Best GF Pizza in Portland!

This is by far the best pizza I have had in two years was at the Sellwood Pizza Kitchen in Sellwood, Oregon (yes Sellwood). It is true artisan gluten free pizza! I unfortunately only found this place approximately three weeks before moving out of Portland but I plan on going back when I visit. This was the best crust I have found; crispy and delicious. Doesn't taste like cardboard. The toppings are delicious and very well done. It tastes like real pizza! It was a very Mom and Pop environment, incredibly welcoming. The waitress offered me a glass a new wine they were sampling. Very fun. Family friendly yet quiet, lots of regulars. Must try in Portland!

Visit to Lompoc, CA (in November 2012)

I'm a little behind. I just want to catch up for historian stake. 

Paella at Beachside restaurant in Santa Barbara, CA. Non-traditional but clearly delicious!

Followed by lots of home cooking from mom and me with Great Aunt Suzie and Great Uncle Bryce's help. We cooked up tacos and had steak night! 

Mom's birthday dinner at Steamer's restaurant in Pismo Beach, CA just north of Lompoc. This is my family's favorite restaurant to visit for a special occasion. We each got our own mini-bottle of Freixenet cava. Yum!

Mom's scampi with mashed potatoes and gravy!

My allergy-free fish tacos!

Cheers!

Homemade Waffle Ranchero!

My favorite dish at the Gluten Free Waffle joint, Cafe Rio Co. is the waffle ranchero. It's a delectable combination of huevos rancheros and waffles. A waffle topped with egg, cheese, sausage/bacon, avocado, and salsa. 

Cafe Rio Co.'s version:

Cafe Sweet Pea's version:

I took the easiest route possible for this as I had just gotten done working a night shift and was headed to bed. 

Ingredients:

One Van's Gluten Free Eggo Waffle, toasted

One fried egg, over easy

Fried proscuitto

Avocado

Salsa

Dairy free cream cheese

Highly Recommened. I like Cafe Rio Co's better because I don't have to do the dishes! :-)

A Great Happy Hour!

My sister, friend and I were out vintage shopping and decided to stop at Brasserie Monmarte for happy hour. To our surprise it was utterly fantastic. It was chic, classy, and delicious. It was also surprising allergy free even though the French cannot could without crème. 

Here are some of our dishes:

Les Frites flavored with duck fat and rosemary with garlic aioli. These were rich and fantastic. I can't wait to try the other ones: Pork belly and tarragon and truffle and black truffle. Yum!

Mussels frites: Chorizo, padrone peppers, piments, broth. These mussels were huge! This was honestly the first time I had ordered just mussels and I'm so glad to start with these.

 

For heaven's sake I had to post this Croque Madame that a friend ordered. Not in any way allergy free but beautiful none the less.  I believe is was a grilled pork belly and gruyére sandwich topped with a fried egg and béchamel sauce. Sinful.

 

 Well if anyone wants to go here just call me and I'll meet you there! I'll be going back soon. :)

Eating in Vegas!

     Well, I headed to Las Vegas for a weekend to attend a wedding. I looked up this Celebrity restaurant weeks in advanced and was excited to have dinner with my friend Fran. Spanish cuisine was of course what I was interested in. Italian is a silly endeavor for one with gluten allergies and I miss Spain after living there in college. Julian Serrano's restaurant in the Aria Hotel was my pick.

 

Charcuterie

 

 

Aceitunas

 

Paella Marinera

 

Bacon wrapped dates that unfortunately came out breaded but still very beautiful.

It was a splendid meal with splendid company!

Welcome CAFE RIO CO!

