Pizza Fusion is a chain pizza parlor for everyone. They serve gluten-free, certified organic, lactose-free, whole wheat, and vegan pizzas. As a bonus for celiac tipplers, Pizza Fusion serves gluten-free beer made with sorghum. They have franchises all over the U.S and are opening a hundred more in the next five years. There just might be one near you; to find it, go to Pizza Fusion.

What does ‘gluten-free’ mean? While the FDA may still be struggling with this one, for many the word is associated with negatives: crumbly, tasteless, mealy. While Triumph Gluten-Free! is devoted to presenting you with foods that break this definition, so too is Sinfully Gluten Free, the newly opened Ohio gf bakery I mentioned in my previous post. Their tagline on Sinfullygf.com reads “Not Your Ordinary Gluten-Free,” and for those who have confused a cupcake with stale cornbread, this is definitely true.

If you are like me, combination desserts are the best. Like cookies and cupcakes? Grab a frosted cookie. Ever thought of cheesecake plus brownies? Check out this delectable recipe by Cassandra at Delightfully Gluten Free. And you know somebody has to be keeping those Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin-Robbins joint stores in business. The only bad combo I can think of is the combination of deep frying and candy bar which tasted like a chocolate-filled egg roll. But solidly in the good combo category you will find the Peanut Butter Cup Cookie (a cookie plus a peanut butter cup). Shaped like a mini cupcake, the Peanut Butter Cup Cookie has a hole on top in which a small peanut butter cup is placed and melted.

Crumbly? Mealy? Tasteless? Nope. The Peanut Butter Cup Cookie has a pie crust-like texture outside, with scrumptiously sweet (but not overwhelming) peanut butter and chocolate on top. Even my coworker who is not a fan of peanut butter thought the cookie was delicious. So all you peanut butter naysayers out there, take a bite! You just might be converted.

And even if you refuse to get on the peanut butter bandwagon, Sinfully Gluten Free has a myriad of desserts from lemon bars to brownies. Don’t worry if you are a reader from outside Ohio drooling over the thought of a gf lemon bar. Perhaps the best thing about Sinfully Gluten Free for the non-Buckeyes out there is that they will ship these gf treats to your door. So get ready to sin your way to gluttony with these gf delights, because as Sinfully Gluten Free says, these aren’t ordinary gluten-free.

A few weeks ago, I reminded readers of the joys of birthday cakes and sweet treats, encouraging gluten free’ers to rejoin the cake bandwagon and eat this delicious dessert. Today, I’m taking up this mantle again to champion the latest bakery in my area, CakeLove. CakeLove sells ‘cakes from scratch’ in locations across the Washington DC metropolitan area and just opened their latest shop in Tysons Corner, conveniently a hop, skip and a jump away from me.

While CakeLove isn’t a completely gf bakery, they try to have gluten-free cupcakes (chocolate or vanilla with chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting) in all their locations daily; however, they encourage customers to call ahead to make sure they are available when they come. Also, you can call and order your gluten free cakes or cupcakes four days ahead of time.

Having tried a CakeLove gluten-free chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing, and a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing, I wasn’t surprised to hear from one CakeLove representative that many customers thank them for supplying these gluten-free treats. These are not the corn bread-esque cupcakes that crumble in your hand. Remember moisture? You’ll find it here. And the keyword in buttercream vanilla icing is definitely buttercream. This creamy icing compliments the soft cake and leaves you sweetly satisfied.

If you don’t live near this newly opened CakeLove or any of their other locations, don’t fret. It seems like bakeries with gf items are popping up across the country as of late. Just a few days ago, Sinfully Gluten Free opened its doors to salivating celiacs in Miamisburg, Ohio. Portland Oregon also recently became home to a gluten free bakery called New Cascadia Traditional. Check out CeliacChicks’ entry on this bakery for a review and some picture of gf goodies that will make your mouth water. And definitely leave a comment and let me know about any good gluten-free bakeries in your area!

Even if your town isn’t being blessed with a gf bakery any time soon, bloggers are continuously picking up the slack with their recipes and product reviews. So look to your gf online community. Bloggers like Sure Foods Living, with her entry on how to make sure your child doesn’t go without the traditional cupcake, will help you keep some necessary sweetness in your life.

Like chocolate bunnies on Easter or champagne on New Year’s Eve, cake is the treat of choice for birthdays.  Don’t let a fear of what’s in your local grocer’s cake mix make you deprive yourself of this classic dessert.

If you want to do it yourself, gluten-free cake mixes are available from brands such as Kinnikinnick and Cherrybrook Kitchen.  With Cherrybrook Kitchen’s frosting mixes, how to add finishing touches to your gluten-free cake shouldn’t be a worry either.  If you know your way around a kitchen and want something a bit more elaborate than a chocolate or vanilla cake, check out this equisite Praline Rooibos Opera Cake prepared by gluten-freer, Sheltie Girl.  But if you’re like me and are cooking-challenged, there are bakeries across the country that can supply gluten-free eaters with a delicious dessert on their birthdays.

