Gluten Free Portland

Your go-to resource for all things gluten-free PDX.

Upcoming Class: Hands on Gluten-Free Mastery

Here’s a class announcement we just got.

What: Hands on Gluten-Free Mastery
Where: In Good Taste in Lake Oswego
6302 Meadows Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035-3280
(503) 248-2015
When: 6:00 PM – Monday, February 20

Here’s a link to the class for more information. The blurb (edited by me for brevity):

Baking and cooking gluten-free is easy when using a pre-mixed box of flours, but to truly make food that is gluten-free without noticing the difference is a bit more challenging. In this class Chef and Nutritionist Erika Renae will guide you through the hands-on process of making bread, savory crepes, pasta, cakes and more…

Techniques you will learn include: Baking, sauce making, sautéing, and frying. Recipes covered include: Fried Yucca Turnovers, Cauliflower and Smokey Blue Sformato, Classic Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons, Homemade Fresh Egg Pasta Pappardelle, Buckwheat Crepes, and Triple Layer Chocolate Cake

Portland Metro GIG Meeting

Just a quick note that the February GIG meeting is this Saturday, with guest Laura B. Russell, who is the author of The Gluten-Free Asian Kitchen (our review here) and the columnist for The Oregonian. Friendly reminder: The room is in between N. Graham and the sliding glass doors of the atrium. Look for the signs.

When: February 11 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Where:
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
2801 N Gantenbein Ave.
Portland, OR. 07227-1623
(503)413-2200
Room MOB

More Info: Call Lisa Shaver 503.577.9339, GIG of Portland branch manager.

https://glutenfreeportland.org/2012/02/08/3866/

Veggie Grill Opening Event

Among other Portland bloggers, we were invited to an event to celebrate the opening of a Veggie Grill in Beaverton, Oregon. Both of us have been vegetarian and vegan in the past, and we definitely do our best to add veggie-friendly info to Gluten Free Portland, so we were really happy to be invited. Here is part of the invitation they sent us:

Restauranteur of the year and native Oregonian Ed Casey is bringing Vegan restaurant Veggie Grill to town! Veggie Grill has hearty comfort food that really brings a new twist to vegan and vegetarian fare. The Veggie Grill menu is satisfying food for vegetarians and vegans and traditionally meat loving folks alike. The restaurant is located at 3435 SW Cedar Hills Blvd Suite D, Beaverton OR 97140.

We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but the website makes it look kind of like a more pricey vegan American fast food joint. That is pretty much what we discovered when we attended the event. I also heard it described as “vegan American comfort food” but it’s definitely not “comfort food” in the collard greens & grits sense of the word. So yeah, I’m going to stick with more pricey vegan American fast food joint. They are a chain that started in Los Angeles, and there is one in Seattle as well. Comparisons to Chipotle, Baja Fresh, and/or Noodles & Company would definitely be fair.

Veggie Grill - the view from the bar

The place was clean, the help was friendly, and the food arrived very quickly. The decor is slick and the restaurant has an upbeat and energetic vibe. Basically the entire menu is salads and various kinds of veggie burger. And here’s where we introduce the unfortunate fact: we’re not really going to be the core audience for the Veggie Grill. The sandwiches are served on wheat buns and the vegan chickin’ and veggie-steak meat substitutes are made with wheat (among other ingredients). The burgers can be served on a bed of kale, and they do have tempeh, so that opens the options up a little bit, but really, almost everything on the menu needs some fiddling to make it gluten-free.

Veggie Grill All Hail Kale

When asked about the gluten-free options, all the staff were able to make suggestions, and it was obvious that the restaurant took the time to educate everybody about gluten issues (which we always really appreciate). The items on the menu that were suggested were the All Hail Kale (pictured above) with tempeh, the Thai Chickin’ salad (but without the chickin’ and wontons), the Bali Bliss Sandwich (but on kale), and the Papa’s Portobello burger (also on kale).

