Tag Archives: South America

Reader Report: São Paulo, Brazil

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I love getting Reader Reports for a variety of reasons. It’s always wonderful to have people share what they’ve found on a trip, or in their hometown. Reader Reports also reinforce my belief that gluten-intolerant people can travel anywhere and eat well. And they give me previews about places that I’m dying to visit. This report, by Fernando de Barros Pereira, is a perfect example. São Paulo, Brazil, is the largest city in South America, and one of the most dynamic cities in the world. Friends who have visited all come back raving about it. I’m not sure when I’ll get there — especially because the next few months are going to involve a lot of travel in the US and Canada for my book tour — but I know I will soon. In the meantime, a heartfelt thank you to Fernando for this wonderful report!

Gluten Free in São Paulo, Brazil

Since 2003 there is a national law that obligates the food companies to declare whether their products contain gluten or not. It is written on the label: Contém Glúten (this product contains gluten) or Não Contém Glúten (does not contain gluten). This law is extremely helpful, making it easier to buy food in any supermarket in Brazil.

In São Paulo, there are a lot of places you can buy gluten-free products like pasta, bread, cookies, snacks or cereal. The best one is called Mundo Verde. It has many locations and their website is www.mundoverde.com.br. In www.specialgourmets.com there is a wider selection of stores that sell gluten-free stuff.

Although there aren’t many restaurants with gluten-free menus in São Paulo, our cuisine isn’t really based in wheat/gluten. The following list is based on my own experience, since I eat in restaurants frequently:

  • Eau French Grill (Av. Nações Unidas, 13.301 – www.eau.com.br): Definitely one of the best restaurants in São Paulo. It is located inside the Gran Hyatt Hotel. The staff is extremely well trained and familiarized with the gluten-free diet. Although it can be a little expensive, dining there is a memorable experience for sure.
  • Wraps (Several locations – www.wraps.com.br): They are one of the few restaurants that have a gluten-free menu. A very nice place with reasonable prices.
  • Steak Houses: The Traditional Brazilian Barbecue is served in the Rodizio Style. It’s similar to the all-you-can-eat system: you pay a price and can enjoy the salad bar and the different types of meats that the waiters offer you. Our barbecue only has salt as seasoning, so it is definitely a safe place to eat. There is a “Rodizio” Steak House on every corner, but I can say that Fogo de Chao (www.fogodechao.com.br) is one of the best.
  • Japanese Places: In São Paulo there are a lot of sushi restaurants, that could be a safe option for a nice lunch or dinner. Just talk to the waiter and stick to the traditional choices like sashimi, sushi and temaki. The majority of our soy sauce brands use corn instead of wheat, making it safe for celiacs, but it is prudent to ask the waiter/manager about it. Some places I can recommend: Aoyama (www.aoyama.com.br) and Gendai (www.gendai.com.br), a franchise that is available in many shopping centers and in São Paulo’s two airports.
  • Baked Potato (www.bakedpotato.com.br): Fast food place that serves baked potatoes with different stuffings. The only stuffing that I know for a fact that is gluten-free is the Requeijão (it is like a cream cheese, but a lot more flavourful).
  • Galeto’s (www.galetos.com.br): Great chicken, has a great salad bar too with 95% of the foods there being gluten free. The chicken has a “secret” seasoning and it is gluten-free (I talked to the manager and he showed me the ingredients, mostly herbs and olive oil).

Buenos Aires for Celiacs?

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I’ve never been to Buenos Aires, but I very much want to visit. That’s largely because of the city’s architecture and art and music (those who know my darker, crime-fiction-writing side will also understand my interest in seeing Recoleta). My curiosity has been piqued in the past couple of years because it seemed that Argentina’s capital city is a great destination for the gluten-free. Silvia Basualdo Róvere has sent information about restaurants that serve gluten-free food (in this post and in this one). Also, the group Ley Celíaca (Celiac Law) has been very successful in passing legislation to increase awareness and accessibility for celiacs.

