Came the time of morning when my stomach growled, and I knew I’d have to eat. The only question was, “Where?” I mulled over my usual haunts, but nothing sparked my interest.
Then I remembered a new café and bakery had opened at Warehouse Row, just inside the door to the underground level of the South Building, where a food court is tucked under several stories of office and retail space. But there was a caveat:
Owner and executive chef Karen Wilson’s Crave Café & Bakery is a gluten-free eatery, meaning no gluten is allowed through its doors. This eliminates the concern many people who can’t or would rather not eat gluten have about cross-contamination from gluten-based foods in the kitchen. (Something as subtle as frying gluten-free onion rings in oil that had previously cooked gluten-based onion rings could spell trouble for someone intolerant to gluten.)
As someone with no gluten issues, I wondered how the food would taste. Past excursions down gluten-free trails were brief and sent me scurrying for a loaf of Wonder Bread.
But when I had met Wilson in November, she had promised her food would taste good. Plus, I liked her credentials. A former lawyer, she’s always baked for herself and others, and spent years working in the food industry before testing the waters of the legal profession. When she discovered her body was sensitive to gluten, a condition that manifested itself in the form of severe digestive issues, she re-learned how to bake using alternative grains. Gone was wheat flour, which contains the proteins that produce the offending gluten during the kneading process, and that makes bread fluffy and light, and in were rice flour, buckwheat flour, potato starch, and other alternatives.
(Side note: Wilson does not have celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing nutrients necessary for good health. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, and can lead to dire health problems. The only cure for celiac disease is to switch to a gluten-free diet, which allows the body to heal the damage. Only about one percent of the population is believed to have celiac disease, while up top 20 percent is said to have a gluten intolerance, Wilson told me.)
No longer a lawyer, Wilson spends her days creating gluten-free breads, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. You’ll want to hear about the cinnamon rolls, so keep reading.
Getting back to breakfast, I resolved to eat at Crave. And to my surprise, there’s far more on the menu than gluten-free banana muffins and cinnamon rolls. (I’ll get to the cinnamon rolls. Patience!) Morning options include three breakfast bowls with different combinations of eggs, cheese, bacon, sausage, potatoes and veggies, a breakfast sandwich, house-made granola, and steel cut oatmeal, among other selections.
I opted for a Southwest Breakfast Bowl, a cinnamon roll, and orange juice. The bowl, which was cooked fresh on the grill in the back and ready mere minutes after I placed my order, was a small miracle. The sausage was flavorful, the bacon was chewy, the chunks of potato and scrambled eggs added heartiness to each forkful, and the whole thing was wrapped in melted cheese. Yeah, I’ll be going back for another one of those.
If the bowl was a small miracle, then the cinnamon roll was a revelation. Wow. The texture was heavier than I was expecting, but I didn’t miss the wheat flour. Rather, I savored each cinnamon sugary bite, enjoyed the buttery middle, and was sorry to see only glaze left on my fingers after it was gone. Wilson will be making waves with these things.
As I ate, Wilson and her crew prepped the noon food. I went to work, and then returned for a late lunch. Throughout the winter months, lunch at Crave will consist of two freshly made hot soups along with Wilson’s regular selection of sandwiches, salads and desserts. Although the girl behind the counter assured me the lentil soup was “to die for,” I went with a steaming cup of creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup and half of a Ham & Swiss Sandwich. Both tasted great, although I believe the bread that held the sandwich ingredients together will take getting used to. That said, gluten-free bread is very hard to make, and there’s no doubting the white and wheat breads at Crave will be a God-send for people who can’t eat the regular stuff.
Wilson has four salads on her menu, two of which will be tempting me during my next visit: the Kale Salad, which comes with massaged kale, apple chunks, raisins, toasted sunflower seeds and an apple cider vinaigrette; and the Southwestern Quinoa Salad, made with quinoa, black beans, corn, red pepper, onion and tomato.
Crave serves breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Whether your doctor has put you on a gluten-free diet, or whether you want to add a delicious new options to your list of usual haunts, Crave Café & Bakery is sure to satisfy. Best of all, it won’t send you scurrying after a loaf of Wonder Bread.
Email David Laprad a dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.