Photo by Garbo Productions
Feeding four-year-olds is hard enough, throw celiac disease into the mix and this becomes a very daunting task. We explore gluten free options at home and in the San Francisco Bay Area and put them up against the toughest critics around... my kids.

10/21/10

Greens fails to deliver, Kudos to Kara's Cupcakes

We went out to lunch with the kiddos at the famed "Greens" restaurant in San Francisco. At the counter, I asked the attendant if the GF carrot cupcake had been touching the non-GF cupcake on the plate. Then she rudely said, "It's not like we are pounding the gluten onto them." Then she gestured with her hands as if to smash two imaginary cupcakes together repeatedly.  After reeling from the incredible inappropriateness of her reaction, I collected myself and replied, "I noticed that you got defensive by my comment. You have to understand that my kids have Celiac disease and if the cupcakes touch they become sick." She then tried to justify her rudeness by saying that, "I just get so many questions by vegans about the safety of our food." It still surprises me how hostile people become when I ask about Gluten, when all I am trying to do is keep my kids from getting sick.

Finally, the critics weigh in about the cupcakes:
- Sam (4 years old) said, "No, I didn't like it." However, he ate most of his carrot cake.
- Audrey (4 years old) said, "I liked it a little." She ate only one bite.

So after this failed experiment, I took the kids to Kara's cupcakes on the way home after lunch for a treat. Kara's Cupcakes have recently started offering a vanilla and chocolate GF cupcakes. First off, they were nice to my kids. The staff member helping us was very understanding that I had a boy who didn't want the pink fondant flower on his cupcake. She then calmly replaced the flower with a blue airplane on top.




The verdict:
- Sam exclaims, "Yum! I love the cupcake tons!"
- Audrey excitedly rambles, "I like it from this store. From this house as big as the earth and back.. that's how much I like it."

Final Tally:
Greens: 1 thumb up, 1 thumb down on the cupcake and a Mommy big thumb down for the rudeness of the staff.
Kara's: 2 thumbs way up and the Mommy seal of approval for kindness and service.

For a more indepth description of Kara's GF cupcakes I perused Chow Hound to assess how the vanilla and chocolate flavors compare.

3 comments:

  1. Yay for calm, kid-friendly folks!

    Good pics.

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  2. PS - speaking of greens, check out this recipe on my friend Dorothy's blog:
    http://dorothy-comewhatmayandloveit.blogspot.com/2010/10/eat-your-greens.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10/21/2010

    Receiving bad service will almost always stop me form being a return customer, even if I liked the food.
    Glad the second place turned out better.

    ReplyDelete