But Timo Rantalaiho, a reader who has lived in Buenos Aires for five months wrote to me with a very different — and quite negative — impression of the city. For his full text, visit the comments under this post. Here are some excerpts:

I’m sorry to break your illusion, but Buenos Aires is not a celiac paradise by any means. This has been the experience of our celiac family that has now lived in Buenos Aires for five months.

Almost any restaurant that has ever heard of the celiac disease or is asked whether they make food suitable for celiac people or if they have anything on the menu without flour will tick the box in Guia Oleo, but that doesn’t mean that you could actually get that kind of food in the place, at least not easily. Practically nobody knows anything about the celiac disease, gluten, or wheat. Weird stares ensue whenever we go to a restaurant and start the story. Often a waiter will happily bring us a (normal wheat) bread basket just after the five-minute discussion of what could we possibly eat, how we cannot eat even crumbs of wheat etc.

There are a couple of exceptions that are the places recommended by the local celiac associations: Te adoro Garcia, Comer en compania, Zona natural and perhaps one more. But these are actually just cafeterias / bars that are not even open in the evening and that serve a very limited selection of lunches, typically heated up in the microwave. And I am not kidding. The times we ate in Te adoro Garcia and Comer en compania the food was OK, but it’s definitely not the kind of restaurant experience that a healthy person can easily enjoy in Buenos Aires. The reality is that there is not a single restaurant in Buenos Aires where a celiac people can go out and dine as well and safely as in Helsinki, which is where we lived before.

One thing that limits the choice a lot in the normal restaurants (all except those three or four) is, that in this country, wheat is everywhere. Everybody is certain that normal cheeses and sausages contain wheat flour and definitely must not be eaten — there’s a couple of brands that are safe, and that are enlisted in the lists of the local celiac associations. It’s practically certain that any restaurant will not use these brands but something else. But what’s the most amazing thing that according to celiac people, doctors and associations in here, even normal spices contain gluten.

As you can imagine, in the end this leaves one with pretty little choice. The most ubiquitous safe bet is grilled meat and salad (you just have to make sure they don’t put pepper or other spices in the salad). Other than that, some peruvian restaurants, which there are a plenty, can prepare some of their dishes such as ceviche and parihuela without using any dried spices.

The celiac law is not enacted in Argentina yet which means that the packagings cannot be trusted. The gluten-free symbol or failure to mention wheat in the ingredients does not have any legal consequences before the law is in place, which I understand will take some time still.

I’m always suspicious of sweeping statements, such as “the reality is that there is not a single restaurant in Buenos Aires where celiac people can go out and dine as well and safely as in Helsinki.” But Timo’s letter raises a number of interesting points: Do restaurants in Buenos Aires that identify themselves as celiac-friendly actually try to give gluten-free patrons rolls made from wheat? Do they not know what celiac disease is when you visit them? Is wheat so ubiquitous in Argentina that it’s in most cheeses and spices? Is it very difficult to get a good gluten-free meal there? Are celiacs limited to eating in cafeterias and luncheonettes?

When I visited Chile, I found a number of gluten-free products that had been made in Argentina on supermarket shelves. I tried many of them, and even brought some home with me because I was impressed by the quality. They certainly didn’t make me sick. Of course, the products I sampled represent only a tiny fraction of what would be available in Argentina now. Does the gluten-free symbol on a product’s packaging not truly indicate that it’s safe for celiacs?

I know that the Gluten-Free Guidebook has many readers in Buenos Aires, and I would love to get your opinions on this subject. Also, I’d love to hear from anyone who’s traveled to the city (and through other parts of Argentina). What was your experience of dining gluten-free in Buenos Aires?

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REMINDER: The Gluten-Free Guidebook’s Reader Report Contest deadline is June 7, 2010. Complete details are here.