Veggie Grill Portland Bali Bliss on Kale

We sampled the All Hail Kale, Bali Bliss on kale, and the Portobello burger. We both quite enjoyed the All Hail Kale, which is basically a marinated kale salad with cabbage, salsa, and a vinaigrette. It was fresh, light, and flavorful. The veggies were obviously fresh, and the dish was satisfying. Sienna found the Portobello burger disappointingly bland. The Bali Bliss was basically as good as a tempeh patty can be when served on a bed of kale. I like tempeh, and if you’ve had a lot of tempeh, then you probably know what I mean. The tempeh itself was good but not particularly flavorful. It was served with an interesting lightly spicy aoli-like sauce, which helped quite a bit.

The final analysis: We both left with the feeling that we weren’t really the intended audience of the Veggie Grill. Although they’ve definitely done their homework to be gluten-free friendly, the menu isn’t marked, and I think that there’s enough room for ingredient confusion with fakin’ chicken and beef that it probably should be marked. I will say that if we lived in Beaverton and some of our vegan friends wanted to get something to eat, it would be on our list of possible places to visit. Check out Portland vegan blog Get Sconed for more coverage.

Gluten-Free Safety Rating: Gluten-Free Friendly but Ask Questions
Times we have visited: 1 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: same

Veggie Grill
veggiegrill.com
3435 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton OR 97140
(503) 234-7437

Coming Gluten Free Events and Classes for January 2012

Portland Metro GIG Meeting

The January GIG meeting is this Saturday. The topic will be “Gluten Free Q & A with Dr. Jan Gagnon” and samples will be given out by Bridge City Baking. More information can be found at the Grain Damaged website. They also note that the location has changed a little:

Our next meeting will be held this Saturday, the 2nd Sat of the month in a new location. Our new regular meeting space is still at Emanuel Hospital, still on the 2nd Sat of every month. It is now on the south side of the hospital at 501 N. Graham, Portland OR 97227. The room is called MOB, which stands for Medical Office Building. It’s a meeting space attached the the Medical Office Building.

The room is in between N. Graham and the sliding glass doors of the atrium. Look for the signs.

When: January 14 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Where:
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
2801 N Gantenbein Ave.
Portland, OR. 07227-1623
(503)413-2200
Room MOB

More Info: Call Lisa Shaver 503.577.9339, GIG of Portland branch manager.

Gluten-Free Cooking Classes at Bob’s Red Mill

In February, Bob’s Red Mill will be hosting some gluten free classes.

On February 9, author Laura B. Russell will be teaching a class on international soups. This class isn’t billed as gluten free, but it ends up being that way. Regular readers will be familiar with Russell’s great book The Gluten Free Asian Kitchen (our review here). We attended this class the last time it was available and really enjoyed it.

On February 23, Kyra Bussanich will be teaching a class on making gluten-free holiday desserts. Kyra is the pastry chef at Crave Bake Shop, and recently won Cupcake Wars on the Food Channel.

Call Bonnie at (971) 206-2208 at Bob’s Red Mill to reserve your space, and act fast because the classes fill up quickly. Flier with more info is available here (PDF).

Delicious International Soups with Laura B. Russell
Thursday, Feb 9, 2012, 5:00-7:00 PM

Best-Ever Gluten-Free Holiday Desserts with Kyra Bussanich
Thursday, Feb 23, 2012, 50:00-7:00 PM

Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie OR 97222

Miscellanous News: Subway and Burgerville Go Gluten Free Friendly

SUBWAY Gluten Free

We heard about it first on our Facebook group page. SUBWAY has been in the gluten-free news for a couple of months by starting to provide gluten free bread (and brownies?) at their restaurants. We have yet to try the sandwiches, but have heard good things about them. They are also going to great lengths to educate their employees about gluten free issues and to prevent cross-contamination. For these things, I can only be grateful. Here’s a press release they sent us recently:

Gluten-Free goes mainstream: Oregon Subway Restaurants are first casual sandwich shop to offer gluten-free menu items

For the estimated 16 million Americans with gluten sensitivity, eating out can pose a real challenge. Now Oregonians can kick off the New Year with new choices, when SUBWAY restaurants across the state begin offering gluten-free sandwich options and gluten-free brownies as regular menu items after a successful test in Portland and Bend this summer.

