Kaleidoscope Cafe

Kaleidoscope Cafe

Upon walking up to the door, I thought this place was closed.  After walking in, I thought I was in the wrong place.  After all, it was 6 O'clock on a Wednesday.  Somebody should be in here besides me.  But there wasn't.  I immediately thought to myself, "Why isn't anyone here.  Is this a mistake?"

The decor was awful.  It needed updated.  The walls needed painted.  If they weren't doing tons of business, they should take away a few tables to make it look less cluttered.  It would look fuller if there were less tables.  Maybe they should get an interior decorator to help with the space planning in here.  I can see why people aren't coming in and staying.

I hear the only server taking an order to go.  Someone must like the food, but I see why they don't want to sit in here to eat.  I see the theme that they are trying to do, but it's not succeeding.  It needs a make over. 

I asked about gluten free items on the menu.  I was handed the lunch menu and told some of the things listed as gluten free, like the pork, weren't gluten free.  And the chicken apple sausage was listed as gluten free, but wasn't in that preparation, but could be prepared in a different preparation.  Obviously, they needed new menus printed, too.

I ordered the cornish hen. I was told it would take 20-25 minutes.  I understood, but was hungry.  It really did take that long.

The cornish hen half was moist with a crispy skin and had a yellow savory sauce.  It had sweet figs, seasoned squash, two cherry tomatoes, and smashed potatoes.  The smashed potatoes were evenly lumpy like they should be, with some skins in the mix.  The chunks were soft enough that they melted in my mouth.  As far as smashed potatoes go, these ones were pretty good.

The pork wasn't gluten free because of the soy sauce.  But I hear was delicious as well.  The presentation was good.  In case you wanted to see the pork, here it is.

Finally, at the end of meal meal, two other groups were seated.  The acoustics were awful and I was glad I was finished with my meal.  Perhaps the odd kaleidoscope triangles on the walls were there to dampen the sound. They make sound dampening ceiling tiles that would probably work well for this place if they didn't want to instal carpet.

Overall, the food was delicious, the service was friendly, but the space needed updated. 

108 43rd St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
http://kaleidoscopepgh.com/

The Dive Bar And Grill in Lawrenceville

Dive Bar & Grill in Lawrenceville

Not very accommodating to customers with dietary restrictions.

Why do I feel like they cooked my food with peppers?  Maybe because three quarters of the way through this meal I started to feel dizzy and nauseated.  I had really bad indigestion and my chest tightened up.  I had to go lay down for a few hours after this meal.  I almost threw up, but didn't.  This is what happens when something is cooked with peppers.  I specifically told the server that I was allergic to peppers.  And when I said that, I meant it.  Not like the people who tell you that because they don't like things, but really.

First I asked the server to ask the kitchen if they could do the citrus glazed salmon on risotto without gluten or peppers.  She came back with a yes.  After ordering about 10 to 15 minutes ago, she came back and told me that the citrus glaze has red pepper flakes in it and asked if that was okay.  I told her no, just to be safe.  Red pepper flakes are usually made from a variety of ancho, bell, cayenne, and other dried red peppers with a high quantity of seeds to intensify the heat.

She looked at me with a blank look and asked what I wanted to do without offering any options.  I said just skip it, although I'd rather have them make something similar or put lemon on it or something.  But it seemed like there were no chefs in the kitchen, only cooks who are heating up pre-made sauces with no creativity of their own.  First they say no peppers can be done, then they wait until they are making it to realize that there was peppers in the sauce.  Great!  I wonder what they don't know is in the risotto that they didn't make.  

The salmon was cooked perfectly.  It looked nice on the plate.  I was a little skeptical of the rice.  It had chicken broth in it, which may contain gluten and the carrots and zucchini looked like peppers.  Green onions garnished the plate.  I happen to love green onions in small quantities.  

The green & reddish orange bits in the rice seemed to be carrots & zucchini.  But when I started to not feel so well, I got the feeling that they picked the peppers out, added the glaze to the salmon & then wiped it off, or just plan old cross contaminated my food with peppers. 

Although everything was tasty, the feeling it gave me to eat here will cause me to not come back.  I didn't feel like they could accommodate people with dietary restrictions very well. 

5147 Butler St Pittsburgh, PA 15201

http://www.divebarandgrille.com/

Gus' Cafe

Gus' Cafe is in Lawrenceville.  It has an entirely gluten free kitchen, specializes in vegetarian dishes, and a wide selection of gluten free beers.  They also have regular beers for your friends who can have gluten.  The beer selection is quite good.

This place is kind of set up like a diner.  There are booth tables along the side of the establishment and a bar that runs along the other side.  In the middle of the floor are funky metal tables.  Above the bar are their beer selections written in calk.

This was my second time at Gus' Cafe.  The first time I ordered the sweet potato ravioli and the deep fried pickles.  The sweet potato ravioli was a disappointment.  I would say it was more like a butternut squash pierogi, but not fried to a crisp in butter.  If they wanted to pass this creation off as a ravioli, they should have added a marinara sauce and possibly some mozzarella cheese or evn just melted butter on top because the way it was served was bland.  If they would have fried it in butter, it could have passed as a pierogi.  I really didn't think it was sweet potato either.

The deep fried pickles are what brought me back.  I wanted to give this place a second chance.  This time the menu changed.  I didn't see the pickles on the menu so I inquired with the waitress.  To my releif, she said they were a special.  I ordered the pickles and a cauliflower soup.  She mentioned it wasn't a vegaterian soup, and I'm alright with that.  I'm glad she mentioned that because I'm sure they get a lot of vegaterian customers and that shows she was looking out for them.

The soup arrived.  It was a brown purée.  Beef stock is not the way I would have made this soup.  I would have used chicken stock and cream as the base.  It seemed to have a squash taste to it as well.  The soup would have benefitted from leaving some chunks of cauliflower in it to break up the baby food consistency.  I couldn't finish this soup.

Then the order of fried pickles arrived.  If you eat gluten free by force, not by choice, you know fried pickles are a rare commodity - very hard to come by.  First because of the vinegar used to make the pickles and second because of the batter coating.  These pickle spears are awesome!  The batter is like a thick funnel cake around a delicious dill pickle.  The only problem is they are served extremely hot and I can't resist trying to eat them before they have cooled enough. Burning my mouth is totally worth it.  I really can't wait to get this batted sour goodness in my mouth.

Over all, there are some growing pains going on in the kitchen as the chief figures out what works and what doesn't.  The concept here is good.  For the most part, there are a few gems on the menu, but most of the food is disappointing.

If it has to be gluten free, you can't go wrong with a place that doesn't have any gluten in the kitchen.  There's no reason to be concerned about cross contamination.  The recipes will hopefully get better with time and its worth the trip if you are dying for some gluten free deep fried pickles.  Because where else can you get that?



4717 Butler St in Lawrenceville