The Andes Meet the Alps in Arequipa

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Of all of the cities I’ve traveled to, Arequipa has got to be the most underrated. Peru’s second-largest city is known as La Ciudad Blanca — the white city — because so many of its monumental buildings and churches are carved out of sillar, a ghostly white volcanic rock. (Arequipa lies at the foot of El Misti, a volcano that was described to me as “currently inactive.”) The city is famous for two attractions: Juanita, the Inca maiden who has become the world’s most famous human sacrifice, and the Monasterio Santa Catalina, a historic city within the city. Otherwise, Arequipa is generally regarded as the starting point for excursions to the Colca Canyon or the Cotahuasi Canyon.

That’s too bad, because Arequipa is a wonder that deserves to be explored. Its obvious treasures are plentiful, but the city also has a wealth of hidden gems, like the courtyard behind the Jesuit church, which is easy to miss (given that the church itself is filled with art treasures and valuable artifacts). It’s also a city that deserves to be known for its fine food. On my last night there, I dined at Zig Zag. Finding an Alpine restaurant in Peru seemed a little incongruous, but its mission — blending the culinary techniques of the Alps and the Andes with ingredients from all over Peru — works very well.

Zig Zag gets a mention in several guidebooks for its antique iron staircase, which was designed by Gustave Alexandre Eiffel (yes, as in that famous Parisian tower), but it also deserves notice for its cooking. At heart, it is startlingly simple: meats such as ostrich, alpaca, and beef, are served atop a sizzling hot stone, which cooks the meat to medium-rareness but leaves it tender and juicy. The quinoa-and-vegetable soup I had was also terrific, even if I did have to argue with the serving staff to get it (they took my celiac disease card so seriously that they decided I couldn’t have any grains at all, until I explained otherwise in my rusty Spanish). It made for a memorable meal in an elegant city full of surprises.

Zig Zag Restaurant [address] Zela 210, Arequipa (Cercado), Peru [tel] 0051 54 206 020 [web] www.zigzagrestaurant.com

The Gluten-Free Guidebook’s First Year

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On March 15th, the Gluten-Free Guidebook marked its first anniversary. I’m proud of what’s been created here in the past year. There’s a rich archive of reports about restaurants, hotels, and shops in countries such as Spain, Peru, and Turkey; there’s also plenty of food for thought about dining in North America, from Toronto to San Francisco. Readers have shared information about their travels (and hometowns), making it easier for anyone who follows in their footsteps. (If you’re planning to visit Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, Amman, or Hawaii, read these reports first.) Gluten-free gurus Shauna James Ahern and Vanessa Maltin have let us in on some of their favorite finds on the road. We have a Facebook group to make it easier for readers to connect. I wanted to share a few important things that I’ve learned from writing this blog over the past year:

  1. Never be shy about asking for help: There are so many groups and individuals who are ready — even eager — to help navigate the gluten minefield that travelers face. Before going to a new city or country, locate a celiac awareness group for the area (you’ll find them via Clan Thompson’s Celiac Site and the Association of European Coeliac Societies). Even if the information they have on their website isn’t in your language, e-mail them for advice. If they can, they will help you out.
  2. Trust, but verify: Asking whether a dish has gluten in it is is sometimes not enough. Restaurant staff might forget — or not realize — that a dish has a little flour in it. I’ve run into this problem at home in New York as well as on the road. When in doubt, I ask the staff to tell me what ingredients are in the dish. At one very swanky French bistro in Manhattan, the restaurant manager was stunned when the chef told her that there was wheat flour in almost everything. That same manager had assured me that most of their dishes were safe for me just a few minutes earlier.
  3. Always have celiac information cards handy: I know that people have different preferences as to which cards to use (there are several free options, which you can read about in this post; I like the ones from Celiac Travel). These make travel so much easier — and safer — for celiacs. Be sure to print extra cards, since some invariably get stained or destroyed as you travel. Having extras means you can hand them out to other travelers, too. When I was at a remote lodge in Peru’s Colca Canyon, I met a woman from South Africa whose sister has celiac disease, and she was thrilled to be able to take the card (and the name of the site it was from) back to her.
  4. Have a backup plan: Travel is all about the spirit of adventure — trying new things, discovering new tastes, seeing places you dreamed about. Having celiac disease doesn’t bar you from any of that, but it means you always need to keep the worst-case scenario in mind, because you may find yourself stuck in transit with no gluten-free options available to you. This happened to me on the train from Machu Picchu to Cusco. It was a four-hour ride after a long day of exploring (I’d gotten up before dawn so I could watch the sun rise over Machu Picchu). There was food available for sale on the train — a choice of sandwiches. Fortunately I had gluten-free protein bars and trail mix to tide me over.

