Toronto’s Great Gluten-Free Store

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On recent trips to Toronto, I’ve discovered that gluten-free grocery-store choices have multiplied. There’s Whole Foods in Hazelton Lanes (though its Gluten-Free Bakehouse options are more limited than what I encounter in the chain’s New York branches). Grocery giant Loblaws now has a specialty-food aisle in its shops that includes celiac-safe options. There’s also Noah’s Natural Foods, a small, health-oriented local chain, and Ambrosia Natural Foods just north of Toronto in Thornhill. However, my favorite in the city — the Specialty Food Shop — is located downtown at the southeast corner of University Avenue and Gerrard Street.

If you know Toronto at all, that location might have sent up a red flag. Right now, you’re asking yourself, Isn’t that where the Hospital for Sick Children is? Yes, and that’s exactly where the Specialty Food Shop is. I know that going into a hospital to shop for food isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but if you can get past that obstacle, this is a real find. There are aisles filled with gluten-free treats — cookies of all descriptions, ice-cream cones, snack bars — as well as aisles filled with healthier fare, including pastas, cereals, breads, soup bases and mixes, baking products, and frozen dinners.

The Specialty Food Shop carries brands many North American celiacs know, including Glutino, Mi-Del, and Enjoy Life, but there are some surprises, too. Who knew that there’s a fantastic Swiss-style dedicated gluten-free bakery called El Peto in Ontario that makes divine butter tarts and pecan tarts? An Alberta company, Kinnikinnick, produces Oreo-like cookies called K-Toos. There are also international brands such as Australia’s Orgran (which makes buckwheat pasta) and Germany’s Glutano.

The store isn’t just for celiacs, and not all of its products are gluten-free. There are also groceries for the lactose-intolerant and the food-allergic, people on low-protein diets, and people with cystic fibrosis. If you live in Canada but can’t make it to the store in person, you can place your order online or by phone instead (shipping is not available to the U.S.). If you do have the opportunity to visit, enter the building through the Elizabeth Street entrance (the Hospital for Sick Children is a massive complex; this offers the clearest route to the store). The store is open seven days a week; check the website for the most up-to-date hours. Its website also features extensive nutritional information and gluten-free recipes.

The Specialty Food Shop [address] At the Hospital for Sick Children (main floor), 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [tel] 1-800-737-7976 or 416-813-5294 [web] www.sickkids.on.ca/specialtyfoodshop

A Tale of Two Newfoundland Inns

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Newfoundland’s capital city, St. John’s, is a place with a rich sense of history: European fishermen started fishing from its harbor in the 1500s, and its famous downtown route, Water Street, is the oldest street in North America. It’s also a city that’s changing fast: there’s construction all over town, new attractions have opened up in the past few years (such as The Rooms, which contains a museum, art gallery, and archives), and it’s got a thriving nightlife and live-music scene. The accommodations I found in St. John’s were as eclectic as the city itself.

The Park House Inn is a bed-and-breakfast on a quiet residential street that’s a short walk from downtown. The Second Empire-style mansion was built in 1870, and its sweeping spiral staircase, towering ceilings and elegant antique and reproduction furnishings make for a grand setting. While I loved my suite (which boasted a Jacuzzi tub), I was most impressed by the kitchen. I’ve encountered bed-and-breakfasts that consider “breakfast” to mean a couple of slices of toast with jam. At the Park House Inn, breakfast is made to order for each guest, and the staff is familiar with celiac disease. The cook carefully prepared cheese-and-vegetable-filled omelettes for me, serving them with seasoned potatoes and fresh fruit. I spent three nights at the Park House Inn and enjoyed every minute.

My trip was planned so that I would see different sides of St. John’s, so I transferred to Blue on Water for the next three nights of my stay there. Blue on Water is a boutique hotel that faces Water Street, and all you have to do to get to the heart of the action in St. John’s is step outside (George Street, the main pub-and-club thoroughfare in the city, is steps away). The hotel is luxuriously modern, and its stylish design is complemented by amenities like wireless Net access and CD/DVD players. Best of all was the ground floor restaurant, also called Blue on Water, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Again, the staff was familiar with celiac disease, and prepared excellent gluten-free breakfasts (and one outstanding gluten-free dinner) for me.

Staying at a classic bed-and-breakfast or a modern boutique hotel is a matter of individual preference — but I was glad to discover that both properties are skilled at taking care of gluten-free guests.

