It's time for another Monthly Recap!
February was a short month but it was packed with gluten-free food and travel!
The majority of my eats this month were based in Portland, Oregon during a 10 day trip there, but I did manage to enjoy some local gluten-free food here in the Boston area.
This might be a shorter TNF recap, but I'm excited to bring it to you, either way! And as a reminder, I used to share these via my email newsletter, but have decided to put them here on the blog so they are easier to reference in the future.
Let's get to it!
TNF Travels In February 2023
Number of States Visited: 3 (Vermont, Washington, Oregon)
February was a quiet, short month. We had a quick weekend trip to Vermont to visit Dylan's family (it was FREEZING that weekend, temperatures in the -20's!) so we mostly stayed inside where it was warm. Then shortly after that, I headed to the west coast, where Dylan and my sister-in-law Lindsay joined me a few days later!
My flight was from Boston to Seattle (hence my check of Washington state), where I had a short layover, and then a super quick flight into Portland, Oregon. I packed lots of food with me for a long travel day, and it served me well for my flights (Read my blog post on flying with celiac here!). I had 3 days on my own to explore Portland before Dylan and Lindsay joined me. And during that time, I got to travel solo, and I forgot how much fun it can be!
Traveling solo may feel intimidating, but it's also really empowering. I quickly learned to navigate the MAX lightrail system and bus system in Portland, met local gluten-free business owners and workers, and walked roughly 5 miles or more every day. It was so nice being on my own schedule, and doing whatever I wanted to do!
But one of the coolest things that happened during my few days solo exploring Portland was that I actually got to visit the Bob's Red Mill Store and MEET BOB! A mutual celiac friend of mine (Matt of Glass of Weinstein, go follow him!) has connected me with the people at Bob's, and I was invited to attend his 94th birthday. It was a dream come true!
While in Oregon, Dylan, Lindsay and I snowshoed at Mount Hood, explored Cannon Beach and Astoria (where the Goonies was filmed!), and wandered around Portland. We drank lots of coffee, spent tons of time outside, and admired the majestic and tall trees of the west coast! My blog post for ALL of the yummy gluten-free food I ate in Portland can be found here with the 100% GF places you don't want to miss if you're going there!
Upon returning back to the Boston area, we spent a weekend with friends in Plymouth, and then, it was already March. February always flies by!
TNF Eats in February 2023
Oh my goodness, the STAR this month was all the gluten-free food and drink (from primarily 100% gluten-free places) in Portland, Oregon. I never got sick, had incredible food and drink, and quickly saw why everyone raves about the gluten-free scene in Portland being unlike anywhere else. I agree!
You can check out ALL of the yummy details of where I ate in this blog post on Portland here. But here are some of the other places I ate in February:
Boston Area Gluten-Free Eats
Twist Bakery & Cafe
You can never go wrong with Twist! We make a point to stop here frequently because they are 100% dedicated gluten-free, and perfect for getting something to eat on the weekends before heading out for our adventures. Last weekend before heading to Plymouth, we stopped and grabbed lunch. I had their breakfast tacos (scrumptious) and of course, ham and cheese pinwheels. Yum!
You can read more about Twist in my celiac dining guide to Boston's North Shore here.
Danvers Pizza & Subs
Yep, we had Danvers Pizza, again! And if you didn't see my January recap, I'll enlighten you as to why this pizza shop is next level for celiacs:
What's every celiac's biggest concerns about pizzerias and pizza shops? Airborne flour, right?
Because this can be a cross-contact risk that people can get sick from, so it's one of the places that it's recommended you exercise a lot of caution and be very mindful of when dining out. There's always a risk when dining out with celiac disease, but the consensus among most celiacs is that pizza shops could be one of the riskier ones.
But at Danvers Pizza & Subs, there's no airborne flour risk.
"But Jen," you ponder. "How can this be?!"
Because the owners, John and Chanda, grew up working in restaurants, and have family members with celiac disease. And they decided that when they opened their own pizza shop, they would do it right.
And so they have by using only rice flour as their bench flour in the pizza shop, for ALL of their pizzas. Not only that, but they also have an entirely dedicated prep area, toppings, utensils, pizza cutter, pizza peel, and process for preparing gluten-free pizzas.
Like I said, they do it right. I was so impressed by their commitment to serving the celiac community safely I interviewed them last spring. You can read that blog post here.
Dylan and I love ordering two of their gluten-free pizzas. Right now my favorite is the Fenway - which is topped with sausage, peppers, and onions. That's what I ordered this time, but Dylan got the meat lovers pizza. His was too salty for me, and I was very happy with my sausage, peppers, & onions!
Tavern on the Wharf (Not Boston, but Plymouth, MA)
Another place we ate this month was in Plymouth during a friends weekend hangout: Tavern on the Wharf. The best part about visiting this restaurant is that our friends Tom and Sarah did the work for me, without even asking! They know I have celiac (and my friend Shana, also hanging out that weekend, is gluten intolerant), so they made a point to research restaurants that had gluten-free options for both of us.
Then a week or so before our weekend plans, I received a text from Tom asking if this place was okay for dinner, and that they had already looked into it and they had good reviews. It was SUCH a wonderful feeling! Upon reading on FMGF and checking their website, it was clear that our friends picked the most highly rated celiac friendly restaurant in all of Plymouth, with dedicated fryers, prep spaces, ingredients, and educated staff. I was BLOWN AWAY by the fact that our friends did this for us, it was so nice!
Upon arrival, our friends also asked for 2 orders of the fried pickles, gluten-free, so we could share them. Share?! When do we get to share?! Unheard of, I know! Combined with that and a chicken sandwich with fries, this was a great meal, and I enjoyed it very much.
TNF Reflections on February 2023
Phew, February felt so therapeutic for me. After struggling with heavy grief the start of the year along with some challenges in my business, I felt so rejuvenated this month taking time for myself to just....be. My trip to Oregon gave me back that sense of purpose and independence I had when backpacking for 6 months in 2019, and it was so powerful. I spent a lot of February doing inner work and healing, and now as we head into March, I am so ready and excited for what's to come!
Thanks for Reading!
And that concludes this food & travel recap on the blog! I'm sure my next one will be a bit longer, as February is a short month, and was primarily just my trip to Oregon.
Be sure to checkout my previous food & travel recaps on the blog here.
And follow me on Instagram @thenomadicfitz for updates on what I'm doing, where I'm traveling, and what I'm eating.
Looking for more celiac travel posts?
Avoid these five mistakes when dining out with celiac disease!
Flying somewhere and worried you'll be starving in an airport? Not to worry, this post on flying with celiac disease has you covered!
Do you have celiac AND IBS? I do too. Here's how I manage both when traveling.
Get my gluten-free travel guides to Boston, New York, Madrid, Buenos Aires (plus many more) here!
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