While traveling last month we stopped in Knoxville, Tennessee for several reasons.  We were hoping to catch a quick visit with my Sweet Cousin. The Husband also had to make a conference call in a parking lot.  And it was lunch time, so I definitely needed to check out the gluten-free scene.  Following my tried and true Eating Out Gluten Free Tip #1 Do Your Homework, I was confident that I’d be able find a safe place to eat.

Sweet Cousin and Me

I was all excited about The French Market Creperie.  I can’t remember the last time I had crepes, and I had read that the French Market Crepery made Buckwheat Crepes!

I found several reviews that reported these buckwheat crepes to be gluten free!  Yippeee! Should I choose a sweet or savory crepe?  There were just so many to choose from.  I finally settled on the Vegetarian Delux and pranced up to the counter to place my order.

Thankfully, I also followed Eating Out Gluten Free Tip #4 Ask Questions.  It only took a few moments to learn that their flours come from France, and the buckwheat flour comes through the same chute as the regular wheat flour.  Their crepes were not gluten free. Strike One Knoxville.  I was very disappointed, but so thankful for a cognizant server who saved me from starting off vacation doubled over.

Since I had done my homework, and had a tip from the Sweet Cousin, we went to The Tomato Head.  Sweet Cousin had told me that they were vegan/vegetarian friendly and that they had gluten-free pizza crust.  Sweet!

The restaurant was packed with college kids, both behind the counters, in the line for take out, at the tables, and spilling out into the courtyard.  And this cute little girl was attracting animal lovers like me out front.

After perusing the menu, I had my heart set on the #5.  A gluten-free, vegetarian pizza with mushroom, artichoke heart, red and green peppers, and red onion was calling my name.  But then I heard the dreaded phrase…

“We’re out of gluten-free crust.”

Strike Two.  At this point, we had two choices.  Walk out and try a third restaurant, or stay and see what other gluten free options they had.  Considering that it was already late, we were hungry, and our travel destination was still 2 hours away, we opted to stay.  And since we were staying, it was time to use Eating Out Gluten-Free Tip #2 Be Nice To Your Server.  It wasn’t her fault that her restaurant was out of gluten-free dough.

I was immediately impressed when the server said that she could give me any of their sandwiches on a corn tortilla.  This girl knew customer service.  And she seemed to understand gluten. She knew that the baked tofu contained gluten, but the marinated tofu did not.  She even pulled out a binder that listed all of their menu items that contained gluten and checked. BUT SHE WAS WRONG. (More on that later.)

We were starving.  So we ordered hummus and organic blue corn chips.  Guess what they were out of.  Blue corn chips.  Strike Three.  But we asked for the hummus with corn tortillas, and she was glad to accomodate.

Their hummus, gluten-free of course, is out of this world.  A little powerful on the garlic scale, which I love, and chunky.  If we weren’t heading out of town I would have picked up a few of these for home.

I ordered the Veggie Chef Salad, and as soon as it arrived, all disappointment from not having gluten-free pizza dissipated.  This salad was packed with color, flavor, textures, and nutrients.

Veggie Chef Salad with romaine lettuce, organic marinated tofu, broccoli, artichoke hearts, mushroom, red onion, cucumber, tomato, black olive, green pepper, carrot, red cabbage & sprouts

Incredible salad.  And far healthier than any gluten-free pizza on the planet.

Or so I thought.

The marinated tofu was NOT gluten-free.

Strike Four!

For the next day my stomach twisted and turned, and I couldn’t figure out why.  I thought I had eaten a clean salad for lunch at The Tomato Head, and I had an incredible dinner at Posana, a 100% gluten free restaurant.  Thankfully, my reaction was not severe.  But I was exhausted, slept long hours, and I dealt with the intestinal distress knowing it would pass in a few days.

On the way home, we decided to stop through Knoxville again for a late lunch.  Feeling better, I was hoping that The Tomato Head would have gluten-free pizza to try.

Strike Five.  They were still out of gluten-free dough.  So I tried to order that same delicious Veggie Chef Salad with marinated tofu, and I double checked that I was ordering the tofu that was gluten free.  Apparently, NEITHER tofu option is gluten free!  No wonder I had been sick over the weekend.  Mystery solved, but I was more than a little miffed that a restaurant that claims to be gluten friendly could make such a terrible mistake.

