Gluten Free Ponderings from Vacation

I have just returned from travels to the west coast: can you see the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog? One of the reasons we chose California for vacation was the readily available options for gluten free dining; and we were not disappointed. Prior to my trip I did some research via the web to see what was available. I also called the airline to see if any meals would be served on my flight. No meals in flight so I packed a few gluten free options. Note: It is difficult to find gluten free foods in the airport. I did buy a fruit, vegetable and cheese tray on our layover and also noted one gift shop that offered a gluten free snack bar.

I discovered a free app for my android phone that served me quite well: Find me Gluten Free It helped locate restaurants and retail locations based on my geographic location. A description of the product from the website states:

Find Me Gluten Free is a way to easily find restaurants that accommodate to a gluten free diet. We only show restaurants that either have a gluten free menu or are known to accommodate guests who request gluten free meals

When I checked my Durham zip code 30+ entries popped up within a 20 mile radius.

Because there were easy to find Whole Food Markets and Trader Joes, I did not need to pack a suitcase full of gluten free foods. I enjoyed eating at lots of great places and would recommend: Pica-Pica, Scoma in San Fransisco, PF Changs, In-n-Out Burger(order your burger "protein style"),and Kara's cupcakes! Some local Italian restaurants substituted risotto for regular pasta and served it with their naturally GF pasta sauce. In general I found my servers at most restaurants very knowledgeable and accommodating to my gluten free requests.

Now back from vacation, so my posts will return to living gluten free here in Durham, stay tuned... If you have any great tips about navigating the gluten free diet in Durham send them my way. I will be happy to highlight those for the GF Durham reader.

PF Chang's Boasts 28 Gluten Free Offerings

PF Chang's continues to increase it's gluten free offerings! I received this information via email and wanted to pass it along to the Gluten Free Durham readers. PF Chang's has increased it's gluten free offering to include 5 new gluten free beef dishes: GF Mongolian beef, GF Hong Kong beef with snow peas, GF beef a la sichuan, GF pepper steak, GF beef with broccoli. You can review the entire gluten free menu here. I have reviewed my dining experience at PF Chang's in a previous post.

The Durham Location is at:
6801 Fayetteville Rd (across from South Point Mall)
Durham,NC
919-294-3131

PF Chang's China Bistro, Restaurant Review

One of my all time favorite gluten free restaurant options is PF Chang's. I recently enjoyed a nice dinner of "Singapoor Street Noodles" and "Egg Drop Soup" on their outside patio. When I asked the hostess for the gluten free menu, she informed me that the GF menu was now listed on back of the normal menu, so no need to ask for a separate menu any longer! It was also pointed out to me by our server that anything coming out of the kitchen would be on a plate that had the words "PF Chang's" on its brim, so that staff could easily identify the GF meals from the others. To check out the complete gluten free menu which was updated 7/09 click here. They also will bring you a dish of gluten free soy sauce upon request. I was excited to receive my PF Chang's warrior card in the mail today, that will give me 10% off all purchases through the end of the year; a good reason to go back again soon!

PF Chang's in Durham is located across from SouthPoint Mall
6801Fayetteville Rd
Durham, NC
(919) 294-3131