Great Experience In Northern Minnesota

[bridgetm]

My family has been going to the North Shore for as long as I can remember. A fall trip (usually MEA weekend) is mandatory. Some of our best memories are of the great waterfront restaurants so I was pretty anxious about this year's trip after only 6 months of gluten-free living. We've been staying in a cabin for the last few years so cooking all my own meals (with pots and pans, utensils, etc from home) would not have been a problem, but I emailed our favorite restaurants to check out the risk-level. I wasn't too sure how clued-in a small Arrowhead town would be, but thanks to the variety of tourists... I had OPTIONS!

The manager of the Gunflint Tavern, at the center of town, was very helpful and told me that his chefs could easily cook my order in a clean pan away from any risky food. The waitress checked back with me whenever a question came up in the kitchen. I was really concerned about the number of ingredients in some of their food, but thanks to the great communication I had no problems. I highly recommend the house cheeseburger (minus the cheese) served with jalapeno bacon and coffee onions. Most of their sandwiches come with blue corn chips drizzled with some sort of zesty mayo. All gluten-free. That lunch had more flavor that I had eaten in a good 2 months.

I definitely recommend the Naniboujou Lodge east of GM. This is a family run restaurant/resort and the service has always been friendly and helpful. I was told when I emailed them that the kitchen boss was gluten-free herself and had trained her chefs and servers in avoiding CC. I ordered the wild rice burger without the bun, telling our waiter I am gluten-intolerant. He said, "We have some gluten-free bread in the kitchen. Are you sure you just want a fork?" I got the bread. Buttered and perfectly toasted. I haven't eaten a good burger in a restaurant with my hands in a long time.

We cooked breakfasts and dinners in the cabin. The Cook County Co-Op had some great produce and meat and a relatively large selection of packaged gluten-free foods. I've been avoiding the processed stuff, but it was good to see the labels anyway.