Food for people with food constraints is rarely something to celebrate. Usually it feels more like a terrible punishment for being hungry.
But as more and more eaters are diagnosed with this or that food allergy, frustrated foodies are refusing to beat their taste buds into submission for the sake of a happy digestive tract. Instead, they’re taking the spoon by the handle and creating delish dishes that marry taste and tolerance.
In Santa Rosa, Bliss Bakery is taking on gluten one muffin at a time. Also known by its aliases of rye, wheat or barely protein, gluten is a trendy dietary culprit blamed for a host of maladies from excess gas to the serious problems brought on by Celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
Here, pastries, cupcakes and all manner of carbohydrate are baked devoid of irritants for the gluten-plagued, gluten-fearful and merely gluten-indifferent. Bliss Bakery is Gluten-free Food for the Masses.
The tiny bakery in the former Seed/Saint Rose space on Sebastopol Ave. serves up wheat-free cookies, cakes, sandwiches and muffins Tuesday through Saturday. Made with alternative grains like rice, millet, potato or quinoa, they actually taste like what they’re supposed to taste like: Reward, not punishment.
The apron behind the bakery is dietary counselor, caterer and Bauman College prof Maria Balme. Daily vegan soups and tarts make for hearty lunchtime fare, while on-tap Kombucha, coffee and tea get the morning started right — regardless of your dietary status.
(Plus they’re selling Salt Side Down Chocolates!)
Bliss Bakery, 463 Sebastopol Ave., Santa Rosa, 542-6000.
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