Please keep your gluten-free tips and reports coming. I’m excited to see what the next year will bring.

Majesty and Mystery at Machu Picchu

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Of all the places I’ve visited, Machu Picchu is probably the one that fascinates me the most. It was an incredible thrill to see the lost city of the Inca (even if, according to some accounts, the place was never really “lost”). In any case, Spanish conquistadors never found it, so its massive stone walls and structures were left for centuries mostly to the llamas and other creatures who roam there.

One of the trickiest things about Machu Picchu is finding a place to stay. (Tourists who take the Orient Express train there and back in the same day don’t have to worry about this, but they usually end up with less than four hours to explore one of the most incredible sites on the planet). The Orient Express-owned Sanctuary Lodge, just outside the gates of Machu Picchu’s tourist entryway, is the most famous option (it’s one of the most expensive hotels in the world). At the base of the mountain is the town of Aguas Calientes, which hardly existed a decade ago; now it’s a collection of hostels and trinket shops that cater to travelers. And then there’s the Inkaterra Machu Picchu.

Inkaterra is an ecologically aware Peruvian company that operates three resorts. Its outpost at Machu Picchu is on the site of a former tea plantation at the foot of the mountain. The 85 cottages stand on 12 acres that overlook the Vilacanota river. The grounds include a top-notch spa (which my muscles were glad to find after hiking up and down Machu Picchu’s stone staircases), and an animal sanctuary that features almost 200 types of birds… and two Spectacled Bears (a species of bear that is native to South America).

The Inkaterra also features a gorgeous dining room. I’d let the staff know that I have celiac disease when I made the reservation, and they were incredibly accommodating — but the nicest surprise was that much of the restaurant’s menu is naturally gluten-free. For dinner that night I started with an appetizer of corn, olives, beans and cheese, followed by an alpaca steak with a gooseberry sauce and baked potato. In keeping with Inkaterra’s ecological commitment, most of the ingredients are from local farms; some are grown on the resort’s own property. The meal marked the end of one of the most fascinating days of any trip I’ve taken.

Inkaterra Machu Picchu [tel] 800-442-5042 in North America, +51 1 610 04000 in Peru [web] www.inkaterra.com

Celiac Travel 101

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September 15th marked the six-month anniversary of the Gluten-Free Guidebook. I want to thank everyone who has made it such a success so quickly. Many of you have taken the time to write to me. Some of you have passed along the names of local restaurants or tips about places you’ve visited; others have shared stories about their celiac diagnosis. I love hearing from readers, and I really appreciate any suggestions about travel, restaurants, hotels, and shops that can be shared with other readers.

Some people have written with specific questions about destinations they plan to visit. While I don’t have the time or resources to give recommendations, I wanted to share the process that I go through to research a destination. This happens to be a great time to do it, because I’m currently trying to settle on a place to visit this fall. Here are the steps I take:

