Asia de Cuba

Last night I had a dinner for work at Asia de Cuba (Madison between 37th and 38th Streets). It was fortuitous that that restaurant had been chosen, as it has a gluten-free menu! Ah, relief. For appetizers, we had some sort of grilled shrimp thing which was okay, and the rest of my party had ordered the calamari salad. Because of me, the server brought the calamari and dressing (not gluten-free) separate from the salad, so I had some of that too. Frankly, it was just dry lettuce and other junk-- would have been better for my dining companions to get the real deal, and I could have sat it out. They also had the spare ribs, which they loved, but were not gluten-free.
For entrees, we had the tuna, a steak special, and the cod-- the cod was definitely the stand-out. We also ordered sides of fried plantains (arguably my favorite non-dessert food) and lobster mashed potatoes (could not possibly not be excellent!)
Then it was time for dessert. Despite how full I was, somehow the dessert stomach opened up and welcomed in the flourless chocolate cake-- and so will yours, so definitely order that! My companions also had some donut things, but I was too busy stuffing my face (and gulping down a glass of yummy port) to notice. Gluttony!

Stanton Social bachelorette party

Saturday night I attended a bachelorette party for a friend at Stanton Social (Stanton between Orchard and Ludlow). My stomach sank when i sat down at the table and saw that my friend's sisters had selected a pre-set menu for the group of 15. While it looked like a delicious selection for everyone else, to me the menu just screamed gluten!!! However, I pulled the waiter aside and explained my situation. I was so relieved-- not only did he know about gluten, he knew which things I could and could not eat and even double-checked with the chef, despite how busy the restaurant was. (This restaurant feels more like an incredibly crowded club than a dining establishment.) At any rate, I was able to eat the chipotle shrimp (okay), the calamari lettuce wraps (AMAZING), and some green beans (too much garlic). I also was technically allowed to eat the pork, but I had filled up so much on the calamari and cocktails that I couldn't even stomach looking at it. (It was also 1 am by that time!) My second stomach (you know, the one for desserts) did, however, open right up when the time for dessert arrived. The party enjoyed trays of cookies and donuts with dipping sauces, but the waiter brought me a treat of fantastic fruit sorbets, which I hadn't even requested. Bravo, Stanton Social! The extra sugar kick came in handy for the night of dancing at Marquee post-dinner...

Falai

Last night I ate at Falai (Clinton Street somewhere). Now, I am clearly a major foodie, so it should mean something when I tell you-- I was impressed. Not only would I definitely go back, I would order exactly what we ate last night. In fact, I may begin to salivate just typing about it. I must warn you, however, that if you are a celiac who had a major bread thing pre-diagnosis, you may not want to go here because the bread (of which there are like five choices) looked incredible. We started with the grilled octopus. I have no idea what they did, but it was good. My (blind) date and I were sharing it, and I wanted to order a second one! But, of course, held myself back. (It was a date.) For my entree, I had the halibut. It came with this mixture of raisins and pine nuts and some sort of foam, and I really don't know what it all was, but it was so good that I was trying to pace myself so that I didn't just inhale it, as there are few things less attractive than your date hoovering her meal in under 30 seconds, right? Anyway, I think I did okay on the pace after all. For dessert, we shared a couple of scoops of sorbet, which was serviceable and came with some lovely chocolate shavings. This is also the type of restaurant that brings you little extras-- a nice sweet potato soup-thing to start and some petit fours at the end. I just love that stuff.

Freeman's

Freeman's restaurant hides at the end of Freeman's Alley right around Bowery and Rivington. Inside it looks like a bizarre sort of hunting lodge, with all these dead deer heads everywhere. The scene is decidedly hipster, but/and the food is decidedly tasty. I ate there the other night with some friends. To start, we enjoyed the devils on horseback, which are dates stuffed with some kind of cheese and wrapped in bacon. I am a bit of a dates-wrapped-in-bacon connoisseur. My favorite ones actually are the purest, to be found at my favorite tapas place, Xunta (1st Avenue and 10th/11th St.) I am not a huge fan of when restaurants stick an almond in there, like at Pipa (north of Union Square, in ABC Carpet store). But the cheese addition at Freeman's is pretty decent. My friends also shared the artichoke dip appetizer. Apparently the dip itself is gluten-free, but they serve it with bread, so there goes that. For my main dish, I had the chicken. Yes, that sounds boring, but, make no mistake, it was amazing! It is a roast chicken with green beans and these crunchy chickpeas (do they fry them?). I can't wait to go back and have it again!

