Category Archives: Restuarant Reviews

The best gluten free in Detroit

Posted on July 22, 2011 | 11 comments

Whenever I go home, it’s always an adventure trying to find something to eat.  Luckily my family is amazing and always has something special for me at family gatherings, like gluten free rice krispy treats, brownies, or fresh fruits and veggies.  They’ve also managed to rework some of our old family recipes to eliminate the gluten in them: like swapping out the cream of chicken soup in Party Potatoes for a can of gluten free cream of mushroom.  Some family recipes happen to be gluten free already too – like this winner from my grandma’s cookbook for NACHO PIE!

Doesn’t that sound healthy, fresh, and light?  Well, not at all.  But I’m sure it’s dang delicious.

Now of course you’d need gf versions of all of the ingredients (usually I substitute slow cooker chili seasoning for the taco seasoning, since gf packets are hard to find).

Back to the point of this post though.  Even though Detroit is still behind the pack as far as gluten free restaurants, there are some that are emerging and some great non-gf restaurants that are very accommodating.

I’m trying to keep this list to Detroit proper, with a couple additions in outlying areas.  And also not including Buddy’s Pizza, because their gf pizza should not be promoted.

Atlas Global Bistro (Menu) $$$$

3111 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48201

Great reviews on this place, and their menu has a ton of fresh seafood, salads, and fancy words.  The paella and Jamaican jerk grilled shrimp sound right up my alley.

Cottage Inn Pizza  (Menu) $$

19222 Mack Ave (this location has gf pizza)
Grosse Pointe, MI 48236

Cottage Inn thin crust pizza used to be my favorite pizza ever.  We would eat it backstage at dance recitals, and some people may have even eaten half of one savagely in the car while driving.  They carry gf pizza at some of their locations – check this map to find out where.

Greengos

Last time I was home I tried to go to Greengos, but they are closed on Mondays (?) 😦  Oh, Grosse Pointe.  There is basically no information on their website, but the menu in the window looked really fresh and they have some great yelp reviews.

Mudgie’s Deli (Menu)

1300 Porter St
Detroit MI 48226

For 75 cents extra you can have gluten free bread substituted on your sandwich.  Most of the ingredients are homemade, plus they have Better-Made potato chips, ice cream from Calder’s Dairy, Sander’s hot fudge, Michigan berries, and lots of other local ingredients, which I <3.  If I went there I would totally get the Sorry Charlie – Mudgie-made albacore tuna salad, Dill Havarti cheese, cucumber, tomato and mixed greens, served with a side of honey mustard dressing.

Rumi’s Passion

41120 5 Mile Rd
Plymouth, MI 48170

Even though this bakery is in Plymouth, I must include it because they have gluten free bumpy cake cupcakes.  Say WHAT?  If you don’t know what bumpy cake is, it’s a Sander’s delicacy.

There also are, like, NO recipes online for a gluten free version.  So I may have to work on that 😉

Other than that, I sometimes get the nachos at Shore’s Inn, thai food at Sy Thai, soup at the Sprout House, and omelettes and bananas and cream at the Original Pancake House.

This post is making me home sick 🙂

In conclusion, Detroit hustles harder.

Do you know of any other Detroit gluten free hot spots? Suggestions and additions are welcome.   I know it’s difficult to find information on anything gluten free in Michigan 🙂

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New Cascadia Bakery – Portland

Posted on July 21, 2011 | 1 comment

I have so many posts to make from my trips that I don’t even know where to begin.  But, I suppose the most impressive place that I went should go first.

After a thrilling trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, where I kicked some butt in old school video games, I headed to the one spot in Portland that was a must-go gluten free place…

New Cascadia Traditional ” The Gluten Free Artisans”

What a pretentious fitting name.

We had just missed sandwich time, which they serve until 3pm, so that was disappointing.

But they had so many other choices that I had to try a few things, one for now and one for later.

For now = asiago bagel with cream cheese.

When was the last time that you could order one bagel from a store, and have them make it for you the way you like?  For me, probably about six years.

It was definitely a great bagel, but I think I may have lost my bagel lust somewhere along the way.  It just doesn’t do the same thing it did for me in high school when I got a bagel with butter on it nearly every day after school (oh the shame).

For later =this amazing pizza with asparagus, mushrooms, blue cheese, and hazelnuts.

