Gluten-Free Road Trip: Hollywood Nights

Previous: A Whole New World

As famous California roadways go, the Pacific Coast Highway is a top-five candidate. Otherwise known as State Route 1, the famous road runs along much of the coastline and connects the northern San Francisco Bay Area to the southern part of the state. One magnificent stretch runs through Malibu, where we had dinner our first night in metro Los Angeles. Our place of choice was Duke's Malibu, an offshoot of the Duke's family of restaurants well known in Hawaii, where we were able to get an ocean-view booth. Duke's has a gluten-free menu, off which our son ordered a Rocket Salad (arugula, Maui onion, bacon, roasted beets, goat cheese, white balsamic vinaigrette) and ono (also known as wahoo) glazed with a chili and cumin aioli with white rice and black bean salsa as sides.

Before returning to the Sheraton Delfina for the evening, we drove down another famous highway, Wilshire Boulevard, to get dessert at Beachy Cream in Santa Monica. Not just any dessert, mind you, but a homemade ice cream sandwich - two gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with pistachio ice cream.

The next day, we drove to Universal Studios in Hollywood. The production company behind classics like Jaws, Psycho and Jurassic Park runs an hour-long studio tour that's included in the price of  admission to the attached theme park. We took in the amazingly realistic Transformers 3-D ride (a couple times, actually) and Revenge of the Mummy roller coaster before going on the tour.

Among the many highlights of the tour was the King Kong 3-D motion simulator, which made us feel like we were trapped amid a jungle battle between the famous gorilla and a horde of dinosaurs. We also got to see Doc's DeLorean from Back to the Future, the Wisteria Lane exterior set from Desperate Housewives, and the War of the Worlds plane crash scene.

We broke for lunch at one of the CityWalk restaurants, Wolfgang Puck Bistro, where our older son amazingly ordered from the kids' menu for the first time in years. That said, he got two orders of salmon skewers with green beans.

In the afternoon, we conquered the upper level of the park, where we entered multiple dimensions at Shrek 4-D, Terminator 2:3-D and The Simpsons Ride. The best attraction there was Waterworld, a 20-minute live-action rescue adventure featuring lots of stunts and special effects.

The Flintstones BBQ stand was among the concessions listed on the park's gluten-free dining guide, so my son ordered the BBQ chicken platter, which came with sides of baked potato and cole slaw. The boys chased dinner with Ben and Jerry's vanilla soft serve.

With three theme-park days under our belts, we opted to leave the driving to others the next day. We took a 6-1/2 hour guided tour of Los Angeles. The tour took us through several neighborhoods where some of Hollywood's famous make their homes, including Bill Cosby, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Will Smith and Jackie Chan. We saw famous sites like Rodeo Drive, Paramount Studios and the Hollywood Walk of Fame (where I got to see the star awarded a few years ago to my favorite band, Canadian rockers Rush).

This tour, like many others, stops for lunch at the Original Farmers' Market. There's a stand there that serves gluten-free pizza, but we weren't comfortable with the preparation. We weren't able to find any other accommodating vendors, so I ended up taking my son to a nearby Chipotle for a rice bowl. As it turned out, we were only a few blocks from fonuts and had time to spare, so we walked over to the shop. We were amazed to see so many varieties of gluten-free donuts. My son devoured the coconut passion fruit donut before we left, and so I ended up buying another flavor - chocolate hazelnut - for his breakfast the next morning.

We stopped for dinner before returning to the hotel at the Santa Monica location of Buddha's Belly. With a large gluten-free menu to choose from, we ordered family style and shared shrimp dumplings, pad thai, fried rice and peanut noodles.

I was nervous heading into the vacation that nine days was too long of a trip, but there was so much to do in southern California that the time flew by. With just a couple of exceptions and a bit of planning, it was extremely easy to find gluten-free options throughout the region.

Gluten-Free Road Trip: A Whole New World

Previous: California Dreamin'

This being a road trip, we couldn't miss an opportunity to catch a baseball game. After we checked into the Sheraton Park at the Anaheim Resort - a short walk to the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks - we had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. [GF menu] nearby. Son No. 1 got the Accidental Fish & Shrimp, a plate of broiled mahi mahi and grilled shrimp seasoned Cajun-style, and a side of broccoli.

