Trip report: feasting on GF goodies from the south bay to Seattle and back

[Guest guest]

We just got back from a road trip from the South Bay to the Seattle

area and back, feasting on GF goodies along the way. We found some

great gems which I will mention as well as went to some gems

suggested by others. Here is our official trip report:

Windsor CA: Mangiamo (now has a new name - something like De Luca or

De Sosa, or something like that): ordered a sausage GF pizza - $26

for a 12 " pizza! To be honest, while I was so excited to ordering a

GF pizza for the first time ever I was disappointed. The crust was

more like thick foccacia, there was almost no sauce barely any

toppings. I guess it's more of a California " gourmet " pizza. If I

were to order again, I'd ask for 3X the sauce. Plus the price seemed

like extortion. But at least it's only a few hours drive from the

South Bay.

Milwaukie OR (Portland suburb): Bob's Red Mill Company Store: I had a

French dip sandwich on GF bread which was yummy although very filling

(my husband finished the 2nd half - you can order 1/2 sandwiches w/

their chili which is GF but the chili was pretty tasteless). My

husband had a ham sandwich on GF bread which he said was fine but

preferred the French dip. They bake their GF bread in a bread machine

in their test kitchen. The store is not allowed to sell loaves of the

bread though since their baking facility also bakes gluten things and

it's not certified GF. I also picked up a bunch of GF grains, flours

and other GF products at the store. This is the same place where they

fill their web site orders - the GF aisle is to the right when you

walk in.

Kent WA (Seattle suburb): Haley's Corner Bakery

(www.haleyscorner.com) Bakery 100% dedicated to GF. Went there on my

40th birthday and totally splurged - we were feasting for days. Had a

delicious GF pizza with extra sauce (I learned my lesson) and

pepperoni - crust was still thicker than I'd like but was tasty. Also

bought a loaf of GF multi-grain bread for sandwiches on the road, a

yummy chocolate mint brownie, sugar cookie w/ icing (they make butter-

based and dairy-free icings), slice of chocolate cake, slice of dairy

free chocolate raspberry torte, and carrot cake. All very good - with

the cakes we could barely tell it was GF - very moist and tasty.

Unfortunately they are not allowed to ship out of state but

definitely stop by here if you are in the area - it's kind of hard to

find, it's in a strip mall and we had to call them when our nav

system dropped us off in a busy area full of strip malls. I think the

pizza cost between $15-20.

Portland OR: New Cascadia Traditional: someone posted about this the

day we were in Portland - thank you! It's just a little outdoor stand

next to the Trader Joe. We bought a peanut butter chocolate chip

cookie (yum, although I think I like Edna's better), chocolate

brownie (which my husband announced is better than the ones I bake -

a first, no I am not insulted) and a chocolate cupcake (they also

make vegan cupcakes) which was good- very similar to the crave ones.

Portland OR: Mississippi Pizza Pub: you can order a custom pizza

(whatever toppings you want) 24 hours in advance but we didn't have

that time so we ordered a pepperoni pizza with extra sauce. The crust

was closer to what we like (thinner, not as thin as the crusts I

make) and the sauce was very good - this was the closest we had to a

traditional NY kind of pizza. When we first dove into the steaming

pie it was good, but not great. After letting it cool a bit, we

really settled in - absolutely delicious. The winner on our road trip

for sure. Of course, I'm still partial to the pizza I make. My

biggest challenge in making GF crusts is rolling it out thin enough

w/o sticking and cooking on the pizza stone. All these places we went

to make good pizza, but the crusts are thicker - not sure if they run

into the same issue as me or if they prefer thicker crusts. A huge

16 " pie rang in at $19.50.

Portland OR: Thaifoon: We went to the location near our hotel - I

think it was near 5th and Broadway. They had a huge GF menu and the

food was amazing (and I'm a thai food snob). It was so cool ordering

satay knowing the sauce was GF! We could dine there any day.

I chatted with the owners/managers of each of the places we visited,

explained my history and thanked them profusely for offering GF

products to us. I also mentioned this group and that I would be

letting you all know about my experiences. Ironically, when I was at

New Cascadia (due to a post on this board that day), I told them

about the post and the two ladies working the counter exclaimed " Oh!

That's why we're getting all these calls from California today!)

I hope this was useful for anyone traveling up North.

Jean

PS We stayed at Hotel Monaco in downtown Portland. Their concierge is

gluten intolerant and provided us with a list of restaurants with GF

menus. I mentioned 2 (Mississippi Pizza Company and Thaifoon) above.

Here is the rest of the list:

Andina Restaurant (Peruvian)

PF Changs

Papa Haydn (northwest regional - famous desserts)

Old Wives Tales' Restaurant (Northwest Regional)

Grolia Restaurant (Italian)

Caprial's Bistro and Wines

Carafe (French)

Lemongrass (Thai)

Hawthorn Fish House

Blossoming Lotus (no official GF menu but restaurant is Raw/Vegan so

many options)

Nutshell (Raw/Vegan)

Laughing Planet (pub w/ low gluten beer for those who can tolerate it)