Re: New Member in the South Bay

[Guest guest]

Hi Amy, I live in the South Bay too- Santa Clara. it would be nice to

have a support group, let me know if you find one!

Laurie

> Hi All,

> I was just diagnosed with celiac disease, although I'm familiar with

> it, since my dad got diagnosed about 6 years ago. Now I'm trying to

> figure out why it took me so long to realize I had it!! I'm looking

> for a good GI physician in the South Bay (I live in Sunnyvale).

> Also, are there any support groups that meet regularly down here? I

> looked in the archives, but it looks like Stanford is as far south

> as it goes.

>

> I look forward to learning more from all of you!

> Amy

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 14:36:14 -0000, amybhatnagar

<amy.bhatnagar@...> wrote:

> Hi All,

> I was just diagnosed with celiac disease, although I'm familiar with

> it, since my dad got diagnosed about 6 years ago. Now I'm trying to

> figure out why it took me so long to realize I had it!! I'm looking

> for a good GI physician in the South Bay (I live in Sunnyvale).

> Also, are there any support groups that meet regularly down here? I

> looked in the archives, but it looks like Stanford is as far south

> as it goes.

I live in Santa Cruz, myself.

[Guest guest]

Side note for Gretchen...

Do you know of any good GF restaurants in Santa Cruz. Me and my boyfriend love

to take day trips there and I always have to bring my own meals.

[Guest guest]

On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 18:24:48 -0400, lsblondie@... <lsblondie@...> wrote:

> Side note for Gretchen...

>

> Do you know of any good GF restaurants in Santa Cruz. Me and my boyfriend love

to take day trips there and I always have to bring my own meals.

Let's see... I don't actually eat out often because I have a lot of

fatigue, but here's my basic strategy:

Higher class places are better than lower class ones. They're more

likely to understand their ingredients. I've successfully eaten at

Theo's (Soquel), Pearl Alley Bistro (Pearl Alley, in downtown SC), and

Cafe la (Cedar St., downtown SC, and probably the best of the

three for casual and drop-in dining, and it's also the most reasonably

priced.) It takes some explaining, but they all have varied enough

menus that I can find something. Make sure you ask that they haven't

used flour or bread crumbs as a thickener; that will sometimes slip

their mind. Bittersweet Bistro in Aptos is also okay for GF.

Ristoranti Avanti (Mission) is probably okay; they do a lot of dishes

with sides of polenta or potatoes.

You can't go wrong going to a place that doesn't use a lot of gluten

in their basic ingredients. Some people like the Hindquarter Bar and

Grill; for hunk-o-meat dining I always prefer Cats, on Highway 17 just

outside Los Gatos. Any decent place that serves steak is probably

going to be fine, really; just ask them about the sauce or ask for no

sauce.

Sushi is another excellent meal choice; avoid unagi and salmon skin

and anything else with a sauce added, but in general it's just fishy

goodness. If you don't like raw fish, you can get smoked salmon

rolls. Saba (mackeral) is marinated so it's basically cooked. Saba

shioyaki may not have any sauce on it... you'd probably want to ask

each time. Bring your own wheat-free soy sauce if you like to dip.

Some places put soy sauce into their miso, or use miso fermented with

barley, so I'd avoid that. Pink Godzilla on 41st, Mobo Sushi downtown

near the Galleria, and Shogun downtown on Pacific are all great.

I haven't done other kinds of seafood for a long time, but one of my

favorite used to be Riva's on the wharf, and they are probably able to

present you with yummy grilled fish. Palomar (Mexican, on Pacific)

also has yummy fish dishes, but I haven't eaten there since I got sick

because of the corn allergy. There's also another place on Pacific

that I'm sadly blanking on the name for, but remember them fondly for

their flaming cheese dish (queso fundido!) Alas, served with flour

tortillas; I haven't been there since I've been diagnosed... but they

did have a lot of different options like nopoles so might be just

fine. There's a taco bar behind Palomar/Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting

that's VERY yummy for quick snacks. I haven't tried El Salvadoreno

(Mission) lately, but last time I went they made homemade corn

tortillas and fried pork and plantain dishes that might be okay. I

used to love the papusas stuffed with pickled cabbage and cheese.

Another good quick stop place is Chocolate, outside Book Shop Santa

Cruz on Pacific. They have nice outdoor seating for people watching,

and their chicken soup is good and has no noodles. They have

wonnnderful hot chocolate, rose creams (white chocolate truffles

filled with, well, rose cream), less flowery truffles, and good

salads. The rest of their menu is probably off-limits, but if that's

what you're in the mood for it's a nice meal. I've had their

antipasto platter without bread and it was yummy.

There's a Sri Lankan restaurant named Sri on Water Street that is

mostly vegan and quite accomodating. I tried them out recently and

had some lovely spicy potatoes with a creamy sweet coconut milk dal

that was almost like creamed corn. It inspired me to try to make

" mock " creamed corn with dal sometime. (I'm allergic to corn, too.)

They weren't sure about the papadam garnishes so I didn't eat those.

Thai is risky, but I've had the yellow curry at King of Siam with no

ill effects. It doesn't have soy sauce in it and it's a potato and

chicken-based curry; you can probably get other meats or tofu in it as

well. Masuman curry may be okay; I haven't looked at a recipe

recently. (Always ask anyhow; kitchens may take different routes.)

Most breakfast places are probably fine if you ask first. I've

enjoyed yummy breakfast at Zachary's, which has my favorite ever home

fries. Walnut Street Cafe is pretty good, too. Long waits sometimes,

on weekends! I've eaten the tomato soup from the Saturn Cafe, and

they're open late. They're vegetarian and use a lot of fake meats, so

be careful there, but you can usually mix and match some sort of meal.

This isn't in Santa Cruz, but I ate at a place in... darn. Somewhere

way up near Stockton. I should get the name from the friend that took

me there! They were so wonderful to me, spotting on their own that a

soup was inappropriate because it contained beer, and before asking us

if we wanted dessert, they went and checked their recipes for the

desserts and had an actual *torte* that was made with a base of nuts,

no flour, and had lingonberries on it. They got a huge tip.

Mmm, this got long. Happy eating!

[Guest guest]

Oh, one more addition:

The New Leaf and Staff of Life delis, with care, can be a place to

assemble a lunch. Staff of Life makes good sushi for supermarket

sushi, and I often eat their grilled salmon roll, which is the perfect

size for a big snack or a light lunch.

[Guest guest]

There is a great preventative health doctor that is really up on Celiac in Hill. Her name is Dr. Jill Snyder. She also sees patients in San one or two days a week. I use her and am thrilled with her. I have a Natural Healing practice and do support work for Celiac clients, nutritionally and body energy work, because I have Celiac as well. you may call me for an appointment for body energy balancing work or diet and lifestyle consultations at Natural Healing, (408) 778-1607. I live and work in Hill.

Sincerely,

Jane Unland, MS in Natural HealthThe Other Gretchen <flitterby@...> wrote:

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 14:36:14 -0000, amybhatnagar<amy.bhatnagar@...> wrote:> Hi All,> I was just diagnosed with celiac disease, although I'm familiar with> it, since my dad got diagnosed about 6 years ago. Now I'm trying to> figure out why it took me so long to realize I had it!! I'm looking> for a good GI physician in the South Bay (I live in Sunnyvale).> Also, are there any support groups that meet regularly down here? I> looked in the archives, but it looks like Stanford is as far south> as it goes.I live in Santa Cruz, myself.