Pappardella

I stole this picture from the internet.

My brother doesn't really go above mid-town Manhattan.  In fact, he generally tends not to go above Union Square if he doesn't have to.  But tonight I convinced him to meet me for dinner on 75th and Columbus.  Way out of his comfort zone, but since we have eaten at most of the restaurants with gluten free menus in the city, it's always nice to have somewhere new to try.

I learned about Pappardella on twitter a few weeks ago and have been excited to try it ever since (see, twitter can serve a purpose).  I've been meaning to eat healthier recently, but tonight I accidentally ate gluten free garlic bread, gluten free bruschetta with a fava bean spread, gluten free pasta bolognese, and flourless chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato and caramel sauce.  Oh, and my brother had the gluten free salmon dish and I tried some of that too.  Oops!  Don't worry, we shared it all but the pasta.

But here's the thing, with all their gluten free options, I had a hard time deciding.  The gluten free menu was huge and covered everything from appetizers and salads, to pizza and pasta, to meat and fish, to dessert.  They use Schar for their pasta, and I'm pretty sure their bread as well.  The gluten free substitutes were pretty good, but next time I would be interested in trying one of their naturally gluten free dishes such as their grilled rack of grass fed Austrailian lamb with caramelized cipollini onions, and creamy parmesan polenta, or the grilled NY strip steak served with a port wine reduction and garlic mashed potatoes.  And after that I'd like to try their pizza.

Go ahead, go to the Upper West side and give it a try.  Then let me know what you think.

Mile End Bakery

Now's the time for my BIG REVEAL: my friend Mallory over at Total Noms and I have started our own cookie company!  Mile End Bakery offers gluten free cookies as well as cookies made with wheat flour.  We have chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, ginger, oatmeal, nutella, and peanut butter cookies for your enjoyment.  If you can't choose we also offer a sample pack of all six.  They look like this:

Clockwise: Ginger, Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Nutella

Mallory makes our regular cookies and I make our gluten free cookies.  Our gluten free cookies are made in a different kitchen with dedicated gluten free utensils and quality gluten free ingredients.  You can order these delicious cookies on our Etsy store.  We ship anywhere in the continental US.

Mallory and I met in college at McGill in Montreal, Canada.  Stemming from our love of Montreal, we decided to name our company Mile End after a cute neighborhood in the city.  I am very excited about this new venture and I highly suggest you give our cookies a try!

You can see us on Facebook here or follow us on twitter here.

And now for a shameless plug: My man friend and I were feeling ambitious at the same time and while I was starting a cookie company, he started his own personal training company.  If you find you are eating too many cookies and need some help to balance it out, check him out at jtwfit.com.

Enjoy!

A Gluten Free Diet is not a Weight Loss Diet - and the Article that Finally Made Me Write This Post

Random swimsuit model I found online.

I've been meaning to do a post recently about how mad it makes me when people think of a gluten free diet as a weight loss diet.  True, not eating bread, pasta, cake, cookies, and pizza will probably make you lose weight.  It will also make you healthier.  But let me tell you something, this is not a gluten free diet.  This is a low carb, low junk food diet.

I'm on a gluten free diet and I can eat bread, pasta, cake, cookies, and pizza too.  They are just made with different flours than yours.  If you are on a gluten free diet just to lose weight, I do not personally think that all that soy sauce you are eating is the reason you are fat.  In fact, many people with celiac disease gain weight once they go on a gluten free diet because their stomach starts to heal and they are able to absorb nutrients again.  (I have gained weight on this diet, but I'm pretty sure it's because of all the gluten free baking I'm doing, not the stomach healing part.  As it turns out, eating 7 gluten free cupcakes is not any better for you than eating 7 regular cupcakes.) 

Anyway, I was particularly enraged when I read this article tonight: What We're (Not) Eating.  Apparently people with anorexia are claiming to be gluten free and therefore having a seemingly legitimate excuse not to eat many things.  This makes me so mad.  I would never recommend someone go on a gluten free diet if they didn't have to.  While I'm dealing relatively well with the adjustment to a gluten free lifestyle, the fact that people are pretending to have a gluten intolerance as an excuse not to eat is infuriating.  Please don't use my disease as a cover up for yours.  They are not the same.

Thoughts?