Melbourne. Think enchanted laneways and doggedly serious cafe culture. Affogato is on Hardware Lane, which is wider and less european-feeling than the better known alleys, but it’s still car-less, smack central on the CBD grid and a peaceful urban enclave to down some nosh.

Clearly proud of their gluten free options, Affogato are one of only a few places I’ve seen to use the term ‘coeliac friendly’. On the ‘Eggs’ menu above, gluten free bread was available with any order and there were two items which were gluten free by default. The ‘Healthy Hit’, corn and zucchini fritters with spinach, poached eggs, tomato and avocado was one, the other was ‘Kasundi Eggs’ with those same fritters, poached eggs, avocado and spicy kasundi relish. The Kasundi Eggs are pictured below – opt to have the relish on the side is you’re a wuss like me, it packs a spicy punch.

The retro plates took me right back to my chops and veg childhood. Fortunately the food didn’t.

29 Hardware Lane
Melbourne
Vic 3000

http://www.affogato.com.au/

Gluten free menu: http://www.affogato.com.au/gluten-free/

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Gluten free + vegetarian peeps won’t starve in Bondi, there are plenty of little nooks to stave off hunger. The Earth Food Store is laden with organic and wholefood produce. Shoppers after an instant food fix can order at the cafe counter.

There’s always a couple of savoury and sweet gluten free options and the staff know their stuff. Expect rice balls, wraps and intriguing beany-based goods – dine at the bar, at the long table in the shop or scoot off with take away.

Gluten free ginger and lemon slice…

And it’s just a hop skip from the beach, snuggled in with edgy boutiques and organic everything shops.

Earth Food Store
81a Gould Street
Bondi Beach
NSW 2026
Australia

http://www.earthfoodstore.com.au/

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Luckily for those in San Fran, there’s the Askew Grill.

They have a pretty extensive gluten free menu, and it’s true, much of it is skewered;

above is the herb salmon. Some of the skewers come with mashed potato, others with rice. This is not a place you’re likely to leave hungry. May I present grilled marscapone polenta;

and the old favourite, hummus with corn chips;

Vegan, vegetarian and kids menus are also hot to trot. Expect a laid-back, casual vibe and enjoy feeling like an almost-normal person. Hooray!

We went to this one:

Askew Grill
1607 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
415 701 9301
but there are 4 locations + a catering service.

http://asqewgrill.com

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Zion National Park at night.

Yikes – just a couple more US entries before I start on some wonderful new places I’ve found in Australia.

There were moments on this trip to the US when we’d been travelling all day with two kids in the car (who were not always appreciative of the panoramic views and eye-boggling geology), we were in the desert in full Summer, we were sunburnt, we were tired, it was stinking hot and deathly dry. Then we would stop, hungry like hippos. At these times, exhausted from travelling, the last thing in the world I wanted was to explain to some poor, blank-faced waiter that I have special dietry requirements. Especially in remote areas when there was nowhere else to eat. I am so pleased to have tackled the gluten free diet so smoothly at home and thrilled that I can deftly navigate restaurants in new cities, but occasionally, let’s face it, being gluten free is a complete pain in the butt.

So. I ate salad. A lot. With no dressing.

And quite a few steaks. With no sauce.

BUT. I have to say, I was totally impressed with the National Parks we visited in the US. We stayed at the Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim) and Zion National Park. Monument Valley wasn’t quite as good on the gf (that’ll be another salad then), but it was such a phenomenal place it’s well worth packing your own food for.

Monument Valley – that white line is a road down there with cars on it – taken from The View Hotel where we had lunch…. salad again.

Zion National Park – We were bowled over by Zion. It was so great to see trees after days in the desert. The accommodation was little huts with tonnes of character, reminded me of Grizzly Adams. There were lots of other small people to play with and the kids were gleeful. The main restaurant (Red Rock Grill) was great, though the waiter wasn’t quite sure what gluten was (he thought taking the rice out might help). Luckily the chefs were on the ball.

This is (from memory), seared Alaskan trout with cranberry pilau rice and a tangy citrus jus. It was sensational. The Americans have got this National Park thing sussed.

Our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon – South Rim.

Gluten free in the Grand Canyon? We consulted with the visitors centre and they recommended not trying the main cafe (very limited), but Bright Angel restaurant was decent, see the menu here – lots of Mexican influence, ‘Sunset Sour Cream Chicken’ anyone?

The annoyance of explaining my diet was completely overshadowed by seeing the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, staying in a traditional hogan and riding palomino horses through Monument Valley with a Navajo Indian guide and following deer and coyotes after swimming in the river in Zion National Park.

