Gluten Free In Boise, Idaho
My trip to Boise was particularly business heavy so I didn't get to do much exploring since I was either working or exhausted from working. On the first morning, I did get to see this fabulous sunrise though!
I did drive around some different neighborhoods, did a little shopping, and took a quick walk down the Basque Block. I've heard that several of the restaurants on this block (Bardenay and Leku Ona) can accommodate gluten free folks, but I didn't get the chance to try them out.
Even thought I didn't adventure out too much, I've still got some good finds to share albeit without any tasty food pictures since my iPhone doesn't do a great job with food photos.
Just after landing I headed straight to the Boise Co-Op to stock up on some items for the week. Some of my exciting new finds were;
- Lulu's Essential Granola
- I think this is my favorite granola now because it reminds me a bit of muesli! I picked up the Blueberry, Apricot, and Ginger variety.
- Sun Flour Mills
- I picked up the Chocolate Cake and Sugar Cookie mix. Stay tuned for reviews!
- Eragrain Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread
- I can't find a website for this one, but this bread is amazing! It's very dense but also very moist. I wasn't able to refrigerate it for the whole week and it stayed moist and tasty for my peanut butter and banana sandwiches all week.
- Cowboy Tom's Teff Flapjacks
- Or rather flapjack mix. Stay tuned for a review!
- Frankly Natural Bakers Gluten Free Whacky Walnut Brownie
- This was one very tasty brownie!
Chandlers Steakhouse
Chandlers was attached to the hotel I stayed at (Hotel 43) and was packed each night. So I opted for some room service of an "Idaho Baked Potato" and a salad. Everything was just fine, but for some reason they brought me basket of bread. It was all wrapped up, so no biggee, but if you go there I would make sure to really explain your dietary needs.
Whenever a local Idahoan heard that we were talking about going to Cottonwood they immediately would talk about what a fancy place it was. I wouldn't say it was that fancy, but it made me think of a "Visit Idaho" postcard, where happy people are all eating dinner in large groups. They had a special gluten free menu and were very informative and helpful on choosing a dish for me that was safe. I ordered the pan seared trout with steamed veggies.
I don't actually remember the last time I went into a diner. In general, they really aren't very gluten free friendly. However, I came across Moon's Kitchen in my research because they offer gluten free bread, english muffin, and bagel options. I was able to order a BLT on multi-grain gluten free bread that looked like it had flaxseed in it. It was very tasty and I'm feeling just fine from it. If you're very sensitive to gluten I would recommend asking them about how they prepare their food and how they toast their bread. I asked them about their fryer, because of the possibility of french fries, and it didn't click very quickly to the server that there could be cross-contamination in there. So just ask questions!
