Jude's experience at Jonathan's Bar & Grill- Newton

     This afternoon I went to:                                              

    

Jonathan’s Bar And Grill

215 Needham Street

Newton  02464

617-332-1600

jonathansbarandgrille.com/

     This was my second visit to this establishment.  It was a late lunch 3:00 p.m. for four women including myself.  The good news is, the restaurant is pleasant enough and has clean bathrooms.

     Although there was only one other table of diners the service was horrible.  It took the waitress forever to come to our table.  The menu (which was a piece of paper with a very limited breakfast/brunch fare) said that they had Gluten Free Alternatives yet when I told our waiter that I was a Celiac Person she did not tell me what alternatives they had.  In addition to eggs they did have a Lobster Roll.  I asked if I could have salad with the contents of the lobster roll on top of the greens,

     We waited at least thirty minutes until our orders arrived.  During this time our waiter did not come over to offer refills or other drinks.  No bread or other goodies were brought to the table.  When our order finally came, I thought that they were kidding.  My salad in fact was a side order salad put in a bowl and there was approximately 1/8 of a cup of lobster salad which was hidden by some carrot curls.  I know that I am not exaggerating because one of our party did get the lobster roll luncheon with a side salad.  When I questioned the waitress she was bored and uncaring.  We called over the Manager Anthony who was apologetic and offered us a desert.  We did not want desert, we wanted a waitress that did her job and lunch!

     Since this is the second and I might add the last time that I ever go to Jonathan’s I want to remind the reader that I had the same miserable service and salad with shrimp the last time that I visited this really BAD restaurant!  

       

Gluten Free Bisquick & Apple Pie

Ever since I found Gluten Free Bisquick I have been using it more and more in cooking and baking. It definitely makes great pancakes and waffles, but I have also used it in cooking breaded chicken. After chatting and the weather changing I decided I wanted to make an apple pie. I was bored and was given a recipe for a pie crust that uses the gluten free Bisquick. The recipe needed some tweaking as I made it though, so here is what it wound up being.

Crust:

1 Cup Gluten Free Bisquick

6 Tbs chilled butter

5 Tbs water

Mix the butter and Bisquick in a bowl until it is clumped. Then add the water to help roll it in a ball. Place the ball in a well greased pie pan and spread it to the pan. Place in the oven at 350º for 10-15 minutes. 

Let pie shell cool while making the filling

Filling:

8 Granny Smith apples

2 Tbs cinnamon 

2 Tbs nutmeg 

1 Tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup white sugar 

1 Tbs water

Peal all the apples and slice them. Place in a bowl and cover the apples with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and vanilla. I like doing it all at once, you can mix the ingredients in a separate bowl first if you would rather. Add the water and mix everything with the apples. Make sure that the apples are well coated with everything. Place the coated apples in the pie shell.

Here is the tricky part that I have not mastered yet, and need to play with more to figure out... The top... I used the crust recipe again for the top. I was not able to do much with it due to the consistency. It was very hard to get it on the pie flat, and I was not able to make strips out of it at all they kept breaking.

Once there is some kind of top to the pie, place it in a preheated 400º oven. Most recipes say to cook it for 40-45 minutes. I did this and it looked pretty. We let it cool and then cut into it and it was not cooked enough. We put it back in the over for an additional 30-40 minutes. This being said, I'm not sure on an exact cooking time :(. I would check it after 40 minutes and use your judgement until it is fully cooked. If it starts to brown too much you can cover it with a piece of tin foil.

In the end it tasted pretty good. I would definitely like to use some more spices next time now that I know what its like and the basics of how to cook it. It wound up being a little dried out due to all the cooking and I did not use tin foil (not too smart). When we ate it it was warm and we put ice cream onto so it wound up being great and delicious! 

The Talk Restaurant

Last night for diner we went to The Talk Restaurant in Watertown, Ma (http://www.thetalkrestaurant.com). We have been there once before and we were under impressed with the gluten free pasta, and the food was drenched in sauce with a lot of oil too. My mom had tried the gluten free pasta, I had not. She said that it was rather mealy and she compared it to a regular box pasta that you can buy in the market and not cooked properly. 

Last night knowing this, we ordered a little differently. We stayed away from the pasta and got dinner plates instead. I had salmon with a honey glaze, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. Everything was cooked perfectly, and was very tasteful! Most definitely a good choice.

Jude got the swordfish special which had a lemon garlic butter glaze served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. She also enjoyed her piece of fish, and the meal was cooked properly.

Overall, this is a pretty good restaurant. The service is spectacular! We had a 

very nice waitress who was extremely attentive to our needs. The down side to this restaurant in our opinion is They say they have a lot of gluten free options when you ask, or call but the only "special" item that they have for gluten free people is the pasta. They do not offer a gluten free menu, who ever is serving you will tell you if the dinner is gluten free. In addition to not having an actual gluten free menu to display for people to review, they do not serve any gluten free bread at the begining of the meal. However, they still put the bread basket on the table with regular bread for the others you are with, It did not appear to me from the two times that we have been there that they are very concerned about cross contamination, but I could and hope that I am wrong.

Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

I was running a little late this morning and did not have time to make a lunch. I happened to have bought a frozen Glutino Mac & Cheese early this week so I grabbed it and ran out the door. Lunch time came around, I got the box out of the freezer and began preparing the frozen dinner. The box says it takes 8 minutes start to finish, and it took 8 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised. I have found that normally the cooking instructions can be a little off.

In my opinion the serving was a good size. The pasta was a nice constancy and did not taste rubbery or mushy. My complaint about this product is the cheese. For me it wasn't very cheddary... I added some parmesan and that helped a good deal. This definitely does not compare to my favorite gluten free macaroni & cheese made by Annie's. This was very easy to prepare and fairly quick. I give this a 3.5 out of 5 overall. 

~Stay tuned for my review on tonight's dinner at The Talk Restaurant in Watertown, Ma~

Who are we, and what is this about?

My name is Jon. In 2006 I had a severe allergic reaction to something I ate. After much testing, trips to the doctor, and more allergic reactions we found out that I had a severe allergy to wheat products. From here, I had to change my diet drastically. Nothing tasted good anymore, everything other than fresh produce and vegetables tasted as what I could imagine cardboard tasting like.

About a year later, my mom got severely sick and was hospitalized at a well-known Boston Hospital. They did not know what was wrong with her, but knew that there was internal bleeding. After doing all kinds of blood work, one of the younger doctors came in and said there was a newer disease that is caused by gluten intolerance that fits her symptoms. Once they knew this and started treating her for Celiac Disease she got much better.

My mom and I both have adapted to cooking techniques. We also like to eat out a lot, but this presents a challenge since there is cross contamination, and well just a lack of menu options. My goal is to hopefully share and critique the food at these restaurants with fellow gluten-intolerant people. Since I also have a degree in Hospitality Management/ Culinary Management I would also perhaps like to share some of my recipes and products I use.