We rented a house to go to Romantic Times, the biggest romance convention in the country. It was in Orlando this year, and we decided to have a kitchen and a pool, all to ourselves.
I *highly* recommend this. The grocery store, Publix, was fairly GF friendly, and there's a Whole Foods 20 minutes from Disney World. Without this, we would have been sick, sick puppies.
There wasn't a lot of places that did gluten free. Heck, chips and salsa at the one Mexican place wasn't even safe. To their credit, their gluten free listing did not guarantee anything, as cross contamination was a problem. That was at a place called Chevy's. Not a chain we'll go to again. They get points for honesty, though. They really do.
We also discovered that while Disney is super aware of GF issues, and are very willing to help, there is no real gluten free breakfast out and about in the park. We ended up at the bakery watching everyone eat pastry while we had a banana. They can't even do a latte with soy milk. So...
The Ener-G hamburger buns they use are great, though, and the fries are all GF, so we had a tasty lunch in the Magic Kingdom.
The Wyndham resort on International, just off I4, was where our convention was, and their restaurant is mostly Italian food, which made us glad we didn't stay there. However, the day we had lunch there, the waiter, Ron, made sure we got a very safe chicken caesar salad. He rocked our socks.
The big winner was an unexpeted trip to Fridays off International Drive. 6424 Carrier Dr, Orlando, for you GPS types. Our hostess (I think her name was Michelle. Sorry if I'm wrong, honey) waiter Daniel, and their manager Brad, went way out of their way for us. Brad came with the allergy list, sat with us and helped us figure out what to eat, and then cooked part of it himself. Daniel was super nice about keeping the gluten eater's food separate from ours, and on checking in with us to make sure everything was good. It was only the second restauarant meal in Orlando that had been totally safe, and we really, really appreciated how a busy chain would really go to great lengths to make us safe and comfortable. It was a wonderful experience.
Thanks to Ron and Daniel and Brad for our good times in Orlando!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Santa Fe and Albuquerque
We headed up to New Mexico this past weekend to do our very favorite thing, which is follow bullriders around. Yep, it was PBR time in Albuquerque, and we went a few days early to hit Santa Fe.
Texas Mexican food is particularly easy to eat on a gluten free peanut free shellfish free diet, so we didn't think that it would be hard in New Mexico...
Wow. Were we wrong.
Green and red chile sauces in New Mexico? All thickened with flour. Green chile is one of my great loves. I grew up on it. I adore it. Sigh. And no sopapillas? Ahhhh
So, that made the few places we found that could accommodate us that much more precious.
We asked the concierge at the La Fonda hotel about gluten free, and she suggested a place called Body. I am usually way suspicious of vegan and raw stuff, even though I know they usually lend themselves to gluten free as well, but this place had amazing food. S and I split the raw pizza and had a bowl of lentil soup (it was snowing!) and L had the chicken sandwich, which had local, organic chicken, and house made sourdough. They literally had something for everyone, and their cheese-less cheesecake was just the ticket for dessert. Highly recommended!
Also in Santa Fe, we went to La Plazuela, at La Fonda. While we didn't find their breakfast menu all that inspiring, we did decide to go to dinner for the tableside guacamole. I had stayed at the hotel years ago, and never got the guacamole, and I wanted it bad. *grins* Turned out, the waiter was very knowledgable about gluten free options, and ran down the whole menu with us. We ended up with the guacamole, and some amazing pork carnitas tacos on homemade corn tortillas. There was a cheyote and apple slaw, too. Yum. The waiter even remembered not to offer us sopapillas or dessert, save the sorbet.
For breakfast the next morning, we slogged through the seven inches of snow and slush about three blocks down the street from La Fonda, to a place called Le Zodiac. You might look at the menu and go, huh? But! They have stuff not listed on their online menu. On the board outside they advertised gluten-free buckwheat crepes, filled with egg, ham and cheese, or many combinations thereof. Yum, y'all! They also had soy lattes. They were inexpensive, and open at 7:30 for breakfast every day but Tuesday. If your food allergy is not wheat, then try their amazing looking pastries and sandwiches, which are all artisan, French-style feasts.