Park House Inn [address] 112 Military Road, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada [tel] 866-303-0565 or 709-576-2265 [web] www.parkhouse-nl.ca

Blue on Water [address] 319 Water Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada [tel] 877-431-2583 or 709-754-2583 [web] www.blueonwater.com

Travels in Ferryland

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Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula is a magical place. In 1621, George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded his Colony of Avalon here, a place that offered a utopian vision of religious freedom. Baltimore is far more famous for his time in the colony of Maryland, but the Newfoundland site, now known as Ferryland, continues to be a rich and revealing one for archaeologists. It’s an hour’s drive from Newfoundland’s capital city, St. John’s, and the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve — which has North America’s largest puffin colony — is on the route, making it a perfect day trip.

The tricky thing, when traveling with celiac disease, is figuring out where to eat on a day trip like that, especially when the number of options isn’t large. That was why I was so glad to discover Lighthouse Picnics while I was in Newfoundland. The business was created by local talents Jill Curran and Sonia O’Keefe. Curran is the great-granddaughter of the onetime keeper of the 1869 lighthouse, and O’Keefe is a chef who trained with the legendary Darina Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. (That’s the same Darina Allen who co-authored a cookbook called Healthy Gluten-Free Cooking with Rosemary Kearney in 2005.) The pair have created a vibrant tourist site by renting the scenic red metal Ferryland Head Lighthouse every summer since 2002. They create gourmet picnic lunches for visitors to enjoy al fresco while whale-watching from the grounds (there’s also indoor seating for rainy-day lunches).

The spicy curried chicken they made for me was incredible, as was the simple green salad that blended different lettuces with herbs and nuts, and the Strawberry Fool, a rich dessert of fruit and rich cream. Even the delicious lemonade was made on-site. Because the owners prepare every picnic themselves, using produce from local farmers, they are able to create gluten-free dishes; advance reservations are strongly recommended for everyone, but they’re essential for anyone with a food intolerance or allergy.

Lighthouse Picnics also hosts great events. In the past these have included readings by Michael Crummey (author of River Thieves and The Wreckage), and performances by Encuentro Flamenco, a local dance troupe. If you’re visiting Newfoundland in summer, make sure that a picnic at Ferryland is on your itinerary.

Lighthouse Picnics [address] Ferryland, Newfoundland, Canada [tel] 709-363-7456 [web] www.lighthousepicnics.ca

The Return of Bistango

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When visiting New York, there are certain sights that should be on every traveler’s checklist: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, the Frick Collection, and Century 21 (come on, who doesn’t want great discounts on designer clothing?). For gluten-intolerant visitors, that list should also include Bistango.

Haven’t heard of Bistango? The restaurant is located in Murray Hill, and it’s been in business for 15 years. There was an interruption of service this spring, when Bistango closed for renovations. The original plan called for it to be closed for only a month, but as the timeline stretched on and on, I started to worry whether it would return.

Happily, Bistango is back. If you’ve been there before, you’ll notice that the bar is shorter (making more room for tables), and that the brick walls have given way to red-painted plaster (with stylized portraits of the owner’s three daughters on the walls). What hasn’t changed is the restaurant’s commitment to its gluten-intolerant diners. The first sign is when bread is brought to the table: I love the warm slices of gluten-free bread — baked by Everybody Eats in Brooklyn — and the individual bowls of oil and garlic for dipping (that way, there’s no cross-contamination).

Almost every item on Bistango’s menu, with the exception of a couple of stuffed pastas (such as the ravioli), can be prepared in a gluten-free version. (Many dishes are naturally gluten-free, and all of the sauces are.) Celiac-safe starters run the gamut from the Bistango salad (a mix of mesclun, sliced apples, goat cheese, and pine nuts), to the plate of prosciutto and Gorgonzola with fig compote. Main-course dishes include rack of lamb in a rich cognac sauce, and chicken breast topped with spinach and mozzarella in a marinara sauce. There’s also gluten-free pizza and pasta to choose from.

While the food is consistently excellent, what really makes a meal at Bistango stand out is the graciousness of its staff. The owner, Anthony, goes back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen, talking to everyone and making sure that diners are comfortable. The servers are just as thoughtful, making Bistango a rare find.

