Café Rakka: Heavenly Falafel

Where: Café Rakka Mediterranean Restaurant, 71A New Shackle Island Road, Hendersonville, TN  37075

GF Menu: No.

What I ate: My dining companion and I shared Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Mediterranean Salad, Falafel, Pomegranate Iced Tea, and a Mango Lassi

How to order it: Everything is made in-house, from the hummus to the yogurt and cheese. All menu items are made-to-order. When you place your order at the counter, let the server know that you are dining Gluten-Free.

I asked whether their falafel mix (traditionally made of chickpeas or fava beans) contained any flour. The server double-checked with the chef and announced that it was Gluten-Free. Then he graciously offered cucumber slices instead of the pita bread that normally accompanies this dish.

At Café Rakka, falafel are fried in a container that is not shared with any other items.

What it looks like:

The Baba Ghanoush was incredibly light; and to my surprise, it was garnished with pomegranate seeds. Each bite was a little bit sweeter than the last.

After we placed our order, I heard our hummus being blended in the kitchen. It was that fresh. This magical mix contained chickpeas, the Cafe’s own special recipe tahini, and lemon juice, plus a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of colorful spices.

Posted on a signboard above the counter was a list of the different types of hummus you can try in a “Hummus Bar” sampler. Here are some of the flavors I noted that day: Roasted Eggplant, Roasted Jalapeños, Roasted Onions, Spiced Cilantro, Olives, Roasted Garlic, Roasted Almonds, Roasted Mushrooms.

I wish my blog could feature a “Scratch ‘n’ Sniff” button, because I would install one for you here next to this photo. These lightly-browned, crispy-looking spheres with their hypnotizing aroma beckoned me to dig in.

Café Rakka’s homemade falafel were soft and delicately moist inside, with a thin, crispy crust on the outside. These were the closest thing I have had in years to fresh-out-of-the-fryer hushpuppies! I had to remind myself they were Gluten-Free.

This Mediterranean Salad was all about the cheese. Gorgeous blocks of homemade feta were soft, moist, and flavorful. The “About Us” page on the Café Rakka website explains, “Chef Rakka’s family has been renowned cheese, butter and yogurt makers in Syria for more than five generations.” Practice has indeed made perfect.

Green Note: Chef Rakka and his wife, Linda, emphasize the importance of cooking what is fresh and in season. Their website describes their commitment to this philosophy:

[Chef Rakka's] cooking today continues to reflect that love of fresh food.  Just as he and his father, after a trip to the market in Syria, would bring home only what was fresh that day for his mother to cook, Rakka and his wife Linda decide on the daily menu specials based on what’s available fresh from the market. 

Marché Artisan Foods: Brunch Bouquet

As of March 2012, “Sweet Tea & Wheat-Free” has had nearly 20,000 views. Thank you, Readers, from the bottom of my Gluten-Free heart!

Also, I am over-the-moon to report that this Gluten-Free Gal is getting married! In April 2012, I will start a new life in yet another great Southern town – Nashville, Tennessee.

There, I will continue my Quest for Gluten-Free Food in the South.

My family remains in the Triangle Area, and so I plan to return often and continue reviewing restaurants in this area, too.

Regardless of the restaurant location, it is my sincere hope that posting these GF options will help you feel empowered to seek out healthy GF meals for yourself and your families.

So, next up is a review of a Nashville, TN establishment called Marché Artisan Foods. Enjoy!

Where: Marché Artisan Foods, (located near “Five Points” in Historic East Nashville) 1000 Main Street, Nashville, TN 37206

GF Menu: No.

What I ate: Omelette du Jour, Soup du Jour, and Risotto

How to order it: Unless you are ordering at IHOP (where even the omelets are filled with fluffy pancake batter), you can generally feel good about choosing eggs. As always, though, if you are extremely allergic, be sure to ask the server whether the pan or griddle on which the item is cooked has come into contact with any gluten.

When considering a soup or a risotto, always ask the server whether the broths are Gluten-Free. In pre-packaged broths, gluten is sometimes added as a preservative to extend the product’s shelf life.

