Friday, May 18, 2012

News & Notes: May 18, 2012

The Philly outpost of New York City's acclaimed Shake Shack is set to open at the corner of 20th & Sansom on June 6.

The burger stand will have a gluten-free menu featuring bunless burgers and hot dogs, fries and frozen custard. Thanks to reader Emily D., one of the managers there, for sharing more details on the Gluten Free Philly Facebook page. She wrote that the fries will be prepared in a dedicated fryer that is not connected to the same oil line as other fryers. Staff will also use a separate shake spinner and designated tins (black for malted, red for peanut butter) for shakes with allergens. Special custard flavors with cake batter (Boston cream pie, for instance) will dispense from a separate machine and designated scoopers will be used. The staff will also change gloves and use a fresh bin for toppings such as lettuce and tomatoes when a ticket is rung through with an allergy modification; just inform the cashier of the gluten-free request.

Reader Marcella P. recommends New American Honey in Doylestown (42 Shewell Ave., 215-489-4200), which has a gluten-free menu that changes seasonally. The kitchen and staff are accommodating of dietary requests.

The Di Bruno Bros. market at the Comcast Center (1701 JFK Blvd., 215-531-5666) has an expanded selection of gluten-free snacks. You can find Tate's chocolate chip cookies, Cracklebred by Natural Nectar, Lentil & Veggie crisps by Mediterranean Snacks, Danielle Fruit Chips, and locally made Metropolitan Bakery granola and macaroons from Pure Sweets.

Last week I mentioned Wegmans' new gluten-free pasta and dessert mixes, which will be located in both the Nature’s Marketplace section of the stores and in regular aisles for pasta and baking. The baking mixes include a vanilla cake mix and chocolate cake mix (each mix makes one 8-inch round cake layer and sells for $3.49), a sugar cookie mix - which sells for $3.49 and makes 22 cookies - and a double chocolate brownie mix for $3.49 that makes one 8-inch square pan of brownies. Wegmans worked for nearly a year testing and tweaking the formulation for the four mixes before releasing them.

In Tuesday's post, I wrote about the many amusement parks in this area (and a couple in Virginia) that have gluten-free concessions this season.

Finally this week, I wanted to announce that I have self-published my first e-book. It's a dining guide to Delaware, including beach towns (the listings for which aren't on the blog) and New Castle County - that's Wilmington, Newark and environs. The book contains detailed listings for restaurants, stores and attractions with gluten-free options, and includes hyperlinks to the businesses' websites and gluten-free menus where available. You can buy the book (in PDF format) for just $2.99 via PayPal and you'll get an e-mail to download the link. It's readable in the iBooks app on Apple mobile devices and on most Android devices. Feel free to pass along comments and suggestions for future versions and other editions.

Have a great weekend!

- Michael
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6 comments:

  1. Just wanted to remind everyone that Gluten-free family camp is next weekend, June 1 -3! There's still space available, so come join the fun!

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  2. I just walked by the Shake Shack- all the windows are papered over for training but there's a menu available to read. Not only will there be Gluten-Free options BUT, there are also options for my dog! While my dog isn't gluten-free he and I can seldom go to a restaurant together in Center City but now we have that option too! Thanks Shake Shack!

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  3. Is it my imagination or have the baguettes at Taffet's shrunk? Still amazing, though.

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  4. It appears there is no Gluten Free menu (for any of their locations) on the Shake Shack website as of the time of this comment. I tried both clicking on the link thru this site and searching independently. I hope it will be up soon!

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    1. Jen - I don't believe there will be a separate gluten-free menu, but the line has been too long for me to get in there and find out! Read this post for details on the GF options:

      http://www.glutenfreephilly.com/2012/05/news-notes-may-18-2012.html

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    2. Hi Jen! So sorry you had trouble accessing our menu. We have a brand-new site, so please find our gluten-free menu options here:

      http://www.shakeshack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ss_gluten-free-options.pdf

      -Brandy, Shake Shack

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