And a new month is upon us… happy May, everyone! But more importantly, happy Celiac Awareness month! Now unfortunately, the most distinguished month of the year (at least for a gluten-free blogger with celiac disease) coincides with SAT Subject Tests, AP exams, and finals- the whole shebang. I’m going to try my best to keep it new and fresh through out this month, but you’ll have to bear with me.

A few weeks ago, my family and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at Maggiano’s. Now just based off the name, you may be thinking, ‘Oh no, not Italian!’. I know, Italian restaurants are notorious for their lack of gluten-free options. From the shrimp scampis to brick-oven pizzas and freshly baked bread to manicotti, it’s always a struggle eating gluten-free within this cuisine. So, I have some good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad news first: there’s no gluten-free menu at the restaurant. Great restaurant, right? But the good news is that, there is no need for a gluten-free menu! The chef can convert many dishes to their gluten-free equivalent, and the waiters are very well informed in those accommodations. And the best news yet… they have gluten-free pasta!! This means that nearly all of their pasta dishes, with a few substitutions, can be made GF! The GF version of the “Famous Rigatoni ‘D'” is fabulous. It has herb-roasted chicken, mushrooms, and caramelized onions in a creamy marsala sauce. So  if that’s your thing, go for it! Hands down the best pasta dish I’ve eaten. However, just a reminder (since you’re probably not very accustomed to having the option of eating Italian foods), the portion sizes are HUGE. I mean enormous. You will have leftovers for the next day and the day after that! And if you’re not feeling the rich and creamy pastas, there are plenty of other choices. For example, when I recently dined at Maggiano’s, I opted for chicken since I had had a homemade chicken and asparagus pesto pasta for lunch that day. The waiter said to pick any chicken that looked most appealing to me, and the chef would cater it for a gluten-free eater. How easy is that?! I had the Chicken Piccata, which was delicious. The Chicken Piccata typically comes with angel hair aglio olio, so that was substituted by GF pasta. And I’m honestly not someone who eats chicken at restaurants- I usually find it too bland. But this is the second time now I’ve voluntarily chosen it. I could quite possibly be turning a new leaf!

Now, dessert can be ever so slightly trickier. They did have vanilla citrus creme brûlée that was GF, but they also had Spumoni (as pictured above) which I couldn’t resist. It was actually my first time eating Spumoni and let me say this: I would never have guessed chocolate, cherry, and pistachio could have tasted so good together! As the Green Machine Naked Juice Bottle says, “Looks weird. Tastes amazing.”

Ciao,

Anika