Bistango [address] 415 Third Avenue (at the corner of East 29th St.), New York, NY 10016 [tel] 212-725-8484 [web] www.bistangonyc.com

Roundup: North American Gluten-Free News

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I love it when people tell me about their great gluten-free dining experiences. One reader, whose husband has celiac disease, contacted me about their dinner at Rick Bayless’s Topolobampo restaurant in Chicago. They were deeply impressed by the thoughtfulness of the staff. It was clear from the start of their meal, when the restaurant’s manager came to their table to talk, that the restaurant took gluten-free dining seriously. Because the chef was concerned about cross-contamination (apparently the chilies in some sauces were flash-fried in a deep fryer, and could have been exposed to gluten particles), the two gluten-free dishes that made their way to the table were variations of menu items. Topolobampo’s sommelier also did a fine job pairing wines with the special dishes. The reader wrote:

We travel and eat out extensively and have never come across this level of dedication and exemplary service. The manager kept apologizing that our meal was going to take a little longer than normal. It was unreal and did not break the bank either…

Another reader wrote to tell me about Leaf Cuisine, a Los Angeles restaurant that is virtually the only place where she will dine out (in addition to being gluten intolerant, she has allergies to casein and corn). Leaf Cuisine is a raw-food restaurant, meaning that none of the food is heated above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the menu items are vegan and reasonably priced. The restaurant also sells some of its creations in local stores (including several Whole Foods outlets in Los Angeles) and offers courses in raw-food preparation.

One reader told me about a website created by her daughter. It’s a wonderful resource called Gluten-Free Ontario, and if you’re traveling anywhere in the province, take a look at it. The long list of cities represented includes Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Barrie, London, and Sault Sainte Marie. A lot of work has gone into the site, and the results will help many people make decisions about dining out.

Finally, I wanted to alert U.S. readers that a couple of medical centers are offering free screening for celiac disease. This past Saturday, the West Virginia Gluten Intolerance Group and the Department of Pediatrics at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University worked with the Cabell-Huntington Hospital to provide free blood screening (I wish I’d heard about it earlier, and I hope that they will repeat this event in future). The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center offers an annual day of free screening; the next one will be on October 18, 2008. That may sound like a long way off, but participants need to pre-register by calling [tel] 773-702-7593 after August 15, 2008. For a calendar of events of interest to the gluten-intolerant, including free blood screenings, check out the calendar at Gluten-Free Forum. For a list of the Gluten Intolerance Group’s branches and partner offices, click here.

Barcelona’s Casa Calvet

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Barcelona is a city that I find more beautiful the closer I get to it. There’s nothing particularly striking about its skyline when viewed from a plane or train. Even from Montjuïc, one of Barcelona’s two mountains, the view is more impressive for what it captures of the Mediterranean than for what you can see of the city itself (see photo above). But once you start walking through its streets, Barcelona becomes so stunning that it’s almost impossible to believe. Up close, Barcelona’s charms are irresistible.

Part of the city’s attraction is its unusual layout and architecture. For starters, once you’ve seen octagonal intersections, you wonder why anyone would plan them any other way. Then there’s the work of extraordinary architects, such as Antoni Gaudí. His inspiring Sagrada Familia, psychedelic Park Güell, and various otherworldly visions are an essential part of what makes Barcelona so dramatic and unique.

Casa Calvet is considered the most conventional of Gaudí’s buildings. Located in the Eixample district, it was built for a textile manufacturer in 1898. While the exterior is far more conventional than a typical Gaudí project, its interior is striking. Better yet, a restaurant (also called Casa Calvet) has been open on the premises since 1994, making fine use of the ground-floor rooms with their soaring, undulating ceilings. But this isn’t a dining spot that gets by on its good looks. While the menu at Casa Calvet changes frequently, I was impressed by the duck-breast salad I had as a starter, and the main-course grilled hake (a salt-water fish that’s similar to cod); both were already gluten-free and required no modification to make them safe for me. Almost everything was made from scratch on the premises (always a help when you need to identify every ingredient in a dish), except the rice cakes that were served to me in lieu of bread. Familiar with celiac disease and the gluten-free diet, the thoughtful restaurant staff made the evening extraordinary. I’ve learned not to expect anything less from Barcelona.

