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restaurant review – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Tag: restaurant review

  • WW: Philly reviews of Sweet Freedom bakery, Agno Grill, and Yantze Chinese

    Sweet Freedom's Samoa Cupcake
    Sweet Freedom’s Samoa Cupcake

    Courtesy of a holiday trip to the Philadelphia area, I’m so glad to bring you a few brief restaurant reviews. I am finally becoming somewhat comfortable traveling and eating out despite my food allergies. Frankly, it’s about time! I’m still not all that daring, as being sick when on the road is awful, but the Philadelphia area had a lot to offer. (I’ll admit — I also just brought breakfast: instant gluten-free oatmeal, tea, and an electric kettle. Starting off safe makes each day easier.)

    We had three notable stops on this trip, places worth sharing with all of you: the Sweet Freedom bakery in Bryn Mawr, Agno Grill in Philadelphia proper, and Yantze Chinese Gourmet in Lansdale. Sweet Freedom and Agno are dedicated, 100% gluten-free restaurants. But let’s go backwards and save dessert for the last, yes?

    Yantze Chinese Gourmet is a very nice Chinese restaurant in a very dull and mostly empty strip mall in Lansdale, a suburb north of Philadelphia, and the above link goes directly to their gluten-free menu. It’s a pretty decent menu with a lot of classic American Chinese restaurant dishes on it, and all lunches come with soup and ice cream. There is a chicken rice soup that is solely on the GF menu, which is what I had, and there is a lemon sorbet option for dessert (I did not try that). The staff seems well-versed in what it means to have a gluten-free menu, and I felt comfortable eating there. I ordered the cashew chicken, a personal favorite, and it may have been one of the nicest versions of that dish I’ve ever had.The chicken was moist, the celery crunchy, the cashews nicely toasted and the sauce was flavorful, but not too thick and there was not too much of it. There are a lot of dishes containing nuts, though, so if that’s one of your allergens, your mileage may vary on this review. No photos from this one — I wasn’t thinking of a review at the time, but it really was good enough to mention. This is upscale Chinese.

    Agno's Rice Bowl with chicken
    Agno’s Rice Bowl with chicken
    Agno's Steak Wrap
    Agno’s Steak Wrap

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Agno Grill in Philly is a Mediterranean “fast casual” kind of restaurant near Rittenhouse Square that I read about in Kaila’s review at GF Life 24/7. Actually, that recommendation is part of the reason I’m writing about more than just the bakery. Knowing that other people with food allergy issues had an experience worth sharing is incredibly helpful and reassuring. Agno Grill was staffed by two knowledgeable women who were able to answer all my questions about ingredients in their food. I only wish I’d remembered to ask what was in the wraps (I didn’t want one, so it didn’t cross my mind!). I ordered the rice bowl, topped with chicken, the roasted carrot mint salad, the tomato cucumber salad (which did not have feta in it, as the photo on the website shows), and some of the pickled beets, with the lemon oregano sauce. My dining companion ordered a wrap with the steak, the same carrot and tomato salads, and the quinoa tabbouleh, with tzatziki sauce. I also had an iced mint tea, which was excellent. The individual flavors of all the vegetable ingredients really stood out in this meal, even the beets (which I keep trying, even though, eh, I don’t love them). This was a great filling lunch, and if this was in my neighborhood, I would be there regularly.

     

    Sweet Freedom Cinnamon Roll
    Sweet Freedom Cinnamon Roll

    Ah, Sweet Freedom. The Sweet Freedom Bakery’s list of “free”s is long and very much like my own list of allergies, which means it was freeing for me — of everything in the bakery’s two cases, the only thing I could not order because of my own allergies was the banana chocolate chip cupcake. Because of this, I had trouble not ordering everything.The bakery is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, corn-free*, wheat-free, peanut-free, soy-free, casein-free, non-GMO, kosher, and refined sugar-free. I admit, I skipped over the last few, and I had no idea until I was looking at the menu again that the place was refined sugar-free — you won’t notice, I promise. They do use a lot of coconut, so they are not “nut-free,” but this was not an issue for me.

    *you can read their corn information here, towards the bottom, but they do source vanilla and leaveners without corn. the xanthan gum is corn-derived. YMMV on that.

