My girlfriend has celiacs, which means she cannot eat gluten. No wheat, rye, barley etc. Basically any bread products really upset her stomach. Aside from that she is also an artist, a payed artist, go figure. This place fit perfectly.
We went to check out Merge which is located in the old Prespa on Delaware near downtown. It was great!
The idea behind the place was to create an atmosphere that blended great food and art. It’s a mix between an art gallery in that there are lots of local artists works on display and a great restaurant.
This place specializes in a purely Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free menu. Edit: I shouldn’t say it’s strictly veg/vegan because I had salmon…duh, however this is their specialty. Nothing on the menu was over $12.
We tried a bunch of different foods from the menu and everything was great. It’s not easy to find places we can both go and enjoy a dinner out because of her condition. Everything was delicious and the service was great. Good music playing in the background, mostly indie/eclectic mixes. The place feels fresh inside, nice bar I think they only serve beer and wine however. A nice upscale crowd made up of young professionals, local artists and performers early twenties and on.
They have game nights on tuesdays and offer an entire schedule of art classes as well which I thought was cool and different. They also showcase local performers, bands and films.
I think this place was great and I would return again. I think people will be hearing a lot about this place in the months to come.
i had a g/f with celiacs before. Cheap date ftw (salad and water)… however she would have somewhere to eat now.
Just to give people an idea on how NASTY Celiacs Disease is… If bread/gluten even touches the same surface that your gluten free food is prepared on you’ll get sick. Sick can mean laying in the fetal posistion for a few hours.
Steak is gluten free…but if you put the steak on the same grill that somebody’s hamburger bun was toasted on, you’re done.
people are affected differently and the level of their reactions are also different. My personal experience… i wasn’t even allowed to cut our sandwhiches with the same knife (my sandwhich being wheat bread). I cheated once and wiped the knife off with a napkin and she got sick within an hour.
I had a cup of sweet potato and peanut soup for an app.
Poached Salmon on a bed of rice pilaf and asparagus.
Some crackers and cheese and fruit they had out for a gallery party.
All in all pretty good. I like it.
Yeah celiacs is one of those disorders that affects people in different ways much like lactose intolerance. Some people react more severely than others.