  1. Round up the usual suspects. There are several sites that I always refer to before a trip. One is Celiac Handbook, which has listings for restaurants that serve gluten-free meals in countries from Cambodia to Iceland. If I’m traveling in North America, I’ll consult the Gluten-Free Restaurant Awareness Program, which has a lengthy list of celiac-friendly restaurants. I also visit Clan Thompson’s Celiac Site, which has information about different cruise lines, links to travel sites, and other travel resources.
  2. Locate the local celiac association. If you’re planning a European trip, check out the Association of European Coeliac Societies. In addition to providing useful information about gluten-free products, there are links to celiac organizations across the continent. (Note that in some countries, such as Belgium and Spain, there is more than one association.)  If you’re traveling to South America, Israel, Turkey, South Africa, or Australia, you’ll find information about celiac associations on Clan Thompson’s Celiac Site. When I need an English translation of a site, I use Google or Babel Fish.
  3. Ask for more information. Once I locate a celiac association at my destination, I e-mail to ask for a list of recommended restaurants and shops (some organizations provide this information on their website). Don’t worry if you don’t speak the language; I’ve found that people are helpful, though it may take more than a week to get an answer.
  4. Line up your language cards. I’ve previously posted about how celiacs can communicate their needs in a foreign tongue. Some of the resources mentioned in that post have gotten even better: for example, Celiac Travel now has 42 translation cards (the latest additions include Flemish, Indonesian, and Korean). I print out several copies to carry with me when I travel.
  5. Work that search engine. It takes time to research the gluten-free possibilities at a particular destination. I type the name of a country plus gluten-free or celiac (also try coeliac); I repeat the process using the name of the region or the name of a city. Do this for Paris and, for example, you’ll find David Lebovitz’s Living the Sweet Life in Paris blog; try Italy, and you’ll find posts from the blog A Gluten-Free Guide.

The best thing that you can do is keep a positive attitude; wherever you choose to go, you will find a way to make it work. Before I went to Peru, I couldn’t find a single online resource in English or Spanish about traveling gluten-free in that country. When I went, I was armed with Spanish translation cards and was delighted to discover how easy it was for a celiac to dine out there. If anyone has a celiac-friendly travel resource that’s helped them plan a trip, I’d love to hear about it.

Reader Report: Buenos Aires Restaurants

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Silvia Basualdo Róvere, the reader who provided such a wonderful list of Buenos Aires restaurants a few months ago, is at it again. Silvia has compiled a list of celiac-friendly eateries in and around Buenos Aires and put the information into a spreadsheet. Anyone who wants to view it can click through here.

Silvia is a member of Ley Celíaca (Celiac Law), an organization that promotes the welfare of Argentina’s 400,000 celiacs. Gluten-Free Guidebook readers are invited to visit the group’s website at www.ley-celíaca.com.ar; Ley Celiaca also has an online forum. The site and forum are in Spanish and can also be read via Google.

Thanks so much to Silvia for providing a wealth of information about Buenos Aires restaurants! A few of her latest recommendations are listed below. There are many more on the spreadsheet; just follow the link above to access it.

Cúrcuma [address] Ramírez de Velasco 1427, Buenos Aires [tel] 4856 0811 [web] www.curcumacatering.com.ar

La Calandria [address] Fernández de Enciso 4370, Buenos Aires [tel] 4501-0266

Mama Europa [address] B Matienzo 1599, Buenos Aires [tel] 4772-0926 or 4777-3835 [web] www.mamaeuropa.com.ar

Te Adoro García [address] Teodoro García 2902 y Conesa, Buenos Aires [tel] 3535-0288

Fine Gluten-Free Dining in Lima

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My trip to Peru last fall wasn’t planned as a gastronomic tour, but that’s what it turned into. From Cusco to Arequipa to Lima, some of the best meals I’ve tasted were on that trip. Peru’s culinary scene is a true melting pot of cultures, and that rich heritage is enhanced by the fact that almost any ingredient you could want grows in this country.