    My top choice was the samoa cupcake. We also ordered a coconut caramel doughnut and a cinnamon roll. We also ordered cookies to take with us — the double chocolate mint chip (good), oatmeal raisin (amazing), a pumpkin cookie (okay), and a snickerdoodle (good). The cinnamon roll was a bit more of a cake texture than a “normal” cinnamon roll, but it still had the outer “crust” and chewiness of a proper cinnamon roll and the taste was spot on. We took another one of these with us for breakfast. The doughnut was a moist cake doughnut with good crumb and rich flavor. The coconut on top neither added to nor detracted from the doughnut; I wish I’d had a chance to taste another flavor of doughnut. To compare, you know?

    The samoa cupcake, though, was truly amazing. The cupcake was a yellow cake with a good crumb and lacking the softness that sometimes undermines gluten-free vegan cakes. The cupcake was filled with a rich chocolate frosting and caramel sauce, topped with a vanilla (I think?) frosting, coconut, and caramel and chocolate drizzles. It was rich and decadent and quite lovely. I would try any other cake from this bakery, happily.

    It’s possible that Sweet Freedom is out of your way when you visit Philadelphia. It’s worth the detour.

  • WW: Restaurant Review: Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA

    It’s Whatever Wednesday, and welcome to our very first restaurant review.  This won’t be a regular feature on Surviving the Food Allergy Apocalypse, as we’re somewhat geographically constrained, and there are other websites that do this sort of thing, but when we find a great place to go out and eat with food allergies, we plan to share it with you.

    Blue Ginger, in Wellesley, Mass., was opened in 1998 by Ming Tsai, star of Boston public television’s Simply Ming.  He’s also a spokesperson and activist for food allergy awareness who has written the standard protocol for food service staff for dealing with patrons who have food allergies.  We were excited to go out for a (very) nice dinner and have our allergies dealt with easily and in a way that felt safe.  Three of us went to dinner, our friend Laura V, who lives in the Boston area and who does not have any major food sensitivities, and both of us, Mary Kate and Denise.

    Blue Ginger is upscale, but casual, with a clean and modern dining room and open kitchen. They have a gluten-free menu. Additionally, though, our server asked each of us about allergens, wrote down the list, asked about severity and cross-contamination, and was very well-versed in the ingredients of each dish on the menu.  After discussing the dishes we were interested in, she checked with the kitchen staff before coming back to tell us what the kitchen could do with the dishes we were interested in and our allergens.

    A bread basket was provided, and while they do not have a gluten-free bread, they did bring a basket of egg-free and dairy-free bread out for Denise, with olive oil for dipping. The egg-free and dairy-free baguette slices were homemade at the restaurant and contained flour, water, and salt, but somehow managed to taste buttery and melt in your mouth light.  It was crisp without being overly crusty and soft but still having lots of air bubbles and texture.

    Laura and Denise each had the Gosling’s Ginger Storm. Laura and Denise both have a high appreciation for Gosling’s Black Seal Rum in general. Gosling’s Ginger Storm was described on the menu as “Gosling’s Black Seal Rum  blended with house ginger syrup, fresh lime juice and a splash of soda. Shaken and served on the rocks.” It was very good, but Denise would have liked just a tad more lime. It also made Denise and Mary Kate consider whether we could make our own ginger syrup (which Mary Kate wants over ice cream, not rum).

    Laura also tried the Massachusetts Mojito, which was described on the menu as “Locally made Privateer White Rum, our Thai Basil Syrup and a touch of Cranberry.” Laura liked it, but said she liked the Gosling’s Ginger Storm better and that she thought the mojito could use more cranberry.

    Denise had the Crispy Fried Calamari with Thai Dipping Sauce as an appetizer. The breading was sweet potato flour (which we need to find and experiment with), regular wheat flour, and tapioca starch. There was no need for modification based on Denise’s allergies. The sweet potato flour imparted a distinctly nutty flavor to the breading and the calamari was perfectly cooked, so it had exactly the right level of tenderness without being rubbery. It’s really hard to cook calamari without overcooking it. The dipping sauce had more of a lime vinaigrette feeling to it than a Thai Dipping Sauce, but it was still good, and complemented the calamari. It’s very hard to find dairy-free and egg-free fried seafood anymore, Denise was tickled to be able to have it.  Denise ate the entire thing, which is why she didn’t end up having dessert, as noted below.

