Portland Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Gluten Free Portland

Dave June 9, 2011

Coming Gluten Free Events

The summer is finally kind of showing some enthusiasm for showing up. Maybe. Not that I’m feeling impatient or anything. The good news is that there are some great Portland gluten free events coming up soon. Here’s a quick run-down:

June 11 – Portland Metro GIG

Quick reminder that the Portland Metro GIG meeting will be this Saturday.

When: June 11 – 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Speaker: Rudi’s GF bakery
Where:
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
2801 N Gantenbein Ave.
Portland, OR. 07227-1623
(503)413-2200
Room E-1075/1077

June 12 – Rudi’s Summer Road Trip BBQ in Lake Oswego

Mentioned here a month or so ago, it’s coming this Sunday. From Kyra at Crave Bake Shop:

Rudi’s Gluten Free Bakery is doing a summer road trip and I’ve been helping them coordinate a GF BBQ on Sunday June 12th at Millenium Park in Lake Oswego. It is free and all ages and open to the public and there will be live music and lots of lunchy foods, like BBQ gf hotdogs and hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches etc (from them) and desserts (from me). And did I mention that it’s FREE? we’re finalizing the details, so I’ll be sure to get back to you, but it looks like the event will be from 11:30-1:30 PM on the 12th. Flyer to come!

June 12 Midway Farm Event

This is more of a “gluten-free friendly” event than a full-on gluten free event, but if you are interested in visiting a farm this weekend, this one is for you.

Sunday, June 12th 12pm – 3pm Enjoy a summer day on the farm! Stroll around visiting all the chickens, ducks, geese & turkeys. Meet our famous family milk cow Heidi & Dutch Chocolate our Welsh pony. This is a family fun day at Midway Farms. Face painting will be the rage along with a coloring contest. Midway Farms is located midway between Albany and Corvallis on Highway 20. For more information visit our website www.midwayfarmsoregon.com or contact us at info@midwayfarmsoregon.com

June 21 – Petunia’s Gluten Free & Vegan Bakery Class

We’ve been trading emails with Petunia’s and plan to check them out soon, I promise! In the meantime, you can find their gluten free goods at the Saturday at the PSU Farmer’s Market 8:30-2. If a class is more your speed, Lisa Clark of Petunia’s will be teaching one on June 21st. Here are details:

Tuesday June 21st from 6-9pm @ Whole Foods in the Pearl we will hold a Summer Desserts Baking Class featuring fresh Oregon berries used in three different amazing desserts to wow your friends and family with. You must sign up and pay through the Guest Services counter in the store, or call today before it’s full! 503.525.4343

Summer Camp! and GIG Conference

Grain Damaged has posted a call for volunteers to help out at Summer Camp in July. And also details on an upcoming GIG conference in Orlando Florida.

Dave June 1, 2011

Crave Bake Shop Retail Store Visit

We mentioned not too long ago that Crave Bake Shop, the makers of the best gluten-free cupcakes and desserts ever, finally opened a retail store. The bad news is that they’re all the way down in Lake Oswego. The good news is that you can go get the best gluten-free cupcakes ever. Here are photos from our visit.

We were actually delighted to find that there was a small line and that there were also people waiting for their orders to be completed. The person behind the counter was extremely friendly.

Delicious gluten-free currant scones. These taste exactly like the real thing.

I snagged a quick shot behind the counter. They had a few items on hand, and were busy making other items while we were there. We got the distinct impression that it might be a good idea to call or email ahead if you want to order specific items. Kyra notified us that Wednesday is Angel Roll Day and Friday is Doughnut Day (with baked doughnuts!)

We got a scone, two snickerdoodle “shot” sized cupcakes, and two hot chocolate (something something we forget but they were AWESOME too) regular sized cupcakes. Here is part of their blurb about what they make:

Crave Bake Shop specializes in gourmet gluten-free and made-from-scratch desserts and pastries that are prepared with the premium ingredients such as sweet cream butter, pure vanilla bean extract, Callebaut French dark chocolate, passion fruit puree—and much more.
Those looking to satiate their sweet tooth can choose from a full menu of Crave Bake Shop’s popular signature desserts—like Tart Raspberry Angel Rolls, buttery Orange Currant Scones, addictive gooey Cinnamon Rolls, decadent Peanut Butter Truffle Fudge Brownies, and many other delectable treats such as Chocolate Caramel Ecstasy cupcakes—all gluten-free.

