Today for lunch, I wandered down Bee Caves Road to Wild Wood Cafe & Bakery. They are a total gluten-free establishment, and also double as an gallery, mostly for Oaxacan (Mexico) artwork. It's been suggested by a naturopathic doctor that I eat less gluten, so I've been meaning to check this place out for awhile. (Let's be honest though, there's nothing like a great bowl of pasta, so the idea of me going completely gluten-free ain't gonna happen!) They are located at Bee Caves & Westbank Drive, in the same center as Breed's.
Arrived around 12:15 pm, and there were a couple of people in line. It gave me the chance to study their menu board, and look at the fresh-baked breads & sweet goods they have. I ordered the special of the day, the Tuna Plate, with tuna salad, spinach salad, and cheesy zucchini bread. And a chocolate chip cookie. The cashier asked me if I wanted ice for my cup of water, and I said yes, and I asked him if the cookie would come with the plate, and he said yes. While it was lunch hour, the place wasn't packed, however, it took about 10 minutes for the food to come out, which seems a bit long for what it was. What arrived was a plate with the tuna, fresh baby spinach, I am sure just out of a bag (hardly what I would call a "salad") with some balsamic vinaigrette on the side, and some slightly soggy looking foccacia bread with red onion and zucchini sliced and baked on top. The tuna was excellent! It had chopped apple and toasted pecans in it. The spinach salad was at least very fresh spinach. When I saw "zucchini bread" on the menu, I just sort of assumed it would be like the loaf pan breads, such as banana or pumpkin bread. This was a sheet pan bread, again, more like a foccacia. It was okay, but nothing stellar. Would have been better a bit more toasted, rather than just (re)heated up. And the cookie wasn't there. So I went back to the counter and asked the cashier, who retrieved one for me, but without a word of apology. (He was rather unimpressive.)
I did also buy from them a loaf of their multigrain bread. When I asked if they had an ingredient list, the cashier was slightly forthcoming in telling me it was flax, teff, corn, rice (I think so at least). I just toasted a piece of it at home, and it's quite good as far as GF breads go. Has a slight sweet taste and a decent not too spongy texture to it when eaten untoasted, but toasting generally seems to be way to go with GF breads.
Then went to my acupuncture appointment (South Austin Community Acupuncture -- two thumbs and many needles up!), which is in a strip center on Ben White, by an Indian/Pakistani grocery called Shree Jee. I can't locate a website for them, so they are at 321 W. Ben White, on the southbound frontage road, between Congress & S. 1st; also the same shopping center where Bender Bar (formerly a Serrano's) is. I hadn't been in Shree Jee in a couple of years. A small place, especially compared to MGM Indian up on Burnet, but it seems to have the basics for Indian cooking. I did notice their hours, written on paper and posted on the door, which say they are open everyday, 10a - 6p (or was it 9p?), as opposed to the printed receipt which says 12a - 9p, everyday but Tuesday (yes, 12a).
Finally, sad news from reading the Statesman's food section this morning. The fabulous salad drive through, Baby Greens, has closed. The one at S. 1st & Oltorf was close to my house, and I made frequent (but apparently not frequent enough) stops for the Cobb salad with blue cheese dressing. I'll miss it! It was a healthy drive through!
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