Seasons 52

Seasons 52

I like to add a travel review every once in a while, just in case you Pittsburghers are traveling!  So if you are in the Columbia, MD area, a consistent gluten free restaurant is Seasons 52.  The atmosphere is classy.  There is usually someone playing piano & singing.  This may be a good thing, or a bad one, but it is interesting to say the least.  This is a chain restaurant, so it is consistent.  They have a gluten free menu, and the things I've ordered have come out gluten free. But the down side is, the service sucks.  The wait staff is slow & inattentive.  I asked the hostess to get me a gluten free menu when she seated us, but she never returned.  We waited a while for a server to introduce herself to us, which is annoying when you are hungry. The trade off is the food is good and consistent.

In a past visit, I order the corn and bacon chowder.  It was really good.  This trip, I was leaning for something a little bit lighter.  I ordered the sesame grilled salmon salad with jicama, lemon grass sauce, mango, and toasted sesame dressing.  The salad was fresh.  I hate when I'm served a salad with wilted or browning lettuce.  This lettuce was green. 

The salad was sweet.  The mango & jicama made the salad sweet and the sesame dressing was like pouring honey over it.  The salmon toned the sweetness down with a salty salmon flavor.  I was a bit skeptical about the salmon; it came out looking not so gluten free, but it was fine.  I double checked with the server when he delivered it and he confirmed it did say gluten free in the kitchen.

I enjoyed the salad, but I felt like the bowl was stuffed with greens, which mostly went to waste.  If you need to fill up on greens, this is the salad for you.  I, however, eat all the good stuff out of it & left a bunch of greens.

I didn't think I saved room for dessert.  In the beginning of the meal, I had already decided on cherry creme brulee.  At the end of the meal, I didn't think I had it in me to to eat it.  Until the dessert tray came out.  Tiniest desserts ever!  The creme brulee was in a double shot glass.  Well, I guess I could eat two more spoonfuls.  

It was delicious, but small.  Sad to say, dessert was over to quickly!!

 My second choice would have been the filet Mignon.  Here's a glimpse of what that looks like from another member of my party.

 

10300 Little Patuxent Parkway

Columbia, MD 21044

(410) 715-1152

Delallos Fort Couch Cafe

Delallos Fort Couch Cafe

I love this place.  It's so cute and the service is great.  I never got sick here.  They really do a nice job of taking care of people.  But my one complaint is it could be bigger.  I always feel like a table of four is too many people.  We are all squished together.  And I look around the room and see a large party of ten taking up most of the dining room.

The building looks so much bigger on the outside.  When you get inside, there is no room.  I wish these guys would put an addition on the building.  I thought that they might have an upstairs to this place.  Maybe it's just for parties.  If they aren't entertaining a party that night, maybe they could open it up for regular dining customers.  Just a thought.  An upstairs may not even exist.  They would make so much more money if they could serve a few more people each night. 

I recommend making a reservation here.  The hostesses always look at me like I have three heads when I walk in, until I say I have a reservation.  Then she's nice as pie.  I get the feeling you are not going to get a seat if you don't make a reservation, so I always make a reservation at least a week in advance.

Now, on to the food.

 I ordered off the specials menu.  The regular menu has some options that can be gluten free, but I wanted to check out a special this time.

I saw a simple preparation of Swordfish and thought I'd give it a try.  when ordering, I wasn't even offered the soup as an option, so I'm guessing that the beef cabbage is not gluten free, even though it sounds like it should be, unless there is barley in it.  Ok, not a problem.  Salad it is.

She skipped the soup option and asked me what kind of dressing I'd like on my salad.  I declined the dressing because I don't trust dressings.  They have vinegar.  I don't know what kind of vinegar or how good the vinegar is.  So I would rather not risk it.  I never minded a dry salad, as long as there is more just lettuce in it.  I did have to ask for no peppers, which they did.  I wish it had cheese in it.  Cheese is my dressing.  But I didn't ask.  I'm sure they would accommodate. 

 

I ordered the swordfish with lemon.  It was simple and meaty with a lemon tang.  The two pieces felt like too much, but since there wasn't mush to this meal, I ate them both with no trouble.  It was juicy and wasn't dried out.  The outside had a bit of a light char like it was actually grilled.  And it might have been.  I enjoyed it very much. 

My one complaint about the food was the side of vegetables.  This was a side of peas, carrots, & asparagus.  It was mostly peas, which I don't like.  When I ordered, I figured there would be enough of a mixture of other vegetables to offset the peas.  I was wrong.

