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Hi folks, just got back from a visit to the relatives in the foothills of
the Adirondack mountains of NY state.  Wow, am I ever impressed with the
options Celiacs have in this area, and the incredibly perfect day I had
visiting Saratoga, NY.

Saratoga is one very friendly GF town.  There are more than 7 restaurants to
choose from in the township alone.  For me, it was so little time, so much
to eat.  Leaving St. Johnsville, it was about an hour and a half drive east
thru lovely country, rolling green hills noted for dairy farms, The Amish,
horse breeding, 1700/1800 architecture, wildflowers everywhere.  Once we
arrived in Saratoga itself, there is a main strip (Routes 29 & 9) loaded
with original art and craft galleries, restaurants and specialty shops.  The
streets were exceptionally clean with lavish flower strips and lined with
trees.  Horse racing is a huge attraction, as well as the area is known for
its natural mineral springs for hundreds of years, there are springs
throughout the township and its historical roots in the revolutionary war.
You can "take the waters" if you wish at several spas, one seems to be state
owned, like in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

First stop was Circus Café on the strip for my husband’s bloody mary and my
coffee.  There was a very friendly waitress, young, works there in the
summers during college break who is a celiac herself and cheerfully handed
me the menu, but pointing out they do not have a dedicated fryer so be
careful.  They state they can do gluten free fried foods, but the fryer is
not dedicated (so what good is that).  There was an abundance of salads you
could have, but I would stay away from anything grilled.  This little
waitress has just recently found out she is celiac, having sought treatment
at an ER for “her throat closing off”, they did bloodwork evidently
including a celiac panel, and she was told she was off the charts positive.
Whether this symptom was a celiac reaction (sounds more like an IgE reaction
from another food, med or other cause and it was just coincidental they ran
a celiac panel), but her celiac was found in this manner.  She has
singlehandedly been working with the staff at Circus Café, educating them,
and perhaps will soon convince this establishment to get a dedicated fryer.

Just a couple doors down there was Wheatfield’s Café, who also offers a
gluten free menu but I didn’t stop in.  Looks nice from outside,
outdoor/indoor café, maybe the name intimidated me...

Then we walked around and on one of the side streets and found a fabulous
Natural Foods Grocer named Four Seasons who distributes Saratoga Gluten Free
Bakery Goods, which were absolutely to die for.  I bought a loaf of GF
Multi-grain Bread and Chocolate Chip Cookies, at very reasonable prices, and
could kick myself I didn’t buy more.  I can’t say enough about the taste and
texture of their multi-grain bread, which has amaranth in it as I remember.
The location of Four Seasons Natural Foods Store & Café is 33 Phila Street,
Saratoga Spring, NY 12866 telephone: 518 584 4670 website:
www.fourseasonsnaturalfoods.com

Saratoga Gluten Free Goods is the local bakery that Four Seasons had their
goodies, but I think they are very small yet, don't have a street front
bakery per se yet, but do distribute within the area.  I have written them
asking if they are interested in a distributor for my area their bread is
that good.  I have requested a case of the bread and some cookies, but I
have yet to hear from them.  The baked goods were so good I would like to
think they are going thru huge growing pains and intend to respond to me, at
least to arrange to send me a case around the next time we have our Houston
Celiac Support Group meeting in September. This is the best bread and
cookies I have tasted since going gluten free almost 6 yrs ago.  The bread
had the consistency of a "white wheat" loaf, soft, stayed as a moist but
bouncy sandwich even refriged in aluminum foil overnight. Zero after-taste.


We drove a short distance to KD’s Fish Fry for lunch, a small, unassuming
lunch place in a strip mall.  We started with fried calamari with tartar,
spicy and cocktail sauces which was so good I almost cried, the Fish Fry
Platter was so huge my husband and I shared it with an extra roll, fried
Pollock the old-fashioned way on a hoagie hotdog roll, coleslaw, all made
fresh while you waited.  It was INCREDIBLE.  The fish was very tasty and
fresh, my husband swore he could not tell the difference from a gluten fish
fry, not even in the rolls, which were to perfection, and he is a harsh
critic.  They have various gluten free goodies for sale; l stocked up on
licorice and ice cream cones.  This is one place that if you miss going to
places like Capt. D’s and the like fast food fish, you will be in heaven.  I
ate so much I groaned.  There are two owners, one gluten free, the other
not; they do serve glutenized fish fry too.  i had absolutely no reaction,
and I am ultra sensitive.  The waiter happened to be a fellow Texan who
married a gal from Saratoga Springs, and has obviously been trained well by
the owners.  KD's Fish Fry is located at: 418 Geyser Road in the Country
Club Plaza Shopping Strip Mall, Ballston Spa, (Saratoga Springs) NY 12020
Telephone: 518 583 9677 website: www.kdfishfry.com

Then it was on to the Saratoga battlefield, where you drive through the
national park at your own pace and stop at 10 different sites pertinent to
history, with an original 1777 house, park rangers dressed up as redcoats
and minute men of the day. As you enter you can see a film, check out a
small museum, and a very fun gift shop with educational stuff.  the entry
fee was maybe $3 each.  I purchased a very interesting cookbook of
revolutionary war era - everything was wheat flour pancakes or breads, only
one recipe for corn bread was gluten free.  Poor celiacs of that era...

We were thirsty and hungry at this point and headed to Mangino's Italian
Restaurant.  Mangino's has been in business 70 years, and there are even
State road signs to direct you there once you are close. It is directly on
Saratoga Lake.  Mr. Mangino, the founder, is a Celiac himself so you can be
sure to get a lovely Italian gluten free pasta meal here.  I had chicken
cacciatore on a bed of angel hair rice pasta, so much that I was able to
take home and have for supper the next night.  What is especially nice is
that in each section, as in most Italian restaurants, a fish, veal, chicken
and beef sections of the menu, there is at least one thing marked clearly
(gluten free).  I would have to say the waitress didn't have a clue, was
obviously new, no I didn't get to talk to the manager it was very very busy
summer Saturday night crowd, but I came away without a twinge.  It has a
full liquor bar and their pours are generous.  I was pleasantly surprised at
the price - this is a rather upscale water's edge culinary splurge and it
cost less than $60 with 3 cocktails each.  For a very touristy area for the
NYC crowd, that's reasonable. Google their name, Saratoga springs, NY if you
want more info, I didn't take a business card.

I certainly plan on returning for a visit again. Those of you who are
Celiacs and live in this area really don't know how lucky you are... Kudos
to Saratoga Springs, NY.

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