La Dolce Vita / The Chop House - an Ann Arbor Dessert Destination

This is a Chocolate Melt Cake. Drizzled with chocolate syrup. Covered in house made Almond Ice Cream. Topped with slice almonds. Accompanied by a stick of dark and white chocolate. 

And this is the only picture I have of it.

This luscious, moist cake comes to you straight from Ann Arbor's La Dolce Vita - the dessert and wine bar situated in between upscale American restaurant The Chop House and Italian restaurant Gratzi - all three of which are owned by the same group, and all three of which have gluten free menus and celiac knowledgeable staff. 

As is imperative when you're talking safe gluten free fare, all of La Dolce Vita's gourmet desserts are made on site. Not only was the pastry chef on hand, not only can deserts be tailored to your gluten free needs (without that pesky wafer so many pastry chefs love to gluten up otherwise safe mouses and puddings with), but when you have a knowledge person in the kitchen, you can put your money on a safe, cross contamination free dining experience. 

Even though we arrived near 10pm on a week night, we were pleased to find the pastry chef was still there. She and our waitress pow-wowed on my gluten free needs, and were able to offer me several of the naturally gluten free confections on the menu, including approximately eight types of homemade sorbets and ice creams, a fruit and cheese plate, a sumptuous rice pudding with blood oranges, and, of course, the chocolate melt cake. 

Obviously, we went with the cake. 

This thick, deeply chocolate confection would've been enough on it's own, but pared with almond ice cream? I'm amazed I managed even one picture before we lapped it up. 

If you didn't know already, I love anything almond, anything dark chocolate, and any time I can safely dine out without worrying about being glutened. But a dessert bar in the Midwest that actually bats a 3 out of 3? Well I'd say that place pretty much offers a perfect dining experience. My boyfriend heartily agrees, giving La Dolce Vita's Chocolate Melt Cake a 9.9 out of 10, explaining the dessert only missed the mark because he could've done with another serving (or six) of it. 

I do love to make my boyfriend happy, so I'll just have to placate him and make sure we spend an evening at La Dolce Vita next time I'm in town. And if my arm gets twisted into tasting that tempting blood orange rice pudding? Well, that's just something me and my taste buds will have to deal with. 

Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream really is Purely Decadent

I have been wanting to try Soy Delicious' Purely Decadent Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream for months, but as much as I was interested, I couldn't justify the expense, or the calories. 

At 230 calories a half cup, its significantly higher calorie than ice cream I generally allow myself. After all, with the extra caloric value of gluten-free products, I try to stick with sorbets or chemical free, low calorie ice creams like Bryer's. And while I can walk past favored Ben and Jerry's flavors with hardly a turn of my head, there's something about the words "gluten free cookie dough" that stops me in my moose tracks. 

Yes, I've resisted temptation time and time again. But after munching on a salad while my boyfriend and his family ate the most amazing smelling pizza - the kind that makes the smell of oregano and garlic linger in the air for hours after the last piece had been gobbled up - I decided enough was enough. I deserved a treat too, darn it. 

Okay, okay, but how was it? 

My first few bites were... admittedly a little disappointing. Between the soy base of the ice cream and the rice base of the cookie dough, there was a distinct "this is fake" taste that I didn't immediately care for.

 

As I pondered how those gluten-free cookie dough balls would taste in regular ice cream, something funny started to happen. Within a few spoonfuls, my taste buds had realigned to the soy taste and I soon found I was enjoying the product; without a doubt, it really did taste like ice cream. 

A fantastic gluten free treat, the cookie dough pieces are nestled in vanilla ice cream with generous flakes of chocolate mixed in. Soy Delicious calls its new line of premium dairy free ice cream "Purely Decadent" and indeed it is.  While it's certainly not an everyday treat (says the girl who had a bowl two days in a row...), the website is quick to point out that it has 65% of the calories of premium dairy ice creams - a serving of Hagan Daaz, for example, hovers around 400 calories - and is cholesterol free, free of trans fats, made with certified organic ingredients, and is certified vegan. 

The Turtle Mountain website - the makers of soy delicious and other fine dairy free products - offers a table that clearly marks off the allergens in their products and makes finding great gluten free, non dairy ice creams and yogurts a breeze. 

That in and of itself is "purely decedent", the great flavor and the advent of gluten free cookie dough is a pretty fantastic added bonus, though. 

Tremont Scoops

Of all the things I miss about New York, cultural festivals near the top of the list. From the small street fairs featuring the same Dolce & Gabbana purses and lucky bamboo the street vendors tried to peddle the week before to the giant, ethnically themed block parties, New York knows how to get people on the streets. 

