This newly opened eatery is tantalizing us with some imaginative dishes we don’t often see in the suburbs. Some include the house-made sage & apple sausage patties used in their breakfast sandwich, or the Mango Coconut Chicken, Pulled Pork Tacos entrees and many soups such as the Roasted Veggie, Lasagna Soup, Butternut Pear Soup, Country Onion Soup topped with pumpkin bread croutons, or the French Onion Soup topped with toasted bread and Gruyere cheese (dairy-free cheese is available too!).

Moving on to the diverse baked goods we can choose from Corn Muffins stuffed with fig jam, cinnamon drizzled Banana Coconut muffins, Blueberry muffins and numerous pies (Blueberry, Dutch Apple, Coconut Chocolate Ganache Pie, to name a few..).  Carrot Cake, Rice Crispy Treats, Chocolate Crackle Cookies and peaNOT Butter bars are just a sampling of what might be offered on any given day. 

Find them in Millis, MA at the Roche Brothers Plaza.

Phone:  (508) 376-1163

We recently had the pleasure of visiting the American Girl Bistro located in the Natick Collection in Natick, Ma.  By making reservations online, we were able to specify the need for a gluten and nut-free lunch. While there is no menu to view ahead of time, upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to find that gluten-free pizza (crust is also dairy-free) was offered!  Also, a nice surprise was the fact that the kitchen was tree nut and peanut-free!

The gluten-free appetizers included Fresh Fruit Plate (must omit the mini muffins) with yogurt dip, Salad Skewers, and the Veggie Platter with Ranch Dip and a Dill Dip. For entrees, there was the Roast Salmon with Potato (must substitiute potato for orzo), Chicken Lemon Caper with  Garlic Mashed Potato (must have chicken prepared without flour coating), and of course, the pizza. To designate the gluten-free dishes, two American flags were placed on top of the food.

The dessert menu was large (with lots of cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc) but the gluten-free choices were limited to mostly ice cream.  A variety of milk shakes, an Ice Cream Sundae, a Banana Split and a Raspberry Sorbet with Fresh Fruit were available.

Overall we had a great experience. The food was tasty and the staff was phenomenal in their effort to accomodate food allergies. We appreciated how our tenacious server made numerous trips to the kitchen to verify menu ingredients and potential substitutions.  The only desire I have is that they take advantage of the ever increasing number of  local gluten-free bakers. In this day and age, there is no reason not to have a gluten-free muffin, brownie, cookie or bread on a menu!

Ice Cream Sundae

I’m  pleased to see they’ve recently added a  gluten-free menu !  This menu offers selections for lunch and dinner, including seasonal soups, salads, entrees and dessert (a few raw choices offered too). Be sure to inquire about the suggested wine pairings to accompany your meal. There is also a nut-free menu which clearly acknowledges that they “cannot accomodate”  severe tree nut allergies.  Not sure what to say about that.  An allergy is an allergy whether it is severe or mild.  And the severity of a past nut reaction is no indication of what could potentially occur with a future reaction.  

On a more positive note, those with peanut allergies will find solace in the fact that True Bistro does not use peanuts in any of  their dishes! 

Open for lunch (Tues-Fri), dinner and brunch.

Take-out available.

Not Your Average Joe’s has had a gluten-free menu for sometime now, but they recently revamped their menu to include gluten-free buns!  The buns are both gluten and dairy-free (contain egg whites and soy) and are made in a dedicated gluten-free, tree nut and peanut-free facility.  There are three different sandwiches to go along with the buns and also offered on the menu are plenty of entrees, salads and appetizers too.

The childrens’ menu features Grilled Salmon, a Sirloin Burger or a Grilled Chicken Sandwich with a choice of vegetable, fresh fruit (nice to see!) or mashed potato (avoid the fries here, no dedicated fryer!).

On our visit we tried the Turkey BLT with the greens and the kids had the Sirloin Burger.  One of whom didn’t care for the choice of sides or the thought of  ’eating a cow’ and ended up with only a plain roll- thanks Joe for not charging us $9 for that one roll!  Their meal also came with a Hoodsie, but raspberry sorbet could be substitited if dairy is an issue.  Most of the items at Joe’s are made to order so accomodating other food intolerances may be possible.   

Be sure to ask for the gluten-free bread for dipping in their flavored oil prior to your meal.  We were not aware of this treat until reviewing the menu later which reads  ”Each meal begins with a gluten-free version of Joe’s legendary bread and dip.”  Oh well, I guess another visit is necessary! 

UPDATE:  Since this post was written, there has been a change in the bun purveyor. They are currently using Buckwheat’s  Gluten-Free Burger Rolls which are made in a dedicated facility. 

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars, Shortbread Cookies and Brownies are usually offered, however, on your visit you might get to try something else that Dee has concocted.  If you do, let us know!

The coffee is freshly roasted on-site and gluten-free.  A ‘Coffee of the Day’ is featured, while supplies last.  A sampling of the varieties include; the Kona Coffee, Viennese Roast and the Costa Rican La Amistad.  Organic coffees are also offered such as the Organic Papua New Guinea, Organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and the Organic Bali Blend. If you prefer decaf try the Guatemalan Decaf or the Sumatra Organic Decaf.

Tea is offered here too and is avaiable either hot or cold. All teas are organic!  Fresh fruit is also offered daily.

So. G. Coffee Roasters is commited to purchase from farms that use sustainable and fair labor practices.

For dessert, there are  Black Bean Brownies and Almond Macaroons which are brought in from the outside gluten, soy, peanut and dairy-free vendor, Dee’s One Smart Cookie. 

