On the road…in the sky, on a ship….

I’ve been sorting and packing and resorting and repacking, preparing for a long dose of overseas travel.

On this much wanted trip we will travel by — planes, a big ship, trains, bikes, planes again, trains again, and finally more planes. And of course, we’ll ride in a few shuttles and taxis, too.
This means lots of bag toting as we move around. While we’ve chanted “pack light,” our mantra for this trip, the cruise ship-cycling tour-sight seeing itinerary demands certain clothing and gear.

My best friends for the next five weeks.

Since the first day involves multiple flights and some dashing through an airport, I’ve packed my emergency gluten free food in my carry on, just in case, while the rest of the stash is tucked into my duffle for future emergencies.

Not to everyone’s taste but these guys have saved me when safe food was scarce. 

For the next five weeks, the trusty bags will carry my life. My oversized purse, a frequent object of comment by friends, on this trip is replaced by a familiar backpack, one that substituted for a purse on previous adventures.

Don’t you just love the word adventure…

Almost on the road again.

 

In Bend, Where Does This Celiac-Veganish Pescatarian Eat

 

Gorgeous salmon tacos — hold the cheese but add avocado — at Barrio. I’m always surprised that my X-rays don’t reveal a belly full of tacos.

I’ve written about the challenges of finding safe, mostly healthy gluten free, pescatarian food when traveling.  But I’m home in Bend more than I’m roaming the world which means I eat at local restaurants. Here are a few I favor, though more linger on my to-try list.

R and I love Mexican food. Fortunately, many Mexican dishes are good gluten free, veganish-pescatarian options if the kitchen is trained to cook without adding gluten and avoids cross contamination.

LaRosa in NWX is one of our weekly hangouts. We love the owner, the staff and that the restaurant is a quick 18 minute walk from our house. LaRosa offers gluten free chips prepared in a dedicated fryer and pays careful attention to safe kitchen practices. I like many items but my favorites are the Enchilada Del Mar, Tacos de Pescado, Sopa de Vegetables, and the lunch bowl (pictured below) all ordered dairy free.

The vegetarian lunch bowl is a wonderful mix of sautéed veggies, black & pinto beans, and sauce.

Our other Latin American fave is Barrio in downtown Bend. While the chips are not safe for me to eat — no dedicated fryer —the food is so delicious that I don’t miss them. At Barrio, I’m a creature of happy habit. I often order yummy salmon tacos with avocado but no cheese or mushroom & corn tacos. Frequently at lunch I order their delicious mushroom & corn enchiladas. R is addicted to the paella, which is also gluten free. We are regulars at Barrio, which I think is a good thing.

Barrio’s heavenly mushroom & corn enchiladas. Gluten free and vegan.

R loves Barrio’s mixta paella, also gluten free.

A favorite that is only open for lunch is the friendly Sunny Yoga, which actually holds yoga classes when the kitchen is closed.  Sunny Yoga offers a host of excellent options for gluten free vegans. The Sunny Bowl is one beauty filled with spinach, kale, peppers, quinoa, garbanzo beans and topped with a curry sauce. It looks delicious and some day I will order the bowl when I’m less smitten with the Sunny Burger, a veggie wonder of spinach, walnuts, onions and arugula (I leave off the mayo and cheese but add avocado) available either on gluten free bread or on a bed of arugula with a splash of sriracha hot sauce.

My photo does not do justice to the Sunny Veggie Burger pictured here on arugula.

Another terrific spot for lunch is the upscale Zydeco. Zydeco offers a gluten free menu, though many options are meat and dairy based. But along with some interesting salads is the Zydeco vegetable beet burger. I order this fabulous meatless burger on gluten free bread, without cheese but with a hearty shot of barbecue sauce.

Mystery to me how that lone crispy fry ended up on my veggie burger

Breakfast out is a dicey meal for me for I find it challenging to find an option that is gluten free, safe and worth eating. While I know egg whites are not vegan, I do, on occasion indulge in Chow’s Huevos Rancheros. I order this dish of corn tortillas, black beans, ancho and green chile sauces with egg whites but without dairy. Not really vegan but certainly vegetarian and delicious.

Huevos Rancheros at Chow, a lovely treat

Other great places in town for gluten free, veganish-pescatarian eats include Spork and Broken Top Bottle Shop.  Spork offers a savory gluten free, vegan West African Peanut Curry as well as rice bowls with tofu. Broken Top Bottle Shop, a quick walk from our house, features many traditional meat and dairy items, but also has fresh veggie salads easily topped with tofu or grilled salmon as well as a variety of gluten free appetizers.

