Saturday, April 25, 2009

New York City Gluten Free

We just got back from a 5 day stay in New York City -- it truly is a great place to travel if you are eating gluten free. In fact, our "restaruants to visit" list was longer than the number of meals on our trip. (Oh well, I guess we have to go back.) Some of the highlights were as follows:

Friedman's Lunch -- In the Chelsea Market. Their gluten free menu includes sandwiches on gluten free bread, bagels and pancakes on Sundays, hamburgers on gluten free buns, fresh french fries and homemade potato chips (they have a separate fryer for the gluten free food).

Risotteria -- we shared an order of risotto and a gluten free pizza. We ordered a pizza with olive tapenade instead of tomato sauce, topped with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. Delish. Every meal is prefaced by gluten free breadsticks, the nice soft kind. They also sell wrapped gluten free baked goods to take home, include black and white cookies.

Just Salad -- a salad chain, we went to the one at 30 Rock (Rockefeller Center). The gf salad dressings are clearly labeled. According to the owner, the grilled chicken is gluten free, as are many of the toppings (other than the obvious ones, such as croutons). Ask to have your salad mixed and chopped in a clean bowl on a clean board; the staff were happy to accomodate.

S'mac -- a small restaurant in the East Village, specializing in macaroni and cheese. They have gluten free pasta available, and all the breadcrumbs that are used to top the mac and cheeses are gluten free. You can have traditional American style mac and cheese, or go for a more exotic version, with different kinds of cheeses and mix ins.

Petit Cafe -- this cozy cafe in the West Village was a real find. The owner's mother has celiac, and he has been increasing his gluten free offereings over the past couple of years. Options now include gluten free french toast (served all day), grilled paninis and other sandwiches on gluten free bread, gluten free brownie and gluten free soups. The cafe is small and friendly -- the owner seemed to know many of the customers, and even went to his car in a rainstorm to loan one of his customers his umbrella!

Tuttoriso -- a homey cafe on Staten Island, right next to the ferry stop. This makes a great stopover if you are planning to take the Staten Island ferry (recommended for a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline, and it's free!) Tuttoiso has a full range of gluten free pastas, sandwiches, soups and baked goods.

Cafe 82 -- a typical NYC diner on the upper west side of Manhattan (82d St. and Broadway). They have a gluten free menu, including gf toast for the traditional eggs and hash browns, as well as other diner foods. Very reasonably priced. (no web site)

Whole Foods -- there is now an enormous Whole Foods on East Houston Street. Not surprisingly, this being New York, they have a huge prepared foods section. One night, we didn't feel like eating out, so we picked up take out sushi as well as fresh french fries from the Pommes Frites station within Whole Foods. Pommes Frites is a french frie restaurant in the East Village -- they have an ecclectic selection of sauces (we didn't investigate, just stuck with the ketchup.) This Whole Foods also sells gelato from local gelato makers Il Laboratorio del Gelato, in the Lower East Side.

Another treat was home made buttercrunch chocolate candy from Roni-Sue's Chocolates in the Essex Market (Lower East Side).

What was particularly nice about traveling in New York, is that there were gluten free options in every part of town. The only place that was a bit challenging was Spa Castle -- an incredible Korean spa in the heart of Queesns (you can take the number 7 subway to the last stop, and get a free shuttle bus from there to the spa.) Spa Castle is a five story experience, complete with saunas, and a variety of whirlpools. (I can't really describe it, take a look at the website.) Apparently there is a salad bar there on the weekends, but during the week the main food option is a Korean restaurant. We hadn't brought restaurant cards with us, but in the end were happy to order a couple of bowls of plain white rice (rather cleansing after our other food extravengences). There is also Haagen Daaz and Edy's available, if you want something more decadent!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

We enjoyed Just Salad on our recent trip to NYC, too! Another I'd recommend is Ruby Foo's, which also had a GF menu...kind of Asian fare. A magnificent Italian restaurant was Arno's on West 38th by the Theater District. No GF menu, but they accommodated my diet and the meal was a brilliant fine dining experience!

Dana aka Gluten Free In Cleveland said...

Oooh how I miss living in NYC.

Reading your list made me miss all the great meals at the rissotoria, and s'mac. Next time you go, be sure to check out Slice - a pizza place on 2nd ave and 82nd, and Spring Street Natural on Spring and Layfayette.

Glad you had such a good time!!

Beats and Styles said...

Thanks for your tips. Also really good gluten free places in New York are: Mozzarelli's on 38 E 23rd St (www.mozzarellis.com). They got nice gluten free pizza selection (including ready slices) + a HUGE collection of gluten free cookies - just great selection!

For some finer and truly excellent gluten free Italian food I have to recommend Bistango on 415 3rd ave (29th st). Soooo good! The best tasting gluten free pizza I've ever tasted!

Tammie Barker said...

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Kim & Lou said...

TRY TULLY's Just opened in East Village by SMAC. Dinner and Dessert in one stop. As an accomplished cook, gluten-free baking has been one challenge I cannot master. We looked forward to our trip to NYC to try Tully's. We were there for her first day and I must say we will be back. Tully has mastered making gluten-free taste as wonderful as traditional baking. You will NOT regret the trip! We live in DC and made arrangements to have Tully ship for us once we're back. The muffins are moist and flavorful, the brownies are sheer chocolate heaven and the vanilla cupcake melts in your mouth. Tully has given desserts back to those of us who are gluten-free!

Anonymous said...

mozzarelli's tries; however, they don't always succeed.

it is not encouraging to see them place gf slices next to regular slices in the same oven, handled by the employee who just had his hands all over the non-gf pizza dough, and i'll leave it at that.

Peter Michael Marino said...

I just went to RUBIROSA in Nolita and it had amazing GF foods! I wrote all about it on my blog:
http://blackoutpete.blogspot.com/2011/04/gluten-free-italian-at-rubirosa-nyc.html

Gluten Free Hotels Guide said...

If you are looking for hotels in New York that can serve gluten free food, you can visit http://www.glutenfreehotelsguide.com/city.php?id=3
The site lists hotels all over the world which are able to serve gluten free food.

PT said...

For Asian food cannot go past Penang,
The manager (Morgan) is fully aware of GF dining and caters superbly.
Food was excellent & p[rices very reasonable. 4.5 stars
PT

PT said...

For GF asian food try Penang. 127W 72nd St, The manager (Morgan) is fully aware of GF dining and he caters superbly. Food was tops and prices very reasonable.
Paul (Australia)

Ajlounyinjurylaw said...

That sounds so good, without all the things that i'm allergic to. Fantastice.

Jens Blog said...

Thank you so much for this article! I'm moving to NYC this summer and I now have a complete list of safe places to eat while apartment hunting!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this collection of information. I have just returned from NYC and your site was a lifesaver! Without this, we might have been left to kettle chips and yoghurt! Just wanted to add that, in the UK, TGI's do a gluten free selection on the menu that is really good and the staff are well trained about gluten allergies, however the TGI's in NYC have a very limited choice if you don't like beef and after having a salad option I became unwell. Can't say for certain that it was the salad but I have my suspicions! It was also very expensive ($12+) for a wedge of lettuce and half a tomato! After following your excellent suggestions, I would say that BareBurger was amazing!!!! Brilliant staff who were very knowledgeable about gluten and wheat allergies and AMAZINGLY tasty food! I haven't had a burger with a bun for years and at BareBurger I not only had a burger with a rice bun, but it was the best one I have ever had!!!

A teen and her family's experiences living gluten-free.