In Raleigh, NC there is a cute restaurant called Bloomsbury Bistro. In a shopping center just off of an intersection called five points sits a favorite restaurant of my parents. We chose it for a recent girls dinner for my mom and sister.
Since this was my first visit to the restaurant I emailed ahead to ask about Gluten Free options. I was pleased when I received an email back from a manager rather quickly. He assured me they had many Gluten Free options and could easily alter most menu items to be safe.
For my entree I ordered the Bloomsbury Coq au Vin: Roasted Breast. It was two pieces of bone in chicken in a yummy sauce (that they altered to be Gluten Free) with bacon, mashed potatoes, mushrooms and onions. The flavors and textures all complemented each other very well. And of course I love anything with bacon!
For dessert they had a couple of Gluten Free options like a “Figgy” Creme Brulee, a cheese and fruit tray, a sorbet trio and a chocolate dish. I decided on the Hazelnut Crusted Dark Belgian Chocolate Terrine. It was a very yummy chocolate mouse cube covered in hazelnuts with a raspberry sauce on the plate. This was the star of the evening! I could have eaten three of these!
Overall I appreciated that the restaurant was so Gluten Free friendly, that the staff was so knowledgable and that there were plenty of options. The chicken dish was good while the chocolate dish was amazing! The prices were pretty high so it is definitely a special dinner kind of place. Also there is no Gluten Free bread option so there was nothing to go along with my entree unless I wanted to pay for a salad.
I could see going back for another special dinner. Next time I may just go with a salad and enjoy two chocolate desserts!
“Also there is no Gluten Free bread option…”
Perhaps you should introduce them to the Schär breads. While the baguettes aren’t perfect, they’re darn good for a gluten free product, and because they’re shelf-stable for an amazing amount of time, wouldn’t be a tremendous problem for a restaurant to keep on hand. Yes, they’re expensive, but I gather the restaurant in question is not a budget place. Have you tried them?