The food at The Tomato Head is definitely delicious and fresh.  I enjoyed this Southwestern Salad immensely (as well as my glutenous Veggie Chef Salad), but my recommendation comes with a caution.  Ask lots of questions, and ask for proof.  Look at that allergen binder yourself! The servers are not all on the same page.

How about that gluten-free pizza?  I tried twice and they didn’t have any in.  (Let me know if you ever have the chance to sample it, because this cat is done with The Tomato Head!)

The Tomato Head

Readers, dish!

• Have you tried The Tomato Head?
• How do you handle disappointment when gluten-free options are not available?
• What is your favorite gluten-free pizza restaurant?

I love our trips to Asheville.  I love the mountains, the art, the pottery, the music, and the restaurants.  Okay, it’s mostly about the food for me, but I really do like everything else. I haven’t found another city as packed with environmentally conscious people as Asheville. The community believes in local food, and they are sensitive to the dietary restrictions of their city and its guests. Whether you are gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, vegetarian, or vegan, you are going to eat well in Asheville and feel good about it.

On our last trip to Asheville we stayed at Pinecrest Inn, a lovely bed and breakfast within walking distance of downtown.  I haven’t been overly excited about staying at bed and breakfasts in the past.  The bed part is usually just fine, but the breakfasts aren’t much of a treat when you are gluten intolerant, because you can’t enjoy the delicious country breakfasts that everyone else has to eat.  Plus, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and I’m not going to waste a meal on scrambled eggs and a side of fruit when Posana has a 100% gluten free brunch menu just up the street.

But Janna and Stacy, the ladies of Pinecrest, blew me away.  Not only did they provide us with a beautiful, quiet, comfortable room, they went above and beyond to make sure that being gluten free didn’t take away from my bed and breakfast experience.

Every morning I knew where my place was at the table, because there was something different on the bread plate.  Sometimes it was a gluten-free blueberry muffin.

Another time it was a mini sweet bread from Dolci di Maria, a local Asheville gluten-free bakery.

That alone would have been enough for me, but the ladies of Pinecrest didn’t stop there.

On the morning that we had yogurt parfaits, they used Udi’s Gluten-Free Granola for everyone’s parfait, not just mine.

They made sure that the frittata was naturally gluten free and that I had Udi’s Gluten-Free Bread to go along with it.  Udi’s bread was even more delicious topped with South Carolina peach preserves homemade by Janna’s daughter, Aiken.  And a tomato fresh from the Farmer’s Market just topped it off perfectly.

On French toast morning, I wondered if I’d be eating eggs with a side of Udi’s toast, but Janna and Stacy created gluten-free French toast with Udi’s Gluten-Free Bread just for me, complete with fresh peaches.

Gluten-free breakfast every morning was a dream come true, but it didn’t stop there.

Each day, upon returning from our day’s adventures, I looked forward to afternoon dessert.  Dessert for the guests were in the dining room under a glass cake dome.  But dessert for me was in the refrigerator and promptly presented upon our arrival.

Gluten-Free Cupcakes by Dolci di Maria

Cupcakes and white wine?  When on vacation, yes!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie by Dolci di Maria

Clearly, Pinecrest Inn gets a five star rating and two paws up from the Gluten-Free Cat on food alone.  But the actual accommodations were beautiful and comfortable, giving us the perfect weekend retreat.

We started our visit in the Thomas Wolf Suite.  Apparently there was a small leak in the closet of our beautiful room after a torrential downpour.

It was barely noticeable, but the innkeepers moved us to the Grace Room on our last evening in hopes of improving our stay.  I was actually quite thrilled, as during the booking process I couldn’t decide between the Grace and the Thomas Wolfe.  How perfect that I had the chance to experience both!

In the Grace Room we were greeted with a bottle of wine as an anniversary gift, a bouquet of fresh flowers, and a gluten-free chocolate carrot cake.  This cake was out of this world!

This amazing cake by World’s Best Carrot Cake was truly the world’s best carrot cake!  Gluten-free or not, it was so good that I must confess that the Husband only got a small piece.  And dinner was rather late that evening.

