Gluten Free in New Orleans, part 3

NOLA, day 3

Our third day in New Orleans, I only managed one restaurant meal. After oversleeping in the morning (missing breakfast), I then over-imbibed in the late afternoon and ended up too tired to go out to dinner.


Lunch, however, was at the LaCote Brasserie, in the Renaissance Art Hotel. I had Almond Chicken Salad, served in a cup made out of parmesan cheese (the waiter said it was GF – but I only had a nibble of it, just in case) with field greens. It was very good, but I wouldn’t go there again unless I was staying at the hotel. The wait-staff didn’t impress me and I had no confidence that they truly understood gluten intolerance.

The next morning, however, we set out to Satsuma. This is not a tourist destination. Tucked away in a residential area, it is clearly a place where locals eat. It was kind of hard to find, but worth the effort. I read about it online, as it’s one of the few places in New Orleans that actually advertises gluten free menu items. Sure enough, when I arrived, there was a muffin tin out on the counter with huge, fresh, beautiful, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins – and they were gluten free!

The muffin was delicious and it was such a treat to have a fresh baked pastry in a restaurant. I would have been impressed with that alone, but it wasn’t even the best part of the meal! I had a spinach scramble with eggs, locally grown organic spinach, tomatoes, and goat cheese. It was incredible! I scarfed it down with some fresh squeezed lemonade. Not only was the food delicious, it was beautiful. The chef had used the spinach stems as kind of a garnish – very pretty and very clever. The staff was friendly and the place had a funky hippie vibe that made it feel far more authentic than any other place we ate in New Orleans.

I returned home from our trip happy and well fed!