Quivey's Grove

Madison has finally started being consistently warm this month and for us that usually means it's time for out of town visitors. One of the places that I like taking people who are here to visit from out of town is Quivey's Grove. It's actually one of the first restaurants I ate at when I moved here and it gave me a sense of the type of down to earth style of cooking that is typical of classic Wisconsin fare. It was also one of my first introductions to how easy it is to eat gluten free in Madison in comparison to other cities that I've visited and/or lived.

As many people may know, Quivey's is actually two different restaurants - the more upscale Stone House and the more casual Stable Grill. They both have gluten free menus and although I've typically eaten at the Stable Grill, I've also found the Stone House to be delicious and accessible to a gluten free diet. If you've never gone through the tunnel from one to the other, it's a fun experience - at least once!

On this occasion I noticed that the menu had changed since my last visit there and one of the dishes that I typically order - the trout is no longer on the menu. The waitress seemed somewhat unsure about what was gluten free on the new menu and after checking with the kitchen I ended up getting the Windsor Whitefish, which is actually quite similar to the trout. The Whitefish is baked in a dill and mustard butter sauce and served with parmesan potatoes. The fish was perfectly cooked and has a mild flavor.

I've been to Quivey's many times and have always safely eaten a good meal there. They're also well known for their fish fry and they do have a gluten free option, although it's not breaded like the one offered at jacs (which I promise to review one of these days!). I would definitely recommend Quivey's and my only complaint is that the restaurant always seems full and the wait staff seem to have more tables than they can successfully attend to and ordering can sometimes feel rushed. With a little patience and good company, however, Quivey's is a great gluten free option. Enjoy!

Liliana's

You may have read about my disappointing experience at the Bayou, so you can imagine how excited I was to find a New Orleans style restaurant in Fitchburg with a gluten free menu and I was even more excited when I looked at their website and saw their gluten free offerings. Their GF menu had many choices and they even stock Silly Yak bread. In short, I had very high expectations for Liliana's before going there.

That said, I hesitate somewhat to write this review, because I can't imagine that my experience was typical. The experience started out poorly. Upon walking into the restaurant we asked for a GF menu and were told that they just changed their menu and hadn't yet printed new GF ones so the hostess had us stand and wait while she went and asked the chef to identify the gluten free items. I'm used to the staff having to check with the chef, but it would have been nice if we'd been seated while this was happening. We were eventually seated and waited for a waiter/waitress for over 15 minutes while the diners around us who arrived after us put their drink orders in and placed their orders. Eventually I asked for our waiter/waitress and someone came over shortly after and apologized for not realizing that we had been seated. Now I assume that these situations don't occur commonly and they really wouldn't have been much of an issue if the rest of the evening had not progressed as it did.

Now I must admit that I'm a bit lax about educating staff about gluten intolerance when they have GF menus, because I assume that someone's already done so if they have a GF menu. I will try not to make that mistake after this experience and am happy that I was more vigilant than usual as I ordered, although I probably should have been more so. I was eager to try the cornmeal crusted calamari, but quickly double checked that it was made in a dedicated fryer. It is not. The most challenging moment of the evening was when the waitress brought out my GF bread from the kitchen and proceeded to try to dump it in the bread basket with the regular bread which had been provided earlier. She seemed surprised by my request not to so and indicated that many people with gluten intolerance come in and this does not seem to bother them. When my GF bread came out with grill marks, I asked about the equipment it was made on and again learned that the equipment is shared, so I sent it back. They did offer a Crudites plate as a replacement, but I declined. It is unfortunate that they go through all the effort of getting GF bread and then don't seem to know what needs to be done to keep it that way.

I did eventually order the jambalaya which they are reportedly well known for as well as the creme brulee. They were both very delicious. The waitress also offered a couple recommendations for wine which were great. They have a very extensive wine menu and the live jazz in the background was really nice.

The creme brulee even looked so delicious that I dug in before I took a picture for you :) It was divine! As you may guess, I did get glutened and I won't be back, at least not for dinner. It's really a shame, because I think this restaurant does have the potential to serve gluten free food if their staff were more educated on cross contamination issues.

I think Liliana's is a great restaurant for diners who are not on a GF diet. I like the atmosphere, the wine list and the live music, but I wouldn't dine there again unless there were improvements made to the cross contamination issues.

I have one more soap box for the day. I LOVE that so many people are living healthier lives on a GF diet than they have in the past and realize that everyone's got different levels of tolerance for gluten. It's certainly increased the demand for GF products and the quality of them as well as encouraged more restaurants to try to accommodate GF diners. However, it seems that because of less sensitivity of some patrons, some restaurants have not been as attentive to cross contamination issues which makes dining at some places more difficult for those of us who are more sensitive to gluten than others. When I complain about some issues, I often hear that many GF diners are able to safely eat at a particular restaurant when I've had clear issues because of cross contamination. Of course, there are other restaurants who are wonderful about these issues and which I often enjoy eating at and it is certainly a personal risk when eating at a restaurant versus at home. It is still frustrating when restaurants claim to be able to offer GF menus and then are not educated on the issues. Hopefully you have many safe  and delicious dining experiences in your future!