A note about cheese: I hope I’m not the first person to tell you this. You may already know that blue and gorgonzola cheeses are off-limits to those on a Gluten-Free diet (as their blueness comes from bread mold). But are you aware that some companies use gluten/wheat flour to dust their packaged shredded cheese? Apparently, the gluten helps keep the cheesy shreds from sticking to one another in the bag. So, whether buying cheese to cook with at home, or ordering an item containing shredded cheese at a restaurant, ask your server/chef whether the cheese packaging denotes a risk for those with gluten allergies.

My server checked with the kitchen, and assured me that the broth was made in-house, without gluten, and that the items I ordered were gluten-free.

What it looks like:

Can you see the vapors rising up from this steaming hot, colorful, hearty cup of soup? Cauliflower conversed with green beans, carrots, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and herbs. This soup had texture. The veggies were not soft from over-boiling; they retained their integrity.

I want to take omelet-making lessons from this chef. The form was so light and fluffy, and also cooked to perfection – not runny on the inside, and not burnt on the exterior. It arrived hot-off-the-pan, and each cheesy bite just begged to be combined on the fork with the cool, crispness of the greens, seasoned lightly with a vinaigrette and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Fresh butternut squash, herbs, and parmesan. Sounds simple, right? Due to the expert balance of these ingredients with the risotto, the taste was so rewardingly complex.

Green Note: Marché creates delicious meals using local and seasonal ingredients. Their website contains a page called “Partners & Friends” in which they list their local farm sources for produce, meats, and market goods. You can purchase free-range eggs produced by local hens, artisan chocolates from Nashville’s own Olive & Sinclair, and other culinary delights at Marché.

Miel: A Real Honey of a Place

Where: Miel Restaurant, 343 53rd Avenue North, Nashville, TN, 37209, located in the historic Johnson’s Meat Market building in Sylvan Park, Nashville.

GF Menu: No. All meals at Miel are seasonal and made-to-order, so most items can be modified to meet GF needs. Servers will mark “GF” on the ticket so the kitchen staff will know not to plate anything containing gluten.

What I ate: I don’t usually eat this much in one sitting! I have been fortunate enough to dine at Miel twice, so here are descriptions of Miel’s Heirloom Tomato Salad, Diver Scallops, Risotto, PEI Mussels, a Chef’s Choice Veggie Plate, and Chocolates from Around the World.

How to order it: As always, inform the server in advance that you will be dining Gluten-Free. Ask for his/her recommendations from the current season’s menu. Once you have zeroed in on a menu option, your server can double-check with the kitchen to make sure the meal can be prepared Gluten-Free.

When ordering risotto, I asked about the broth in which the rice was prepared. The server assured me the kitchen would use a Gluten-Free vegetable broth.

What it looks like:

This petite potato appetizer was spread with creamy goat cheese, then topped with lightly marinated diced tomatoes and a sprig of parsley.

Gluten-Free sesame rice crackers with a rosemary garnish replaced the usual complimentary bread basket.

The heirloom tomato salad was a colorful Jenga tower, as artistic as it was delicious. Ripe heirloom tomatoes were stacked between house-made fresh mozzarella, basil oil, pinched basil leaves, and balsamic vinegar.

Diver Scallops are hand-picked when they are mature, and are considered a more eco-friendly seafood choice. Because they were never dragged along the ocean bed in a net, they are also less likely to contain sand grit. These plump scallops were pan-seared and served with a scrumptious golden beurre blanc.

In August, Miel’s risotto contained summer squash, zucchini, tomato jam, green beans, confit mushrooms, gruyère and parmesan cheeses, and a basil pistou. By September, in keeping with the changes in harvest, the dish offered roasted butternut squash, spinach, seasonal mushrooms, and white truffle oil.

Prince Edward Island mussels were steamed in a light vermouth broth with whole cloves of roasted garlic, yukon gold potatoes, and chopped tarragon, then topped with a garnish of Thai basil.

