Bella Frutteto

Normal people book their hotels near where they need to be.  I book mine near restaurants I want to try (within reason).  I flew into Pittsburgh two weekends ago and I needed to be in Butler the next afternoon for a meeting.  I booked my hotel somewhere between the Pittsburgh Airport and Butler so I could eat at Bella Frutteto, which I found on the Gluten Free Travel Site.

I went to Bella Frutteto on a Saturday night by myself.  I was feeling very brave.  And hungry.  When I finally found Bella Frutteto it reminded me a lot of my parent's restaurant Sarducci's.  It was busy so I decided to eat at the bar and pretended to watch the football game.  The reason I wanted to try Bella Fruttto was because they have a huge gluten free menu.  After much deliberation I ordered the Sausage and Chicken Pasta with a side Spinach Salad.  They were both really good.  I started with the salad which had granny smith apples, gorgonzola, and walnuts.  The pasta had chicken, sausage, mozzarella, and a tomato cream sauce over gluten free pasta.  It was amazing.  I'm craving it again now as I write this post.  If I ever have the opportunity to go back I'd love to try the Harvest Chicken Salad or Balsamic Chicken.

If you ever find yourself within an hour radius of Wexford, PA, I highly suggest you stop by this place.

Gluten Free Vermont - Sarducci's Restaurant

 

*Update - The Gluten Free menu is now on their website.  Also, their chicken stock is now gluten free, so risotto and most of their soups are safe to eat.  They tell me gluten free pizza is in the works!*

My parents own an Italian restaurant.  Which is a bit ironic given my recent celiac diagnosis.  It's been open for 17 years, which means for most of my life I've been eating free pasta, bread, and fried calamari.

We ate or took food home from Sarducci's a lot growing up.  Every time I come home we go at least once.  So when I learned I was gluten free I thought bye bye Sarducci's.

Not so.  Shortly after I went gluten free my mom told me they put gluten free pasta on the menu.  She acted as though it was no big deal, but I thought it was just about the sweetest thing I had ever heard.

Not only do they have gluten free penne, but she worked with the chef to figure out what could and what couldn't be gluten free on the menu.  It turns out most things can be gluten free by substituting gluten free penne for the pasta and mashed potatoes for risotto (their chicken stock is not gluten free).

I'm home for Memorial Day weekend and took it upon myself to type out a gluten free lunch and dinner menu for them.  There are 4 appetizers, a soup, 6 salads, 13 pastas, 10 entrees, and 5 desserts on their gluten free dinner menu!  It should be on their website soon.

I'm very happy my parents have jumped on the gluten free bandwagon.  Not just for me, but for all the gluten free people in the area and the tourists that need a good place to eat close to the highway.

Sarducci's is located on 3 Main Street in Montpelier, Vermont.  They are open for dinner 7 nights a week and lunch Monday-Saturday.