I'm kind of against baby carrots due to the processing and manufacturing practices used to make them... baby.  Look it up if you don't know.  I also don't think they have the flavor of real carrots.  I understand that real carrots need pealed, which costs labor, but the end results are so much better.  There was only one piece of asparagus in here.  It was cut up to make it look like there was more, but I'm sure that only one piece made it into this dish.  That wouldn't have been so bad, but it was over cooked.  Way over cooked.  The color of these vegetables wasn't a fresh color.  Everything in this side dish was over cooked.  It actually tasted like it was made a week before and reheated several times. Or maybe the whole thing was cooked & then frozen & heated back up.   I understand the peas being frozen, but asparagus & carrots?

Either way, this place would significantly improve and take its food to the next level if they used fresh vegetables for the side.  Or maybe everyone is ordering the pasta as a side.  If the pasta could be gluten free, I'd consider that.  Perhaps, if their food was at the next level, they wouldn't be able to handle the patron's knocking down the door to get in... Unless they expanded by putting an addition on the building.



http://www.delallosfortcouchcafe.com/banquet-dinner-menu
91 Fort Couch Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15241

Cafe Chocolade

Cafe Chokolade

Get the chocolates!!  You won't be disappointed!

This is a great gluten free place.  Everything is gluten free.  Well, except the beer cupcakes.  But you already know that!  So, where do I start?   I wanted to buy everything here.

This place is really tiny.  It's cute with a lot of character, but having more than two groups of two people felt crowded and like you were in someone's way.  There is outdoor seating, so if you can, go on a nice day & enjoy your lunch outdoors.  You can also take your order to go.  I think I'd call ahead if you were going to do that, so you don't have to wait in the way of everyone.  They are not open for dinner, so plan your trip accordingly.

The menu changes every week.  Chef Aniko Kaufmann posts the week's menu every Monday night on the website, which is a little hard to read and navigate because of the font & design, but he also emails out the week's specials if you sign up for the mailing list.  http://www.cafechocolade.net

I couldn't decide on the flavor of dried pasta, so I bought the mixed bag of basil, tomato, and regular pasta to-go.  I later made a wonderful grilled chicken pasta salad with it.  The pasta was vegan & gluten free.  There are a lot of vegan choices, too, so if you know someone with multiple food allergies or aversions, this is the place for them.

I bought some of the house made chocolates to go, but many of them didn't make it out the door.  I ate them as an appetizer, because you only live once.  You must get the chocolates!!  I also bought a Grand Marnier walnut bite.  It wasn't bad, but not as wonderful as I expected after trying the chocolates.

So what did I actually order for lunch you might ask.  I got a pierogi pizza.  I once had a pierogi pizza before I had to go gluten free.  It was a combination of two things I love & was wonderful.  This was certainly a match for that memory.

The crust was fluffy & doughy.  It has a hint of whole grains mixed into it giving it a rich, full flavor.  The sauce was creamy mashed potatoes topped with a cheddar cheese.  Instead of having pieces of whole pierogi on the pizza, noodle pieces were arranged like a topping.  This was a well thought out pizza.  It was delicious.  It was pretty amazing.

Fluffy, Doughy Pizza

They also have house made fresh mozzarella, which I love.  I needed to take the flavor of the week, basil, home to enjoy.  And I enjoyed it!

There were bagels, donuts, cookies, cupcakes, bread, and more.  There was even gluten free dog biscuits!!

7061 Steubenville Pike
Oakdale, PA 15071

Open Tues -Fri 8-6
Sat 8-3

Sunny Bridge Natural Foods Cafe

 Sunny Bridge Natural Foods Cafe

 The cafe has a limited amount of choices, but that's the definition of a cafe, right?  You can pick out a salad, pizza, wrap, or baked goods from the case, or you can order your wrap, salad, or sandwich to be made to order. 

I had to try the custom order sandwich, and I'm glad I did.  I picked a turkey sandwich, with romaine, cucumbers, dill pickles, and provolone cheese.  It was a little expensive, I thought, but after receiving the sandwich that didn't even fit in the box, I was satisfied. 

The turkey was real turkey.  It wasn't lunch meat, as I expected.  It was actual chunks of turkey, that tasted like someone actually roasted it.  The lettuce was fresh!  The pickles were good.  They make the pickles in house, too.