www.cravebakeshop.com
460 Fifth Street
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034 / 503.212.2979
cravebakeshop@gmail.com
Tuesday – Friday 10-5 Saturday 10-4
CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY

Dave May 27, 2011

Restaurant Review: Gustav’s and The Rheinlander

We were a little confused about Gustav’s and the Rheinlander German restaurants. They are listed differently and have different names and websites. So to clear things up: It’s basically the same place with the same menu. Gustav’s is more of a pub atmosphere, whereas The Rheinlander is restaurant atmosphere. Both serve up cocktails and German food. As far as the pub atmosphere goes, it’s barely like a bar or a pub, really. More like a restaurant with a huge bar on one side. We decided to do the pub thing and ate at Gustav’s.

While we’re talking about atmosphere, it would be criminal for us to not mention that there are staff in lederhosen, and that the decor is full-on what you imagine when you think of Oktoberfest. At least that’s the feeling I got. Everyone we talked to at the restaurant were very helpful, particularly our server, whose name was Sara. She was knowledgeable and just: awesome. Gustav’s has a separate gluten-free menu, which they get points for. They also serve gluten-free beer: St Peter’s Sorgham Beer. For the vegetarian readers, I have to say that although they have a separate vegetarian menu, scanning it makes me think that if you’re gluten free AND vegetarian, you should probably steer clear.

We decided to get some drinks, and that was definitely a good idea. Sienna got the Love for Sale, which is vodka, passion fruit liqueur, pineapple juice and orange juice. This tastes exactly like Hawaiian Punch, but with alcohol in it. I got something called a Sea of Cortez: “Arbol chile infused Herradura blanco tequila, fresh grapefruit and lime juices, triple sec, served on the rocks with an Arbol chile, salt and sugar dusted rim.” This drink is awesome! Spicy, bitter, and sour with some hot chile burn. This photo reminds me to mention that Gustav’s has only one gluten-free mustard, the spicy kind.

We have to say that our eating experience at Gustav’s ended up being a little lackluster. The Caesar Salad was definitely of the Americanized, mayonnaisey sort. The lettuce was fresh, but the flavors ended up being too monochromatic for us. We were wishing for some more lemon and some bite to the cheese.

The gluten-free fondue ends up being a little bit challenging. Unlike another place we could name, they don’t serve the fondue with vegetables. Instead, they serve it with two bratwurst sausages. The cheese flavor was good, although we both thought it was too salty. But dipping sausages into melted cheese was a little too hardcore carnivore artery hardening for me. I was really wishing for some veggies or some gluten-free bread pieces. The bratwurst was good, at least as far as we could tell. We’re not really experts in the sausage/wurst area, so your mileage may vary.

Here is where I explain what a schnitzel is. They take a piece of meat like a chicken breast, pound it flat, bread it, and then fry it. In the case of the Gustav’s gluten-free schnitzel, this simply means that they pound it flat and then grill it. This is the chicken schnitzel with portabella mushrooms and mashed potatoes. The mushrooms were the best part, even though they seemed to have been steamed. The mashed potatoes were OK. The chicken was flavorless and kind of overdone.

It seems like you can’t throw a rock in Portland without hitting a slice of gluten-free flourless chocolate cake, and I certainly cannot complain about that! Besides the crazy cocktail, the dessert was the best part of our meal. It was creamy, rich, and had this salty thing going on, which I really liked. Gustav’s serves Illy coffee, which we really love and went perfectly with the flourless chocolate cake.

It was at this point that we decided, based on our first experience at Gustav’s, that they are kind of like the Applebees of German cuisine, except with Lederhosen and wandering accordion players. Depending on your tastes, that might be a good thing or a bad thing. We thought that the food, although it was all edible, lacked a spark. If you scroll back up and look at the presentation on all of the dishes, you’ll see the same thing. It’s all really sort of functional. We do, once again, have to comment about how great the staff was, though.

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

Gustav’s & The Rheinlander
gustavs.net & rheinlander.com
5035 NE Sandy Blvd., Portland OR 97213 / 503.288.5503

Dave December 28, 2010

Restaurant Review: Dinner at Your Door

It seems strange to call Dinner at Your Door a restaurant, when in fact it is a dinner delivery service. Like many people out there, we participate in Groupon deals when they’re interesting. We heard about the Groupon for Dinner at Your Door from someone we know and went for it because they offer some gluten-free options.

