Can I find my way home with a trail of gluten free bread crumbs?

It has been said that one can never go home; I beg to differ. I have gone home to the SeaWa many times, and although the topography remains the same, the random development and patchwork quilt construction that comes from a planning department run amok creates the illusion that this is ones first trip. Going home it seems becomes quickly about the people and the food, rather than the traffic and the orange cone jungle that has become the Africa for the urban Dr. Livingston's that inhabit the coffee capitol of the world. Attempt the Pacific Northwest without a Garmin at your own risk.

The greater Seattle Area is comprised of several sub-neighborhoods and loosely managed towns, as well as smaller municipalities that would be collectively offended if I included them in a sentence that includes the behemoth “Seattle”. Unlike Chicago, Seattle thrives on its melting pot mentality. There is no Russian bakery with mostly Russian immigrants; no “got yer polish and yer I-talyin neighborhood over here…” will rise from the Ambercrombie clad cab drivers mouth. Doubling back for the third time, we snake our way through a maze of light rail, and carbon friendly walkers that carry their folded up umbrellas even as the rain runs in channels down their hurried faces. We glide seamlessly through a sea of orange cones providing us temporary access that is so precarious, the cab driver must have received a secret map via bike messenger only this morning.  “I remember there used to be a mom and pop book shop over there,” I say to the cabbie, almost as a thought and not a statement. He flatly states that the area is mostly biotech, and “all those matching buildings are owned by Paul Allen” as if that makes it ok that diversity is often celebrated only in the areas where we allow it. “At least all that real estate matches,” I say back, eyes secretly rolling in my head. I didn't want to judge or piss off the cab driver as I was afraid he may just pull over and let me out into the 19^th day of straight rain with no map. An even though I had grown up here, and I have lived all over the city before I moved somewhere south in my late twenties, I was loath to figure out where to find a metro to take me North.

For me, a gluten free consumer, my challenge at finding my way around a new place is compounded by my need to eat food that is not contaminated by wheat, rye, or barley. I cannot simply stop into a café for a quick nosh. Every choice is calculated. Reviews are read, and calls are made ahead of time to check for gluten free selections and assurance that “Chef” understands my “special needs”. It is tiresome and irksome that I cannot savor just getting lost; finding my way, and eating through my adventure without my gluten free Garmin attached at the hip. Or can I? As the Gluten free Tourist, my mission is to bring the spur of the moment back to the GF traveler. I decided to brave it. Well partially brave it.

One of the best ways to find a non-chain GF restaurant is to find a GF bakery, where the owner is a gluten free consumer as well as a GF business owner. This is mission critical, as I have found that when one has a choice, one can deviate without any repercussions. This is not the case for those with an allergy or a health condition. It is like waiting all day for a great meal and fabulous company, only to be denied entrance as there is no ramp, and your wheelchair cannot manage the grand staircase gateway to the Michelin starred restaurant chosen by your friends with mobility. To make certain I am not let down, I head out to Wheatless in Seattle, a GF bakery in the Greenwood neighborhood north of the city. Owned by fellow Celiac Kaili MacIntyre, the smells surrounding the tiny red “grandma house” make me feel like Charlie walking past Wonka's chocolate factory before he found the golden ticket. Honestly, the selection is probably better than most like sized facilities GF or not. Kaili was an expert baker when diagnosed as a Celiac;  being ill from gluten is so crummy that in order to get better and to save her own life she had to re-tool her skill-sets as a GF expert baker. She has succeeded, I think, past most GF superstars. Her pastries are actually flaky, her buttery Danish with cream cheese and apricots could be served at any upscale brunch to any one GF or not, and all would be happy  to slowly enjoy the complex flavors and delight in the excellent mouth feel that is so hard to tame with GF ingredients. Kaili is a master, and if there were stars awarded for GF baked goods, I am certain that she would have several stars in her crown. My companions had a cinnamon roll and an apple dumpling that were equally delicious.  Wheatless in Seattle only serves GF goodies. The selection is very good; the coffee is outstanding, and the atmosphere is charming. I know that many critics complain that travel writers use grade inflation as a review tool; I am guilty on occasion. However, I cannot say enough great things about Wheatless in Seattle and owner Kaili MacIntyre.

Wheatless in Seattle  www.wheatlessinseattle.net

Owner Kaili MacIntyre

10003 Greenwood Ave North

Seattle, WA 98133

206-782-5735

****

For dinner, Kaili suggested a local Italian restaurant just down the street. Yes, GF Italian food, and GF fish and chips. I couldn't resist. The last “Italian” GF food I had eaten was at a Macaroni Grill, and although the service was outstanding, the food was bland, and it was not the comfort Italian food that most of us GF eaters miss. In the spirit of adventure, my sister and her husband, both foodies in the non-GF world, were my guests for a selection of the GF grub I so miss.  Romio's Pizza & Pasta would be overlooked by most wheat free and GF consumers simply because of the name. I am glad that I was made aware of this gem.