Casa Calvet [address] Carrer Casp 48, Barcelona, Spain [tel] 93-412-40-12 [web] www.casacalvet.es

Last Supper in Cusco

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Just after I arrived in Cusco — Peru’s third-largest city, and the jumping-off point for any trip to Machu Picchu — I toured the city’s massive cathedral. It’s not only a religious institution; it’s also a fine museum that showcases some 300 paintings. The works are mostly by the Cusco School (or Cuzco School) of the 17th and 18th centuries, which had European painters come to Cusco — once the capital of the Inca Empire — to teach local artists to paint in the European style. The results were beautiful, beatific, and occasionally bizarre. The indigenous artists converted to Catholicism, but they retained certain Inca ideas. For example, depicting Jesus in a loincloth was profoundly disrespectful in their eyes, so Jesus wears the knee-length linen skirt of the Inca nobility in scenes of the crucifixion. But the most famous departure from European tradition is in the rendering of the Last Supper. Forget Leonardo da Vinci: this version depicts Jesus and his disciples gathered around a table to enjoy a last supper of… guinea pig.

If you haven’t visited South America, it may come as a shock that a mammal North Americans take for a family pet is considered a delicacy (it’s called cuy in these parts). By the end of my week in Cusco, I was ready to give it a try. I finally had it at the MAP Café, the restaurant at Cusco’s Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (an offshoot of the renowned Larco Museum in Lima). The restaurant is one of the most extravagant and exceptional in the city, and its setting is unique — it’s essentially a glass box in an interior courtyard, surrounded by archways through which diners can catch glimpses of ancient art.

What impressed me most about the MAP Café was the service. When I showed the waiter my Spanish celiac disease card, he got the other staff members together so that everyone who would be working with my table would be aware of my gluten-free diet. The kitchen had a few questions about ingredients that weren’t mentioned on the card, including quinoa. I started with a dish that paired thinly sliced grilled alpaca with anchovies, followed by cuy confit with peanut-and-panca-flavored potatoes (panca is a type of Peruvian pepper, not to be confused with panko — Japanese breadcrumbs — which aren’t gluten-free). Cuy turned out to be an incredibly rich, strongly flavored meat (it doesn’t taste anything like chicken). For dessert, I had sautéed strawberries in a purple corn sauce, served with a corn-infused ice cream. It was an incredible gluten-free meal from start to finish, and while it was expensive compared to my other meals in Cusco, the three-course prix fixe menu included a glass of wine and cost only $35. Best of all, I had a fine introduction to just how appealing cuy could be.

MAP Café [address] In the Museo de Arte Precolombino, Plaza Nazarenas 231, Cusco, Peru [tel] 084-242-476 [website] www.cuscorestaurants.com

An Amuse-ing Evening in Toronto

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I’ve been working on the Frommer’s Toronto 2009 guidebook for the past several weeks, and one thing that has impressed me is the continuing strength of the city’s restaurant scene. Being a travel writer who has celiac disease has its drawbacks, but it does give me a unique perspective when evaluating a restaurant. I can’t sample certain dishes on the menu anymore, but I have a better perspective on how accommodating a restaurant is willing to be and how helpful the staff is.

Every year I have to compile a list of Toronto’s “Unforgettable Dining Experiences” for the book. In the new edition, the restaurant at the top of my list is Amuse-Bouche. Located on a mostly residential, quiet downtown street, it’s a cozy bistro with a charming patio out front. I decided to review it after sampling some of the chef’s work at the first Cross Town Kitchens dinner. When I called Amuse-Bouche to make a reservation, I mentioned that I have celiac disease, and I was assured it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the restaurant, identified myself, and had a plate of warm bread set in front of me. “We’ve been baking all afternoon,” the waiter announced with a smile. “Gluten-free bread!” A couple of other staff members joined him and described the process and the several gluten-free flours they’d mixed to create a delicious (albeit slightly crumbly) bread. It was delicious and when I’d finished it all off they asked if they could bring out more. How could I say no? (I do lose control in the presence of really good gluten-free bread.)

The meal I had that evening was excellent. An amuse bouche is technically a small taste at the beginning of a meal that showcases the chef’s creativity and whets your appetite for more. Even after all that bread, I found room for dishes like the black cod ceviche with pink grapefruit and pineapple caipirinha sorbet. It was unusual to have so many strong flavors on a plate at once, but to have them come together harmoniously was a great achievement. And the excellent service I experienced at the restaurant made a lasting impression. (Before you ask, no, the restaurant staff had no idea I was reviewing it.)

Amuse-Bouche [address] 96 Tecumseth St. (one block north of King Street West), Toronto, Ontario, Canada [tel] 416-913-5830 [web] www.amuseboucherestaurant.com

UPDATE 08/19/2010: Amuse-Bouche has been permanently closed.