Yeah – who knew about the deliciousness of hazelnuts on a pizza?

I ate this for dinner, and then as a snack, and then as another dinner.  I could have eaten the whole thing in one sitting though, but it was really rich, so I managed to hold off.

The only thing lacking at New Cascadia was the customer service.  The girl behind the counter looked like she wanted to kill me every time I asked a question, and heaven forbid I ask for my bagel toasted.  But luckily their food made up for it.   I could have spent $100 on food here easily – blueberry pie, fresh bread, scones, cookies – you name it, they had it.

New Cascadia Traditional

1700 SE 6th Avenue at SE Market (two blocks South of Hawthorne).

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Buddy’s Pizza – Detroit

Posted on July 11, 2011 | 7 comments

I figured while I’m home would be a good time to post about Buddy’s gluten free pizza in Detroit (the location I went to is the one in Grosse Pointe on Moross and Mack Ave).

Buddy’s used to be my favorite pizza as a kid.  Their square crust pizza was a must at birthdays and had this amazing slightly-sweet tomato sauce and chewy crust with little pieces of almost-burnt cheese on it.  Ah to wax nostalgic on my gluten-filled and fancy-free days.

So when I heard that Buddy’s started making gluten free pizza, I was stoked.  I figured that they would try to make it as close to their regular version as possible, and couldn’t wait to try it. Plus I haven’t heard of anywhere else making gf pizza in Michigan.

So my friend and I arrive and order our pizza with green peppers and mushrooms, and sit down to wait the 15 minutes they say it will take to make special.  Fifteen minutes later, they come to tell us that the crust stuck to the aluminum foil that it was baking on (?) …and they used the wrong kind of cheese (?)…so they are going to have to remake it.  Obviously gluten free pizzas aren’t requested very often.  They were very sweet and offered us free drinks and a Greek salad while we waited for Pizza #2, so we sat back and waited some more.

Eventually the much-anticipated Pizza #2 made its debut.

This picture actually looks better than it looked in real life, if that’s possible.  It was pretty small, with thin crust, and had the look of those little pizzas they used to put in school lunches.

And it kind of tasted that way too…

It’s not that it was totally inedible.  But not something that I would order again, and definitely not as good as I can make at home.

Now I will defend Detroit until the day I die for a thousand reasons, but gluten free pizza is not yet one of them.

Maybe next time!

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Breaking News: Most people on a gluten free diet kind of think it sucks

Posted on July 3, 2011 | 1 comment

I was reading this article on jacksonville.com by Mark Basch (The Gluten Free Glutton) about how “43 percent of people on a gluten-free diet rated their satisfaction as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor,’ with 35 percent rating it as ‘average.'” So that’s 78% of people on a gf diet that kind of think it sucks.

How sad is that?

Then I got to thinking about how I would rate my satisfaction with my diet.  And I think I’d say “above average”.  Or maybe “average”?  It’s such a weird question.

On the one hand, I still get to eat things like this massive Thanksgiving sandwich from Terri Vegetarian in NYC.  And I’m very satisfied.

But on the other, sometimes I have to buy the one gluten free veggie burger in the grocery store, which ends up tasting dry and looking like a dirt patty, and I have to slather it with hummus to make it edible.  Then? Not so satisfied.

How would you rate your satisfaction with your gluten free diet?

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Chocolate Fix: Firehook Bakery DC

Posted on June 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

After picking up a shirt from the dry cleaners that I sprayed with curry sauce when I got Thai food from Sticky Rice last weekend, I stopped into Firehook Bakery in Cleveland Park on a whim.

Usually I try to avoid bakeries because of their forbidden fruits and torturous smells.  But I thought I remembered something about them having gluten free options, so I figured I’d check it out.

The guy working there told me that they sometimes have brownies, but since they get all of their food delivered from the central Firehook bakery, they don’t have them all the time.

They did, however, have coconut macaroons.  Which are fine and dandy.  But the real star of their show are the chocolate-covered coconut macaroons.  Not ones with the chocolate mixed in, but covered in a layer of dark chocolate.

After waiting all of five minutes when I got home, I broke into it.  Um…amazing.  The chocolate is dark, but creamy, and the macaroon in the center is really moist.  Plus it’s the size of a tennis ball, which doesn’t hurt either.