I was worried about the vinegar used to make the pickles.  That is something that worries me a lot about eating anything pickled.  I asked the woman behind the counter about the vinegar & she assured me that everything behind the counter was gluten free.  The entire kitchen at Sunny Bridge is gluten free.  I know, it's hard to believe.

 

I ate my sandwich at the tables outside.  They also have tables inside, but it was a nice day and it's always nice to enjoy food outdoors when possible.  The bread was dry & flaky, but that comes with the territory in gluten free breads.  The taste was really delicious.  It was a pretty good sandwich.















I also ordered the bacon & seafood chowder.  After the huge sandwich, I couldn't even start on the soup or the cheesecake, so I took them home.  Everything was packaged in to go containers, so it wasn't a big deal.  The soup was a bit pricey, but chowders are have to find gluten free, so I splurged.

The soup was really good.  It had big chunks of bacon, medium shrimp, and pieces of tilapia in it.  The only odd thing about it was there were three whole bay leaves in it, which I removed because I was under the impression that you weren't supposed to leave them in the soup after you finish making it.  They are usually in there for flavor, but are tough & hard to chew.  I get the feeling they weren't supposed to be there.

 

I thought this was a bit expensive for a slice of cheesecake.  I love cheesecake & that's what I came here for, so I wasn't leaving without a slice.   It had a thin almond crust.  I thought the texture was extremely fluffy and the taste was very sweet.  Maybe it was too sweet.  I was only able to eat half in one sitting.  Although that wasn't a bad thing, because I had some for later.  I ate the whole thing.  None went to waste.  It wasn't bad.  It was good, but I'm not sure it was what I expected.  

I hear they will do whole cheesecakes, baked goods orders, and wedding cakes if you order in advance.  That's perfect for graduation parties & family reunions!!

130 Gallery Dr

McMurray, PA 15317

 724-942-5800

http://sunnybridgenaturalfoods.com/

 

Mindful Brewing

Mindful brewing

This is a cool spot, if you can get a parking spot. The inside is open. The atmosphere is trendy. There are bars downstairs and upstairs with an outdoor deck upstairs.  It was too cold for the patio the night in February I was there, even with the cozy fire pit lit.  I'm a sucker for fire pits, but not tonight. I'll have to come back when it gets warmer. 

The beer selection was enormous, but I didn't see any gluten free beers on tap. That's alright, it's hard to find a good gluten free beer.  They are a bottle shop, too, so there might have been some in the case, but I didn't look hard enough. I stick to the wine anyways.  There were wines on tap. I sat down at the bar and ordered a Chardonnay. 

The Chardonnay was fruity, light and not oaked, just the way I like it.  I noticed that they had a gluten free pizza on the menu and I had a craving for pizza.  They also had gluten free buns for the burgers, which was nice.  My second choice, though, would have been the salmon salad.  

I ordered the wild mushroom gluten free pizza because it boasted of oyster and shiitake mushrooms, a garlic purée, and four kinds of cheese. I love a cheesy pizza and oyster mushrooms are great.  I'm pretty sure I didn't get what I ordered.  

I know I shouldn't a gluten free pizza at a restaurant because I'm pretty sure they all use the same flat bread like frozen pizza crust, but somehow I thought with the right toppings, my pizza craving would be satisfied. 

What came out of the kitchen was two small pizzas with very minimal toppings.  I was told that you get two gluten free ones because the crust was smaller. But why wasn't I told that when I was ordering.  That might have swayed my decision. 

I'd be fine with a small pizza if there was actually something on it.  Where was the four cheeses? Where was the garlic? And the mushrooms were all button mushrooms! This didn't satisfy my craving for pizza at all. I should have ordered the salmon salad. I should have made my own doughy gluten free pizza at home.  In fact, the next day I did, any finally satisfied my pizza craving with my own two tiny pizzas.  Now this is what a tiny pizza should look like.  Someone, please hire me to work in a small gluten free corner of your kitchen so I can bake fluffy deep dish pizza crusts for you to serve to your clients!  My recipe is amazing.

I didn't get sick right away, so that was a plus.  But as the next day progressed, I became sicker & sicker. And I only ate food, other than Mindfuls'S pizza, that I made in my 100 percent gluten free kitchen, so what does that lead you to believe? 

The place was interesting enough that I might go back, but I'm not ordering the pizza again. I hear Dominos has a decent gluten free pizza. Maybe next time I should try that.

3759 Library Rd

Pittsburgh, PA 15234