Finally in Santa Fe, we dropped into a little chocolate shop tucked away behind the mission and the capitol building. Kakawa Chocolate House has not only the most amazing chocolate elixer drinks, they have dairy free truffles and chocolates, and dairy and gluten free brownies and cookies. They use honey and agave as sweeteners, which is also a huge yay for us diabetics. The lady behind the counter was sweet and knowledgable and we had kind of an amazing experience there.
In Albuquerque, we stayed at the Sandia Resort and Casino, which limited our options a bit if we didn't want to drive into town. Still, they were very accomodating. We ended up with a lot of bun free hamburgers and egg dishes, but that was okay. I did have a very nice filet mignon there. The best thing about the Sandia is that the staff is exceptional. They're eager to please, and one little gal named Kimberly had a terrible shellfish allergy, so she was hyper-vigilant for us. One word to the wise, though. If you get a salad, ask them to mix it in a separate bowl from the usual, or you'll get crouton crumbs.
All in all, we found Northern New Mexico a challenge for everyday eating, but there are some serious gems. If you know of somewhere we missed, holler! We'll happily try it next time.
Texas Mexican food is particularly easy to eat on a gluten free peanut free shellfish free diet, so we didn't think that it would be hard in New Mexico...
Wow. Were we wrong.
Green and red chile sauces in New Mexico? All thickened with flour. Green chile is one of my great loves. I grew up on it. I adore it. Sigh. And no sopapillas? Ahhhh
So, that made the few places we found that could accommodate us that much more precious.
We asked the concierge at the La Fonda hotel about gluten free, and she suggested a place called Body. I am usually way suspicious of vegan and raw stuff, even though I know they usually lend themselves to gluten free as well, but this place had amazing food. S and I split the raw pizza and had a bowl of lentil soup (it was snowing!) and L had the chicken sandwich, which had local, organic chicken, and house made sourdough. They literally had something for everyone, and their cheese-less cheesecake was just the ticket for dessert. Highly recommended!
Also in Santa Fe, we went to La Plazuela, at La Fonda. While we didn't find their breakfast menu all that inspiring, we did decide to go to dinner for the tableside guacamole. I had stayed at the hotel years ago, and never got the guacamole, and I wanted it bad. *grins* Turned out, the waiter was very knowledgable about gluten free options, and ran down the whole menu with us. We ended up with the guacamole, and some amazing pork carnitas tacos on homemade corn tortillas. There was a cheyote and apple slaw, too. Yum. The waiter even remembered not to offer us sopapillas or dessert, save the sorbet.
For breakfast the next morning, we slogged through the seven inches of snow and slush about three blocks down the street from La Fonda, to a place called Le Zodiac. You might look at the menu and go, huh? But! They have stuff not listed on their online menu. On the board outside they advertised gluten-free buckwheat crepes, filled with egg, ham and cheese, or many combinations thereof. Yum, y'all! They also had soy lattes. They were inexpensive, and open at 7:30 for breakfast every day but Tuesday. If your food allergy is not wheat, then try their amazing looking pastries and sandwiches, which are all artisan, French-style feasts.
Finally in Santa Fe, we dropped into a little chocolate shop tucked away behind the mission and the capitol building. Kakawa Chocolate House has not only the most amazing chocolate elixer drinks, they have dairy free truffles and chocolates, and dairy and gluten free brownies and cookies. They use honey and agave as sweeteners, which is also a huge yay for us diabetics. The lady behind the counter was sweet and knowledgable and we had kind of an amazing experience there.
In Albuquerque, we stayed at the Sandia Resort and Casino, which limited our options a bit if we didn't want to drive into town. Still, they were very accomodating. We ended up with a lot of bun free hamburgers and egg dishes, but that was okay. I did have a very nice filet mignon there. The best thing about the Sandia is that the staff is exceptional. They're eager to please, and one little gal named Kimberly had a terrible shellfish allergy, so she was hyper-vigilant for us. One word to the wise, though. If you get a salad, ask them to mix it in a separate bowl from the usual, or you'll get crouton crumbs.
All in all, we found Northern New Mexico a challenge for everyday eating, but there are some serious gems. If you know of somewhere we missed, holler! We'll happily try it next time.
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