The Blind Monk: Great Gluten Free Options When You Want to Watch the Game

March 29, 2013No comments

How many times have you been invited to watch the big game at a pub where you knew there was nothing you could eat and definitely knew you couldn’t drink the beer? Well next time there is a big game, be the first one to suggest The Blind Monk because for a pub they have a pretty extensive gluten free menu and lots of big screen tvs

Included on the menu is gluten free pizza, pasta and bread. As for appe’s most of the wings are gluten free and the wonton tacos can be made gluten free, and they are delish! And a nice treat is The Blnd Monk carries Nickel Brook Gluten Free beer, which kinda reminded me of Strongbow.

I was there with two friends who had not have tried the gluten free versions at The Monk. Not only was I excited to try a selection of items from the menu, but I was hoping my friends would enjoy the gluten free options.

We started by sharing the wonton tacos which were substituted with corn tortillas. The tacos were light and a great way to start the meal. For our next course, we shared the spinach and mushroom fettucini. Definitely not low cal, but this by far was my favorite dish of the night. Since the dish normally comes with foccacia, a slice of gluten free garlic toast was included and it was so light and flakey…was the best gf garlic toast I’ve eaten. Lastly we shared the Big M Pizza sans bacon and ranche dressing.

The blind monk has a casual comfortable atmosphere with friendly servers. On one side there are some lounge couches surrounded by a host of games including Buck Hunter and Golden Tee. If you are looking for a new neighborhood pub, check out The Blind Monk.

One caution, the hamburger patties have bread crumbs in them so even though you can get gluten free buns, don’t order the hamburgers.

Check out www.blinkmonk.ca.

North 51 Steakhouse/Delta Calgary Airport: Great GF Options

February 23, 2013No comments

Recently I had meetings at the Delta Calgary Airport. The first night my colleagues and I went to the North 51 Steakhouse for dinner. We walked into the restaurant and although small, it’s cozy and nicely decorated.

First I was given gluten free bread while my colleagues snacked on what looked like scrumptious little biscuits and brioche. For my appe I ordered the scallops which were served on a risotto and was actually a huge portion. The scallops were perfectly cooked and it was a great way to start the meal.

For my main, I ordered the petite fillet which came which a side of vegetables and in addition we order a bunch of family style sides to share green beans, mushrooms and truffle fries. I did not ask if the fryer was used exclusively for gluten free items but I wasn’t planning on having the fries so I didn’t bother.

In between courses we were given a palate cleanser which was a light, refreshing fruit sorbet. And for a sweet treat after dinner, we were each given a mint chocolate covered ball. Although we ate a lot, each course was super delish thanks in part to the awesome french chef.

The next day for lunch I was served a gluten free sammy with flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Although I would have liked the bread to be toasted, I was happy to be able to have a sammy at a meeting for once rather than just a salad followed by nuts that I buy from Starbucks because I’m still hungry….I’m sure you’ve all been there before.

If you are stuck at the airport, needing a hotel in the north or having meetings, the Delta will be super accommodating to gluten allergies.

https://www.deltahotels.com/Hotels/Delta-Calgary-Airport-Hotel/Restaurants-Dining/North-51-Steakhouse

Soffritto: Not many gluten free options but amazing olive oils

February 22, 2013No comments

So I kept seeing Soffritto on gluten free websites and I saw it was a deli. I went in the other day thinking I could find a gluten free sammy and was pumped because the options in the deep south are severely lacking. The deli is located in the plaza just off of Midpark Blvd and I pulled up and went in excited. The lady at Soffrito was super nice but unfortunately they really don’t offer gluten free options. Most of the store is fresh pasta and sauces that you take home to cook as well as Italian sammys sans gluten free bread. They do have brisket but without gluten free bread its just not the same.

They do carry Le Veneziane corn pasta which is one of my fav gluten free pastas. If you are still using brown rice pasta, take my advice and switch. I promise you will thank me! What the store did offer which I loved is they have a wall of young olive oils and balsamic vinegars in all type of flavors. I thought this would be great for having on hand and using as a dressing on salads.