I was lucky enough to sample some gluten-free desserts from Buzz, a bakery and cafe located in Alexandria, Virginia.  Their vanilla and chocolate cupcakes are delightfully sweet treats whether you are celebrating your birthday or simply having an afternoon snack.  Buzz can also make gluten-free chocolate, vanilla and German chocolate cakes from 6 to 16 inches, but make sure to call and order them 48 hours ahead of time.

My personal favorite Buzz treat, however, is their gluten-free bird brownie.  If you want to throw tradition to the wind and treat yourself to a birthday brownie, you won’t be disappointed.  They are both rich and moist, satisfying even my ravenous sweet tooth!  If you are both a chocolate lover and a nut lover like me, you’ll enjoy this brownie as well.  It contains both toasted almonds and walnuts and the additional ingredient of Illy espresso gives it a little extra something.  Make sure to call and place your order at Buzz ahead of time to ensure you get the cupcakes or brownies you want, when you want them.

As friends and loved ones’ birthdays roll around this year, give the gift of cake!  Whether your want to get it store-made or make it yourself, birthday cake (as well as other desserts) can go back on the menu for all those with celiac disease.

Notify the Restaurant Beforehand.

Think back to when you were in school (for some of us, that’s a harder challenge than others): Did you prefer when the teacher popped a quiz, or when you had advanced warning to review materials and make sure everything was in order? When dealing with the gluten free diet, most restaurants are going to prefer the latter.

When you can, it’s best to make reservations and let the restaurant know about your special dietary needs in advance. This gives the restaurant time to get up to snuff on the details of the diet, look into what might be gluten free for you, and (sometimes) even make special accommodations.

One of the best gluten free experiences I had in Philadelphia was at a restaurant called Lolita. They didn’t have a gluten free menu, but were recommended as well-versed in the diet. When we visited (after calling a few days in advance), the kitchen had gone through the menu and marked everything on it that was gluten-free for me (about 90% of the menu, btw). It felt great to have so many options to choose from, but it was even better that the whole exchange was seamless and hassle-free.

The smokehouse stench of barbeque will soon invade nostrils nationwide. From late May to early September, miscellaneous meats lathered in a gooey, brick-red tinted sauce will dot t-shirts, hands and mouths alike and invite the familiar buzz of bite-happy mosquitoes and scrap-hungry flies.

Those of us who love BBQ but opt out of cooking it ourselves can look to restaurants for gluten-free alternatives. In her newest blog entry, Gluten-Free BBQ, celiac blogger Suzanne Mangini points to Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill as a possible option.

“I love BBQ!” Mangini exclaims. “While the best BBQ around comes from our backyard smoker, we [haven't yet fired it up] this season.”

She goes on the explain that she dined at Smokey Bones last week for the first time in a year. Mangini knew that their meats, sauces and rubs were gluten-free, but was “unsure about their sides.”

Luckily, Smokey Bones keeps a current, in-store list of gluten-free items available on their menu. Mangini chose baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, and apples.

“I always enjoy sautéed apples,” Mangini adds, “as they are like apple pie but without the crust.”

She warns against the restaurant’s garlic toast and baked beans as they contain gluten.

Even with those exceptions, it remains possible for celiacs and non-celiacs alike to enjoy a good summertime BBQ. A little carry-out from Smokey Bones can help make that possible.

Reward Extra Service with an Extra Tip.

Another no-brainer. I generally tip between 20-25% when someone handles my needs well, though I’ll go higher for exceptional service. The reason is that waiting on a Celiac requires far more effort than waiting on a typical patron. If you tip like everyone else, the waiter actually makes less money for the time invested with you than he does elsewhere. That can actually create a disincentive for the waiter to invest in serving you well! But, a good time can remove that disincentive, and a great one can actually incentivize him to go all out for you on future visits.

Make Yourself a Familiar Figure.

As a gluten free diner, frequent visits to the same restaurant can have two impacts. First, working with you regularly reinforces for the staff the specific needs of your diet. Second, regular visits increase your value as a customer. And, the more valuable you are as a customer, the greater the incentive is for the restaurant to invest in providing a variety of delicious gluten-free options.

When I lived in Philadelphia, I used to visit My Thai on South St. once a week. The first time I visited, the owner invested the time to help make me a special gluten free meal. The food was good and the meal didn’t make me sick, so I went back the next week. And the week after. And the week after that. After about a month, I had established myself as a regular. At that point, during one visit the owner started asking me a bunch of very detailed questions about the gluten free diet. The next time I visited, he had a very pleasant surprise for me - he had gone through his menu and checked every single dish on it for gluten, and it turned out that there were only two dishes in the whole restaurant he couldn’t modify to be gluten free. It felt so good that he would put the effort in for me, that I’d still be eating there every week if I hadn’t moved to Virginia.

Make it Easy.

Don’t just tell a waiter what you can’t eat. Instead, be proactive. You know more about the gluten-free diet than he does, so don’t make him guess the menu options that might be right for you. Scout the menu for choices that are likely to be gluten-free and present them to the waiter as starting points for further investigation. Let the waiter use his limited time to interface with the kitchen and to confirm that your choice is a safe one.

Double Check.

This one’s an obvious one. When your meal is served, always confirm with the server that it was prepared gluten-free. Good restaurants will typically do this for you as a matter of course. But, when they fail, be proactive and ask — before eating. This simple step can potentially save you a catastrophe down the line.