I’m Brette Sember, a native Western New Yorker who is gluten intolerant. I also happen to be a food writer (check out my blog Putting It All on the Table) and cookbook author, so writing about gluten-free food seemed like a natural step for me. My husband, the photographer for this site, is also gluten intolerant, so at least we are a team when it comes to this.

Going gluten free was hard, but once I got into the groove I realized two things:

1- I could make almost anything I wanted at home just by substituting a gluten free flour mix (I like Cup4Cup and Bob’s Red Mill) or gluten free bread. In fact, there’s almost nothing that’s off the table for me at home. (By the way, I’m not a big proponent of gluten-free cookbooks, because I’ve found that just swapping out gluten free flour or bread allows you to make most things. I can find recipes for other food in all my other cookbooks. I do think they are helpful for people who have trouble understanding how to cook gluten-free). It is hard to find good GF products and there are some recipes that need some tweaking. I’m hoping to offer insight into both of those areas.

2- Eating out is a whole other ball of wax. Most restaurants have very few gluten-free options. Eating out used to be a chance to experiment, try new things, and take a break from cooking. Now it is often an exercise in frustration.

We decided to start this blog to share our gluten free dining experiences in restaurants and at home. My goal is create a resource that will help others figure out where they can eat out since most restaurants (other than big national chains) don’t have their gluten-free menus online.  You either have to call them in advance and quiz them, or take your chances and show up, hoping there will be something other than salad with oil and vinegar you can eat. Hopefully we can increase awareness and get more places to be GF-friendly!

We’ll be sharing where we’ve eaten (in WNY and also on our travels), show you what we ordered, tell you how hard it was to get GF food, and evaluate the quality of the food. We’ll also be sharing recipes and products so you can cook good GF food at home.

I hope this resource is helpful to you!