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Review: Eating Gluten-Free at South City Kitchen in Atlanta

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Fifth Group in Atlanta recently implemented gluten-free menus in all their restaurant concepts. The press release about the menu rollout was covered in this article. After that post was published, some of our readers inquired about how to find the gluten-free menus for the Fifth Group restaurants online. As often happens with companies, websites are not always up to the minute, but gluten-free menus are now available online. To view them, visit the Fifth Group restaurant you’re interested in and click on “menus”. Then scroll to the bottom of the menu to click on “gluten-free” menus.

Even though many of my gluten-free friends in the area have eaten at South City Kitchen and love the gluten-free options there, we’ve never gotten around to dining at either location. When offered the chance to enjoy a complimentary meal at any Fifth Group restaurant, the obvious choice for us was South City Kitchen.  Of all the Fifth Group concepts, South City Kitchen has the most impressive gluten-free menu overall.  At least that is my personal opinion after reviewing them all.  We visited the Vinings location of SCK (the local nickname for the restaurant), which is located in a unique complex of John Wieland townhomes and shops.  This particular area of Metro Atlanta is extremely gluten-free friendly in terms of dining options.

Quite a few starters at South City Kitchen are gluten-free, but we decided on the Low & Slow Smoked BBQ with slaw. I’m not a fan of slaw of any kind so my husband ate all of it and liked the spicy kick it offered.  The meat was “fall off the bone tender” with a sauce that was delicious and not too tangy.  There is a fine line between a sauce that is perfectly tangy and one that is much too tangy.  As we enjoyed the sumptuous pork, I thought about how great it would be on a delicious gluten-free bun. The large Challah roll from Katz Gluten-Free, for example. The way the appetizer is presented, with the slaw on top of the meat, offers a really nice presentation. However, since I don’t care for slaw, I’d request it is served on the side of the meat in the future.

We split a Caesar salad in the regular (largest) size, which is quite a generous serving. A small salad would have been ample for us to share, but it was really one of the best versions we’ve had in a while so we finished every bite. The Parmesan cheese on the salad was grated instead of shaving, which was a really nice touch.  Obviously, there were no croutons on the salad, but we didn’t miss them at all. None of the Fifth Group restaurants currently offer gluten-free bread of any kind.

My husband ordered the Seafood Jambalaya for dinner and I had the infamous shrimp and grits. Actually, the entree is called Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops, but my gluten-free friends refer to it as “shrimp and grits”.  Some gluten-eating friends have also raved about this dish at South City Kitchen.  The jambalaya was one of the best versions my husband has ever ordered. He shared one spicy bite with me and I agreed it was an extremely tasty dish.  My entree was delicious and the seafood was not even slightly overcooked. The tender scallops and shrimp served over stone ground grits with a light tomato sauce were simply divine!

Gluten-free dessert offerings at South City Kitchen are fairly limited. Options include fresh fruit, ice cream, and creative sorbets that are made in-house. Maybe I won’t complain the next time I’m offered only creme brulee for dessert. During warmer months, ice cream and sorbet are more appealing to me than in cold weather.  Since we were overly full from our wonderful dinner, we didn’t miss not having dessert.  South City Kitchen has an impressive wine list and an excellent tawny and port selection.

If you live in the Metro Atlanta area and are gluten-free – or even if you’re not – be sure and check out South City Kitchen.  Gluten-free diners should note their needs when making a reservation.  Trust me – not all restaurants in the area that are jumping into the gluten-free dining arena understand what safe gluten-free service means. Some places are interested in catering to the trendy gluten-free set.  Fifth Group restaurants seem to have done their homework and understand what gluten-free means and just as importantly, what cross-contamination is.  As I’ve said many times before, restaurants with real chefs that utilize real ingredients are without question, the safest places to find consistently safe gluten-free meals.  There are exceptions to this rule, but they are very far and between.

Special thanks to Fifth Group for inviting us in to try the gluten-free menu at South City Kitchen. We also love Ecco in town – another wonderful Fifth Group eatery!

