Let Them Eat Gluten-Free Cake!

Who doesn't like a good celebration?

Fancy clothes (or plain Jane blue jeans if it's more your style), balloons, friends and family, and yummy, yummy food. That's right, I said it, yummy, yummy food. Just cause you're celiac doesn't mean you can't enjoy your special day with gluten-free style. And just cause it's gluten-free, your cake doesn't have to be dry, dense, and oddly potato flavored.

As previously mentioned, hot tipper Tonia found herself a great gluten-free wedding cheesecake courtesy of helpful baker Lydia at Celene's Cuisine. Since then, I've been lucky enough to be contacted by not one, but two equally helpful readers anxious to connect their gluten-free brethren with scrumptious special event cakes.

If you're in the Northeast Ohio area and your looking for a traditional wedding cake, then have I got a lead for you. Thanks to hot tipper Vicki who shared her lovely wedding photos with me, I learned that White Flower at La Place in Beachwood makes gluten-free wedding cakes! As I so often write this blog from the Caribou Coffee that stares into White Flower Bakery, you can well imagine how I kicked myself for not following my instincts to walk the 50 feet from the coffee house to the bakery and inquire about the possibility of gluten-free baked goods!

No matter, Vicki thankfully did the oh so hard work of test driving White Flower for me. Of her cake, Vicki says:

The cake changed every other tier from lemon with raspberry and cocoa with ganache. I brought Marianne from white flower in a picture I saved of a cake because I thought the flowers were gorgeous. She recreated the cake into a style I loved! My favorite thing about my entire wedding was my cake!! A tad pricey, but so worth it!!!

If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is. And with such a beautiful storefront, it's not surprising that White Flower would create a towering cake that is a true work of art. On top of being so

beautiful, it sounds absolutely delicious. What more could a girl ask for at her wedding? (Other than a groom, but a pretty cake like that, a husband become just a wee bit optional, no? Just me?) [[Edited to add: 3 years later, White Flower tells me they no longer make GF cakes.]]

Just a little west of Northeast Ohio? Fear not readers, because thanks to hot tipper and baker extraordinaire Kristen you literally can have your cake and eat it to. Kristen is the owner and baker of The Gluten-Free Bread Factory in Toledo, Ohio - the name alone makes me want to trek out of Toledo for a visit. Lucky for me, and you, Kristen does a lot of her business online. You can order her bread mixes from the comfort of your couch, and after you get them, you can eat them from the comfort of your couch, too!

Lucky enough to live in the Gluten-Free Bread Factory's area and have a birthday coming up? Kristen makes cakes for gluten-free boys and girls of all ages. Just contact her at kristen [at] theglutenfreebreadfactory [dot] com for more information.

Maggiano's Little Italy

I'd been hearing good things about Maggiano's Little Italy for months. 

These days, more and more chain restaurants are making an effort to connect customers with their gluten-free fair. From Carrabba's to Qdoba, national chains are making an allergy-friendly splash in a big way, providing on line and in person annotated gluten free menus. 

These menus isolate the already gluten free offerings - steak, fish, chicken, without a glutenous sauce, or a salad without croutons and the like. And though such a service is great, as it ensures the waitstaff and kitchen takes us celiacs seriously rather than brushing us off as finicky customers, few and far between is chain restaurant goes out of it's way to provide gluten free option. 

Maggiano's Little Italy offers gluten free pasta. Now that's celiac service.

 

After some careful deliberations between the options, I settled on the Chicken Pesto Linguine - though I substituted broccoli for the chicken, and gluten free penne for linguine - and a salad with gluten free salad dressing. 

The truly cool and exceptional thing about Maggiano's is that the sous chef - Chef Chuck - took the time to talk to me. He arrived holding a special, bright yellow, gluten free ordering pad and retook my order, assuring me of a gluten-free meal; something he could assure me of, as he'd be making my dinner personally. It's great to eat out pretty much fear-free. 

And another note about the pasta dinners. They're huge. I mean huge. After eating my fill, I had enough left overs for two, yes two, dinners afterwards. I'm pretty sure one "serving" is a full box of pasta. And I'm only talking about the half order here. 

Yes, Maggiano's provides excellent food allergy friendly dining (I've heard they're just as accommodating with any food allergy you can throw at them), but I can't give it an absolutely glowing review. In the end, Maggiano's is a chain restaurant, and as such serves chain restaurant food. My pesto was good, not great, not bad, but just kind of average. Blandish. Food that's not offending, but nothing to write home about either. 

That said, I'll be dining at Maggiano's again. It's nice to go somewhere that my family likes and with plenty of options, I'm sure to find something more enticing than bland pesto. I like having nearly the whole menu open to me, and its great to have "safe Italian food" in your gluten free restaurant roster. All in all, Maggiano's is no five star restaurant, but they do offer five star service. 

Jack's Deli

Who doesn't love deli food? Jack's Deli has been a staple in the community, and thus in my family's dining out plan, for years and years, so when my mom suggested it for dinner, I figured, why not. Surely I could find something and if not, well I'd eat a plain bake potato and some salad and let her enjoy the knishes, or giant sandwiches made with thick rye bread, or the challah french toast, or the matzo ball soup, or the blintzes....

To begin with, as always, there were pickles, a bizarre complementary appetizer if ever there was one. The thing is though, growing up around it, the idea of pickles - particularly delicious, cold, crunchy dill pickles - as a pre-meal snack doesn't seem that odd at all. Maybe it's a Jewish thing. Now, there has been a lot of talk about whether or not pickles are safe, what with the vinegar and all. But I've been told personally by Dr. Peter Green that pickles are an acceptable part of a gluten free diet, so that's all I have to say about that. ...Oh. That and yum. I mean, look at them. 

Anyway, if there's one thing non-celiacs take for granted, it's their ability to open up the plasticy pages of any menu and order the first thing that catches their eye. It took my mom, who had decided to go gluten free this evening, several minutes to settle on the stuffed cabbage (stuffed with rice and meat, and smothered in a tomato sauce). The dinner came with two sides -  of the many side dishes, lots of them being naturally gluten free, she chose the cooked carrots and string beans - as well as a choice of soup and her choice of coffee or tea. Since the cabbage was that night's dinner special, her gluten free feast came to her at the incredibly affordable price of $10.99. 

This is especially note worthy as eating gluten free usually comes at a high price. Our breads and pastas are 3 times the price of everyone else's and for what we pay for flours, we might as well own bakeries. So being able to get a meal enough for two days at a reasonable price? It makes Jack's quite a find. 

I was able to order basically off the menu, too:  an omelet with spinach, avocado, and alpine Swiss cheese. My dinner came with two breakfast sides, too, but our adorable waitress Charisma, who was particularly food allergy sensitive, knew enough about how the food was prepared to steer me clear of the french fries and home fries. Instead, she offered to swap out the potatoes and toast in favor of a fresh fruit cup and sliced tomatoes. 

After dinner, I had a short conversation about the gluten free offerings on Jack's menu with one of the owners, Alvie. After a little who's on first type of "what is gluten" education, Alvie offered up several gluten free options - "you could eat a hamburger! or a hot dog! or...!" 

You're right, Alvie. There are lots of gluten free options available at Jack's. But it's more than that.  Jack's touts itself as authentic deli food, and I have to say that I judged every New York deli I ever went to on how it compared to the food I remembered from here. It's good, no, great, to know I can still get hearty meal here, celiac or not. Jack's Deli's easily adaptable menu, the knowledgeable and friendly staff, and the quality food makes it a place that really should be on your gluten-free restaurant Rolodex.