Before I get into this review, I just have to say that when we go places and try things, we take notes when we do. While I’m always rooting for the home team, we have to count things as they fall.

Here is how Dinner at Your Door works. As it sounds, it is a company that delivers a meal to your door. They only deliver meals to each area of Portland once a week. The meals have to be purchased in multiples of two and you must buy meals for two weeks at a time. So really, you’re buying at least four meals. Got it? It’s really quite simple, and I think their site probably does a better job of explaining it, here. The price for a meal for two is currently $28/week. So since you have to get two weeks worth, that’s $56. For this you get two meals that will feed two people each on two consecutive weeks. (whew)

I do have to say that their website is set up really well, and while you’re ordering your meals, things get explained very clearly so that you know what is going on. When I ordered, they had three main entrees to choose from. Two were gluten-free and one of these was also vegetarian. Along with the website, they also have a system of sending emails to notify you about when a meal is coming, and also when to leave the dishes on your porch for them to pick up. I was really impressed with the automation that they have set up, and think that whoever designed and built their website deserves a bonus.

Having been impressed with the website, you can imagine my disappointment when our food didn’t show up the morning that our first delivery was scheduled. I happened to have the day off from work, and when the food didn’t show up by 10:00 AM, I called them. Someone answered the phone immediately, and they were apologetic, but they told me that they had already delivered all the food that morning and couldn’t get us anything. This is going to sound kind of goofy, maybe, but Sienna and I had planned out a whole multi-day meal schedule based on the assumption that we were going to have dinner delivered that night, so it really threw a wrench into our plans. About a half hour later, they called me back and said that they had some meals available, but they weren’t from the two choices we had picked off of the menu. The good news was that they were gluten-free. So I agreed.

Somewhere in all this, she mentioned that they were really busy because of the Groupon.

Here’s what we got. A bag with three containers of food, some dressing in a small plastic container, and two pre-packaged cookies. The meal was Mushroom and Wild Rice Pilaf, Broccoli with Garlic, and a mixed-greens salad with a vinaigrette. The meals come in glass containers, so Dinner at Your Door gets green points for not using disposable containers.

Twenty minutes later, we had a hot meal:

Neither of us were particularly impressed with the dinner. The salad struck us as being a lot like the kind they sell in bags at Trader Joes with some bell peppers mixed in. The salad dressing was a rather uninspired and generic Italian dressing. The pilaf was mostly tasteless and one-dimensional. It could have used some garlic and seasoning. We liked the broccoli. The broccoli didn’t come with instructions, so we just threw it in the oven with the pilaf and hoped for the best. Luckily, it turned out great and was tasty.

As mentioned above, the meal came with cookies, which are made by Le Cookie Monkey. Unfortunately, there were no ingredients listed on the cookie package, and no markings for whether or not it was gluten-free. So I called up Dinner at Your Door to find out if it was OK to eat. It was after hours by then, so I wasn’t too surprised when nobody answered. I left a message and nobody got back to me that night. The next day was a Friday and they didn’t call me that day either. I ended up being kind of busy, so I didn’t call them. The weekend passed, and on Monday I finally got tired of looking at the cookie, so I called them again and got the same person. She informed me that while she had got my message, she hadn’t had a chance to call me yet. I got my answer: the cookies are not gluten-free. So it’s a good thing I didn’t eat mine.

Thursday rolled around again, so it was time for another delivery. On Wednesday, we had got an email confirmation that our meal would be delivered the next day, so I was waiting for them, figuring that they would get there soon and I could put the meal in the fridge. The email said that the delivery would happen between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM. By 9:15 AM I was imagining that they were going to miss us like last time. At 9:30 AM, I called again. Someone answered the phone. She was helpful and said she would check the status on our meal and call me back. She called back almost immediately, and told me that my meal was being delivered that morning, but wouldn’t be there until much later. She offered to leave extra ice packs, and reassured me that the weather was cold enough that nothing would spoil. Again, she mentioned that they had been really busy because of the Groupon.

This time we got the Layered Mexican Chicken Casserole, which came with the same broccoli and salad as last time. We enjoyed the casserole a lot more than the pilaf, and we substituted our own dressing for the lackluster Italian.