A veggie medley of carrots, green beans, onion, cauliflower, eggplant, beans, and potatoes offered fresh farm taste as well as diverse color and textures.

One of the GF dessert options was a selection of five crafted chocolates from around the world. In case you relish cocoa-related details as much as I do, here is the layout (provided on its own printed menu) of this exquisitely pleasurable platter of sweets:

1. Askinosie White Chocolate Sonoscuso Beans with Trinitario Nibs (34% cocoa butter, Mexico)
2. El Rey Milk Chocolate, caramel-like, smooth (41%, Venezuela)
3. Callebaut-Orange Chocolate Ganache
4. Vintage Plantations, Rainforest Alliance Certified (65%, Ecuador)
5. Madécasse, dark, strong with mild acidity (75%, Madagascar)

Just when I thought my dining experience couldn’t get any sweeter, the server brought out the final signature touch. Every meal at Miel, ends with a teensie spoonful of local honey!

Green Note: In addition to serving organic, fair-trade, and Rainforest Alliance-certified ingredients, Miel also owns a farm, and reduces the restaurant’s food waste by composting.

The following text is taken from their website:

Miel’s Farm is located steps away from the Cumberland River just 10 minutes from the restaurant in a plot that was used for hog farming decades ago. The rich soil and well-water produce high yields of many heirloom vegetables chosen by Seema [Seema Prasad, Owner of Miel]. 

California Pizza Kitchen: Nice Day for a White Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen announced the launch of a new Gluten-Free pizza crust in July, offering 29 of their original pizzas available Gluten-Free.

Where: California Pizza Kitchen, 5959 Triangle Town Road, #2121, Raleigh, NC 27616

GF Menu: Yes. At the Triangle Town location, the GF menu is incorporated into the restaurant’s regular menu.

What I ate: Asparagus and Arugula Salad (From the Small Cravings menu) + a White (GF) Pizza

How to order it: Regardless of where you are dining, it is a good idea to inform the server that you (and any other specific party members) will be dining Gluten-Free. This prepares the staff for your questions and hopefully helps ensure your safety throughout the dining experience.

When I mentioned to my server that I would be dining Gluten-Free, he explained that all of the pizzas listed on the menu (with the exception of the Jamaican Jerk Chicken and the Thai Chicken) could be made GF.

When asked how the GF pizza crust is prepared, he responded that it is handled with a designated set of utensils, placed on aluminum foil for baking, and then cut with a designated GF pizza cutter.

Folks who are extremely sensitive to air-borne gluten particles and cross contamination may want to read this discussion, on Triumph Dining’s website, to help guide your dining decision.

Online, the CPK GF Menu bears this disclaimer:

“Gluten-Free” designations are based on information provided by our ingredient suppliers. Warning: Ingredients or production methods used by our suppliers may change, or there may be product differences among regional suppliers. Additionally, normal kitchen operations involve shared cooking and preparation areas, or we may need to substitute ingredients in menu items. We are therefore unable to guarantee that any menu item is free from gluten or any other allergen, and we assume no responsibility for guests with food allergies or sensitivities.”

The Asparagus and Arugula Salad was light and tangy. Fresh arugula, crisp cuts of asparagus, sundried tomatoes, slivered almonds, and shaved Grana Padano Parmesan were topped with a homemade lemon vinaigrette.

The White Pizza arrived on a platter, crispy and golden around the edges, covered with sauteed garlic spinach, mozzarella, fontina, ricotta, parmesan, and pecorino romano.

A closer view displays the more traditionally thin Italian-style (as opposed to the thicker Sicilian style) crust. This crust tasted pleasantly of rice, and reminded me of a flexible version of a saltine cracker, topped with loads of good stuff.

Green Note: CPK also offers a Vegetarian and Vegan Menu. Why go vegetarian, even for a day? The semi-vegetarian global movement called Meatless Mondays, which advocates “cut out meat one day of the week”, offers this as one of several compelling reasons:

REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation. And annual worldwide demand for meat continues to grow. Reining in meat consumption once a week can help slow this trend.