11 Madison Park-me-here

11 Madison Park (Madison & 24th) always reminds me of that episode of Sex and the City where Carrie has that horrible lunch there with Big. But on Sunday night it was just the scene of a work dinner for me. They were really great about the whole gluten-free thing. I had worked out my meal in advance, but I ate (or, devoured) the loup de mer, which came sitting on this yummy sweet potato puree thing. The dessert of sorbets were really good too. Hard to miss at a restaurant this fancy!

Zum Schneider works for me

I had always heard people rave about this Bavarian bierhaus in Alphabet City, Zum Schneider (Avenue C and (not sure?) maybe 7th Street?), but figured it was off limits to me, since we celiacs can't drink regular beer. Many a weekend night I had strolled past the brightly-lit, always-packed place and gazed longingly at the long wooden tables and benches filled with jolly groups of friends. Well, Friday night I gave it a shot. Guess what, celiacs? Not only do they have a zillion German beers, they also offer a nice selection of German wines! I enjoyed a lovely glass of gruner veltliner with my friends. (And then I enjoyed it a couple more times.) Much recommended!

Brunch at Montparnasse

Montparnasse (51st between 2nd and 3rd Avenues) is a classic French bistro. It doesn't feel gimmicky or fake. It's been around a while and should be around a while longer. I was just there for brunch and go there often. Brunch is generally a pretty good meal for us celiacs-- a plate of eggs and some fried potatoes is naturally gluten-free! This weekend I had the mushroom omelet which comes with potatoes and salad. I also stole a few french fries (which are incredibly good) off my friend's plate. Not sure those are gluten-free though! I heard the bread with the raisins and nuts is quite good too from my guilty dining partners. (I find gluten-eaters often feel guilty eating bread around me. It's funny because it doesn't bother me a bit. A bread basket looks like a day of being sick to me-- yuck!)

Gnocco Cafe, yummy food, yummy waiters

Gnocco Cafe (10th Street between Avenues A & B) is an adorable little Italian spot. It has a garden too; but, as I was there on 40-degree Saturday night, the garden was covered and heated. It seems great for summer though! The food was delicious, and so was (as stated above) the waitstaff. O italiano!
Anyway, I started with a nice plate of bresaola and parmesan, which is of course naturally gluten-free and then had this nice sesame crusted tuna entree that came with asparagus and some sort of mashed potato/celery concoction. Recommend it all! Also, the wine list was very long and includes a lambrusco, an Italian fizzy red wine that I just love and see fairly rarely (though you can also find it at Via Emilia, Inoteca, and Bar Veloce, to name a few places-- anyone know any others???)

I heart Josie's

Josie's (37th and 3rd, also upper east and upper west) is the best. They know a lot about gluten. And they use wheat-free tamari sauce! You know what that means: you can order stir fries there! I almost always get the exact same thing: the calamari stir fry. The trick is that this dish, while it is (IMHO) the best thing on the menu, is NOT on the menu. It is only available as an appetizer. However, you can order it as an entree, at least at the 37th and 3rd location. (I was once barred from doing this on the upper westside, simply further reason to avoid going to that dog-and-child-filled neighborhood (just kidding!!!! (mainly)))
Anyway, I also like the chopped salad with tofu, but I'm not sure about the dressing on it, and I have ordered all sorts of specials and other dishes that they alter to make gluten-free. They speak our language!