After the second meal, Dinner at Your Door sends an email where you can arrange to continue to get meals, or cancel. They also send instructions on when to leave the dirty containers out for them to pick up. We opted to cancel. For one thing, we felt that the service was unreliable. While I can relate to being over-worked because of something like a Groupon (we keep hearing restaurant Groupon horror stories), I don’t think it’s a good thing to pass the suffering on to your customers. Maybe a few months from now Dinner at Your Door will have recovered from the Groupon problems. But we still feel kind of burned by it. Last, we tend to feel that when things go awry at restaurants, they will usually make an effort to make things better. We didn’t get that experience with Dinner at Your Door.

I’m betting that our delivery and service problems were not the norm. At the same time, we were left with the feeling that this is a lot of money and trouble for something that we didn’t think was that great. We can think of any number of places to eat in Portland where better fare can be had more cheaply. If we go out to eat, we don’t have to mess with a website, no matter how well it’s put together, and we don’t have to fire up the oven for 20 minutes. We don’t have to dirty our own dishes. We like going out. So for us, it just doesn’t make sense. I could see Dinner at Your Door being a great service if you really hate going out but want to have someone else cook for you one day a week. If that describes you, then Dinner at Your Door is probably a good choice, and I would say give it a try.

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

Dinner at Your Door
www.dinneratyourdoor.com
Portland, OR / 503.701.4531

We want to know: Do you have any opinions about Dinner at Your Door? Do you have a restaurant Groupon horror story? Let us know in the comments!

Dave December 5, 2010

News Bites: Crave Bake Shop Event – December GIG Meeting

Crave Bake Shop on Food Channel

Local gluten free bake shop, Crave, who we reviewed a year ago, wrote in to announce that they’re going to be on Cupcake Wars on the Food Channel. Let’s say for the record that they make the most amazing cupcakes in the world. Here’s the announcement they sent us:

I’m not sure if you heard, but Crave Bake Shop will be featured on the season premiere of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network this coming Tuesday (December 7th). We’re having a huge viewing party, complete with free samples of the same flavors I made for the judges, if you (or your readers) want to come down and see the show and taste some cupcakes!

The party is at Champions Sports Bar in the Marriott Hotel (waterfront): 1401 SW Naito Pkwy from 8:30-10:30 pm (the show is on from 9-10 and we’re taking over the whole place).

I don’t know who they’re up against on the show, but I pity the fools who would have to compete with Crave Bakeshop when it comes to cupcakes, gluten-free or not. If you have time on Tuesday, head down to the Marriott to lend your support!

December GIG Party

The Portland Metro GIG will not be meeting at Legacy Emanuel this month. Instead, they will be having a December holiday party at Pastini Pastaria in Tigard.

When: Saturday December 11 from 12 noon to 2pm.
Where: Bridgeport Village Pastini Pastaria
7307 SW Bridgeport Rd, Tigard OR, 97224.

They are asking that attendees RSVP with kristina.squires@gmail.com.

Dave November 17, 2010

Restaurant Review: Dick’s Kitchen

When we heard about Dick’s Kitchen we knew that we would need to check it out. They’re another place in town using the excellent Jensen’s Better Buns to serve gluten-free burgers. The Dick in Dick’s Kitchen is the owner of Laughing Planet. Dick’s Kitchen is something of a diner-style burger joint with a twist, the twist being that they serve “paleo” food.

The idea behind paleo food is that you shouldn’t eat food that our ancestors didn’t. So there is an emphasis on avoiding processed foods, dairy, cereal grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, salty foods, soft drinks, and refined sugars. During a conversation we had with him, the owner mentioned that this diet also aligns pretty well with the kind of anti-inflammatory diet that a person with rheumatoid arthritis might want to be on. The restaurant doesn’t completely cut out all the items in the above list, but it does make it easy to avoid them.

The place itself is half New York subway (although it reminds me more of the San Francisco Muni subway) and half diner. It has a kind of stark black and white aesthetic going on. Both times we went, the place was packed. The first time we visited, we were able to sit down immediately. The second time we had a considerable wait. The staff is very friendly and were able to answer our questions about what on the menu was gluten free. On the plus side, they do their best to keep everything very clean and do care about cross-contamination. On the minus side, they use the same toaster and cooking surfaces, so like most restaurants, the very sensitive should probably steer clear of Dick’s Kitchen. As for the fries though, they’re not actually fried, so there isn’t any cross-contamination from the deep fryer.

