The Gluten Free Kid and I are just returning from our second trip to NYC. The food alone is almost enough reason to go, but we love all New York has to offer.
Since this is the gluten free blog, we will cover the food first.
We ate so easily and so well. New York is very gluten free friendly with many choices of great restaurants - some even offer gluten free bread on the table. How nice to go and eat at a restaurant without all of the explanation or worry.
We feasted on gluten free pizza, bread sticks, ravioli, tiramisu, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, French fries, egg sandwiches, BLTs (on toasted gluten free bread of course) . . ..
Our favorites:
Risotteria, 270 Bleecker Street (212) 924 6664 in Greenwich Village:
Everything you’d expect a neighborhood restaurant in Greenwich Village to be:
~small but cozy and warm against the cold NY wind chill outside,
~wonderful smells of cooking gluten free pizza,
~eclectic in some ways such as the bottle of sugar water that is served with its fresh made lemonade;
~loud on a busy day but you are sure to leave with a new friend (most likely one that is GF as well).
Oh, and the food. The bread sticks alone are reason enough to visit, but add the gluten free pizza, Panini, risotto and desserts which include tiramisu and cheese cake. Yes, very good eating’s.
Tiramisu at Risotteria
After you eat, take a walk around Greenwich Village to let your food settle and then go to Soho for more strolling or, if you have room for more food, to Babycakes for Gluten Free Cupcakes.
Babycakes NYC, 248 Broome Street (212) 677 5047
The setting of Babycakes is like a bakery in the 50s with pink clad servers and “vintage” décor.
Crowded every time we have visited.
The best ever gluten and dairy free cupcakes, cookies, brownies. Eat some at the window and buy some extras to take back with you.
Sambuca 20 West 72nd Street (212) 787 5656 upper West Side
We love Sambuca’s. It is a quaint family style Italian restaurant. Again, we love them for their gluten free menu which not only includes great pasta dishes but ricotta stuffed ravioli, hot gluten free bread on the table and a GF brownie for dessert.
A trip to New York is not complete without a visit to Bloom's Delicatessen Cafe 350 Lexington Avenue (212) 922 3663 and Peter's Restaurant New York 1606 1st Avenue (212) 734 9600.
Lunch at Blooms
These are great places to grab lunch – we go for the French fries and sandwiches on toasted gluten free bread. Peter’s is a short walk from the Met and Bloom’s is not too far from the shopping area on Fifth Avenue.
We also tried a new restaurant this trip – Lilli and Loo. I liked it but my daughter was not too crazy about it. Pretty authentic Chinese food which was a little too real for her Americanized Chinese palate. We had chicken lettuce wraps, street noodles and Manchurian beef.
A few restaurants that we wanted to try and ran out of time were Lumi’s and Gourmet Land. We will have to save those for next time.
Okay, we actually did do more than just eat - In addition to eating, we:
- Went to see Hairspray (which we absolutely loved- Norm from Cheers played the role of the Mom) and we saw the Phantom of the Opera (unforgettable),
- Took a carriage ride in Central Park (maybe too cheesy for the Gluten Free Kid but I enjoyed it - at least we got to sit for a few minutes),
- Walked through China Town where Alex got her first (fake) designer purse and decided she did not like crowds (also saw someone getting arrested),
- Shopped in Soho (we loved), on Fifth Avenue (the biggest, loudest Abercrombie & Fitch store I desire to ever visit) and at the M & M store in Time Square (GF kid’s heaven with all of those M &M's. If you are wondering, Alex bought TWO pounds of them),
- Visited the Met where I got to see my favorite painting, Madame X, by one of my favorite artist. Actually got lost in the Met over and over again - it is huge!
- Went to the NYC Public Library (really awesome building),
- Walked miles and miles and miles through Greenwich Village, Soho, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Time Square - until my legs literally ached at night.
- The view from the Top of the Rock.
Came home completely exhausted (at least I was, Alex was fine- a definite sign of the differences in our ages) but looking forward to our return trip next year.
For more on traveling gluten free see Gluten Free Mom.com/travel.