Oregon is one of a handful of states to offer these alternatives, based on its reputation for mainstreaming food trends that might be niche alternatives elsewhere. When Subway’s Oregon stores had the highest average number of gluten free rolls sold during the test, it was clear that gluten-free foods are popular locally.

Gluten’s ubiquity can present a challenge for many families and work groups as they try to coalesce around a restaurant choice.

SUBWAY’s wheat-free sandwich rolls and brownies are produced in a gluten-free facility and are individually packaged. SUBWAY sandwich artists are trained to prevent cross-contamination during the sandwich-making process. For example, one employee will prepare a gluten-free sandwich order from start to finish. Other techniques include single-use knives and eliminating contact between traditional sandwich rolls and other ingredients including meat, cheese and vegetables.

Burgerville gluten free bun

Burgerville

Speaking of fast food, Burgerville, Portland’s much-loved burger chain, has come out with gluten-free buns that they are testing at two restaurants locally (25th & SE Powell in Portland and Fisher’s Landing in Vancouver). We went to one of the restaurants to check it out ourselves. As you can see from the photo above, the bun is delivered in a wrapper to help prevent cross-contamination. We were also handed a questionnaire to fill out.

After having heard so much about Burgerville from people we know, we were unprepared for how unappetizing their burgers were. The patties were overcooked. We both felt like the bun, which is produced by Udi’s in Colorado, did not compare well to the buns you can get from Jensen’s. The buns were dry, crumbly, and generally unappetizing. Of course, since the buns were being served in a package, there was no way to toast them, so I guess that would be expected.

On the plus side, the staff was extremely friendly, and the food came out fast. On the minus side, the restaurant was freezing cold. Did we mention that the burger patties weren’t very good? If you want to try them out yourself, Burgerville will be testing these buns until January 12, so you still have a few days left to try them.

Kyra Bussanich of Crave Bake Shop Wins Cupcake Wars

Good news! Portland’s own Kyra Bussanich of Crave Bake Shop has won Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. Kyra is pictured here with Kyra Sedgewick (on the right) and assistant Jackie Schonbrun (on the left). Our congratulations go out to her for the victory. Thanks also for helping raise awareness of gluten sensitivities and celiac disease. Here is the press release. Note that the show is scheduled to be rebroadcast, in case anyone out there wants to check it out.

Local pastry chef becomes first-ever Gluten-Free champion—and first winner from the Northwest—of Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars!”

When: First airing Sunday, December 18, 2011, 8 PM PST
Rebroadcast: Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011 at 8:00 PM PT and Wednesday December 21st at 3AM PT

The Challenge: Pastry chef Kyra Bussanich, owner of Crave Bake Shop Portland, OR the first baker from the Northwest—and first Gluten-Free pastry chef anywhere—to win Cupcake Wars, highly rated show on The Food Network. She competed on taste, texture and appearance against traditional bakers who had no restrictions on their ingredients.

What’s at stake: Chef Bussanich was the first ever gluten-free baker to compete on the show in December 2010. Though judges crowed about her baking, she came in 2nd place.
A year later, she was asked to compete again on the episode titled, “The Closer 100th Episode.” As the winner, selected from 4 bakers who had all previously competed, Bussanich catered a party celebrating the 100th episode of the hit TV show, The Closer, starring her namesake, actress Kyra Sedgewick.

Book and media appearances: Bussanich has appeared on several TV shows (in Portland and been interviewed in several newspapers and magazines and ezines (Oregonian, Gluten-Free Living). Bussanich is currently writing a book on gluten-free baking and lifestyle for Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House.

About Crave Bake Shop, LLC: Dedicated gluten-free gourmet bakery specializing in cupcakes and celebration cakes, but also offering cinnamon rolls, pies, cookies, cream puffs, scones and specialty desserts.