Before we left on the trip, I bought cheap tickets to the Angels-Indians game online. Despite the presence of Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter, Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson on the roster of a team in the thick of the American League wild-card hunt, Angel Stadium was half empty (or half full, if that's how you roll).

The stadium itself is among the oldest in the Majors, although it's been renovated since its mid-1960s construction. Compared to the swanky retro-style ballparks in Philadelphia, Baltimore and other cities, Angel Stadium is dull. Gluten-free veggie dogs, black bean burgers, nachos, sweet potato fries, salads, fruit bowls and hummus are located at Melissa's Fresh For You stands in the first-base and third-base food courts and Redbridge beer is sold throughout the venue.

The game itself was a snooze, with the lowly Indians taking an early lead and ultimately winning the contest. We left early but stopped at an ice cream stand on the way out. I asked for vanilla soft serve in a cup, but the woman at the counter told me that I had to get it in a cone or upgrade to a large sundae in a decorative bowl. I told her that our son couldn't have the cone because he was on a gluten-free diet and that he didn't want a sundae, but she wouldn't compromise. And I wasn't willing to compromise by paying more for a plain sundae just to get it in a bowl. Enter my wife. She nearly jumped over the counter as she told the clerk: "Have some sympathy. My son has celiac disease and he cannot have the cone." With that, the clerk went to check with her manager. She returned with a cup of vanilla soft serve. Ah, the power of persuasion.

We spent our first full day in Anaheim at the legendary Disneyland. The park is much smaller than I expected, having been to the much larger Disney World in Orlando several times. The size made it easy for us to cover the park in a single day. As in Florida, Disney's California resorts are great for gluten-free dining. (The Disney Eats blog, written by a Disneyland employee, has a current list of gluten-free options; the list is also available at City Hall at Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A.) Lunch was in Frontierland, where we ate at River Belle Terrace. Our older son devoured a freshly carved turkey sandwich on a gluten-free roll with a side of cole slaw and baked beans. At dinner he ate a pastrami-topped burger and fries at Village Haus, a Pinocchio-themed restaurant in Fantasyland. At both places, I spoke with managers who oversaw the orders.

Disneyland's Mark Twain Riverboat

The best attractions at Disneyland included Indiana Jones Adventure, the Star Wars-themed Star Tours flight simulator, Space Mountain and Matterhorn Bobsleds. Our park experience was made much easier with the Fast Pass system (which allows guests to come back to more popular attractions at a designated time with little to no wait) and the Disney Parks mobile app that provides up-to-date wait times. The impressive fireworks show capped off an active day.

Disneyland's sister park, the 10-year-old California Adventure, was our base the much of the following day. The park just debuted a new section called Cars Land, home of the fantastic Radiator Springs Racers. Other rides we liked were Soarin' Over California, Toy Story Mania and Goofy's Sky School.

Restaurants at the Paradise Pier Boardwalk had many gluten-free options. At lunch, our older son had chicken skewers with Moroccan chili sauce at Paradise Garden Grill; directly next door, Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta serves gluten-free versions of their namesake foods.

By far, the most popular attraction at California Adventure is Radiator Springs Racers. I managed to snag four of the last few Fast Passes around 10 a.m.; the return time on the tickets was 10 p.m. After covering most of the rides we wanted to see, we walked back to the hotel for some poolside relaxation and I picked up pizzas from the zpizza location in neighboring Santa Ana. (The entire chain is GREAT Kitchens-trained through the NFCA.)

At night, we returned for seconds (and thirds) on several park rides and caught the majestic World of Color light-and-water show before finally experiencing Radiator Springs. The journey takes riders through familiar scenes from Cars before the vehicles rev up and race through the faux mountains.

Before we left the Anaheim area, we sought out two other culinary finds native to California: Pinkberry and In-N-Out Burger. Pinkberry was among the originators of the tart frozen yogurt craze in the U.S. All of the yogurts and fruits and some of the toppings are gluten free. In-N-Out, a West Coast chain, pioneered the fast-food drive-through restaurant concept. The chain's fries are gluten free, as are the protein-style burgers wrapped in lettuce. The yogurt is worth returning for; the burgers are just fair.