Dick’s Kitchen has a relationship with a cattle rancher in Eastern Oregon where they get grass-fed, grass-finished beef for their burgers. They also don’t salt things. Instead of serving fries, they serve “not fries.” These are fingerling potatoes that have been air baked instead of having been fried in oil. Besides burgers, they serve various kinds of sausage and hot dogs, a few different salads, some burgers made with other kinds of meat and fish, some alternate sandwiches, some extremely expensive shakes, and some vegetarian and vegan options. All of their sides are vegan. There are two flavors of vegan sausage, and also vegan buns. And vegan milkshakes!

Dick’s Kitchen also makes their own condiments. They have: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomato chutney special sauce, horseradish sauce, Cambodian garlic sauce BBQ, wasabi aioli, and chipotle aioli persillade. Along with not adding salt to their food, they don’t automatically add any of the condiments, so you have to ask for them. They are all pretty good. A friend of ours (hi Dr. B!) told us that she opts to bring her own ketchup because they just don’t give you enough.

Did we mention that they have vegan milkshakes? We tried the vegan chocolate shake. It’s made with Coconut Bliss ice cream and oat milk and is awesome. Obviously, people who should stay away from oats should probably get the regular shake. I always just risk oats because they don’t seem to ever make me sick. We also tried the papaya drink, which is advertised as a “healthful aid to digestion.” I wasn’t particularly hot about it, but Sienna liked it.

gluten-free dinner at Dick's Kitchen

We both got the burgers. This is a burger, coleslaw, gluten-free bun, the trimmings, and a side of yam “not-fries.” The burgers are great. The coleslaw is good. The gluten-free buns are, as mentioned, made by Jensen’s and so they are awesome. We also really liked the “not-fries.” I got a chance to sample the regular “not-fries” and definitely enjoyed the yam variety better. Sienna preferred the regular ones, which I have to admit are a little bit more crispy.

Vegan Gluten-Free Dessert

The second time we visited, the owner stopped by, and after talking to us about food and gluten, encouraged us to try one of the desserts. He called it a cobbler, but I seem to recall that it was called something else on the dessert menu. It’s basically nuts over cooked fruit, and it’s really delicious.

Gluten-Free Safety Rating: Gluten-free Friendly but Ask Questions!
Times we have visited: 3 (So we feel pretty good about this rating.)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same.

Dick’s Kitchen
www.dkportland.com
3312 SE Belmont St / 503.235.0146

We want to know: Do you have an opinion about Paleo food? Have you been to Dick’s Kitchen? Let us know in the comments!

Dave November 17, 2010

New Gluten-Free Resource in Portland: Dessert Labs

We’ve featured pieces of news about Dessert Labs once or twice on Gluten Free Portland. I met with them last week and talked to them about their kitchen, gluten-free food, and what they’ve been up to lately.

Dessert Labs is Joe Kalal and Karen Goetsch. Joe is the chef, and Karen handles the business side of it. Joe found out that he had celiac while living in New York, and inspired by the horrible gluten-free food he found there, decided that he could do better. He enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in New York City to learn how to be a pastry chef. Since he couldn’t eat a lot of the wheat-based treats that they learned to cook there, he found that he had to concentrate on using his sense of smell instead. To gauge flakiness, crumb, or moistness in baked goods, he would break them open.

Joe and Karen are relatively new to Portland. They came here from New York City by way of the San Francisco Bay Area. They had meant to start Dessert Labs in the Bay Area, but visited Portland in the summer of 2010 and were delighted when everything just kind of magically fell in place. Within days, they fell in love with the city, found a place to live, and found a kitchen space to work out of.

In late spring of this year, they created a Kickstarter project that raised over $2500. If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a website that is a place for creative people to find funding for their own projects. In a nutshell, a person can come up with an idea for a project, describe it on Kickstarter, and then other people can fund the project (see here for more details on how Kickstarter works). The people who fund a project generally get something out of it. In this case, Dessert Labs funders got care packages and subscriptions of gluten-free goodies. Karen and Joe set their project goal at $1000 and it didn’t take long before they passed it. When the funding doubled, they knew that they were really on to something.

What they are doing now is providing gluten-free baked goods to local cafes and restaurants. As we mentioned before, they are supplying Food Front on NW Thurman with gluten-free pies for the holidays. They also take orders for gluten-free cookies, cupcakes, bread, cakes, and pies on their website or by phone. They also told me that they are interested in taking special orders for people who would like to get a particular baked good in gluten-free form, including people who may have family recipes that need to be converted. They are vegetarian/vegan friendly.

Fortunately, they had some gluten-free treats for me to sample when I stopped by.

