When you have a friend with celiac disease and a serious allergy to gluten, it’s terrifying to try and pick a place to eat. While many restaurants have gluten-free options, you also don’t want them to be pigeonholed to only eating the three things on the entire menu that are 100% gluten-free. Making them watch you twirl your pasta on your fork while they have to munch on steamed veggies or salmon is not a good option either. Luckily, I found Senza Gluten in the West Village which is an entirely gluten-free restaurant where you don’t have to worry about asking about the allergy! It’s stress free and makes everyone happy because the food is truly delicious, and another plus is that it’s easy to make a reservation.
Who knew the best chocolate chip muffin I’d ever have would be found on this quaint street in the West Village that no one ever talks about? At brunch time, they have an entire pastry table full of scones, muffins, breads, bundt cakes, and really anything you can dream of. The blueberry muffin is tart, soft, and outrageously good. The chocolate chip has a hint of coffee apparently, but I didn’t taste it. I loved this little guy, and I wish it was available every day of the week, so I could drop by after work for a sweet treat. It’s really that life changing and moist (yes, I use that word).
By the way, the menu offers several vegan options as well, so Senza makes for a great place for a group of eaters that have different kinds of dietary restrictions because there is something tasty for everyone. Brunch is served from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and if you arrive at 12 p.m., you’ll be the first ones there, but it gets crowded around 1 p.m. Choose from an array of uber savory lunch dishes such as: burgers, a grilled chicken breast sandwich, tuna salad sandwich, pizzas, lasagna, spaghetti, and chicken parm. For the egg and brunch crowd, go for the Truffled Eggs in a Hole. My favorite is the Scrambled Eggs with Wild Smoked Salmon served with salad and toasted white gluten-free bread. This is one of the best smoked salmon egg dishes I’ve had in New York because the salmon isn’t overcooked or dry. The portion size is extremely large, and you get enough fish for your money. It feels very healthy and satisfying.
I actually loved the pizza. The crust doesn’t taste like a traditional pizza crust, and it almost has the texture of a graham cracker pie crust. It’s definitely not sweet, but it’s soft and tastes great with cheese and tomato sauce. It’s 12 inches and shareable. Pizza choices include both white pie and san marzano tomato sauce pie. However, the Chicken Parmesan was not very good. While I might be comparing it to Parm’s, my friend who hadn’t been able to eat this dish in years still didn’t approve. Stick to the eggs, pizza, and let me know how the sandwiches are! Everything looks amazing, and you feel like you are in a little quaint Italian town with nothing to worry about.
The menu lists all the ingredients used in the bread which is: white rice flour, potato starch, canola oil, xantham gum, evaporated cane juice, yeast, baking powder, salt, and vinegar.
***DON’T FORGET IT’S CASH ONLY OR AMEX ONLY!