Don’t be fooled, Soffrito is not your traditional deli, but the oils are worth checking out the store.

Dealfind with Heaven’s Artisan Gluten Free Resto

February 22, 2013No comments

If you have been wanting to try out Heaven’s Artisan Gluten Free restaurant, then today is your lucky day. Dealfind and Teambuy are featuring a $40 voucher for $20 bucks. Win/win!!

Click on the link to access the deal http://www.dealfind.com/?a=4af51a533fa1

Borgo Trattoria: Great Tapas, Terrible Service….

February 10, 2013No comments

Alright so I’m not going to lie, I am bit, ok a lot behind in posting. For that I apologize but I got super sick twice in January plus was travelling a lot for work. That said, in January I still managed to go to some new resto’s including Borgo’s for one of my close girlfriend’s birthday.

We had a large group of 11 people going and I was one of the first to arrive and sat down excited to catch up with my friends. It took our server 15 minutes to come take my drink order and honestly was 45 minutes before I got my drink. During this time our group of 11 had arrived and they were having the same problems trying to get our server.

Finally, one hour in, we all had beverages and started to look at the menu. As with tapas, I am always worried that I can’t eat anything and will be stuck drinking wine and eating green salad…always a dangerous combination. The one thing our server did well was he marked up the menu to show me what was gluten free and to my surprise, over half of the menu was gf woot woot.

So the night wasn’t going well until the food starting coming and seriously omg the food at Borgo is honestly the best tapas I’ve had in Calgary. The scallops are amazing (note they are raw, some people disliked the texture), the carpacchio is so tender, the vegetables was probably my favorite dish and the gluten free pasta didn’t taste gluten free. At the table we order one gf pasta and one normal and everyone else did a taste test and agreed. In addition we had the shrimp and charcuterie board (note no gluten free bread at Borgo) .

Okay so the service left a lot to be desired, but we were a large group so I will give the resto the benefit of the doubt and will go back with a smaller group because the food was so tasty. I think it’s important to note that I I wasn’t overly impressed by the winelist, it wasn’t very good and definitely over priced.

You can check out the restaurant at www.borgo.ca.

Downtown Food Bistro: Bringing Asian Inspiration to Calgary

January 5, 2013No comments

Yesterday I was driving downtown and spotted Downtown Food Bistro and wanted to check it out. So I called one of my besties Laura to see if she was free for lunch and as luck would love it she was. I really hadn’t done any research into the Bistro so we went in blind.

Downtown Food is located on Stephen Ave in the old Opus location. I was expecting to walk in an the room be closed in like Opus was, man was I wrong. The room is open, airy and welcoming with white chairs, lovely banquettes and a large bar area.

We were seated and I looked at the menu which has an asian flare on traditional items. I was worried that the gluten free options would be limited, but our server said the chef could accommodate gluten free no problem.

I saw fish tacos and was hoping the tortilla was corn because this is one of my favorite dishes. Indeed they were corn and could be made gluten free so long as the fish was not breaded. My friend ordered the steak sandwich with homemade truffle fries. Our dishes came out promptly and the presentation was awesome. Unfortunately I was starving and so excited about trying my dish that I forgot to take pictures…whoops. That said, the fish tacos were amazing. The fish was tender and moist and served on a in house made corn tortilla which tasted better than the ones I had in Mexico last week. What was unique about these tacos was they were topped with pea shoots which I thought was odd at first, but they added a lovely freshness to the dish.

Darren Calgary Herald 300x223 Downtown Food Bistro: Bringing Asian Inspiration to Calgary

Chef Darren. Photo courtesy of Calgary Herald.

Laura said her steak sandwich was the best she had ever eaten. As we were finishing, Chef Darren came over to check on us and shared his philosophy for the restaurant. Darren is committed to using only uses local, sustainable products including seafood from the Oceanwise Program. In addition, everything that can be made in house is included the tofu for the crispy fried tofu. The menu also includes tempura which is gluten free (I can’t wait to go back and try) burgers with kimchee, noodle bowls and charcuterie boards. Darren is a master at tweaking traditional dishes to give it an imginative asian spin.