Entertainment plays an important role at this establishment with artists appearing weekly.  A diverse genre of music is offered as well as story telling and poetry reading.  Also be sure to check out the regularly rotating Artwork from local artists!

There are many vegetable toppings to pick from and some of these are even grown in Hillside’s own  garden!  “Savory” items include meats that are free range  and also chemical and preservative free.

Gluten-free desserts are sold here as well.  These are sourced from a local gluten-free baker and vary in selection. Call ahead to discover what’s being offered on the day of your visit!

South Deerfield location open Thursday through Saturday.  Hadley location open Thursday through Sunday.

Burger on a Gluten-Free Bun

The Ninety Nine restaurants have started serving  delicious gluten-free buns to accompany their steakburgers. These buns are made from a mix of rice and tapioca flours and are free of dairy (contain eggs, soy and yeast) and are manufactured in a gluten, tree nut and peanut-free facility.

On our visit,  I was planning to order a salad, but as soon as the server mentioned that they now carry these buns I just had to give them a try. I’m so glad that I did.  The bun was warmed perfectly and not a bit crumbly.   Another surprise was to find that the fries (contain soy) were cooked in a dedicated fryer!  I dined at the Wilmington, MA location so if you plan to order the fries elsewhere, please make sure to ask if your location has a dedicated fryer. 

The Ninety Nine’s has had a gluten-free menu for sometime now as well as a great Allergen Info chart on their website (increase magnification of this chart for easy viewing).  This chart is helpful to find other allergens that may be lurking in items on the menu. For instance, the mashed potatoes, not surprisingly, contain milk but they also contain soy.

When looking at the chart , I noticed some items were gluten-free but not listed on the current gluten-free menu.  For example, the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (contains soy, dairy, eggs)  is free of gluten but not available on the menu. My server did confirm that it was indeed gluten-free but she was not comfortable offering this to me because she wasn’t sure the staff had been properly trained about plating it and wanted to ensure minimal risk of contamination, which I appreciated. I contacted the corporate office for more information and they confirmed that the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake is gluten-free, however, it is processed in a facility that is not a dedicated gluten-free facility. When I inquired about the discrepancy between the items on the gluten-free menu and those items on the Allergen Info list that were free of gluten, I was told that these items are being reviewed in anticipation of a new and improved gluten-free menu to debut in the early fall of 2010.  And yes, the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake will be featured!

 Update:  The gluten-free menu now includes a child-sized burger with a gluten-free bun.

Recently, we had the opportunity to tour the plant of the soon to be opened ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD.  Baker and owner George  has been creating tempting dishes at Fresh Start for years and has now formulated delicious recipes to allow people living with diet restrictions to feel like regular folk.  This plant is a dedicated gluten, soy, nut and sesame-free facility!  In addition, they will offer dairy-free and sugar-free products too!  I was also glad to hear that they will have no GMO ingredients, artificial flavorings or colorings in their products. 

To decrease the risk of outside cross-contamination, they have a strict employee policy of no outside food containing allergens allowed (for example, no peanut butter sandwiches on gluten containing bread for lunch) and they will have an on-site lab for product testing as they are commited to coming in under the pending FDA standard of 20 ppm gluten. 

Kindhearted (and business savy) George does not have any food restrictions but met many customers with special dietary needs so he took it upon himself to formulate incredibly tasty treats to fill the needs of this customer base.  He plans to offer breads, cakes and sweets as well as an extensive amount of dishes including fresh pasta, parmesans, meatballs, meatloaf and croutons.  The full list runs the gamut from breakfast foods through dinner.  He will also have weekly meals available for purchase so you can load up on dinners for the week. Wouldn’t that make life easier!

We sampled cookies, brownies, pound cake, flourless chocolate torte and sandwich bread.  The rice flour/tapioca based sandwich bread tasted great whether plain or toasted.  Offered in the future will be quinoa and multigrain loaves.  All were wonderful tasting and very much “too good to be true”.  My kids kept whispering to me, “Is this gluten?” And when I told them repeatedly that the food was safe to eat, my daughter proclaimed “This is the best day of my life!”      

ALLCANEAT FOODS, LTD will house a retail store, online mail order as well as a cafe!  I am so eager to return this spring to try more of the fantastic edibles from this enterprise.

Gluten-Free Cheese Pizza

Since 1961 Prince Pizzeria has been a well-known Saugus landmark, and we also know it as a great place to get a superb pizza!   Out of customer concern, they became a peanut and tree nut-free establishment a few years ago. More recently, they have listened to their gluten-intolerant customers by serving delicious pizza!  This pizza is made of a millet and flax seed crust.  Besides having no gluten ingredients, it is also free of dairy, egg, soy and yeast. 

Information provided by General Manager Stephen Markarian assured me that precautions to minimize the risk of cross-contamination are of utmost importance.  The “regular” pizzas are prepared in the morning and put in their own pans with their sauce and cheese long before the toppings are put out on the line. Thus, there is little risk of airborne flour contamination to the toppings.  The gluten-free pizzas are put on a clean pan, straight from the dishwasher and cut with clean knives. They are also placed on  paper towels to keep them from skidding off of a metal rack on the pizza pan.

Salads make a nice accompaniment to the pizza . The ranch and blue cheese salad dressings are gluten-free while the Italian and homemade vinaigrette are gluten and dairy-free.

On our visit we took in one of the shows for the kids over the Christmas break.  They had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the pizza-even our gluten-tolerant family members ate the pizza with gusto!  The adults will have the oppotunity to try this pizza again when we make reservations for the Giggles comedy night!

Professional event planning and private banquet rooms are also available.

Kids Show