan of Perk!er since I first saw them at the Allergy Show last May. The chocolate treats never last long in our house, thanks to (non gluten-free) Mr D’s love of the Perk!er Popping Tiffin and brownies with white choc chunks.

I wrote about Perk!er’s delicious gluten free treats here, including their oat free porridge which I’ve been enjoying al desko sprinkled on Greek yoghurt for my breakfast every weekday since last summer.

To date I’ve been buying the oat free porridge directly from Perk!er but I was thrilled (for both Perk!er’s owner’s Ann and Steve as well as the UK’s Coeliacs and gluten intolerants) to hear the porridges were due to launch in several retailers I shop in regularly including Ocado and Whole Foods Market, with hopefully more to come soon!

On this occasion Ann sent me some of the new Fruity Berry and Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin porridge pots to try out.

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As I’ve come to expect from Perk!er the packaging is bright, fun and engaging.

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Preparation couldn’t be easier – just add boiling water, stir and after 2 minutes the porridge is ready to eat. No microwave, no mess and no washing up!

How did they taste? The interesting thing for me was that adding hot water to the porridge really made the fruit pieces in the porridge expand to become juicy. As I normally eat the porridge sprinkled on my yoghurt, this was a lovely change and I really enjoyed my warming porridge breakfast. There’s a line on the outside of the porridge pot which indicates how much water to add. For me, this made the porridge a little too liquid. So if, like me, you like to stand your spoon up in your porridge, I’d add less boiling water.

Many congratulations to Ann and Steve for expanding their excellent gluten free range and getting their products into some of the UK’s major retailers. For gluten free customers, these delicious porridge pots offer a convenient and easily transportable solution for breakfasts at work or when away from home.

Cost: Porridge pots are retailing at £1.99 in Whole Foods Market and currently on offer at £1.69 in Planet Organic. The large porridge boxes containing 10 generous servings will retail for around £3.99.

Where to buy: Ocado, Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic and Goodness Direct

Further information on their delicous gluten free products can be found on Perk!er’s website

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Cupcakes Café, Port Isaac, Cornwall

Written on January 27, 2013 by Gluten Free Mrs D in Cornwall, Gluten Free Travel UK

The last time I visited Port Isaac was about 4 years ago when I still ate gluten. We’d walked the South West Coastal Path from Tintagel, a walk the man in the Tintagel Tourist Information Office had told us would take at least 7 hours to cover. Being fairly competitive and keen walkers, neither of us had believed it could possibly take 7 hours to cover 9 miles – albeit most of which turned out to be going up and down hill rather than noticeably forwards. In the end the walk took us half that time but we were ravenous from a fairly challenging walk and the sea air by the time we marched into the picturesque Cornish coastal fishing village of Port Isaac. We each greedily devoured an enormous Cornish pasty.

This time, things were different. After a slight incident involving a hungry person (me) watching someone eating an enormous Cornish pasty (guess who) on Port Isaac’s pebbly beach while the tide was out, we sought out something gluten free to eat. To be honest, my hopes weren’t high. But ever the optimist, I’d asked in the Cornish pasty shop if they knew somewhere offering gluten free food. No, they’d said, there’s nothing like that in January. The jolly lady behind the counter (un)helpfully suggested I had one of their pasties and just ate the filling and discarded the pastry. Ummm….thanks, but no thanks!

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So I was ecstatic as we walked up a narrow street by the Port Isaac lifeboat station to find the Cupcakes Café.

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I love it when restaurants and have exactly what I fancy eating rather than just anything gluten free on the menu because there is only one ‘choice’. A bowl of leek, potato and celery soup was delicious and warming.

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The waitress said they usually have gluten free bread but they didn’t on that day. Maybe it was a January thing. They did offer me a gluten free scone but…..

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Slightly overawed with the opportunity I felt it would be wrong to turn down a gluten free cream tea. I’m not a fan of cream but the Cornish clotted cream knocked my socks off, it was SO good. Good job I live a long way from Cornwall and can’t buy any of that! I was also pleased that they had my favourite Tea Pigs tea available.

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I later found out that the Cupcakes Café is run by one of the Port Isaac RNLI lifeboatmen and former Fisherman’s Friend.

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Location: Cupcakes Café, Middle Street, Port Isaac PL29 3RH

Opening hours: Breakfast, lunch and afternoon cakes

Would I go back?: Absolutely. Next time I need a gluten free scone and Cornish clotted cream fix, I’m heading straight for this super friendly café.

Port Isaac Fact: Although I’ve never watched it, Port Isaac is the setting for the ITV series Doc Martin.

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Gluten Free Fish & Chips at Rick Stein’s, Padstow

Written on January 6, 2013 by Gluten Free Mrs D in Cornwall, Gluten Free Travel UK

There are few things which say seaside holiday more to me that tucking into fish and chips while sitting beside the sea, irrespective of the best the British weather can throw at you. Sadly, these days the opportunities for gluten free fish and chips are limited.

So imagine my delight when I discovered that the king of fish, Rick Stein, offers gluten free fish and chips from his establishments in Padstow.

The strange thing is that they don’t advertise gluten free fish and chips either on their website or within the shop. I have no idea why this is.

As well as standard fish and chip shop fare, the menu offers a vegetarian option and also a healthier grilled fish.

In advance of our trip to Cornwall I contacted Rick Stein’s to ascertain whether they were truly gluten free – gluten free batter in a separate, dedicated fryer. They replied immediately to confirm this is the case.

Once I’d ordered the highly efficient staff in the kitchen (even those I hadn’t placed my order with) all seemed aware of my gluten free order. Good levels of communication in the kitchen always impress me and offer me comfort that the team are taking special care with my order.

So how did the gluten free fish and chips taste? I thought the batter was deliciously light, like a tempura style batter. The fish was wonderfully fresh. And the chips! Only chip shop chips can taste as great as these. I thought the portion size was extremely generous, great sized piece of fish and heaps of chips.

We enjoyed our fish and chips while sitting on the highly salubrious location of a large wheel of a digger (not in use!) while overlooking the Camel estuary on what turned out to be the only sunny day of our holiday. Lunch at the seaside doesn’t get much better than this.

Details

Cost: £7.85 for cod & chips (takeaway is cheaper than the restaurant menu pictured above)

Location: Stein’s Fish & Chips, South Quay, Padstow, Cornwall, PL28 8BL

Opening times for Stein’s Fish & Chips, restaurant and takeaway: (Check website here for up to date info)

Lunch
Monday to Sunday
12 noon – 3pm

Dinner
Thursday to Saturday
5pm – 8pm
(closed Sunday to Wednesday for dinner)

Would I come back? Yes. A trip to the seaside is only complete with (gluten free) fish & chips eaten out of the box!

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