My colleague, fellow Celiac, and dear friend Kristen Siebecker, of the blog Wine with Kristen, recently came back from an exciting trip to Amsterdam and Spain. I have been living vicariously through her blog posts and gorgeous pictures of Spanish wine country since she got back. Kristen was kind enough to share some of her gluten-free adventures with Gluten-Free Globetrotter.
Wine with Kristen Travels Without Gluten
by Kristen Siebecker
Erin knows how to travel Gluten Free, so as I planned my trip to Amsterdam and Spain. I asked for her help. She gave me a fantastic list of Gluten Free restaurants, groceries, and the like so that I didn’t have that pit in my stomach (not related to ingesting gluten) before even getting on the plane.
First up Amsterdamned.
We hit the grocery stores first, and I was pleasantly surprised with all the gluten free packaging they had (wheat with a negogatory bracket) so it was very easy to feel safe and sound.
My favorite restaurant meal was a great rice, veggie and chicken meal at a chain place called Wagamama and they were convenient. The only bust was the Bakkerij Visser Stoepje Bakery, I stopped in and asked to see the gluten free products and they did have frozen gluten free bread. But only by the loaf, which wasn’t exactly tourist friendly. Ah well.
Now onto Spain! We hit Castellon which is a town about an hour north of Valencia. The great thing about this area is that is paella based, naturally gluten free, so I felt pretty comfy. Actually I printed out my gluten free travel cards in Spanish, and I never really had to use them, every place we went knew what I meant when I said, “Sin Gluten.” Even the grocery store had very well marked GF signage, see the Turkey below!
Now the best for Gluten Free travel was Barcelona by far. I found what, to me, is the best gluten free sandwich bread I have ever had. The place: Fast Vinic.
The whole place was green. Everything in the restaurant was recycled or re-purposed, including the tables, chairs etc. Everything you eat on and with was recyclable. They had an enotech machine to get over 20 local wines by the glass. And they had gluten free bread. Let the picture speak for itself:
That is a good lookin’ sandwich. Big thanks and shout out to Erin for helping me with my Gluten free travels…it was easy and delicious!
About Kristen Siebecker
Kristen Siebecker has been a great fan of viticulture and vinification since her first illicit sip of Boone’s Farm wine beverage many years ago.
More recently, she became a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, completed the Advanced Certification program from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust with distinction and is certified in Advanced Blind Tasting by the American Sommelier Association. Kristen continued to hone her skills for several years in the wine retail industry, advising customers and assisting in the “Sommelier for an Evening” program.
Kristen is available for all things wine related! She is the currently the Events Director for Swirl Events providing private and corporate wine tastings in the NYC area. In addition, she is a wine consultant and occasional on-site sommelier for Good Commons, a retreat center in Vermont, as well as the NYC Celiac Meet-Up group.
Kristen’s current favorite wine is Cava! Sparkling wine all the time.
Feel free to contact Kristen about wine pairing, shopping for wine, sourcing appropriate wines for your next special event, or putting together your own tasting!
Web: www.WineWithKristen.com
Twitter: WineWithKristen
E-mail: WineWithKristen at gmail.com