While Ohio has a lot of festivals (the Circleville Pumpkin Festival, for example, is just three weeks away), few I've been to capture the community aspect of New York Street Fairs. Maybe that's why I so enjoyed the Tremont Art and Cultural Festival. The whole of Lincoln Park was undertaken by tents and tents of activists and artists promoting their causes and their wares. The underlying reason for the festival, though, was to promote the up and coming  Tremont neighborhood. For a supposedly dying city, I keep being surprised by how much Cleveland has to offer. Tremont, with its quirky stores fronts, multicolored houses, many galleries, and neighborhood restaurants is, well, cool. I like it. 

After browsing tents of jewelry, sculpture, locally produced honey, fair trade coffee, and hand painted Latin American figurines, it was clearly time to browse the restaurant stands. Now, while I really do like most things about street fairs, I have to say walking through stands and stands of food I can't eat isn't much fun. Everything smells and looks great, but most of it is completely poisonous ends up being just a tease. But since my mom was talking about checking out local ice cream shop, Tremont Scoops, when we were done with the festival, I figured I'd at least walk through the food section with her while she looked for some lunch.

We were both pretty pleased to find Tremont Scoops had set up an ice cream wagon. Unfortunately, due to weather and logistical constraints, the cart only had glutenous ice cream sandwiches and suspect chocolate covered bananas. Ready to be disappointed, I asked if the woman selling the bananas if she knew what was in the covering: You see, I'm allergic to wheat...

Maryanne, owner of Tremont Scoops, knew exactly what I was talking about. The bananas were gluten free, but more than that, she said she gets a lot of celiacs (yes, she used the word!) in her shop. She knows what's in all of her ice creams and frozen treats and - if you make sure to mention your gluten free needs to her - she can steer you to safe ice cream, from scooped with utensils and from vats she's cleaned personally. There's probably no safer dessert in town. 

The bananas were great. I mean, who doesn't like food on a stick? Rolled in nuts and covered in chocolate, the banana made for a perfect snack (or actually, lunch) as we explored the rest of the festival. But don't just take my word for it; people kept coming up to us, asking where we got the unusual treat. I'm not really used to anyone wanting to eat the same thing as me, much less actively seeking it out.  As I pointed them in the direction of Maryanne and her cart, I was almost tempted to add they're not just delicious, they're food allergy friendly, too! 

The Tremont Arts and Cultural Festival was all about sharing local products and showcasing local artisans.  It was about making Tremont a place people want to go, a place people feel safe. Funny, those are the things I look for in a gluten free eatery. A lot of Clevelanders tend to stay in the suburbs - many rarely leaving their side of town. But they shouldn't. They should be checking out Tremont and all it has to offer. A great local stop, Tremont Scoops satisfies the needs of the up and coming Tremont Community and the ever growing Cleveland celiac population. Make sure to check it out soon! 

Dippin Dots - Ice Cream of the Future!

I had my first experience with what I will always call "space ice cream" at a science museum when I was young. If you've never had it, this gimmicky ice cream is compiled of little ice cream balls (the so called dots) about a centimeter in diameter. I'm not sure what exactly makes it ice cream of the future, other than it's presence at science museums and planetariums nationwide, but it's billed as the ice cream of astronauts and other space men, and that's good enough for me. Imagine my surprise then when I found out that there are not one, but four locations of Dippin' Dots at non-science educational sites in the greater Cleveland area. 

My astonishment doubled when, upon walking into the Dippin' Dots on Miles Road, I came face to face with a whole slew of allergy information. I scanned past information on the usual suspects - nuts, milk, soy - and was pleasantly surprised to find information on gluten. The ice cream itself does not contain gluten, but like any good establishment making sure it doesn't get sued, it maintains it cannot attest to the flavorings of it's third party vendors. 

Well. I guess I'll get vanilla, I thought, plain ordinary vanilla. But the two women behind the counter saw me reading the allergy information and asked what I was allergic too. I explained my situation and the manager asked which flavor I was most interested, offering to personally check the ingredients for me. I scanned the offerings and selected Moose Tracks - I mean, who can turn down peanut butter and chocolate? 

A few moments later, she returned, bringing the bag of dots out for me to read, saying "you probably know what you're allergic to better than I do".  I always appreciate that, when people know their limitations and respect your knowledge of your own body. 

As it turns out, the moose tracks was gluten free, well as far as I can tell anyway. That third party vendor line always leaves me questioning myself, but in this life, sometimes you've got to take risks. Especially if it involves space ice cream. 

(I'm being a little glib here, but it's for the same reason those catch all, noncommittal warning labels exist. The fact is, I think it was okay, but I have no solid proof. I'm very careful about these sort of things, but one never knows.) 

The moral of the story is, Dippin' Dots was a fun and delicious outing. And I learned, once again, that it never hurts to ask for a little special treatment; you'd be surprised how willing people are to work with a food allergy. In the world of the future, we'll have cars that run on solar power, world peace, and easily understandable allergy information every where we go. Until then, I guess I'll settle for ice cream of the future. Especially when it's this yummy.