Many more restaurants we’ve yet to try so lots of happy eating in Bend.

Driving and Eating on the Central Calif. Coast

This little guy was born just minutes before I took this photo at the elephant seal reserve near San Simeon, California.

Decades and decades ago, my late father lived in Cambria, a sleepy central California coastal town. Until the mid-80s, R and I visited Cambria several times. Then life changed, we moved out-of-state, and my father moved from Cambria. During the 29 years years when we lived in Chicago and before that Kansas City and Tulsa, our visits to California centered on attending family events and holidays and seeing friends, mostly in Southern California.

When we booked our January 2018 return flight from Costa Rica to Los Angeles, we decided it was time to rent a car and drive some of the coast and revisit Cambria on our way to Monterey and its famed aquarium.

As a celiac, there are a few things I know to do when I travel such pack some food like Think Thin GF protein bars or something similar and visit a local grocery store. While on this trip, we traveled with Think Thin bars, I went completely lazy on visiting grocery stores and buying backup gluten free food and plenty of times, I regretted my lazy ways.

The little village of Cambria presented a number of good food options. We met up with friends who were also visiting Cambria and enjoyed dinner at Robin’s Restaurant (http://www.robinsrestaurant.com)  The kitchen at Robin’s readily accommodates eating preferences, offering vegetarian and gluten free options and willingly modifies items to meet individual needs. At the restaurant, I ordered Robin’s Chow, a vegetable and prawn stir fry made with tamari and rice noodles rather than regular soy and pasta.

The next night R and I lined up for a table at The Sea Chest http://www.seachestrestaurant.com a cash only, Cambria treasure. The first 12 people or so in line earn the chance to sit at the oyster bar, chat with the chefs while watching them cook. Next time we visit, we’ll be first in line.
I ordered cioppino, a lush, tomato rich seafood stew overflowing with crab legs. I immediately regretted not finding a store that sold gluten free bread since the restaurant did not offer a gluten free bread option and crusty bread would have paired wonderfully with this dish. Grrrrr.

Cioppino at the Sea Chest, Cambria

This wasn’t the only time I regretted not toting bread and other gluten free items.

From Cambria, we headed inland to the 101 for a detoured drive to Monterey. Once in that beautiful town on the bay, our first task was finding a restaurant since we were both starving. A quick google search located an El Torito (part of a chain) situated on the bay in Cannery Row. Since Mexican food is typically a safe option for me, we headed to the restaurant. What we discovered was surly service, limited food options, and a kitchen disinterested in accommodating food restrictions. After a fair amount of negotiating, I ordered prawn fajitas with vegetables and beans. What arrived were unseasoned, rubbery prawns set a top of unseasoned, bland vegetables. It was clear that special orders were not welcomed by the kitchen. As I stared at the tasteless food in front of me, I wished, once again, that we’d stopped at a grocery store and that I had researched restaurants.

The cook at this El Torito did not even bother to salt and pepper these rubbery prawns. Ugh.

Happily, the hotel staff saved us from our poor planning by suggesting some excellent restaurants and pointing us in the direction of a grocery store (which unfortunately had a slim selection of gluten free bread).
One day after hiking at Point Lobos, spotting migrating whales and watching harbor seals, we headed to Monterey Fish House www.montereyfishhouse.com, an unassuming, homestyle seafood restaurant. It was late afternoon and the place was busy. The server recommended cioppino; I was not disappointed. Mussels, clams, huge chunks of salmon, white fish, calamari, and shrimp filled the rich tomato based sauce. R loved the huge crab cake he ordered which unfortunately was not gluten free but looked delicious.

Another bowl of wonderful cioppino. Heavenly.

On our last day in Monterey, we wanted pizza and found Pizza My Heart www.pizzamyheart.com on Del Monte, not far from our hotel. Many restaurants offer gluten free pizza but don’t necessarily follow the steps to avoid cross contamination (prepping GF pizza in a clean area away from wheat, using fresh utensils, gloves, and in the absence of a dedicated GF oven, placing the GF pizza on foil in the oven). Eagle-eyed Richard watched as a the folks at Pizza My Heart prepared a safe, delicious gluten free pizza.

Lessons relearned on this trip —research restaurants before the trip and visit a grocery store while traveling, if packing food ahead isn’t an option.  Duh. I’m already researching restaurants for our next trip.