Pizza Crust Bake-off: Udi’s vs. Kinnikinnick

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 9 Comments

Friday night in our house is pizza night, and since going gluten-free we have changed that from ordering pizza out to making our own pizzas.  We were quick to realize not only is this healthier and cheaper, but tastes better too. There are a growing number of pizza places serving gluten-free pizza, however, they are usually more expensive than their gluten-filled counterpart, so in the end, we have found that creating our own pizzas makes it a fun family activity for all of us.

I started out making pizzas at home by creating my own pizza crust using recipes I found in my favorite magazines, or using Bob’s Red Mill pizza crust mix.  But then I discovered some ready-made pizza crusts that I enjoyed more than my homemade ones, and my family was hooked.  I am always a proponent of making things from scratch, but sometimes it is just easier to get parts of the dish ready-made.  I like to justify this with the fact that I make my own sauce.

There are two pizza crusts of which we have become loyal fans, Udi’s and Kinnikinnick.  Udi’s pizza crust is a round, individual-sized thin crust.  It tastes just like it came out of a wood-burning pizza oven and gets nice and crispy.  I have had my gluten-able friends eating this and not be able to tell the difference. These sell for $5.19 at Woodman’s, my local grocery store which is stocked with gluten-free goodies, and are two to a pack.  The ingredients according to their website:

Water, Tapioca Starch, Brown Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Egg Whites, Canola Oil, Sugar, Xanthan Gum, Salt, Yeast, Cultured Corn Syrup, Ascorbic Acid (Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Sulfate), Enzymes Contains: Eggs

Kinnikinnick offers a 7″ square pizza individually-sized pizza crust with four to a pack, and sells for $8.69 at Woodman’s.  There is also a 10″ available, or one could put all 4 together to make a 14″ pizza, as a local pizza place, Aurelio’s, does in the Chicago-area.  This crust is a thin crust, but a bit fluffier than Udi’s.  The longer it is cooked the crispier it will get.

The ingredients according to the Kinnikinnick website:

Sweet Rice Flour, Water, Tapioca Starch, Whole Eggs, Sunflower and/or Canola Oil, Sugar, Dextrose, Cellulose, Yeast, Pea Protein, Sodium Carboxy Methylcellulose, Salt, Corn Meal

Both are free of dairy, nuts, and soy.

The verdict: While both pizza crusts are comparable in size, they are delicious in different ways. Both are equally enjoyable eating experiences. As a family, we will go through phases where we prefer one over the other, and after months of eating Udi’s every Friday night, we are now on a Kinnikinnick kick. I really like the slightly chewy and fluffy texture of this crust.  I also like how it comes with four to a pack and ends up being a bit cheaper than Udi’s. Both are floured on the bottom, I assume with corn meal so that when they come out of the oven, they really taste as they came out of a brick oven.  I must say I like them equally, it really just depends on the mood I am in at the time. The Kinnikinnick is a bit more filling and dense, and the Udi’s crust is a bit lighter, which shows in the nutritional data. Kinnikinnick says a single serving is half a crust, whereas Udi’s says it is a full crust, and realistically I think an adult would eat an entire crust to themselves of either brand.  Yet, each crust holds up well with many different toppings added to it.  My personal favorite is the homemade sauce, fresh mozzarella, caramelized onion, Kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes, and spinach.

What is your favorite gluten-free pizza crust?

Get Creative with Gluten-Free Chicken

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

We eat a lot of chicken at our house. Some times we get bored with it so I try and make up different versions of chicken dishes to enjoy that don’t take a lot of work on my part. I didn’t avoid the kitchen in our house for the first sixteen years of our marriage for no reason. Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I rarely cooked except during the holidays and on weekends when I occasionally made pancakes from a mix.

Recently, I was in a rush to throw dinner together and all I knew going in was that skinless chicken breasts were involved. After a quick survey of the fridge, I pulled out the BBQ sauce, spicy brown mustard and white American cheese. Had we had sliced cheddar I would have used that, but as always, I use what we have on hand. I mixed up two thirds BBQ sauce to one part mustard and brushed it on both sides of the chicken. Those went into a baking dish that was sprayed with canola oil. When the chicken was almost done, about 20 minutes later in a 375 degree oven, I topped the breasts with cheese and returned to the oven until it bubbled. My husband concluded that this dish should be added to our rotation of chicken recipes and I agreed. It was super simple to make and delicious to eat.