Next: Hollywood Nights (coming soon)

Gluten-Free Road Trip: California Dreamin'

I'd only been to California once. It was more than 10 years ago on a short business trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco. I promised myself that I would go back and check out what I missed the first time - and I missed a lot. My wife spent a summer in Los Angeles in between college semesters, and longed to return. So it didn't take much for the four of us to agree on a West Coast summer vacation.

We chose to hit southern California on this trip, figuring that there was more to do with the kids. Despite our penchant for long-distance driving, we opted to fly via Virgin America, a West Coast-based airline that recently began flights to Los Angeles (and San Francisco) from Philadelphia. We packed some snacks for the plane both ways, but also ordered some through the interactive screens in front of our seats. The gluten-free choices included a Waldorf salad, popcorn, mixed nuts, Popchips and a cheese & fruit platter.

After picking up a rental car at LAX, we headed south to La Jolla. Along the way - the only time we hit the feared southern California traffic - we stopped for lunch at Yard House [GF menu] at the Irvine Spectrum Center, where our older son ordered a jasmine rice bowl with shrimp and vegetables. The kitchen substituted gluten-free sweet chili sauce for the standard rice bowl sauce. (Yard House, known for its extensive beer list, has Redbridge and Brunehaut Bio Ambrée, a deglutenized Belgian ale.)

See's Candies, a West Coast-centric candy shop, had an outpost at the Spectrum Center, where every item was gluten free. Free samples, too! The California Brittle, Milk Butterchews and the coconut-topped Kona Mocha candies were our favorites.

Hours later, we checked into the Sheraton La Jolla, about 20 minutes outside of San Diego. While not a beachfront property, the hotel neighbors the famed Torrey Pines golf course and is a short drive from the stunning La Jolla Cove. Exhausted from a long travel day, we went into town and had what was our best meal of the trip. Similar to our own Pure Tacos, Puesto is an all-gluten-free Mexican street food restaurant. The made-to-order meals are cooked on a plancha grill just behind the counter. The four of us shared a bunch of steak, chicken and salmon tacos topped with crispy melted cheese. Simple, inexpensive and tasty. (Incidentally, a great resource for all things gluten free in the San Diego area is the Gluten Free in SD blog.)

The beach town was filled with cute boutiques and shops. Among them was Cups, an organic bakery that has at least three gluten-free cupcakes on hand daily. The first night, we sampled PB Cup and Raspberry Cheesecake and returned the next evening to try Old School Vanilla, PB&J and Bunny Love.

After dinner, we walked over to the Cove and marveled as the sun set beyond the Pacific Ocean.

After eating breakfast at the hotel, we began our only full day in La Jolla by returning to the beach, planting our gear in front of a lifeguard station. This proved fortuitous, since my wife was soon stung on her left foot by a stingray while wading in the ocean. Neutralizing the venom required her to soak her foot in scalding hot water for an hour. That and an antihistamine pretty much wiped her out for the morning.

The kids spent the afternoon at the hotel pool while my wife recuperated. She was game enough to venture out for dinner at Roppongi [GF menu], an Asian tapas-style restaurant in La Jolla. (Roppongi has the same owners at Sammy's Woodfired Grill, where we shared gluten-free thin-crust barbeque and margherita pizzas for lunch.) The food at Roppongi was excellent, although the service was decidedly less so. Our older one began his meal with a California roll (and gluten-free soy sauce) and sweet corn soup with lobster, but watched us eat the rest of our meals while he waited for the Indonesian chicken satays.

After I posted a picture of said sunset on Facebook, an elementary-school friend of mine who now lives in Laguna Beach messaged me to see if we would be anywhere near her town. Actually, I wrote back, we did plan to stop there on the way to Anaheim, our next destination. It seemed that we would not be getting together since she had to work. She did, however, recommend that we visit the public Table Rock Beach. We parked along the Pacific Coast Highway and as we descended a flight of steps on the way to the beach, I heard someone calling my name. My friend spotted us as she was pulling out of her condo parking lot. (Fate? I'm always amazed when that happens. Had we hit one more light or left 30 seconds earlier from the hotel . . . .) I introduced her to my family as we tried to catch up ever so quickly before she left for work. We soaked in the rest of the afternoon on a pristine stretch of the Pacific Ocean.

Next: A Whole New World: Disneyland and Anaheim