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Janice, the owner, says they are a ‘different kind of bakery’, they are organic, wholegrain, gluten-free and free of casein, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, soy and gums. Don’t even mention trans fats or preservatives. Whoa – what does that leave??? Well they seem to be doing pretty well – there are lots of different breads, cakes and pastries on offer.

Breakaway also make savoury goods including ‘Challah’, a Jewish bread that has to have a particular amount of oats to be able to say a blessing over it – as if being all those things-free wasn’t tricky enough – this is baking gymnastics!

They only use organic brown rice flour, except in the oatmeal cookies and the challah rolls, which have gluten free oats… oats are still controversial for coeliacs in Australia and I wasn’t quite ready to go there yet – maybe that’s why we’ve added the extra ‘o’ in coeliac, to remind us.

Breakaway don’t use flour-blends, they only use organic brown rice flour – Janice (left) believes they use about 400% less starch than other gluten free baked goods. They also sell cookie and cake mixes in tubs if you need more for later.

Janice has been gluten free for nine years and has two daughters who are also gluten free – her littlest daughter who is not gluten free inspired the bakery, she wanted to bake things that her Mum could eat – so sweet! That was seven years ago now, so there’s a chunky base of recipe development.

All this happens in a pretty little art-deco building in mid-city – but don’t let proximity put you off, they also deliver (though perhaps not to Sydney…)

For people with food allergies in LA, Breakaway Bakery is gold.

Breakaway Bakery
5264 W. Pico Blvd.
LA, CA 90019

https://breakawaybakery.com

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Gluten free Asian food is such a treat. Zadin is ‘contemporary Vietnamese’ + in the hip and cosy neighbourhood of Castro to boot.

I’m going to let the pictures do the talking for this blog entry – suffice to say that it was a delight, there were many many gluten free options, including these divine crispy Imperial Rolls (above) with shrimp, noodles, carrots, onions and mushrooms. They win the award for the stand-out most-delicious item of the night.

Yep – even gluten free beer – Redbridge.

Above is the Land and Sea soup,

below is the Satay chicken noodle soup..

Superb.

Zadin
4039 18th Street
San Francisco
CA 94114

http://www.zadinsf.com

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Mariposa is on the inside of the Ferry Building, their choc chip cookies were recommended to me by the wonderful michelle@spinningspoons.

About to fly out of the country with crapola United Airlines (no gf meals), I stocked up on a veritable hamper which kept me happy all flight long.

My picnic included a cream cheese bagel, a strawberry tart, some cookies and a coconut lemon square. The stand-out item was the strawberry tart – oh my god! Gluten free pastry?? It was, as they aim for at Mariposa, totally indistinguishable from top-notch gluten-full pastry. Perfect, robust consistency, the sweetest filling and just the right amount of icing squiggled on the top – and the pastry was not just a token effort, jammed into the base, it covered the entire piece. Check them out front and centre below;

The bagel was also great – held together fabulously without being dry or crumbly (on the poles, above right). The choc chip cookies (middle – back) were chewy – chewy! That’s soft and chewy, not can’t-get-teeth-through-it chewy. How often does that happen to any gluten free item? Perfect.

Not sure what these were above to be honest, but as with everything else, they’re perfectly presented.

There was also a stash of gluten free frozen goods – breads, pizza and the like.

Mariposa was started by a woman who couldn’t find the things she wanted to eat. I’m hoping it triggers a global franchise because they are onto a winner.

Mariposa
One Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA 94111

http://www.mariposabaking.com/

There is also a Mariposa bakery in Oakland – lucky sods.

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If you’re starting a desert road trip from Las Vegas in Nevada, you absolutely must have brunch at The Cracked Egg before you go. Not just because the distances are huge and you’re likely to be setting off for a good few hours, but also because, as with most countries (with the exception of the excellent US National Parks), the further you get from the city, the less gluten free knowledge there is. It’s pretty much blank looks, salad and steak from now on in.

The Cracked Egg has a ‘gluten sensitive’ menu, below are sausages (funny shaped! It’s an American thing), a poached egg and hash browns – I was so excited to be able to eat hash browns, even if they didn’t look anything like what I was expecting.

The service was fantastic, though they were probably a bit bewildered by how enthusiastic I was. They even had gluten free pancakes, how often does that happen!?!

The berries can be served on the side or in the mix.

There are four Cracked Eggs in Las Vegas to choose from, I don’t think any of them are handy for the touristy areas which is great for price, quality and mingling with the less-spangley locals. Not so great if you don’t have a car or much time.