Upstairs, Downstairs

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I’ve been a fan of the Toronto restaurant Far Niente for years. Located in the heart of the Financial District, it’s changed a lot over the past decade, morphing from a fairly casual California-winery-style open dining space with simple wooden tables and chairs into a sleek and expensive restaurant with leather banquettes and sultry lighting. The food has been excellent throughout, and when I was re-reviewing it recently, I found that the staff and the kitchen were considerate and informed about the gluten-free diet.

Still, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that a new, moderately priced restaurant had recently opened in Far Niente’s basement, where there used to be a bar. The restaurant, Four, was one of my favorite finds on my latest visit to Toronto. Four advertises itself as having a “balanced approach to guilt-free dining,” and while I’m forever skeptical about health food, it turns out that good-for-you can mean delicious. Every dish on the menu is less than 650 calories. That’s not such a feat with a starter salad like the beet-and-pear with goat cheese, but it’s pretty impressive with main courses like the delicious ocean trout with beluga lentils and sherry-mustard-dressed greens.

Four isn’t such a health-oriented place that they neglect the cocktail list: it’s particularly lengthy (locals still come here just to schmooze around the bar), and the pernod-chambord-raspberry cocktail is lovely. Service at Four is friendly and helpful, and the staff is well-versed in the gluten-free diet. At lunch, they offer sandwiches on gluten-free bread, and at both lunch and dinner there are pasta dishes made with buckwheat noodles (there’s also a spelt fusilli as another option for those allergic to wheat, though it’s not celiac-safe).

My dining companion, a friend who doesn’t have celiac disease, was just as thrilled with Four as I was. We’re both planning to go back soon… I just need to wait for my next visit to Toronto.

Far Niente [address] 187 Bay St. (at Wellington St.), Toronto, Ontario, Canada [tel] 416-214-9922 [web] www.farnientegrill.com

Four [address] 187 Bay St. (lower level) [tel] 416-368-1444 [web] www.fourtoronto.com

My Tried-and-True Toronto Spot

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I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails from readers asking me for Italian restaurants with gluten-free menus in different neighborhoods around Toronto. Oddly enough, my answer has been the same each time: Il Fornello. This small Toronto chain has become an institution with nine outposts in and around the city. There’s one across from Roy Thomson Hall (with easy access to the Theatre District), another at Queen’s Quay by the waterfront, and still another in the middle of Greektown on the Danforth. It feels as if Il Fornello is never far away, wherever you are in the city.

That’s a good thing because all Il Fornello restaurants offer celiac-safe options. They always stock rice pasta (which can be substituted in most pasta dishes for an additional $1.75) and gluten-free Quejos pizza crust (for an additional $3.75). The pasta is always a good bet, and I’m particularly fond of the Pollo e Pesto dish (an excellent combination of chicken, pesto, plum tomatoes, and pine nuts). The pizza, in my experience, is a tougher proposition — literally. The Danforth location consistently gets it right, and options like the Fig Pizza (think mascarpone, prosciutto, grana padano, honeyed arugula, and figs) are heavenly. The downside of the Quejos crust is that if it’s overcooked, it becomes rock-hard, a fact I’ve discovered much to my chagrin at some of the other locations. Il Fornello also offers excellent salads (the naturally gluten-free Roma salad is a mix of greens, goat cheese, walnuts, and roasted peppers), and a reasonably priced list of wines by the glass, including several from Ontario wineries.

I recently discovered that the Zagat guides named Il Fornello as one of Toronto’s top ten restaurants. Initially, I was shocked. Toronto is foodie heaven, with chefs like Jamie Kennedy, Mark McEwan, Marc Thuet, Greg Couillard, Chris McDonald, and Susur Lee (for now — Mr. Lee is heading to New York to open a new restaurant). Putting Il Fornello on that list seemed like a stretch. But in all honesty, Il Fornello is a place I hit at least once (more often twice) when I visit Toronto. It’s not glamorous, but it offers good value for the money, and peace of mind for gluten-intolerant diners.

Il Fornello [web] www.ilfornello.com; nine locations in Toronto, including:

In the Theatre District [address] 214 King Street West (west of University Avenue) [tel] 416-977-2855

On the Danforth [address] 576 Danforth Avenue (west of Pape Avenue) [tel] 416-466-2931

At Queen’s Quay [address] 207 Queen’s Quay West [tel] 416-861-1028

North of Rosedale [address] 1560 Yonge Street (north of St. Clair Avenue) [tel] 416-920-7347