There was one foodie destination on my trip checklist, though: I wanted to dine at Astrid y Gaston. I’d first heard of chef Gastón Acurio on a prior trip to South America, and I’d read a lot about him. In addition to his restaurants in Lima, Bogota, Caracas, Panama, Quito, Santiago and Madrid, Acurio has his own cooking show and is a popular media personality. I expected to be impressed with his restaurant, Astrid y Gaston, in the elegant Miraflores neighborhood, and it lived up to its advance billing. Located on a tiny street that runs off the crowded Parque Miraflores (where there are frequent open-air concerts, and where the beautiful church Parroquia la Virgen Milagrosa sits on the eastern edge), Astrid y Gaston was an intriguing combination of formality and irreverence. The setting — an old colonial mansion — is stunning, the service is impeccable, and the atmosphere is lively and warm.

The waiter who served my table spoke fluent English, but using a Spanish-language celiac card made it easier to explain my dietary restrictions. After a conference in the kitchen, I was told that about half the items on the relatively long menu were naturally gluten-free, and that several others could be modified to be so. I started with ceviche, the classic Peruvian dish of raw seafood marinated in lime juice. I’d been trepidatious about trying this dish earlier on my trip — eating uncooked seafood is normally too big a risk when you want to stay healthy — but the dish I had at Astrid y Gaston was perfect (and perfectly healthy). My main course — a spicy tuna steak with a hint of sweetness mixed in — was just as satisfying.

I don’t know if the other outposts of Gaston y Astrid are as celiac-friendly as the one in Lima, and I’d love to hear from readers who have tried them. This month, Gastón Acurio is opening a restaurant in San Francisco — La Mar Cebicheria Peruana at the Embarcadero’s Pier 1.5 — and I can’t wait to try it on my next visit.

Astrid y Gaston [address] Calle Cantuarias 175, Miraflores (Lima), Peru [tel] 01/444-1496 [web] www.astridygaston.com

Last Supper in Cusco

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Just after I arrived in Cusco — Peru’s third-largest city, and the jumping-off point for any trip to Machu Picchu — I toured the city’s massive cathedral. It’s not only a religious institution; it’s also a fine museum that showcases some 300 paintings. The works are mostly by the Cusco School (or Cuzco School) of the 17th and 18th centuries, which had European painters come to Cusco — once the capital of the Inca Empire — to teach local artists to paint in the European style. The results were beautiful, beatific, and occasionally bizarre. The indigenous artists converted to Catholicism, but they retained certain Inca ideas. For example, depicting Jesus in a loincloth was profoundly disrespectful in their eyes, so Jesus wears the knee-length linen skirt of the Inca nobility in scenes of the crucifixion. But the most famous departure from European tradition is in the rendering of the Last Supper. Forget Leonardo da Vinci: this version depicts Jesus and his disciples gathered around a table to enjoy a last supper of… guinea pig.

If you haven’t visited South America, it may come as a shock that a mammal North Americans take for a family pet is considered a delicacy (it’s called cuy in these parts). By the end of my week in Cusco, I was ready to give it a try. I finally had it at the MAP Café, the restaurant at Cusco’s Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (an offshoot of the renowned Larco Museum in Lima). The restaurant is one of the most extravagant and exceptional in the city, and its setting is unique — it’s essentially a glass box in an interior courtyard, surrounded by archways through which diners can catch glimpses of ancient art.

What impressed me most about the MAP Café was the service. When I showed the waiter my Spanish celiac disease card, he got the other staff members together so that everyone who would be working with my table would be aware of my gluten-free diet. The kitchen had a few questions about ingredients that weren’t mentioned on the card, including quinoa. I started with a dish that paired thinly sliced grilled alpaca with anchovies, followed by cuy confit with peanut-and-panca-flavored potatoes (panca is a type of Peruvian pepper, not to be confused with panko — Japanese breadcrumbs — which aren’t gluten-free). Cuy turned out to be an incredibly rich, strongly flavored meat (it doesn’t taste anything like chicken). For dessert, I had sautéed strawberries in a purple corn sauce, served with a corn-infused ice cream. It was an incredible gluten-free meal from start to finish, and while it was expensive compared to my other meals in Cusco, the three-course prix fixe menu included a glass of wine and cost only $35. Best of all, I had a fine introduction to just how appealing cuy could be.