If you wanted to make them yourself, I’m sure you could use this recipe tutorial which features a really awkward old people on Facebook interlude around the 2:00 mark… but why do that when the ones at Firehook are this good?

All Firehook Bakery Locations

3411 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20008
(202) 362-2253

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Redemption for Sticky Fingers Bakery – Cookie Win

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

After a less than impressive trip to Sticky Fingers Bakery for a cupcake, I decided to give them another shot this weekend.  This time I had a laser focus on getting a chocolate chip cookie.

When I got there, however, there were none to be found in the case.  Only those darned dry cupcakes.   But then I asked the nice girl there if they had any, and she quickly retrieved one from the back room (not sure why they weren’t out…)

So I forked over my $2.25 and headed out to peruse the farmers market. Nothing like looking at rows and rows of vegetables while eating something made of 80% sugar and butter 😉

This cookie provided redemption for any wrong that Sticky Fingers could have done in the past.  It was more crispy than I usually like my cookies (which is just a bit more baked than straight-up dough), but the flavor was great.  Chock-full of brown sugar and so buttery it immediately greased up the brown paper bag (yum?).  Plus it reminded me of those giant bakery cookies that are sold at Panera or Starbucks that I usually drool over.

I ate a big chunk off, and saved the rest for when I had coffee in hand later, for the dunkability factor.

Now I will give Sticky Fingers my stamp of approval.  Steer away from the cupcakes, but crash head on into the cookies.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

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Zengo

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last Friday I went to Zengo with a friend with the main objective of taking advantage of their $5 mojito happy hour.  Zengo describes itself as a “eclectic, energetic, and hip Latin-Asian restaurant,” and when I went I sampled a bit of each.

Off of their happy hour menu I got some edamame, which they must have smoked (?) or broiled because they came with a nice char on the outside.  There wasn’t much more on the happy hour menu that I was interested in (besides the mojitos, of course) so I asked for their gluten free menu.

Out came the “Arepas de Shitake” (with no hoisin sauce).  Mini cornmeal cakes with shitake mushrooms, guacamole and crema fresca, topped with a slice of some kind of pepper.

Next time I go back I’ll have to get the dulce de leche pudding because it sounds and looks amazing (chocolate caviar / gosling rum~plantain sauce, coconut macaroon)

Zengo

781 Seventh Street NW, Chinatown
Washington, DC 20001
Tel. 202.393.2929

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Sticky Fingers Bakery – DC

Posted on June 22, 2011 | 5 comments

Yesterday after work I needed to pick up some things in Cleveland Park, which conveniently has a gluten free bakery, Sticky Fingers.  Sticky Fingers is a vegan bakery, but they also have a full menu of savory dishes.

I was very excited to see on their menu that they serve gluten free bread and wraps, as well as gf pancakes on the weekends (before 2:30pm).

I think I’ll have to go back for lunch and try the black bean quesadilla, hummus wrap, or Mac n’ Teese (gluten free pasta and daiya cheese).  Their menu isn’t incredibly easy to navigate, since things aren’t marked clearly as gluten free, but they do provide a list of all the ingredients in their sweets online which is helpful.

Since it was dessert time, I was looking for something with sugar in it.  Unfortunately they sold out of their gluten free cookies for the day, so the only option was cupcakes.  They had three gf varieties, all with chocolate cake, and your choice of mint, vanilla, or chocolate frosting.

I nabbed a chocolate one with vanilla frosting, mostly because I’m a sucker for rainbow sprinkles.  They’re like edible confetti.

Now don’t get me wrong; it’s impressive that anyone can make a vegan cupcake taste good at all.  Sticky Fingers uses tofu in their chocolate batter, and soybeans, and a whole lot of other stuff that sounds complicated.  So I appreciate the work that they did that I didn’t have to.

However… this cupcake was no match for Red Velvet Cupcakery’s chocolate one.  The frosting was really good, but the cake itself was just so-so.  I only ended up eating half of it and throwing the rest out 😦

I’m looking forward to going back to Sticky Fingers to try their savory dishes and get my hands on one of those cookies.  The people there were super nice and helpful, and I’m excited that there is even an option within walking distance of my apartment.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

1370 Park Rd NW
Washington DC 20010
(202) 299-9700

Order online

 

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Teaism DC – Fool me once

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last weekend I had a lovely dinner and a movie lady date with a friend.  Dinner was at Teaism in Penn Quarter (they also have locations at Lafayette Park and Dupont Circle).  I was initially excited because they have a menu for dietary restrictions, some great reviews from a decade ago, and they were featured on Rachael Ray’s “40 Dollars a Day”.