We visited the Henderson branch which was in the right direction for the open road, parking was easy and there was a huge ‘Smiths’ supermarket next door to stock up on essentials for the trip like water and gluten free snacks for the starving.

There were many occasions after we left Las Vegas when I wished I was back at The Cracked Egg.
It’s a treasure.

oh – and get there early on weekends when many, many eggs are cracked.

http://thecrackedegg.com/

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Excellent! We felt we’d made a noble and educated choice. But when the day came, it was a shocker – the 2 hour drive to Santa Barbara was terrible, the kids played up, we fought over directions like Mr & Mrs Incredible, took a few wrong turns and almost missed the boat. Then we set sail and the winds were stronger than forecast, the sea was choppy, the route was long and we saw nothing! Not a sausage!!! Four hours on a turbulent sea for naught. The little one stayed in the cabin, asleep on her Dad’s arm, I sat out on the bow, anxious about sea sickness which thankfully never arrived.

Back on shore in the early evening, disappointed, exhausted and hungry in an unfamiliar city, this place appeared like a vision:

Adama is in a quirky, historical building, chunky with character. It’s odd shapes, cosy booths and bench-top dining would suit any occasion. There’s local art on the walls and flowers on the tables – it’s cute!

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, depending on the day, we were here for dinner and these nachos went down well;

We also tried the gluten free, vegan pizza and the chile verde enchiladas with cashew cream – there were lots of gf options on the menu and the staff sure know what they’re talking about so you’re in good hands. As with many Californian restaurants, there’s a Mexican influence in the menu – there were flavours in the food here that I’d never experienced before.

The bakery counter has a cracking assembly of rarely-seen gluten free + vegan baked goods  – only the cookies (bottom left) in this picture weren’t gluten free;

We tried the carrot cake and it was exceptional – super carroty with a beautiful squelchy consistency. The owner wasn’t amazed when I told her how wonderful the cake was, she’s been baking for many years – but vegan + gluten free does not always guarantee fabulous cake!

Blue whales were seen the days before and the days after we were in Santa Barbara, and literally thousands of dolphins. Despite it all, I would probably make the same choice again, and I know where I’ll be going for lunch.

Adama
428 Chapala Street,
Santa Barbara
805-560-1348

http://adamavegan.com/

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Wholefoods – If you’re near one of these (and there are a lot of them) you’re going to be ok. Not only do they have a hefty selection of gluten free grocery goods, including crackers, biscuits and cakes, but there are loads of hot foods to choose from – most of them with carefully detailed ingredients. It’s an open buffet so there may be a possibility of cross-contamination with the servers, but you’ll find something that you’re comfortable enough to eat. There are pre-prepared, individually contained gluten free desserts too. Sorted.

We also tried the True Food Kitchen in downtown Santa Monica. It’s a big, fresh-looking place and there are those fabulous ‘gf’s on the menu – hooray!

Here’s the strawberry, feta cheese & walnut salad I had (it may have had more strawberries on it before I snapped this – little fairies took them).

T

There was also gluten free pizza – here’s a kids mozzarella and organic tomato pizza;

If you do a google search for gluten free in Santa Monica – it comes up with a little bakery in Venice Beach – the Gluten Free Goddess Bakery (671 Rose Avenue, Venice), which sounds pretty alluring. Cookies are the exclusive product of the bakery and there are a range of flavours – you can buy these at the shop on Rose Avenue, but if it’s out of your way, they are also sold at the Venice Farmers Markets and distributed to all Groundwork coffee shops in the region. The shop is not a dedicated gluten free bakery outlet – it’s a standard non-gf food shop that leases the kitchen at the back to the good people who make these cookies:

That one was well-travelled and falling apart a little by the time I snapped it (as was the double chocolate brownie version, I had to try both!).

On a non-gf note, we booked a house through ‘Vacation Rental By Owner’ and it was absolutely fantastic – this was our Santa Monica pad.

So much nicer to have your own place (kitchen!) for a week than stay in a hotel – and for around the same price. We did get totally stung on car hire in LA – booking a hire car in the US for Australians is fraught and confusing. We booked our LA car rental through the qantas website and it was a disaster – as with many of the US car rental website options, it didn’t include insurance and the insurance, which is purchased on car pick-up, ended up costing substantially more than the car hire itself. We cancelled future US car hire bookings and re-booked through www.traveljigsaw.com.au which includes insurance in the total price (I believe this site works for Australians only). Also – turn your phone off or get a US sim on arrival – smart phones rack up the data at a phenomenal rate (even if you’re not looking at the downloads) and roaming ‘bill shock’ is not fun.

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