One of our favorite chicken dishes was from a now closed Virginia Highlands restaurant called Capo’s. Recipe Zaar has the Chicken Diablo recipe posted, which I was thrilled to find out when Capo’s was no more. However, this recipe is fairly time consuming so more often than not, we save it for special events. It’s a very wonderful recipe and really impresses dinner guests. Another similar dish, albeit with different ingredients and flavors is much easier to make and tastes excellent as well. For lack of a more creative name, it’s simply called “Bleu Cheese Chicken”.

One day when I really wanted to do something different with my plain old chicken breasts, I created a stuffing mixture with crumbled bleu cheese, softened cream cheese and fresh chopped spinach that turned out surprisingly tasty. Ingredient amounts vary based on how many chicken breasts you have to stuff and how much cheese you want in them. My mixture was about 1/3 bleu cheese, 1/3 cream cheese and 1/3 finely chopped fresh spinach. After pounding out the chicken breasts quite flat, I put a scoop of the filling in the middle of each one and wrapped the chicken around cheese and used toothpicks to hold them closed.

Depending on how much time you have for prep work, you can flour the wrapped chicken or not. Plain rice flour works fine and a flour blend works great as well. Whether you use flour or not, sauté the chicken in a little olive oil on each side until brown before placing them in a 375 degree oven. This dish usually takes about 20-25 minutes to cook thoroughly. Though most bleu cheese seems to be gluten-free, not all makers of it will state whether theirs is or not. Therefore, I like using brands that will declare their bleu cheese is gluten-free. Many bleu cheeses are gluten-free these days, but it’s tough to kill outdated info in cyberspace.

When I feel like I just can’t come up with another chicken recipe on my own, I look to the zillion chicken recipes on Recipe Zaar. Most of them will be able to be modified to be gluten-free, without losing anything in terms of taste or texture. There really is something to be said for eating lots of chicken instead of overdoing it with red meat. Since heart disease runs in my family, we eat plenty of fish, chicken and turkey and that diet really seems to agree with us both.

Tasty and Unique Gluten-Free Chips

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Being gluten-free can make even the simple act of grabbing a handful of chips difficult.  There are many potato and corn chips out there that can get pretty boring.  There are only so many potato chips I wish to eat, before it is overkill. However, lately, I have come across several alternatives to the boring potato and corn chips that will satisfy gluten-free and gluten eaters alike!  The following chips are all labeled gluten-free on their packaging. It is always a bonus in my eyes when a company will go the extra step to assure the safety and communicate it to the gluten-free community.

One of my absolute favorite chips of the moment are the Rice & Adzuki Bean Chips by Boulder Canyon.  It is literally impossible to eat just one.  They have a nice crispy texture and mildly spicy flavor. Interesting enough, last year, I found rice and adzuki beans chips at Trader Joe’s, and after having these, I have decided they are exactly the same, same taste, texture, look, everything, so I am making a guess that this company also supplies its chips to Trader Joe’s.  But this is pure speculation, on my part.

Food Should Taste Good is another favorite of mine, specifically the olive flavor chips.  All of their chips are 100% gluten-free, so you can grab a bag and know you are safe.  They taste like a combination of a corn chip and a cracker. In addition to finding these chips at grocery stores and World Markets, they are also now available at Starbucks. They have several unique flavors from olive, buffalo, chocolate, cinnamon, sweet potato,multigrain and more.

Another addictive and unique chip are the hummus chips by Plocky’s. They offer three different flavored hummus chips which are all gluten-free with no GMOs. They have a really unique texture as they are made with hummus, which is unlike your typical chip.  They come in original hummus, roasted garlic and roasted red pepper flavor.  They are available at Whole Foods, Amazon and other food speciality stores.  I can inhale a bag of these way too quickly. I also like to take a bag of these with me to the movies to replace popcorn.

As I mentioned above, this is a compilation of chips that are neither corn nor potato chips, but this is one exception, because these corn chips are over-the-top delicious. Xochitl makes fabulous chips and salsa, all of which are gluten-free, organic and made with non-GMO corn.  Their chips are super thin, crunchy and again, addictive.  They come in brown bag packaging, but be sure not to confuse these with other chips that are similarly packaged.  At many grocery stores I have actually seen these with the Mexican food rather than in the chip aisle, so be sure to check both places.

