Happy New Year! While I don’t normally make resolutions, I like to take stock of how things are going at certain times of the year, and this is one of them. That’s also true of springtime (to me, it’s part of spring cleaning) and September (the back-to-school timing always feels like a great push to start new projects). But ringing in the new year is a natural time to consider where we’ve been and where we’re going.
The Gluten-Free Guidebook is all about dining out and travel, but to do that successfully takes a certain mindset, particularly when you need to follow a special diet. Part of the trouble is that following any diet never sounds like fun. It sounds like work, or even sacrifice. One of the most important adjustments I ever made after my celiac diagnosis was that I stopped thinking about the things I couldn’t have and embraced the things I could. It’s a subtle switch, but it makes all the difference in the world. Everyone has limits (whether they know it or not), and discovering what yours are is a blessing.
In that vein, here are some ideas to reflect on as we start a new year…
It’s that time of year again when we all get to slow down a little and take stock of the past twelve months. Personally, I enjoy the Best Of lists that crop up in December, because they remind me about places I was too busy to check out earlier, and because I love comparing notes about the things I loved.
For me, 2023 was a great ride — and also an incredibly busy one. A personal andprofessional highlight has been bringing the Gluten-Free Guidebook back to life on Substack. I started this project in 2008 on WordPress and it thrived until the pandemic hit and travel ground to a halt. It’s been thrilling to reconnect with people who’ve been reading the blog for years and to connect with a whole new audience. Here’s to traveling together into the new year and beyond! Remember, I love to hear about your travel experiences just as much as I enjoy sharing mine.
Now for some of my favorite places from the past year…
I visited Stockholm before the pandemic and fell in love with the city. Everywhere I went, people were familiar with celiac disease, aware of potential cross-contamination issues, and willing to help. It was the most relaxed I’ve felt traveling anywhere since I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2004. I didn’t use any Swedish translation cards because everyone I met spoke at least some English, and the Swedish terms for gluten-free — glutenfri, glutenfritt, utan gluten — were everywhere I went.
It’s also a breathtakingly beautiful city. Sweden’s capital is blessed with great museums, glorious palaces, and gorgeous architecture. There are parks and public art installations all over. Even the subway system serves as a kind of roving art gallery. The fact that Stockholm is spread across a series of islands gives it a physical beauty that is simply thrilling.
Do I plan to go back? Absolutely. I’m still kicking myself for missing the ABBA Museum. I decided to check on the places where I ate while I was there. Not all of them are still in business, but these ones are and I recommend them highly…
No one likes losing their favorite restaurant, but it’s even more difficult when you’ve got a food allergy or intolerance. Let’s be honest, it’s not like you can go just anywhere to eat, so the loss hits harder. That was how I felt about Bistango, an Italian trattoria in Kips Bay, on the east side of Manhattan. Its last day of business was March 16, 2020, when the pandemic forced all New York City restaurants to close. Sadly, it never reopened.
For years, Bistango was my go-to spot for a great gluten-free meal: I’d visit with a gang of fellow writers during Thrillerfest (an annual conference for crime writers), and at least once a month with visiting friends in tow. It was a favorite spot for my parents, my nieces, and my husband and me when we wanted a quiet night out. It was perfect for celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and no occasion at all. I remember eating there a week after Hurricane Sandy hit; my husband and I had no food in our fridge, and we were thrilled to find out Bistango had just reopened that day. It turned out that the restaurant had a very short menu that night, yet the warm welcome and attention to gluten-free dining was the same as ever.
But this isn’t a post to mourn the loss of Bistango, it’s to celebrate the one that’s still around. In 2014, the restaurant’s charming manager and host, Anthony, worked on the opening of a sister restaurant at the Kimberly Hotel on East 50th Street, a short walk from Grand Central Terminal. The hotel restaurant was both new and familiar: it has an extensive menu of gluten-free flatbread pizzas — something the original never had — as well as offering a satisfying menu of pastas and main courses, all of which can be prepared gluten-free. Some restaurants now offer gluten-free penne, but it’s rare to find gluten-free ravioli. Literally everything on Bistango’s menu can be prepared gluten-free, from the chicken parmesan to the grilled red snapper.
There’s more: all of the desserts are gluten-free, from the chocolate lava cake with salted caramel gelato to the mascarpone cheesecake with blueberry compote. (Recently there’s been a pistachio cannoli on the menu that I’ve been obsessed with. The menu changes with some frequency, though.)
The tagline on Bistango’s website is, “One always feels at home when gathered with friends and family at Bistango.” For me, that’s definitely been true. I’ve been there lately with groups of visiting friends, my literary agent, and a childhood friend and her eight-year-old daughter, and Bistango has made everyone feel at home. (My husband chose it as the spot to celebrate his birthday.) While gluten-free dining is their specialty, they’re also careful with other food allergies, and vegan options are available. I’ll always miss the original location, but Bistango at the Kimberly has earned its own special place in my heart.
It’s Thanksgiving Week in the US, which means that I’ll be on the road again — though there won’t be much gluten-free dining research involved, since I’ll be visiting with family and friends. Because people are heading in different directions over the next few weeks, it seemed like the perfect time to share some recent news stories with recommendations for where to dine gluten-free in various US cities.
Can you get so sick of cookies that you never want to eat them again? That was how I felt after I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2004. Well-meaning friends and family went to their local grocery and health-food stores looking for something safe for me to eat. And what they found were cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. While I appreciated the effort, I got sick of cookies, especially the ones that crumbled to pieces as I bit into them (anyone who’s tried baking with rice flour can relate to this).
Friends, gluten-free commercial baking has come a long way since then. And while I’m happy to visit bakeries that aren’t exclusively for celiacs, I really wanted to showcase some places that are 100% gluten free. Here are some of my favorites from around the United States. Note that a few of them deliver nationwide!
A new novel means it’s time to hit the road again. So far, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver for a conference, Denver’s Tattered Cover, Scottsdale’s Poisoned Pen, and Houston’s Murder by the Book. Here are some of the restaurants I found along the way:
Nightingale (Vancouver): Reading this hot spot’s menu in advance made me nervous, because it stipulates, “We politely decline all requests to modify menu items.” I wondered what this would mean for anyone dining with food allergies or intolerances, but local friends promised that it was terrific. They were right! Our waiter took the time to create an annotated menu for me, marking all of the gluten-free offerings (a friend I was dining with is lactose intolerant, and they were able to accommodate this easily, too). My mushroom risotto with truffle oil and pecorino was the stuff of dreams.
Watercourse (Denver): This restaurant bills itself as Denver’s first vegan restaurant. The menu carefully notes GF (made without gluten), GFO (gluten-free optional), SF (made without soy), SFO (soy-free optional), CN (contains nuts), and NFO (but-free optional). I highly recommend the Brussels Sprouts Salad (GF, NFO), with kale, pomegranate, grilled apple, maple dijon, balsamic reduction, and candied walnuts. The Smoky Rose cocktail was also fabulous.
Irma’s Southwest (Houston): I have to credit my wonderful editor for finding this spot. I hadn’t heard of Irma Galvan before, but her restaurants are a Houston legend (Irma opened a tiny sandwich shop in 1988, switched to Mexican cuisine, and never looked back). This delicious outpost doesn’t have a long menu, but what they do, they do really well (chile con queso, fajitas, enchilandas…).