American Airlines sucks; EVA is awesome

Okay, so these are not NYC restaurants. However, this deserves to be published. Last month, I had a huge work trip to Asia. I bought tickets the day before. The first leg of the trip was in business class on AA, the second on EVA. Both legs were confirmed to have gluten-free meals, both in ticketing and at the gate when I had the agent check her computer.
Guess what?
No gluten-free meal on AA! For $1,500! No food!
And a flight attendant who, might I add, was rather condescending and nasty about the whole thing. Of course, this is why I always carry some protein bars. (I recommend these ones I like that noone else likes called Dr.'s CarbRite or something like that and also the Atkins S'mores bars.)
But this is not just a bitch-and-moan entry. I want to give a shout out to EVA airlines, as their gluten-free selection was VERY good! And they even give you Haagen Daaz. What's not to love?

Buttercup Bakeshop, or how-to-be-truly-gluttonous

I used to really like cake. Like, a lot. Really, though, what I liked best was the FROSTING. As anyone with celiac knows, sometimes frosting has gluten in it. Go figure. So when I was diagnosed, one of the first places I called was Buttercup Bakeshop (2nd Ave btwn 51st and 52nd). While their frosting is filled with sugar and fats of all artery-clogging kinds, it has no gluten! And they will actually sell you a cup of it. Which is disgusting. And sometimes necessary.

Houston's night

Oh, Houston's, how I love thee. Although you are a chain (inc. 2 in NYC-- 54th & 3rd and Park Ave and 20-something), I adore you.
Pre-celiac, my friend and I used to have "Houston's night." On Houston's night, we had to sit at the bar and enjoy a bottle of the Solex chardonnay (which they no longer carry), a spinach dip (which has flour in it), and a brownie sundae. The perfect meal! Unfortunately, the only parts of that meal I can now have are the chips & salsa that come with the dip and the ice cream on top of the brownie.
However, I have found something I really like there-- the chicken salad! It is safe for celiacs as long as you order it without the peanut sauce. Enjoy!

Blue Fin

Blue Fin restaurant (47th and Broadway, in the W hotel) is part of the BRGuest restaurant group. Also in this group is Ruby Foo's, which has a gluten-free menu. While Blue Fin doesn't have one, my waiter knew right away what I was talking about and said that they deal with the gluten-free customer all the time. Phew. I actually can't remember what I ate-- some sort of fish and a salad?-- but it was good, and I recommend going there because they seemed to "get it."

Blue Smoke, boy heaven

Blue Smoke (27th btwn Park and Lex) is Danny Meyer's BBQ joint. I ate there the other night with some work friends. They have a gluten-free menu which, you know, makes things so much easier. I had the chicken, which was really really good. Also shared this chopped salad thing with my friends. And of course enjoyed some good wine and the scene at the bar... turns out, lots of guys like BBQ... and I don't mind seeing them!

PJ Clarke's

PJ Clarke's (55th St. and 3rd Ave.) is a New York institution, famous for its hamburgers. Hamburgers are a great food for celiacs to eat, as long as they are not made with any bread crumbs or other gluten-y filler in the burger. And guess what? PJ's aren't! I was there last night and enjoyed a lovely burger patty on top of a garden salad. Followed by some nice cinnamon ice cream.

Morimoto-- omakase!

Okay, so this is not your everyday sushi joint. However, I had the most WONDERFUL experience eating here! I went with a group that was ordering the omakase, and the chef was able to serve me the omakase as well, in a gluten-free version. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be able to eat everything served to me without having to have a conference about it with the waitstaff. So, if you have a few hundred $$ to blow (it was a work dinner!), head on over there!

Tasti D Lite, my true love

It's controversial. The people at Tasti D Lite have never been able to tell me for sure whether their product is gluten-free. The ingredients that they post ARE gluten-free; the issue is that some of the flavorings may not be. SO... judge for yourself! I go ahead and eat it, but I try to avoid flavors that are especially gluten-y-sounding, e.g., smores, white chocolate malt, cookies and cream (though sometimes I can't resist...)
Also: some toppings are definitely gluten-free: M&M's, Butterfinger, Heath. One that looks gluten-free but most likely is not is the sprinkles. Sometimes they are; sometimes they aren't. Unless you see the packaging, avoid avoid avoid.