Woke up this morning to the a gluten-free weekly Yelp in my inbox in honor of Celiac Awareness Month.
While I find that searching gluten-free on Yelp isn’t always successful, there are a lot of great lists that people have put together about gluten-free friendly restaurants. This one by Jonathan G is particularly good. Check it out!
Wallse
344 West 11th Street, 212-352-2300
http://www.wallserestaurant.com/
Wallse is the pioneer establishment of Chef Kurt Gutenbrenner’s trio of Austrian restaurants (others: Blaue Gans and Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Gallerie). It is a “modern take on traditional Viennese cuisine.” We chose Wallse to mark the end of our weekend of celebration and food because Alex and Stephanie’s mother is Austrian, and they grew up in Vienna. I took Alex to Wallse for his birthday last year and he was so enthralled with the cuisine, staff, and wine, that it would have been remiss not return to celebrate Stephanie’s graduation.
We had an early reservation, which allowed for some great photos as light pours into the restaurant from its large front windows. The atmosphere in Wallse is sophisticated and cool, without being too stuffy. There is fantastic art on the walls that make for good distractions. When the sun goes down, later, the place takes on a warmer feel that begs the diner to stay for just one more schnapps (which I recommend!).
Being a party of ten in a small restaurant, we had a prix-fixe menu with three choices for each course. Alex took care of choosing the menu items, and let them know of my gluten dietary restriction. To my slight disappointment, there was only 1 item per course that was gluten-free, the others would have to be modified. I found our waitress slightly flippant in regards to both my gluten and another diner’s shellfish allergy. I won’t die from eating gluten (at least not immediately), but this shellfish allergy is deadly and scary. I would have appreciated a more thoughtful response than, “you should be fine” in regards to our concerns about cross-contamination. In contrast, when I was here for Alex’s birthday, our waiter was attentive and knowledgeable, and I have a feeling the allergic diner’s experience would differ slightly with different waiters here.
Anyway, onto the food. I didn’t want to eat seafood for both my first and second course (as I had done at Nougatine) so I chose to get the pea soup with mint, sans lobster ravioli. There is one thing Wallse doesn’t have in common with other high-end restaurants: small portions. My soup was served in a large bowl that could have easily been lunch. Those that had the spaetzle were served entree sized portions of small-variably sized dumplings with rabbit mixed in (and it was a hit!). I tried to eat only half of my soup as to preserve my appetite, but that was a failure. I slurped down the whole darn thing. This was my first non-split, pea soup and it was flavorful, slightly sweet, not heavy, and a beautiful hue.
so much green!
As I alluded to earlier, I chose the steamed halibut with cucumbers, dill, and seasonal mushrooms as my second course. After having fish each night, I was getting bored, but this perfectly cooked, tender halibut broke the mold. IN addition to the quality of the fish, the dill sauce was sweet and a perfect contrast to the earthy mushrooms. Together, it was perfection. It was also too much fish, and I couldn’t finish it after my heaping bowl of soup.
I thought it couldn’t get better, but it did. My only choice for dessert was the salzburger nockerl with huckleberries. It was the group favorite (yay!). The salzburger nockerl is an egg-white souffle and it was served over huckleberry sauce. The soufflee was sweet, and I mean, sweet- almost too much for me which is saying something. But it was just right, and when paired with the tarter huckleberries, it was heaven in my mouth. Despite its intimidating size, I finished the whole thing. It was that good. Honestly, memories of the salzburger drifted through my mind the entire next day.
Despite the lukewarm experience with the waitress, Wallse’s food is so good, its a must-go restaurant for the gluten-free diner on a special occasion. I’m already thinking about how I can get back there for the tasting menu and wine pairing…
Nougatine
1 Central Park West, 212-299-3900
Nougatine is the “casual” restaurant at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship restaurant, Jean-Georges. Casual here means no jacket required, but if you’re a dude, you might want to wear dress shoes and a button down shirt. We had an 8 o’clock reservation for 7 and the place was pleasantly crowded. Nougatine is the bar restaurant and is there for buzzing all the time. Its a lovely, friendly, but elegant atmosphere.
I’ve been to Nougatine twice before, and both times were memorable meals. This was my first time gluten-free. I told the waiter about my dietary restriction and he dutifully went to the kitchen to check what was ok for me to eat. He returned shortly, and let me know that happily, most of the appetizers were (minus the obviously glutened ones), but only three of the entrees were (the snapper, the lobster, and the tenderloin). I was surprised that so many of the entrees contained gluten (usually flour in the sauce), but above all, appreciate their honesty.
