On the day when you’re told you can digest almost nothing, what do you eat? I saw my food allergist and she told me that for a short period of time to a long period of time depending on the food, I had to lay off:
1. Dairy (used to avoiding it, no problem)
2. Wheat and gluten (that’s a big problem…fortunately spelt and rye are still okay)
3. Fructose (that’s fruit and the refined sweet stuff. Vinegars, dates, wine, honey, maple syrup, peaches in peach season…Huge problem)
4. Eggs, chicken, meat (I love meat…)
5. Soy (not huge, but bad for sauces)
6. All nuts except almonds (good thing I like sunflower seeds, I guess…protein! Thank goodness for sprouted grains!)
7. Corn and mushrooms (it’s not like I’d just eaten a corn on the cob and a bunch of mushrooms the day before or anything…oh wait…)
It’s not permanent, but even now, weeks later I can’t eat a lot of any of this, and still no gluten at all. So what was I supposed to do when my friend wanted to go out to dinner in Toronto?
The Beet Organic Cafe in the Junction. That’s what.
It’s a totally granola cafe (in terms of stereotypical hippie vibes, not buttered and baked oats…), with full juice bar, kombucha in the fridge, and soups, salads and veggie mains. Instead of a wine list, though, when you walk in your see a chalkboard of teas. They do have local beer and organic wine, but more people probably take tea and smoothies before dinner time.
Portions are small, but it’s hard to eat anything when you keep feeling sick every time you eat anyway (the reason for seeing my food allergist in the first place). When you come to a place where you can eat almost anything on the menu (sandwiches with gluten-free bread, vegan soups, stews and other mains), it gets a little easier. Sure, I could make a lot of this at home, especially with all the gluten-free or low-gluten breads available in Toronto (and some even taste good), but it’s nice to go out with a friend to a restaurant and relax, and gluten-intolerant people need that as much as others.
So we started with roasted sweet potato and regular potato fries. So much oil. So much salt. So satisfying. All six pieces went down fast…they were only the side of the main, but we decided that was all we wanted. The regular portion may be larger.
Plus a bowl of soup and salad – that day’s was broccoli and potato with a cauliflower garnish. It was pretty blah, but it was a comforting, healthy bowl of blah, and there’s something to be said for that. The salad was nice. Unevenly spread vinaigrette (just a tiny bit of vinegar so I went for it, because plain salad greens are often dreary) on actually tasty greens with beets, carrots (I skipped those, as per my instructions), pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Protein! Yes!
Then the above chickpea stew on quinoa. Delicious chickpeas. Simple. Anyone could do it at home. Carrots, potatoes and chickpeas in a few spices in water or broth (not sure which because it wasn’t overly salty, so it was either homemade broth or just water) on a bed of the protein-rich cereal – quinoa is not a grain, after all.
No dessert, because there was absolutely no sweetener I was allowed, from agave to xylitol, to honey to dates. I was even wary of my rooibos tea, which seemed sweetened. I have a new pet peeve – tea blends that include sugar and don’t list it anywhere. Those loose leaf and bagged teas that are made with whole chunks of ginger and spices, and I never before thought they could have sugar already in them. You always figure that the drinker will add honey or sugar to tea, but some teas slip it in there on you and don’t tell you. VERY annoying when you’re trying to avoid sugar.
Now if only I could find fluffy rice baguette in Montreal…Toronto is awfully good for gluten-free products. Catch up, land of pig and locally-milled, organic but white flour.
The Beet Organic Cafe
When: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 10am-4pm and 5:30pm-10pm, Sun 10am-4pm
Where: 2945 Dundas West (a few blocks west of Keele)
How Much: Under $20 all-in, usually around $15 or $16 for a full meal, but if you get a small breakfast sandwich (aka, a snack) it’s about $10 all-in.
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