<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I'm posting to the entire list since I've had quite a few requests for
travel information to San Francisco which is a populat tourist destination
in the summer.  Bring your sweatshirt and long pants - those shivering in
shorts and a T shirt are easy to identify as tourists.  I wrote this note
some time ago.  For those going to Fisherman's Wharf area, there are
wonderful crab/fish restaurants.  Just exercise the same cautions you do in
any restaurant.  Or you can buy a steamed crab (unfortunately without the
accompanying loaf of sourdough bread), make sure they crack it well, and
sit in the nearby park and enjoy it while you watch the sailboats, Alcatraz
and general pandemonium of the summer tourist rush.  (It's quieter in
Oakland, just a ferry ride across the Bay).  You can contact Jeff Golden at
[log in to unmask] for a copy of our local celiac-friendly restaurant guide.

Ellen Switkes
Oakland, Ca
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
San Francisco is a good place for celiacs. There's wonderful food in asian
markets in Chinatown in SF and in Oakland. More on this in a minute.  Also,
if you have a car, you can check out Rick and Ann's on Domingo street in
Berkeley near the Claremont Hotel for rice flour blueberry pancakes right
on the menu. It's a wonderful breakfast/brunch place and the pancakes are
heavenly and worth the trip. It's crowded on weekends.  Cafe Rustica on
College Ave in Oakland has rice flour pizza, you need to call the day
before.  Then when you get there, you order whatever toppings you want.
It's not fabulously delicious crust, but still, where can a celiac order up
a pizza!

As far as markets go, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have large stores in SF
and around the Bay Area.  Both have lots of goodies for celiacs.

For asian food,  I skip Chinese food because they use lots of soy sauce,
but you can eat well in Thai restaurants and of course, there's sushi in
Japanese restaurants.  Just watch out for imitation crab.  Bring your own
soy sauce.  You can eat crab at Fisherman's wharf, no problem, and there's
lots of seafood there and elsewhere, just make sure there's no breading on
the fish or even dredged in flour.

I like to stop in Chinese bakeries for dessert.  They have all kinds of
sweet rice flour products some with bean paste filling.  Hopefully there's
someone who speaks enough English to ask, but there are lots of  pasteries
you can eat (and lots you can't).  For example,  there's a round ball which
has been deep fried (yes it's greasy, but really good) about the size of a
golf ball with sesame seeds all over it.  Inside there's bean paste or
lotus bean paste.There are also rice flour savory things which are rolled
out rice flour dough in a circle which are then filled with shrimp (fresh
or dried) and green onions, and then the circle is rolled up. These either
come in a package in an asian market, or in a chinese bakery, they are in
the deli case.  Very yummy.  I add a bit of shrimp paste from the Thai
market and g-f soy sauce and heat in the microwave or if it's from the
deli, we take it to the park and just eat it up.  You may also see
triangular packages wrapped in dark green leaves and tied with string.
This is rice with savories inside.  It's been steamed.  Also nice to eat in
the park.  There are some dim sum goodies you can eat, and lots you can't.
I like to go to Yank Sing on Battery Street in SF. It's crowded on the
weekend.  Talk to the main person in advance about which dim sum goodies
you can eat there. There are really good taro root dim sum and lots of
others made from rice flour. Generally those with translucent wrappings are
rice flour and the others are wheat flour. You may want to bring your own
soy sauce here too.

I should also add that any nice restaurant should cater to your dietary
restrictions, no problem.  Wendy's won't but if you can afford to eat out a
few dinners at nicer places, the waiters should take very good care of you,
especially if they speak english.