Pizza, Cookies, MacarOns and Cheese Rolls

This past week was one of the best that I've had in terms of finding delicious gluten free food. It all began on Monday evening when my mother and I went to CVS and were greeted by the glowing "we have gluten free pizza" sign in front of Planet Pizza a few doors down. We hurried into the store, where my mother proceeded to ask the manager if it was really gluten free and then harass him about cross contamination. He assured her it was 100% safe and that we would not get sick. We took home two pizzas for dinner (they are small, four pieces per pie); one plain and one with vegetables. They were both delicious and did not crumble upon the lightest touch. 
Planet Pizza has eight locations in Fairfield County including: Westport, Darien, Greenwich, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stamford and White Plains, NY.
Do not be deceived by this somewhat dinky looking pizza joint... they have very tasty food.
http://www.planetpizza.com/100329-new-site/locations.html


Wednesday contained another pleasant surprise. I entered Stew Leonard's and was immediately met by the mouth-water-inducing smell of the bakery department. I was discouraged, like always, that I would never again taste one of these items that smelled so incredible. I tried to walk through the section quickly, avoiding eye contact with the delicious pastries and homemade bread, but I was stopped in my tracks when I saw a sign hanging from the ceiling that read, "gluten free cookies." They are chocolate pecan cookies and they are absolutely delicious. When checking out, the cash register rang up the cookies and commended me on my "good choice." I asked her if she was gluten free and she looked in a way that implied she had no idea what that was. I tasted the cookies and they were really wonderful. I'm not a fan of nuts, but they were completely scrumptious. 

Stew Leonard's Danbury, CT 99 Federal Road Danbury, CT 06811 (203) 790-8030	Stew Leonard's Newington, CT 3475 Berlin Turnpike Newington, CT 06111 (860)-760-8100
Stew Leonard's Norwalk, CT 100 Westport Avenue Norwalk, CT 06851 (203) 847-7214	Stew Leonard's Yonkers, NY 1 Stew Leonard Drive Yonkers, NY 10710 (914) 375-4700

Two other great things happened on Friday: MacarOns and Portuguese cheese rolls from Purple Elephant Cake


MacarOn Café has two locations; 485 7th Avenue on 36th Street, and 625 Madison Ave on 59th Street.
They have an extensive menu (http://macaroncafe.com/dailymenu) full of salads, sandwiches, breakfast options and... macarons. A macaron is somewhat of a sandwich, meringue on top and bottom, filled with delectably flavored almond paste and 100% GF. The flavors range from chocolate to vanilla, to nutella to passion fruit. While they are expensive ($2.25 each), they are more than worth it. They are truly the best dessert that I have ever tasted, even pre-celiac disease. 


Purple Elephant Cake is a "cake boutique" on Lexington Avenue between 82nd and 83rd Street. The majority of their items contain gluten, however, on friday they were advertising their Portuguese cheese rolls. They kind of tasted like Cheese-Its but in the form of a roll and were a real treat. 


I definitely recommend checking out any of these places and tasting their amazing GF treats!


- C