What we have here are some shortbread cookies, some cupcakes, and a ball of flourless chocolate cake. These were all really good and none of them had the funny aftertaste that you sometimes get with gluten-free baked goods. The flourless chocolate cake was my favorite item. Sienna and I both thought their cupcakes were really impressive. We’re both dying to know how their pies are. We’ll let you know when we have more information!

Dessert Labs – thedessertlabs.typepad.com – 347-513-5461

Dave November 10, 2010

News Bites: The Holidays are Coming

That’s right: The holidays are coming faster than you can believe. On the great highway of life, I always feel like I spend November and December with my foot on the brake, trying to get things to slow down! On the plus side, there is a lot of gluten-free news to be had. Let’s dig in, shall we?

November GIG Meeting this Saturday

The November meeting for the Portland Metro Area Gluten Intolerance Group is this Saturday the 13th (it’s always on the second Saturday of the month). This month they’re having a potluck. Go here for more information. There is also more info here on Grain Damaged.

Gluten-Free Meet up this Saturday

This Saturday is getting more crowded. Here is an announcement we got from Karen at Dessert Labs:

We wanted to let you, and everyone else gluten free, know that we’ve started a new gluten free meet up group. It’s a chance to get together with other gluten free people to talk, share recipes and tips, and maybe go on some field trips. We’re having our first meeting on Saturday, Nov 13th. The rest of the information is here: http://www.meetup.com/Gluten-Free-PDX/

I just visited Dessert Labs last week and hope to get an article out this week about them. Later note – that article is here.

Gluten-Free Holiday Cooking Class

Enjoy delicious gluten-free holiday foods and recipes in this enjoyable and enlightening class from Jan Gagnon ND. We’ll cover gluten-free appetizers, stuffing, desserts and more, with samples included. Jan has been gluten-free since 1978 and learned lots of good tips for eating in or out.
When: Saturday 11/20/10 1:00-3:00pm
Where: at the Garden Sanctuary in Multnomah Village.
Pre-registration required and includes directions. Cost: $35.

For more info. or to register:503-593-3360 or email jgagnon940@comcast.net 

Gluten-Free Products at Winco

Reader Allyson sent us information about gluten-free products now available at Winco.

I’m not sure if you guys are Winco shoppers but I thought I’d pass this information along anyway…

I was at the Winco in Tigard today and happened to be walking in their bakery section… and happened to look into one of their refrigerated dessert cases. Lo and behold, they are now carrying Udi’s gluten-free bread, bagles, muffins, and pizza crusts. I remember really enjoying the pizza crusts and bread when I was eating gluten-free. The prices looked comparable or cheaper than other stores in the area…in the upper $4 to $5 mark if I remember correctly. I know in the past, Winco has discounted the prices of new products to see what kind of interest is out there. Now might be a great time to stock up for the holidays 🙂

Thanksgiving Pies

So far I know of two local places to get gluten-free pies for Thanksgiving. Here they are:

New Cascadia Traditional will be offering gluten-free pies. It looks like they’ll have an apple pie, a vegan pumpkin pie, a regular pumpkin pie, and a mini pecan pie. They are taking pre-orders until Friday, November 19th for Thanksgiving week pick up: 503.546.4901.

When I talked to Dessert Labs, they mentioned that they will be supplying gluten-free pies to the Food Front Co-op on NW Thurman. It looks like you can also get them directly from Dessert Labs. More info here.
Food Front – 2375 Northwest Thurman Street, Portland – (503) 222-5658

Thanks to Everyone!

As always, thanks to everyone who emails us. I owe some emails to people and I’m sorry they’re late. Talk to you soon!

Dave November 1, 2010

Restaurant Review: Pastini Pastaria Redux

We reviewed Pastini about two years ago when I first started this blog, and it was kind of a disaster. I was just now writing an email to someone where I told them about how I hate giving bad reviews. I just naturally want everyone to do well. At the same time, when we have a bad experience at a restaurant, we have to be honest, and I try to make sure that I am specific about what went wrong with the hope that the owner will be able to fix it. Although I doubt that I can claim credit for the improvements at Pastini since we last visited, they definitely took care of my two main complaints.

When you get a plate of gluten-free pasta at Pastini Pastaria, they bring it out with a little flag to mark that it’s gluten-free. That’s awesome! That way everyone knows that it’s gluten free and you won’t end up with food getting mixed up, or bread being added to the dish. Our other main complaint with the restaurant in our last review was that the pasta had been overcooked. They definitely solved that problem as well. Another score.