The ambiance is Seattle throwback chic. Darling, with lots of dark red trim, and plastic grapes, decoupage, and faux gilt, the dining room is split into two rooms so as to minimize noise and maximize comfort. We sat near the windows looking out to the busy not-yet-widened Greenwood Ave North. Our server was knowledgeable and pleasant. The GF menu is a small novel with several pages of pasta dishes, pizza's, appetizers, and calzones…(when was the last time you had a GF calzone?) In the absence of a camera crew, we ordered more food than usual, but less than Bourdain. The Caesar salad was fresh and crisp albeit a bit bland, and the starter soup with chicken and artichokes in a red broth with tomato was to die for. I ordered fish and chips, a Pizza with selected meats, the cheese ravioli, and Greek grape leaves and rice. The pizza passed muster with flying colors. My companions eat a fair amount of pizza as they are parents to two teenage boys. They are a tough sell as self-professed food freaks. They loved it, and we actually took some home to the kids who happily wolfed down the leftovers.  The fish and chips had a crisp crust that is perfect for tartar sauce dipping, although the fresh cod was a bit dry and over cooked. The coating behaved like its gluten containing cousin, and if removed from the deep fryer in time would've been amazing. I checked, and the fryers are separate for GF and non-GF food to control contamination.  The Cheese ravioli was robust and authentic, with a sauce that tastes like a little Italian grandmother was hiding in the kitchen making sauce between going to Mass. Perfect sauce and delightfully lite and tasty cheese filling that is not too salty is tough for any Italian restaurant, and very tricky for a GF pasta dish. Romio's GF Italian ravioli gives me hope that someday, high quality GF food will be the norm not the exception. Romio's has a very nice wine selection as well as good quality coffee. I will be travelling to Seattle a lot throughout the next couple of years, so this will become one of my regular haunts.

***

Romio's Pizza & Pasta www.romiospizza.com

Owner Amir Razzaghi

8523 Greenwood Ave North

Seattle WA 98133

206-782-8997

The small independent restaurant business was once a way of life in Seattle. To be a Seattleite in the 1970's and 1980's was to be “way up north” and fairly segregated from the rest of the US. The whole of the Pacific Northwest at one time wanted to half jokingly “put a fence around it” to keep chain restaurants, Californians, and conformists' out.  Maybe that fence should have been built, as the one time locally owned favorite fish restaurants have now become as common as a Best Buy, and the once bohemian among the local population now believe that Chico's and Coldwater Creek are fashions for the hippies among the gentrified suburbanites. I long for the days of wearing a kimono over my bikini and roasting chicken skewers on a hibachi on the deck of a sailboat in Lake Washington. 

Ah, memories. Queue up an old Journey tune, and get over it.

It is the new Pac West; upscale, cool, urban, and full of angst. No one here thinks anything of a verbal punch to the gut to those who would mock their “named one of the best places to live” placeholder position. So I won't. But, I do miss the small town feel, the one of a kind businesses, and the easy access that was once the hallmark of this amazing region.  Maybe someday the DOT will finish the road projects, pull up the orange cones, and maybe the permit process for small business will be as streamlined as it is for the big box stores…and just maybe I will be able to travel without my GF GPS, and just follow my nose.

Used with permission June 2010 copyright The Gluten Free Tourist

http://www.glutenfreetravelmagazine.com

Tags: Gluten Free GF Gluten Free Seattle

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Did you cry the first time you watched Susan Boyle? The mega You Tube star has so far racked up over one million hits total on the video showing her unexpected unveiling in front of a live British audience in Simon Cowell's show, Britain's Got Talent 2009.

If you have not seen it go HERE:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Amazing. But how many Susan Boyles are out there? Is she part of a contingent called by sociologists “invisible women”?

According to the Daily Beast Editor* Tina Brown's blog yesterday,  the invisible demographic is me.

To read Tina's blog, Go HERE: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-20/the-beauty-of-susan-boyle/

I am the new old 47 year old invisible woman. Menopausal, and at home. Really? Are you sure about that?

“Can't they at least see me? Goes the voice in their heads. Especially after all those wasted hours trying to look younger, slimmer, and better dressed just to get their rightful desserts.” –Tina Brown

Ms. Brown's thesis is based on the popularity of the candidacy of then Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign as a trend line. Identifying the trendy-ness of Ms. Clinton's ability to connect with the Oprah demographic; the housewives that are working outside the home, and simultaneously raising kids; the stay at home mom that wishes she had the education to have a glorious job and hire a nanny, the older *ahem* woman, say 47, that could use an eyebrow groom and a bit of a lift, figuratively and literally, apparently make up the demographic now known as the Invisible Woman. I am here to say we are NOT invisible. Not at all. What a crock.