For my appetizer, I had the shrimp, avocado, and tomato salad. It was simple, light and refreshing. The champagne vinegrette was so good, it was one of the only times I regretted not having bread to sop it up. As my main course, I chose the snapper, since I’m not sure about lobster, and steak didn’t appeal to me that day. The snapper was good, but not as memorable as other entrees I’ve had before. Alex had the lobster and the ginger sauce was yummy, sweet, but spicy.
Dessert was the hands down highlight of the meal. We know the pastry chef, and he was kind enough to give everyone a sampling of desserts. While everyone else got the same spread, I got my very own gluten-free plate. There were 4 dishes: chocolate glue (fruit leather like consistency), strawberry soup, and lime jelly with frozen coconut balls (like dippin’ dots). The lime jelly (sorbet-like) and strawberry soup were the best. Each were bursting with flavor and tasted decadent in a non-chocolate kind of way. To top it off, the staff brought out a grape ice cream cake on a platter with a huge chocolate statue for Stephanie (this is when I really, really, regretted forgetting my camera). Sadly, we didn’t get to eat the chocolate.
Go to Nougatine, tell them about your dietary needs, and they will not only take care of you, but blow you away with their simple and outstanding food.
Heidi’s bread is delivered FRESH every Tuesday and Saturday to the midtown Westerly Market on 54th and 8th.
Cafe Blossom
466 Columbus btwn 82nd & 83rd
212-875-2600
Last week, I had a dinner date with with one of my favorite people and fellow glutard, Erin. Having dinner with Erin is great, because there is no excuse not to try a new gluten-free friendly restaurant. After deciding that the Upper West Side would be our dining locale, Cafe Blossom was an easy choice because of its fabulous GF labeled menu and reasonable prices. Other GF friendly options considered were Sambuca and Hampton Chutney. Sambuca was ruled out because it is family style, and doesn’t make sense for two people price-wise, and Hampton Chutney was more of a take-out place. However, they are still on my list of GF places to try.
Cafe Blossom is a vegan restaurant with two sister restaurants: Blossom Bistro on the Upper East Side, and Blossom, the original more upscale version of the two in Chelsea. All three have a reputation for affordable, delicious, and innovative vegan food.
I arrived at Cafe Blossom at 7:30 pm, to a relatively empty restaurant. I was seated immediately. I noticed, however, between 7:30-7:45 the place filled up with many couples, families, and groups. It was clear that Cafe Blossom was a neighborhood favorite and destination. The interior is warm and inviting, with low-lighting and earth tones. The ambiance and leather menus made it feel more luxurious than the prices indicated. It was lovely.
Erin works for a wine importer and distributor, so I trust her judgement when it comes to wines. We went for a glass of the South African Pinotage, which was the least expensive red on the menu at $9, slightly pricey, but it was a large glass and much needed after our (Erin’s especially) long days at work. Erin didn’t spit it out, so I took that as a sign of its (good) quality despite being the cheapest on the menu.
Revving up for a weekend in Atlantic City, I was feeling more frugal than usual, so I ordered two appetizers instead of an entree: the Cream of Turnip Soup (ramp butter, toasted fennel seed) and the Pan-Seared Polenta (shaved baby artichoke salad, parsley sauce). Erin ordered the Moroccan Glazed Tempeh (eggplant-chickpea stew, red bell peppers, sweet potato, creamy fennel-black olive relish).
Tempeh
The polenta looked like sea scallops, which was cute, and was yummy,though not outstanding. The shaved artichokes didn’t really add much in terms of flavor or texture, and the parsley sauce could have been stronger. After this polenta experience, I’ve decided I prefer the texture of creamy polenta better. The turnip soup was much better. The ramp butter really stood out and gave the soup a contrasting slippery smooth texture against the turnip puree. I swear I could taste cinnamon in the dish, but it could have been the toasted fennel. Either way, it was a fantastic flavor combination. Erin’s tempeh stew was really, really good. It was homey and comforting, but not too rich. It would be my entree of choice if I were to return. We were offered dessert, but neither of us felt that dairy-free ice cream sounded appetizing enough. Once day I’ll try it though.
polenta
Cafe Blossom is a really great gluten-free friendly restaurant. It is innovative and fresh, with dishes that don’t scream vegan. For the price, I don’t think you’ll find a better GF option with more interesting dishes if you’re willing to forgo dairy, eggs, and meat. If I can convince my boyfriend that he doesn’t need these above mentioned items, I think I’ll take him to Blossom for a date night.