Chipotle is GF! But...

**Update!**

I went to Chipotle for dinner after discovering that everything (supposedly) was GF except the flour tortillas.  While the individual items may be gluten free, there is a definite cross-contamination issue.

Warnings if you are sensitive to cross-contamination:

1.  The first employee in the line touches flour tortillas.  I noticed that she also touched the inside of the bowls and the handles of the salad tongs, which happened to fall into the lettuce each time.  Solution?  Ask the employee to change gloves and do not order a salad (unless they can bring out a new container of lettuce.)

2.  The employee that adds the salsa, lettuce, sour cream, etc. touches flour tortillas and the lettuce and cheese.  This person rolls the burritos but also grabs the lettuce and cheese with his/her hand, therefore contaminating the lettuce and cheese.  Solution?  Skip the lettuce and cheese!

Original Post:

I've been skeptical about eating at Chipotle since going GF.  However, according to Chipotle's website, everything except the flour tortillas are gluten free!  Here's what they have to say:

"Gluten Intolerance/Celiac Disease

Most people wanting to avoid gluten can eat anything we serve except for our large and small flour tortillas. Everything else is fine to eat for most people wanting to avoid gluten, including our crispy corn tacos and our corn chips. However, you should know that it's possible our corn may have a small amount of gluten from potentially co-mingling with gluten-containing grains in the field. If you are highly sensitive and would like us to change our gloves, we would be happy to do that at your request. Additionally, because our folks work with wheat tortillas all day long, there may be the possibility of cross-contact in our restaurants. We encourage you to carefully consider your dining choices."

You can find this information (and other allergen info) from: http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/special_diet_information/special_diet_information.aspx

Breakaway Bakery (Los Angeles, CA)

Yesterday, I made a trip to Breakaway Bakery on my way home.   Traffic was awful and I almost decided not to make the stop and just get home.  But I am so glad that I didn't!

According to their website, the bakery's products contain "no gluten, wheat, dairy, casein, peanuts, gums, soy*, treanuts*, or preservatives."  If I can recall correctly, everything is gluten-free, but not everything is vegan.  (I apologize if I am incorrect on that!)

I was blown away with all of the options--cookies, brownies, bars, cakes, cupcakes, buns, breads, bagels, donuts...you name it.  I purchased a "Figaroll" with orange, a couple oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, mini vegan chocolate donuts, mint brownie dippers and a loaf of bread.  I've tried everything but the bread so far.  The mint brownie dippers are my favorite.  The Figaroll was great and it would be perfect with tea or coffee.  I am eating the vegan donut as I type and surprisingly, it actually does not taste "vegan."  I've had a few different donuts from Babycakes NYC and I have mixed feelings about those.   I think that Breakaway does a better job with the frosting and compensating for no dairy.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I purchased double the amount of goods from Breakaway than I do at Babycakes.

Another note:  The woman at the bakery told me that they bake their breads on Tuesdays.  On Thursdays, they bake Challah bread, which can also be ordered in bagel-form.  You can custom order any of their breads and add things such as jalapenos, etc.

The only downside is that the neighborhood is not so nice, but nevertheless, I will definitely return!  

Address:  
5264 W. Pico Blvd. LA, CA 90019 
Phone: (310) 968-9380 

 http://breakawaybakery.com/

Hidden gluten: Tea

Last night I was having stomach issues and I made myself a cup of Yogi Tea's "Stomach Ease."  I thought I checked the label, but I overlooked the information below the white box.  After having a few sips, I checked the box again and saw "Organic Barley Malt" below the white ingredient box.  Major oops!  I now know to check my tea from now on...

Gluten free options @ USC

It appears that USC is trying to better accommodate its gluten-free students (yay!)  Here is an email that I recently received from the Registered Dietitian from USC Hospitality regarding gluten free dining options:

"Just wanted to give you an exciting update regarding gluten free foods in residential dining.  We are now stocking Udi’s brand bread, bagels, buns, muffins and cookies!  They taste the best out of any other brands we tried.  Parkside restaurant will be THE place to go on the USC campus if you must avoid gluten.  Our new station will have cold foods like a deli station and salads, in addition to a hot entrée everyday.  There will also be smoothies, jello, and muffins & desserts such cookies.  The muffins and desserts can be found on the far side of the station where we used to hold the regular desserts (yes, we cleaned and sanitized this case).  As soon as our new pizza oven dedicated to the GF pizza is delivered next week, we will also have a different pizza of the day, and not just cheese pizza anymore.  This will be Udi’s brand crust as well. Finally, we have the GF oatmeal packets, a cold cereal, and  dedicated waffle iron for GF waffle mix in this station as well. We hope to have the waffle iron up and running ASAP. We will have the same few employees who will always work this station.  This way, they can work closely with me in understanding what it means to live without gluten." 

This is great news for those with meal plans; however, for those of us grad students or commuters, there is still more work to be done.  There are really no other options, other than a couple of items at "Seeds."  Seeds carries Glutino crackers, wafers and pretzels, but with a hefty price tag.  I am wary of the pre-packaged salads and fruit because I have no way of knowing what their kitchen/prep practices are.  Until then, I will be bringing my lunch :/

First post!

This is my first gluten-free blog post!  I thought I would post a couple of reviews from my recent travels.  This weekend, I went to "Coast" in Santa Barbara for breakfast because I heard that they had GF banana bread, and they did!  The bread was good and I almost ordered some to go.   Although the restaurant had GF bread, the menu didn't list or notate any other GF items and the server wasn't really sure what "gluten free" meant.

Gluten free banana bread from Coast (Santa Barbara, CA)

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of staying at the Inn on Randolph in Napa.  I highly recommend this Inn, especially for those who are GF!  The Innkeeper is GF and serves only GF breakfast, which is absolutely fantastic, by the way.  Another plus is that the body products in the rooms are from EO.  The shampoo and conditioner were both GF and smelled great.  I've been trying to find EO products down in so cal, with no luck. 

Gluten free breakfast from the Inn on Randolph (Napa, CA)

A couple of months ago I bought the "Gluten Free Table" by the Lagasse Girls.  We have made a handful of the recipes and enjoyed each one.  (I do modify them slightly to avoid onion.)  Last week I made the Jambalaya, with shrimp & andouille sausage.  I don't recall the brand of sausage, but it was quite spicy.  I'd recommend limiting the chili powder if you purchase a spicy sausage.  We had enough leftovers for another lunch & dinner and it definitely got spicier the longer it sat. 

"Jessie & Jilly's Jazzy Jambalaya" recipe