    Laura had the Foie Gras-Shiitake Shumai in Sauternes-Shallot Broth as an appetizer. Laura thought that the foie gras made them very rich, and a little went a long way.  The Sauterness-Shallot broth was excellent, with a sweetness that complemented the foie gras. 

    For the main course, Mary Kate had the Pan Seared Scallops with Tamarind Sauce,  and Sautéed Haricot Verts over a bed of sticky rice (this was a substitution for a fancier rice with edamame, which Mary Kate can’t eat). The scallops were perfectly seared, having a gorgeous caramel color as a result. It was simple and phenomenal, with a tang and spice from the tamarind sauce and a brightness from the herb sauce. The fancy green beans were also great.

    For the main course, Denise had the Garlic-Black Pepper Lobster with Lemongrass Fried Rice, Pea Tendril Salad with Tamari-Ginger Vinaigrette. The restaurant was able to substitute out all dairy products (i.e. a “great deal of butter” according to our server) for oil, and although that doesn’t really sound appetizing, it was luscious. The lobster was again perfectly cooked. Being from Maine and being a lobster snob, this was a huge deal for Denise. Whoever is cooking the seafood at the Blue Ginger really knows what they are doing. The garlic-pepper sauce was wonderful and the garlic morsels were cooked to perfection as well (Denise is feeling like Goldilocks at this moment and a bit like a broken record). Denise loved the Pea Tendril Salad. They were tender and the Tamari-Ginger Vinaigrette was a excellent complement. (How come restaurants in New Hampshire don’t use pea shoots or pea tendrils and you can only get them in the Boston area? It’s very annoying.) (I don’t know about restaurants, but pea tendrils are available at more than one local store. They aren’t cheap. -MK) [MK, where did you see them? -D] (Concord Co-op, Hannaford, and even Market Basket once or twice. -MK) [I’m blind apparently. -D] The Lemongrass Fried Rice was more like a rice pilaf and didn’t really have a lemongrass flavor to it. It was the only less than exceptional note to the dish.

    For the main course, our friend Laura had the Grilled Marinated Beef Tenderloin with Peppercorn Demi Glace, Housemade Corned Beef Hash with Brussels Sprouts Pomegranate Salad. It looked fantastic.  Denise and Mary Kate both sampled the Brussels sprouts with pomegranate seeds — the sprouts were separated into the individual leaves, which appeared to be pan fried to the point of being crispy in a flavorful fat, and the combination of pomegranate and Brussels sprouts frankly sang.  That’s one to play with, for sure. Laura thought that the Brussels Sprouts Pomegranate Salad was excellent and that she could have eaten a whole plate of that alone. Laura thought that the crunchy sweet pomegranate seeds perfectly complemented the savory Brussels sprout leaves. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly to medium rare as requested. The only thing that Laura would have changed was the inclusion of the corned beef hash. She felt it was an unnecessary element, and she would have preferred more potato as well.

    While the dessert menu did look fantastic, and the server had attempted to offer some accommodations for dessert, Denise and Mary Kate were quite full by then, and instead ordered tea. Laura, who does not share our dietary restrictions, ordered the Five Spice Apple Fritters with Cider Glaze, Cinnamon Ice Cream and Ginger Apple Compote. It looked wonderful. Laura thought that the spices they used cut the sweetness of the cider glaze and the fritters were crunchy on the outside and still moist and cake-y on the inside. (For anyone wishing to experiment, Penzey’s sells a great Chinese Five Spice blend.  It really is great with apples. -MK)

    The server graciously brought a small plate of the blood orange and yuzu geleés, which are outstanding (and normally part of the petite fours platter), and which complied with both Denise’s and Mary Kate’s restrictions.  Mary Kate is currently looking up recipes, as this was an unintended highlight and perfect ending to the meal.

    Although this was not a restaurant either Denise or Mary Kate can afford to patronize regularly, not to mention it being over an hour away, it was certainly a wonderful treat. The staff were very well educated and accommodating and we had confidence in their knowledge and did not have any anxiety about possible accidental exposures.  Beyond that, the food was excellent and definitely worth writing home about — or, you know, writing on the internet.

    Blue Ginger’s menu can be found on Ming Tsai’s website.

    This review was not solicited and neither authors have received any compensation.  Opinions are our own.