Grits & Grace

Grits & Grace

This is an upscale spin off of a southern country diner.  I'm not sure how else to describe it.  The waitresses wore southern home cooking looking dresses under their aprons, but the walls and decor looked like a trendy downtown atmosphere.  The menu consisted of southern dishes with an almost Asian flare.

First they come around with an appetizer tray.  The six dishes were listed on a card, but none of them were gluten free as is.  They said they would make some of them without soy sauce, but nothing looked appetizing enough to go through the trouble.

I asked the waitress what they could do gluten free.  She mentioned all of the salads and the flank steak.   I asked about the short ribs and the confit chicken wings.  Said she'd check with the chef for more options.  

When she returned she said they couldn't do the short ribs or the chicken wings confit.  She mentioned the arctic char, she said they would use a separate fryer with the fritters.  I asked if they could use a separate fryer for the confit, I'd really like to try it.  She returned with an answer.  She said they could, but it wouldn't be as crunchy.  Sold!

The confit chicken wings were amazing.  The herbed buttermilk dressing was creamy and delicious.  It had sliced chili peppers in it that surprisingly enough, chili peppers don't bother me like bell peppers, so they were no issue.   They actually didn't effect the taste unless you ate one.  The wings were moist and crispy with a rich fatty flavor.  Now I want to try to make this at home.

I also ordered the flank steak on the flat rice noodles.  It was beefy with broccolini, bean sprouts, mushrooms, garlic, and onions.  It was pretty good.  They made it without soy sauce to be gluten free, so make sure you tell them to do that if you want to order it.

This is what the short ribs look like.  They said they can't do them gluten free because the cream cheese biscuit takes up too much of the dish.

http://gritandgracepgh.com/
535 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Spoon

Spoon

Tucked in the heart of East Liberty is this little gem.  The lighting is dim and the ceilings are high.  It is a place focused on fresh, local food.  They have an extensive wine list, but the mix of fresh and local ingredients is what I came for.

Instead of bread, for the gluten free diners, they bring out chips.  I questioned the frier these chips went through, but the waiter said they do a pretty good job of keeping things separated. They came with some type of pepper cheese which I declined. 

I ordered the Prosciutto wrapped asparagus with cheese and locally grown strawberries. The peresntation was amazing.  The strawberries complemented the cheese.  The asparagus was grilled and crispy. The strawberries seemed candied, but were good. The figs were sweet. The cheese was fluffy and everything on the plate went well together.

The service was excellent.  The water glasses were constantly being refilled.  The waiter was attentive and knowledgeable about the menu.  

I ordered the bacon wrapped cod. I'm not much of a cod fan, but bacon makes everything better, so I decided to be adventurous. It arrived with a pesto smear across the plate. Then the waiter poured the tomato fennel broth over it and handed me a spoon. I didn't feel that it was soup enough for a spoon, but it made me try the broth first. 

It was unusual. It was heavy on the fennel. He tomato was prominate even though the broth has no red color to it at all. The pesto mingled with the broth in a delightful manor.

I tried the cod. It was flaky and cooked well. The bacon could have been crispier, but that is a personal preference that could jeopardize the moistness of the fish.  There was a bit of corn, tomotoes, and sprouts mixed on top of the fish that complemented the dish.  Also, there was a tangy, citric white sauce on top. I don't know what it was, but it was good.  

The braised short ribs and steak was my second choice.  It came with broccoli gratin, zucchini, and a red wine reduction. 

Because everything is cooked to order here, the kitchen doesn't seem to have any problems with dietary restrictions.  They certainly didn't compromise the integrity of this meal. I was worried about the chips, but I didn't have any reactions so they must be doing something right at Spoon. 

134 S Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
http://www.spoonpgh.com/

Cafe Du Jour

Cafe Du Jour

I love this place.  I'm never disappointed when I come here.   It is closed on Sunday & Monday, BYOB, and cash only, but it's well worth it.  It is an outside dining restaurant hidden on East Carson St.  Once in the door, you walk through the kitchen to get to the outdoor patio dining area.  The patio is set up like a secret garden with a waterfall in the back.  It really quite cute.  There are only a handful of tables, so its best to make a reservation. 

We started with a Spinach Asiago dip appetizer.  It came with bread, but to make it gluten free, they added a plate of vegetables for me to dip.  I was uncomfortable with the bread coming directly on the same plate as the dip, but they were separated by a dish so I spooned some dip on my plate and ate it with the vegetables.

I ordered the wild mushroom consumme soup.  It was a pleasant light beef broth with an assortment of wild mushrooms of all different sizes.  It was delicious.

My friends had the meatballs on a baguette.  It wasn't gluten free, but they said it was very tasty. It had a very nice presentation. 

For my entree, I ordered the strip steak with blue cheese, onion crisps, zucchini, spinach sprinkled with a little cheese, and potatoes.  The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare with a crispy outside.  The onion crisps made me do a double take.  I questioned the server about them going into a frier.  He assured me they were gluten free.  I don't know how they cooked them, because they were crispy and flaky, something usually associated with being not so gluten free.

The perfect end to a perfect meal was the flourless chocolate cake.  It was creamy, fudgy, packed a chocolate punch.  I can't imagine a better end to this wonderful meal.

As I was told, everything must have been gluten free, even though it was hard to imagine that it was because it was all so good.

1107 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203