It was a treat to stay at Pinecrest Inn.  Not only is the inn beautiful, comfortable, and well maintained, the owners are friendly and determined to make sure that your experience is memorable.  I highly recommend a stay at Pinecrest for anyone looking for a getaway.

• Have you ever been to Pinecrest Inn?
• Have you had a positive bed and breakfast experience? Please share!
• How has an inn or BnB gone above and beyond for you?
• What other BnBs are gluten friendly?

After a full day of work, two flights, and an hour and a half drive in the dark, I was ready to retreat.  Thankfully, I arrived at the home of Shirley of gfe safely.  I would have to wait until morning to actually see the gorgeous countryside, the lake, the incredible mountain-style home with the screened-in back porch, and the towering trees.  All of that would feed my spirit in the days to come.

But I arrived to a welcoming group of pajama-clad food bloggers who were all tapping away at their iPads and laptops.   Immediately, laptops were closed, hugs went all around, and the refrigerator door opened.

“Oh, no, I’m not really hungry.”  I had missed dinner, but I had snacked and could wait until breakfast.

“But we had Johnna’s Vegan Pulled Pork for dinner, and we saved you some.”

Vegan Pulled Pork?  How can you turn that down, even at 11:00 p.m.?

It was astounding.  Not only was it a delicious late night snack, but it was so remarkably like eating pulled pork barbecue that it was hard to believe it was vegan.  Johnna was a genius.

Johnna of 52 Sweets (and various other 52 blogs) is a gluten-free vegetarian who started her blog by chronicling her quest to eat only one sweet treat every week for a year.  That lead to other 52 projects like 52 Donuts and 52 Foods on a Stick that you can read all about here. Johnna is so cool.

She is full of laughter, light, encouragement, and joy.  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and can’t wait to see her again!  Until then, I can make the recipes from her blog and enjoy chatting online.

As soon as I got home I went on a quest for the secret ingredient in Johnna’s Vegan Pulled Pork.  Jackfruit.  I couldn’t find it at Whole Foods.  But I finally found it at an International Market, and I’ll be keeping them in stock!

Does anyone else get this excited to find recipe ingredients?

The next day, I made Johnna’s Jackfruit BBQ for a pool party, and everyone loved it, meat eaters and vegetarians alike.  The jackfruit is very tender, much more so than pork, and it takes on the flavor of the barbecue sauce perfectly.

Spooned into a corn tortilla, it made delicious Vegan BBQ Tacos.

The hardest part about making this Vegan BBQ was finding the Jackfruit.  The rest was a snap.  Toss the ingredients in the slowcooker, wait, and shred.  You can find Johnna’s Jackfruit BBQ Recipe here.  Johnna and I must have been on the same wavelength last week as she also posted a recipe for Jackfruit Tacos that incorporates wild rice.  I’m trying that one next.

Other On Their Blogs, By Their Hands posts:

• Heavenly GF Angel Food Cake by Linda of The Gluten-Free Homemaker
• Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Fondue by Kim of Cook It Allergy Free
• Brazilian Un-Cheese Biscuits by Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily

And there are still more to come!

Readers, dish!

• Have you found Johnna’s blogs?
• Have you ever tried Jackfruit?
• What missing ingredient have you had to hunt down?

I had the distinct pleasure of spending the weekend with a few of my favorite bloggers.  Some were old friends and others quickly became new friends.  When friends get together, they share, they laugh, they eat.  When food bloggers get together, they share, they laugh, they eat, and they eat some more!

And everything they eat is fantastic.  Imagine spending a weekend with Alton Brown, Betty Crocker, Julia Child, and Anthony Bourdain and having them each make a different part of a gluten-free meal.

Over the next few days I will be sharing some of my favorite food experiences of the weekend that were made from recipes on their blogs by their hands.  I will link to the recipes on their blogs so that you can make these incredible creations yourself.  I know you’ll have fun exploring the gluten-free resources, recipes, and stories you’ll find there.

Come back on Thursday to see what Shirley of gfe (Gluten Free Easily) made for us!

Readers, dish!

• Share a memorable food experience!
• What food blogger would you want to cook for you?