About Kyra: Portland native, lives in Lake Oswego. Graduated from University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Then, after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder, she was forced to switch to a wheat- and gluten-free diet. Motivated to make high-end pastries that she could enjoy, Bussanich graduated with honors from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie program in Portland. Disappointed with most of the gluten-free pastries and cakes available on the market, Bussanich began experimenting with alternative flours and developed recipes that matched her dietary needs without compromising any of the classic bakery tastes and textures.

Gluten Free Desserts in December

Crave Bake Shop on the Food Network

Regular readers will remember that Kyra from Crave Bake Shop in Lake Oswego was on the TV show Cupcake Wars a year ago. It looks like she’s going to be on another Food Network show coming on Sunday, December 18th, at 5 pm Pacific. Here’s the message she sent:

…You might be interested in checking us out on a new (never before seen) show on the Food Network on December 18th at 8pm EST.

We saw the Cupcake Wars episode that she was on, and have to say that reality shows are a lot more exciting when you can root for the home team. We’re hoping to check this out.

Buche de Noel at Pix

Buche de Noel at Pix Patisserie

Speaking of favorite dessert places, Pix Patisserie has some gluten free Buche de Noel available for the Holidays! All of their Buche de Noel are gluten free except for the Candy Cane Ice Cream Cake. Our review of Pix is here. We go there on special occasions and always leave happy. Here are details.

Bûche de Noël is the holiday cake in every French household. Traditionally they are made with a rolled sponge cake and butter cream. Some of the best shops offer creations with fresh fruits, mousse, or even ice cream. Here are Pix’s creations…9” cake $36

Bûche Traditional – The classic cake resembling the Yule log – chocolate flourless sponge cake rolled up with your choice of Hazelnut, Coffee or Vanilla Bean cream. Add a quart of Pix ice cream for $12 (and a real treat!)

Sicilian – Canoli filling, kirsch cherries, chocolate mousse and chocolate flourless sponge cake.

Chocolate Port Fig – Shiny glazed chocolate mousse, port-soaked figs, salted Marcona almonds, chocolate ganache and chocolate cake.

Petunia’s Pies in the Oregonian

Petunia’s got written up in the Oregonian, and the article mentions that a retail store is in the works for next year (see our review of Petunia’s here). The deadline for ordering Petunia’s pastries, cookies, cookie doughs & desserts is this Friday 12/16. Pick up is on December 23 between 11-2.

Support the Arts in Portland – Follow the Creative Advocacy Network on Twitter

Hey everybody. Here’s another “not exactly gluten-free” but something we want to support. A Portland arts organization, the Creative Advocacy Network is looking for your support. What do they need? Just a follow in Twitter, and a Like on Facebook. If you’re wondering about the organization itself, I think that all you need do is check out the board of directors, here.

Click this link and then follow CAN on Twitter. If over 2500 people follow the organization by December 31, CAN will receive funding from the City of Portland.

Things We Like: Work on Your Career

This is the first of what we hope are many future posts where we share resources and things that we think are great and/or would be useful to our readers, even when it isn’t exactly about being gluten free. This item is just in time for your New Years resolution to boost/change/rethink your career, or if you are just hunting for a job. I’ve used their services in the past and have found them to be very useful. Here’s the blurb:

Carpenter Smith Consulting is offering free weekly tips to help people create career success in the new economy. These tips are nuggets pulled from 20 years of experience helping people find meaning and satisfaction in their work lives. To get the tips emailed to you each week click here to add your name to the list. There is no fee for this service.

Carpenter Smith Consulting is a Portland based business that inspires leaders and changes lives through career consulting, executive coaching, leadership development, and business consultation.

This has already started, so sign up now.

Carpenter Smith Consulting, LLC
516 SE Morrison, Suite 830
Portland, Oregon 97214
Voice: 503.274.9447
Email: contact@carpentersmith.com