And for the kids, a great new discovery is Anne’s Homegrown gluten-free bunny cookies.  I know these are not technically crackers, but these deserve mention.  Annie’s bunnies are something we have missed in the house since going gluten-free, so when I discovered these were in existence there was much excitement from my daughter.  They are chocolate and vanilla-flavored bunny cookies made with rice and corn flours, and taste just like the gluten-filled versions.  I have not yet been able to find these on a store shelf, but they are available on the Annie’s web site.  I purchased mine from my food co-op, so if you have a connection to one that is also a good place to check.

It is nice to have a selection besides the basic potato and corn chips and I think all of the above will leave you satisfied and quickly with an empty bag.

What are some of your favorite gluten-free chips?

Review: Gluten-Free Scone Mixes

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

Shortly after my celiac diagnosis, I was invited to a birthday party that was also a tea party. The food served was all full of gluten except for some fresh strawberries. The friend hosting the party was famous for her gluten scones and I was determined that I would enjoy my own gluten-free scones so that I did not feel left out. It was the first party I’d been to since going gluten-free and it was a lot of work to bring all my own food. However, going and not being able to eat at the several-hour-long party was just not an option.

The only scone mix I found in my area was the one from Gluten-Free Pantry and I was delighted to find it was super easy to work with. The product is called Muffin & Scone mix, by the way. The scones were simply phenomenal tasting. My husband declared the scones the best he’d ever had, but he was never really a fan of gluten scones. In any case, the cranberry scones I made with the mix were at least as good – if not better – than the gluten version I was used to enjoying at my friend’s tea parties. The gluten-free Pantry scone mix can be modified to incorporate whatever flavors you want the scones to include. For cranberry orange scones you add orange juice and cranberries and for cinnamon raisin scones you add cinnamon and raisins and so forth. The options are really limitless, which is what I love about the mix, which made 12 triangle-shaped scones.

Recently, on a shopping trip at Ingles, I found the Simply Organics Chai Spice Scone mix. To my surprise, the words gluten-free were right on the front of the box. Chai sounded like an interesting flavor for scones so I threw a box in the cart and hoped for the best. This is the first gluten-free baking mix from Simply Organics that I’ve tried to date. The mix was as easy to work with as the scone mix from Gluten-free Pantry. You have to cut the butter in and add a few ingredients. It takes maybe five minutes to get the mix ready to drop medium-sized scoops of dough on the baking sheet. I used an ice cream scoop and it worked perfectly, though next time I’d flatten the scoops out a bit on top.

The Simply Organics scones baked up nicely and were a latte color when finished. The aromatic scent of Chai filled the kitchen as the scones baked. Because we really didn’t know what to spread on scones with such a unique flavor, we used our favorite lemon curd from Trader Joe’s. It’s gluten-free (not all lemon curds are) and fairly inexpensive. The curd complimented the Chai scones really well. The outer crust of the scones was a little gritty tasting to me but the inside part of the scone was quite nice. The scones were not burnt – or even crunchy – so the reason for the odd texture on the outside was a bit of a mystery. My husband thought the scones were really good and ended up eating the entire batch over the next two days. The mix made nine scones, but the package states it makes eight.

The gluten-free Pantry mix was my favorite of the two scone mixes, due to the versatility of the mix and the perfect texture both inside and out. People who like the flavor of Chai – and scones – will likely enjoy the Simply Organics scone mix. Gluten scones are traditionally somewhat dry and heavy. Both the gluten-free scone mixes I tried made better scones than most gluten versions I’ve had. This is mostly due to the fact that they are a little lighter than gluten scones. Light baked goods are usually better than heavier ones to me so that’s why I was so impressed with the gluten-free scone mixes I tried.

It’s unclear to me why Simply Organic does not list which products are gluten-free on their website. Only the Pancake and Waffle mix is noted as being gluten-free in the details link for the product. I know that at Ingles stores here, they have the Simply Organic Carrot Cake, Banana Bread, and Scone Mix, which are all three gluten-free.  Here is the press release (from last June) that I just found about the gluten-free product line. The mixes are all kosher and vegetarian as well. If you’d like to try the mixes and don’t find them in a store near you, you can order directly from the company online.