I fell asleep on the bus one day and woke up suddenly, looked over and saw a Gluten Free Waffle Cafe right on Burnside! I new that's exactly what I needed in life and ended up there for breakfast on my way home from work. Cafe Rio Co!
Aaron and Chelsea started this place about 2 months ago, it had been there 7-year dream. They have a very cute cafe little cafe. A counter, an espresso machine, some hot plates, a few seats and food! They use all organic ingredients and have meat, vegetarian and vegan options. They also serve high quality coffee and tea. They have pastries brought in from New Cascadia Traditional Bakery, another of my frequent stops.
I've been there twice now and can't wait for more. I haven't been able to get beyond the waffle rancheros. Matt has had the Hunny Nut Banana and the Ham and Cheese. I'll work on branching out. :) I highly recommend this place. Even if you're not an allergy-free person (like Matt). It has a great vibe, very homey, very friendly. 22nd and Burnside, if you need a date you know who to call.

Here's Chelsea HAND SQUEEZING my order of OJ. It's the best I've ever had!



Ham and Cheese Waffle



Waffle Ranchero YUM!

Some good dishes of the month:

Safeco Field goes gluten free? Go Mariners! That's right GF fish and chips served at the Hit if Here Cafe behind right field. We went to watch the Red Socks sadly lose. But it was a great game with great food!


My man Matt got what would be my number one non-allergy-free choice: The bacon wrapped pulled pork hot dog with sweet apple chutney. Yum!



For my homecoming after 2 weeks away, what better than strawberries and bubbly.



Just another dish we made at mom's. Grilled corn, tomato salsa stuffed in tostitos and covered with Tapatio!

The Riverview Restaurant

Forgive the lag in posts. They'll be coming back. This was our July Birthdays Feast, we went to the Riverview Restaurant in Troutdale, Oregon to celebrate four birthdays. It was a fantastic night with amazing food. Scroll down to find the allergy-friendly dish they made.

Smoked Steelhead & Mascarpone Spread


Won Ton Shumai


Calamari


The allergy free dish they prepared: Seared ahi tuna with grilled vegetables and chutney
The tuna was sesame-crusted. Of course I could have the steak but, I love tuna. I told them of my allergies and they found this for me. They had to pull a steak out of the next days catch because they marinade it in soy sauce. The service was great and the meal was exactly what I wanted.


Crusted Chicken Breast


Pacific Crab with Three Cheese Ravioli


Bacon Wrapped Bistro


Birthday surprise


Banana's Foster for Chantel of course




The end to a wonderful night with friends.

Weekend in Seattle

Rachel, James and I headed to Seattle for the Fremont Fair. It's a huge outdoor street fair and it was a lot of fun. We started our trip at the Reddoor.



Allergy-free chicken burger and fries with lots of avocado!



Rache's BLTA



James ordered mussels



And a roasted beat, walnut salad. Yum!



This was Rachel's booth with all of her product. We spend many-a-hours here.



The parade!









What a fun weekend!

More great Ohio Eats!

In Columbus, Matt took me to the North Market. An awesome indoor market. We picked up some excellent lunch and fun finds!



FOOD!





Raviolis!



Vietnamese



Pho! The best allergy-free hangover cure! So glad I can eat chili pepper now.



MMM!



Jenis ice cream! Great flavors like: goat cheese and cherries, rhubarb, lime and cardamom, and whiskey and pecans.



Their dairy-free sorbettos were great: riesling poached pear and cherry lambic. Wasn't sure how to feel about it at first but I wish I could have it every day!



Matt had some sort of meaty sandwich.



He seemed to like it just fine.



I picked up some specialty finds: smoked paprika and saffron. Not super cheap but fun to get here. Can't wait for paella!



Out to HAIKU! Matt's brother Jeromy was our server. Rated on allergyeats.com. I asked for a drink that matched my hair :)

Per recommendation after the allergy conversation, I had LakasaAyam Vermicelli Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables in Rich Curry Sauce. Fun to have a white sauce (coconut milk). It was fabulous.

Not entirely sure what my friends had but it all looked fantastic!

Vietnamese Beef Noodle Spicy Beef Broth with Rice Noodles and Beef

General Tso Battered Chicken Tossed in a Spicy Sweet and Sour Sauce

YUM!



What a great night!