In case you’ve missed Pastini, they are an Italian restaurant chain based in Portland. They have four locations in Portland, and a location in each of: Beaverton, Tigard, Bend, and Corvallis. We went to the Pastini on NE Broadway near 14th. Check here for a map of locations. Here is their gluten-free “menu,” which is more like a page that talks about their gluten free pasta and Tiramisu.

The restaurant is popular. We went there with our friends, who go there a lot. Pastini has a lot going for it. It’s a little family, a little upscale, and a little casual. They have a full bar. It’s got a happy energy. It’s a popular place so there’s usually a little wait before you get seated.

Sienna got the Capellini Primavera, which is a simple dish with zucchini, mushrooms, sweet peas, roasted peppers, broccolini, fresh basil and garlic. She got it with gluten-free Ziti pasta and had them add chicken.

I decided to get the gluten-free Spaghetti with Marinara, which is my all-around favorite way to eat pasta. Our friends got the Ziti Vegetariano, which is pasta with zucchini, tomatoes and yellow squash tossed with olive oil, garlic, tomato pesto, fresh herbs, and Kalamata olives. All of our dishes were delicious. The pasta was cooked just right, and the sauces were rich and flavorful.

Our waiter was very helpful and knowledgeable. As we mentioned in our past review, Pastini takes basic steps to prevent cross-contamination, like boiling the gluten-free pasta in different water. Our dishes came out in a reasonable amount of time and everything was the right temperature. Now I just need to talk them into making the meatballs gluten-free!

We didn’t sample the gluten-free Tiramisu, but our waiter told us that it’s a very popular item. I, for one, love and miss Tiramisu, so it’s only a matter of time before we give it a try. But we had other dessert plans that night. For the vegetarians and vegans out there, you’ll be happy to know that there are a lot of vegetarian options, and the menu is also rather vegan-friendly.

We’ll have to go back sometime soon to solidify our feelings about Pastini, but this visit left us with a much more positive feeling about the place.

Gluten-Free Safety Rating: Gluten-free Friendly but Ask Questions!
Times we have visited: 2 (So your experience may vary.)
Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Price compared to “regular”: Same.

Pastini Pastaria
www.pastini.com
Multiple Locations

We want to know: Do you have a favorite gluten-free Italian restaurant in town? Have you been to Pastini Pastaria? Let us know in the comments!

Dave September 16, 2010

Jensen’s Multi-Grain Gluten-Free Bread

We’ve been following Jensen’s since January of this year when they gave us some samples of their gluten-free buns. For an intro to their company, you should check out our initial post about them, but the basics are that Dave Jensen and his wife Debbie have come up with some really great gluten free buns and, now, an amazing multi-grain and seed bread. You can check out their website, here.

Their multi-grain bread looks, tastes, and feels like a real whole wheat seeded bread. When you hold a slice of the bread in your hand, it bends like real bread. Unlike basically every other gluten free bread we’ve ever had, you can eat this bread without toasting it first. Also a bonus, it isn’t entirely made from rice flour and potato starch. Here’s a list of ingredients: Eggs, Buckwheat Flour, Molasses, Honey, White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sweet Dairy Whey, Canola Oil, Teff Flour, Cornstarch, Dry Milk Powder, Tapioca Flour, Sorghum Flour, Montina flour (Indian Rice Grass), Garfava Flour, Xantham Gum, Expandex (Modified Tapocia Starch), Flax Seed, Water, Baking Powder, Yeast, Salt, Sesame Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Potato Flour, Dough Enhancer (Whey, Soy, Lecithin, Soy Tofu Powder, Citric Acid, Sea Salt, Spice Blend, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Flavor), Dry Egg Whites, Pectin, Guar Gum,Sorbic Acid, Cocoa, Coffee.

I’m trying, but I can’t really express how great this bread is. If it’s possible for sliced bread to be revolutionary, then this bread is revolutionary. I’ve tried it as toast, for sandwiches, and for hamburgers. It’s great for all these purposes. As with the Pao Bread, which we reviewed yesterday, the bread is made in Portland in a dedicated gluten-free facility. So you get to support a local small business and also have peace of mind that you’re not going to “get glutened.”

Jensen’s is available at local Lamb’s Markets, Lingonberries Market, and supplies the buns for the Corbett and Hawthorne Fish Houses. They are also supplying PGE Park with gluten-free buns. See their site for up-to-date info on where you can get it.

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