California Chicken Cafe

The biggest BS regarding allergens I've ever seen--from California Chicken Cafe's FAQ. They won't take responsibility for anything!

"I am allergic to _______________ . Does your food contain any of that item?
We thank you for the time you have taken to inquire if our food meets your dietary and or allergy guidelines. In the past, we have gone through great lengths to try answering these types of questions. But as we analyze the logistics in providing guidance that can be relied upon, a number of issues arise. What if our supplier substitutes items on us, by mistake or by necessity? What if we or one of our manufacturers changes recipes on us? What if one of our recipes is accidentally not followed by one of our cooks? We cannot guarantee that any of the above will not occur. Given our inability to either absolutely guarantee an answer to a food allergy question or to absolutely guarantee the precise preparation of any of our food items, our official company policy is that we no longer offer official guidance as to food allergy questions. Therefore, our policy and disclosure must be that anyone with a food allergy that consumes our food does so at his or her own risk regardless of what they perceive the food ingredients are and regardless what any staff member, supervisor, or owner may say in an effort to give friendly, off the record, guidance. We do not want to disappoint any guest by not being able to precisely and consistently execute representations made by us; so therefore, we make no representations and no disclosures in regards to any food allergies. Any guidance given by anyone affiliated by California Chicken Cafe should not be relied on, under any circumstances. Thank you for your inquiry and we wish you good luck with your food allergy needs."

Corbett Fish House: Portland Gluten-Free Heaven

OMG, Corbett Fish House in Portland, OR, is my new absolutely favorite restaurant. Everything on the menu is GF. Yes, everything! And it was delicious!

They use rice flour on the fish and flash-fry it. No worries about cross-contamination since nothing on the menu uses any other coating. In fact, the only non-GF items available are flour tortillas for the fish tacos and bread for the sandwiches. Yet even those have a GF alternative available!

My husband and I shared a Boatload Combo with Walleye, Halibut, Oysters, and Chile-fried Catfish. I thought the catfish would be my favorite, but the oysters--oh my. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! They succulent, tasty, and fried to perfection.

And they use Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch guidelines to ensure they serve fish that is healthy and sustainable.

What more could anyone want?

They also have another restaurant in nearby Hawthorne.

Details:

Corbett Fish House
5901 SW Corbett
Portland OR
503-246-4434

Website: Corbett Fish House

Gluten free in Tacoma WA area

While visiting relatives in Tacoma recently we found some great sources for gluten-free goodies:

Corina Bakery & Bistro
510 6th Av
Tacoma WA
253 627-5070
www.corinabakery.com

Without a doubt the best gluten free dessert I've ever had: a tall, raspberry filled cake with butter cream frosting. So rich it took me two nights to finish one piece!

GF Joe's Market
5737 Littlerock Rd. SW Ste. 103
Tumwater WA
360 628-8010


A little store chock full with gluten-free products, some of which I've never seen before. They will soon begin online ordering. Owner Joe has Celiac so he knows his stuff.

Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza
3602 6th Av. Ste 103
Tacoma WA
253 286-5467


Their GF Nutty Chipolte pizza was to die for! "Zesty chipotle pesto is topped with spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, red onions, tomatoes and cashews." Too, too good! Made me feel normal.

And of course, a home-cooked, GF dinners made by my wonderful daughter-in-law were fabulous, too.

Tide products

I received a letter from Proctor and Gamble Consumer Relations dated July 16, 2009, that states:

"I'm happy to share with you that there is no gluten in any of our Tide products."

Good news!

Natural Food Works Gluten Free Artisan Bakery

On the way back from Sacramento we found a great all-gluten-free bakery:

Natural Food Works
624 4th St
Davis, CA.
Phone: (530) 756-1862
website: www.naturalfoodworks.com

They had baguettes, fresh, warm, wonderful baguettes! And herb sandwich rolls. And chocolate chip cookies. Good chocolate chip cookies! And a host of other baked goods both freshly baked and frozen like carrot cake and pizza dough. I bought a lot. It almost brought tears to my eyes because I was assured that all their baked goods are gluten free and their kitchen is all gluten free, too, so no chance of cross-contamination.

I came home and had toasted baguette with lots of butter and garlic powder. And I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

If you're ever in the vicinity of Davis, CA, go there!

Haagen-Dazs "Five" ice cream

Just got off the phone with Haagen-Dazs about their new “Five” line of ice creams. These ice creams have only five all natural ingredients—and the company verified that they’re gluten free!

I asked the representative about processing. After each ice cream flavor they take the machines apart, wash and sanitize them, and inspect them to make sure they’re clean before they do another run. So no risk of cross-contamination, either.

The customer service rep also told me that most of their ice creams, except ones like cookie dough, ones with granola, etc. are gluten free. I’ve got to say, though, that the “Five” ice creams are delicious, particularly the Passion Fruit which is hard to find on the mainland.

I also suggested that they label their products “gluten free.” The rep told me that she’s received lots of calls about that and said she’d pass my comment on to marketing/advertising.

Really good gf cornbread

OK, I have to admit I had my doubts when a friend gave me a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread mix. How good could it possibly be considering the horrid gluten-free baked goods I'd had?

But I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This mix made delicious cornbread! I made it in a pie pan instead of the recommended 9"x 9" baking pan and it rose and browned beautifully (though it took about 10 minutes longer to cook than the package said).

The cornbread was tasty, though not terribly sweet like Marie Callender's. It was good alone with butter, or really, really fabulous with butter and a little maple syrup (I didn't have any honey).

And the best part? It hadn't turned into a rock the next day like many GF baked goods do. Just rewarmed it in the microwave and it was just as good as it had been right out of the oven.

It was just soooo very nice to find a baked good that actually tasted "normal!" I'm totally jazzed about this product.