I opted to get the shrimp ochazuke – a soup made with leftover brown rice, carrots, cabbage, and a big dollop of wasabi.  A pot of green tea comes on the side, which you pour over the main ingredients to make it soup.

Silly me – but I thought that there would be more to the soup than just what it looks like at face value.  But it tasted exactly like what it sounds like – brown rice with tea.  Hardly any flavor, except for the bit of heat from the wasabi – which I thought was kind of a weird addition anyway.

My friend got the salmon bento box, which looked wonderful, but sadly isn’t gluten free.  The tuna and veggie ones are though, with slight modification (no dressing on the tuna bento and no soy sauce on the veggie).  So, maybe I’ll try that next time.  Although there probably won’t be a next time, unless someone forces me.

Pic c/o wayfaringchocolate.wordpress.com

They were baking something in there that smelled like cinnamon amazingness, but none of their baked goods appeared to be gluten free 😦

Luckily watching Midnight in Paris made me forget about this forgettable meal, plus a little Pitango gelato for good measure.

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Gluten Free Pizza Quest – DC

Posted on June 10, 2011 | 9 comments

So excited to post my first official eating out entry from Washington DC!

When I moved to DC I knew that one of my first orders of business was to find some decent gluten free pizza, since that is one of my favorite things to eat out.   In NYC I tried a ton of pizza (Risotteria, Mozzarelli’s, Slice, Naked Pizza), and narrowed it down to Pala Pizza as my favorite.  The first place that I tried in DC was Ella’s Pizza.

Pluses = they have a number of unique toppings (caramelized onions, gorgonzola and rosemary), they have gluten free beer (Redbridge and St. Peter’s)

Minuses = when you add $2 for the gf crust, it can get expensive for a 10 inch pizza, so I would recommend sharing.  But the biggest minus is that the crust is kind of bready and soggy.  I know it seems odd to describe something gluten free as “bready”, but it was.  I prefer my pizza thin and chewy though, so if you like a thicker crust you may like it.

Ella's margherita pizza

We also got the mini eggplant, parmesan and ricotta rolls as an appetizer.  These were alright, I guess.  They tasted good, but nothing that’s going to blow your mind.

Ella's eggplant rolls

Now, the second place that I tried might be the overall winner – trumping Pala Pizza in a surprising underdog victory.  What is this drool-worthy pizza?

Open City

First of all, I love that you can eat outside here and enjoy a Redbridge with a scenic view.

They also have a lot of other gf options on their gf menu that look amazing – like the Grilled Salmon with Coconut creamed corn & sautéed spinach.

And lastly, every Wednesday night they have a Gluten Free Pizza Party (squeal like a little girl).  When all of their gluten free pizzas are half priced.

The pizza is truly to die for.  It’s one of those things that make you stop and question for a second if it could really be this good and gluten free.  Then you just forget about it, push that thought out of your head, and shove another piece in your mouth.

Next time I’ll have to take a better picture…

Phone picture fail

This time I got the Julienned Vegetable pizza with zucchini, squash, carrots, pesto, parmesan & mozzarella.  I shared it with a friend and I still had a piece left over to take home.  This one was great – very cheesy and a good amount of EVOO spread throughout.  The thing that I love about this pizza is that it has that really great crust that is a bit hard to bite through, and then takes awhile to chew thoroughly.  I asked for a side of marinara to dip in, and next time I think I’ll get a tomato based pie.  Plus then I can take a better quality picture 🙂

Update (8/2/2011):

I went back to Open City with the Gluten Free Grazer, and got a traditional cheese pie with broccoli added. Even though it was no doubt a healthier alternative, I still preferred the greasy and cheesy julienne vegetable one 🙂

 

Ella’s Pizza

901 F Street NW, Washington DC

Gallery Place, Chinatown Stop Yellow, Red & Green Lines

Open City

2331 Calvert St. NW

Woodley Park, Red Line Metro

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