Honestly I can’t wait to go back and try the dinner menu. In the meantime, Chef Darren is experimenting with gluten free noodles for his pasta which hopefully he successfully tackles soon.

Check out www.downtownfood.ca and look out for their pop up concept coming soon.

Vero Modern Bistro: Very Delicious Gluten Free

January 1, 2013No comments

Just before Christmas , I went to Vero Modern Bistro with friends to celebrate the holidays. Vero is a small restaurant located on 10th street in Kensignton and is dark, intimate and warm inside. With only 10 tables, the restaurant is always full, and, for good reason. Chef Jenny does an amazing job, the food was delicious.

We started sharing two appetizers, the first being a gluten free vegetable spring roll which took me back to my childhood days. This was because I used to love egg rolls and the spring roll is wrapped in organic bean curd paper similar to egg rolls. To be honest, this isn’t your average spring roll, it’s much bigger but was delicious. My friends ordered the stuffed olives but I couldn’t eat them because they have gluten. That said, apparently they weren’t that good.

Our main courses were ah-mazing. I ate the sea bass served over risotto. The first was cooked perfectly and was fresh, light and flakey. The risotto was creamy, citrusy and I ate it in about three bites because it was so good. My friends ordered the lamb and said it was amazing as well.

What I really loved was that the menu showed which options were gluten free and made my decision incredibly easy. The service was excellent and the food amazing. I didn’t recognize many bottles of wine on the list but the ones were ordered were both pretty good.

Next time you are looking for a date restaurant or want an intimate restaurant, give Vero a try.

www.verobistro.ca

Blue Star Diner: 5 Star Food

December 9, 2012No comments

This morning I went to Blue Star Diner to meet my friend Jenn and her boyfriend Andy for brunch. This was my first time at Blue Star, we arrived at 9:30 and the restaurant was already busy. The restaurant is bright, airy and clean which I extremely appreciated because so many other breakfast joints make me cringe.

We sat down and I was super impressed by the menu;. There was both breakfast and lunch items and many gluten free options. My favorite breaky item is eggs benny which is probably no shock if you’ve read some of my other posts.

We started out with mimosa’s because we were celebrating Jenn’s birthday which is on Thursday. I ordered the smoked salmon and avacodo eggs benny on gluten free buns. Jenn and Andy both ordered the all in omelet.

Our food arrived and it looked so good and it tasted even better. The hashbrowns were so delish and the benny was even better. Blue Star uses Care Bakery products which you would never know they are gluten free.

I’m pretty sure that Blue Star is by the same group that owns Dairy Lane and they use mostly local suppliers.

Blue Star gets a big 5 star from me.

Check them out www.bluestar.ca

Interview with Kerry Bennett: Gluten Free Baker

December 9, 2012No comments

Avoid Pitfalls when baking gluten free, interview with Chef Kerri on gluten free flour, gluten free substitions and ways to avoid cross contamination. Chef Kerri makes the best gluten free in Calgary.

Gluten Free Expo: March 24, 2013

December 5, 2012Comments: 2

Calgary

The Gluten Free Expo is the largest gluten free event in Canada. Whether you’re looking for products that taste great or trying to learn how to cook and bake to meet your dietary needs, the Expo is the place to be! Come see what it is all about…

In addition to featuring over 75 vendors both sampling and selling their products, there will also be a public stage with sessions pertaining to gluten free living throughout the day for your enjoyment.

Date: March 24, 2013 Time: 11:00 – 5:00 Location: BMO Centre, 1410 Olympic Way SE

Tickets are available both online or at the door. Tickets are $12 (cash only) at the door, or just $9 online. Free for children ages 10 or under. All prices include HST and service fees. By purchasing tickets in advance, you save money and time, as you won’t have to wait in the payment line to get in! What do you get for the price of admission to the expo?