MAP Café [address] In the Museo de Arte Precolombino, Plaza Nazarenas 231, Cusco, Peru [tel] 084-242-476 [website] www.cuscorestaurants.com

Reader Report: Gluten-Free Buenos Aires

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Gluten-Free Guidebook will be one month old on April 15th, and I’ve already received dozens of e-mails from readers around the world. Some have wanted to share their own experiences of traveling with celiac disease, while others have made specific recommendations about where to eat in a particular city. Thank you for all of your messages.

One incredibly thoughtful reader, Silvia Basualdo Róvere in Buenos Aires, sent me a list of local restaurants willing to prepare gluten-free meals. Silvia has celiac disease and is a member of Ley Celíaca (Celiac Law), an organization working to promote the welfare of Argentina’s 400,000 celiacs. She invites Gluten-Free Guidebook readers to visit the group’s website at www.ley-celíaca.com.ar; Ley Celiaca also has an online forum. The site and forum are in Spanish and can also be read via Google.

Argentina — and particularly Buenos Aires — is a destination that I’m longing to visit, and after reading Silvia’s list, I’m even more intrigued. Silvia has also graciously allowed me to include her e-mail address here (sbasualdo2002@yahoo.com.ar), so that readers can contact her directly. Below is Silvia’s list. You can find more details about these restaurants on Oleo, a Buenos Aires restaurant guide that is available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. (By the way, Oleo also allows you to search for more eateries that serve “celiac food,” a feature I’d love to find on Open Table).

Thanks so much to Silvia for providing this list.

Boomerang RestoBar [address] Montañeses 2814, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4782.2688 [email] boomerang2814@yahoo.com.ar

Casimiro [address] Av. Rivadavia al 6075, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4634-3333 [web] www.lawebdecasimiro.com — Silvia notes that this is a family-friendly restaurant with a playroom for children; there are five locations in and around Buenos Aires

Celigourmet [address] Charcas 4784, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4776 5448 [email] celigourmet@hotmail.com [web] www.celigourmet.com.ar

Comer en Compañia [address] San Martín 951, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4312-3433

El Patio del Farol [address] Alvarado 2296 (esq. Corrientes), Ciudad de Mar del Plata [tel] 0223-494-5125 or 0223-155-285985 [email] reservas@elpatiodelfarol.com.ar [web] www.elpatiodelfarol.com.ar

La Angostura [address] Urquiza 5020 casi Juan B. Justo, Ciudad de Mar del Plata [tel] 0223-480 5528

Mezzo & Mezzo [address] Chile 362, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4300-9419

Mole Tacos Fonda Mexicana [address] Av. Cabildo 1368, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4896-0803 [email] contactanos@moletacos.com.ar [web] www.moletacos.com.ar

Pepino [address] Del Libertador, Av. 14475, Ciudad Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4792-2570 or 54-11 4733-4460 — Silvia says they serve burgers with gluten-free bread

Sensu (Japanese “fast food”), eight locations in Buenos Aires, at shopping centers including Abasto Shopping, Galerias Pacifico, and Solar de la Abadía; [tel] 081077-73678

Sette Bacco [address] Aguero 2157, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4808-0021

Simona Ristorante (Italian cuisine) [address] Humbold 1551, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4772-2008 [email] info@simonaristorante.com.ar [web] www.simonaristorante.com.ar

Tablas de Buenos Aires [address] Perón 7819 Ituzaingó, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4621-7081 [email] tablasbsas@yahoo.com.ar

Tea Connection (café) [address] Uriburu 1597, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4805-0616 (second location at O. Cossettini 1545, Loft 3, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4312-7315) [web] www.teaconnection.com.ar

Zona Natural [address] Tucumán 433, Ciudad de Buenos Aires [tel] 54-11 4312-9333 [email] zonanatural@uolsinectis.com.ar