First: Ms. Brown:  Pure?  Who are you to say that pureness is pure? I mean maybe Susan has always wanted to be “plucked”, and go to a spa. So what, are we so archaic that a woman cannot just do what she wants, including getting a make-over?

Second: Invisible to whom? The media, that's who; I am not invisible to me, or to my children, my community, my house of worship, or my husband. I am 47, and I may be getting a bit of sag, and perhaps I could use a spa day. But does that lessen my accomplishments? Healthy happy kids, parents cared for, my home, (well not mine it looks like a frat house), an organic garden, community activism, school boards sat on, community college classes taken, fund raisers, and calluses on my hands.  Real. Like millions of invisible kids, and invisible dads, and invisible teachers…no one group holds the patent on doing the right thing over and over again for no glory. And certainly not the 47 year old. I am not asking when I get a turn, I am actively creating my turn everyday.

And so is Susan Boyle.

Susan has a compelling story, and she has an amazing voice. But she has been singing since she was 12, and a lot of people in her community heard her. She is not invisible in her world at all.

Who gets to say who is invisible? The un-invisible that's who.

And there in lies the rub. By calling us invisible, we are made invisible.  I have a novel idea. Let's just celebrate that Susan Boyle is an incredible talent. Let's let her sing, and entertain, and be whomever she wants. That is really all we really want, to be allowed to talk too loud, to do too much, to sit down and do nothing; to just be the person we want to be.

*Tina Brown is the founder and editor in chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times bestseller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown

Tags: Susan Boyle Youtube Invisible Woman Daily Beast Hillary Clinton

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3-08-09

So our newest Twitter is LAGVBlogs...follow us there. Introducing Kelly, our blog princess on twitter. She'll be blogging and commenting on food and wine as well as the state of the business community.

Back in the day your business was all about sales and fulfillment. Now, communications has become the largest time block in my day. And I don't just mean talking to a group in the break room. I mean, DIGG, Twitter, and Facebook...Linkdin, and Zoom. It takes hours a day to optimize all the listings and blogs to SEO a site or an idea. Amazing how much more we have to do with every new technology. Paperless? HA HA. Email...bluetooth, whatever. 

So I have introduced mini-sites to go with my banners and my premium business listings. I think that my small businesses don't have time and energy to have a web presence and this allows for a low cost option to get noticed and be easily found via search. Hopefully a bunch of these can support the cost of the server and the gas for my business calls.

Now, I have to say though, that the whole thing with all this social media share love-in is that there seems to be a bunch of really negative complainers that just want a bitch forum on all these sites. It can actually give credibility to an opinion (even mine) as opposed to a well researched article about an actual issue or story. I see this as a downside in the longrun, but a solidifyer of freedom of speech on the other hand. My site is no better or worse, as people can express themselves regardless of opinion as long as they are not threatening or extremely ugly and racist. So where is the line? Do we just go with it? Will the cream rise to the top or will the system just get overloaded with bs? Hm. I am all for freedom, but like my fake 503c coffee mug mailed to me post 9/11 for a cash donation says "Freedom is Not Free".

3-4-09

Our Twitter is getting pretty populated and we have reached our max 2k of following, so you have to add us now. We are LAGrapeVine on Twitter.

I am adding a lot of information on wine over the next week that will include California wineries, suppliers, vendors, and tasting. California wines are a staple of our economy and our tables, so I think it is important to promote this critical industry during this time of economic turmoil.

How is your business doing during this crazy time? I would love to hear what I can do to help your business to be seen in LA.

ma

February 26, 2009

Ok, so yeah, it is a process…Thank you all for being so patient with the build. We are getting there though. So, if you have ideas or comments, please pipe up! I am all ears!

Concepts are easy, implementation is the hard part. I don't feel like this is hard so much as challenging. Sometimes I think I am just driving everyone crazy with advertising calls and marketing strategy. But the fact is the economy is nuts right now, and every small business needs as much help as possible.

I just hooked up our  twitter (lagrapevine) and I am sure that I will be into the whole micro blog in no time. I like that  Penn & Teller twitter…

So, like all of you, I am setting up facebook  and activerain and all sorts of stuff. I know how time consuming this is for everyone, but again, it is the economy, and it is how we communicate today. I wonder what all this will look like in 100 years? Do you think our great grandkids will use  MySpace?

Mary Alice

Tags: Myspace Twitter Facebook Grape Grapevine

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