Gluten-free pizza, soy sauce and fried fish: These Cape Cod restaurants ditched the gluten
Although it's been decades since Mac's Seafood started offering gluten-free fried fish, I am still in awe that you can get one of Cape Cod's quintessential summer foods prepared this way.
It's a kick to be able to share that information with visitors, such as Broadway star Jessie Mueller, who said she eats a gluten-free diet, in town over Memorial Day weekend for a talk-and-sing show with Seth Rudetsky at Provincetown Town Hall.
The thing I especially enjoy at Mac's is that gluten-free is at the core of the fried seafood menu covering shrimp, scallops, fish and more, rather than just an afterthought with a few items thrown in. Mac's even offers gluten-free soy sauce. Of course, still ask to be sure, but the options are impressive.
Locations, all nestled under one Mac's Seafood website, include Mac's Fish House Provincetown, 85 Shank Painter Road, 508-487-6227; Mac's Shack Wellfleet, 91 Commercial St., 508-349-6333; Mac's on the Pier Wellfleet, 265 Commercial St., 508-349-9611; Mac's Chatham Fish & Lobster, 1291 Main St., 508-945-1173; Mac's Market & Kitchen Eastham, 4680 State Highway, 508-255-6900.
While most Cape restaurants offer some gluten-free choices these days, I thought I would share a few places I have tried and liked, or that were recommended to me.
Fare & Just Kitchen, 2628 Main St., Brewster
Fare & Just Kitchen is a little unusual in that it is a dedicated gluten-free and peanut-free takeout place. But you have to be an early bird to get the quinoa. Fare & Just is open Thursdays through Saturdays noon until the food runs out. Sunday openings are optional, so call first.
The menu features a soup that changes weekly (three-bean kale with white sweet potatoes the week we visited), two salads and eight entrees made using vegetables and plant-based proteins including tofu. One of the entrees is Lentil Meatless Ball Carbonara, with a creamy carbonara that contains no dairy but comes with lentil-based balls and is served over organic lentil-rice pasta cooked al dente.
Chef/owner Peter Duff decided to open a plant-based, vegan takeout after his wife, Kara, got him interested in the plight of farm animals. Now, the couple says, the only animal in the place is the bunny on the sign. Although the address is on Main Street, the restaurant is tucked behind Brewster Ace Hardware and is to the left when looking at Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters.
508-896-8804
Devour Artisan Eatery, 352 Main St., Falmouth
Because owners Hollis and Aanjes Hershfield both have issues with gluten, everything in Devour - except the bread - is gluten-free.
“People have come to tears after hearing that,” Hollis said in an interview last year with the Cape Cod Times. “Even our fried chicken is gluten-free.”
The breakfast and lunch shop offers dishes that are composed as if they were five-star dining, say the Hershfields, balanced with no room for the commonplace. Devour doesn't serve clam chowder because everyone else on Cape Cod does. Instead, they make a bone broth with chicken bones and feet, as well as coconut milk, that is delicious and may hold healing powers.
508-540-5900
Wicked Restaurant and Wine Bar, 35 South St., Mashpee Commons
Wicked's menu has some mouth-watering pizza combinations marked gluten-free, including a Scallop BLT and a Short Rib Fiorentino. And here is the even more exciting news: We've been told that Crave by Wicked, the takeout only stop next to the main restaurant, is selling gluten-free pizza by that slice. It's next on my list of places to visit.
508-477-7422
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Where to eat gluten-free on Cape Cod, from fried fish to pizza
