Gluten-free at Fairways Garden Centre, Ashbourne

You know you are a homeowner when you spend Bank Holiday at a garden centre!

So this is my life now, I own a home. And this is one of the reasons why this blog has been so quiet lately, my apologies.

Fairways Garden Centre is located at Clifton in Ashbourne, roughly 16 miles out of Leek (they also have a centre in Macclesfield).

The garden centre itself is lovely but what I was more interested in was whether they had any gluten-free options in their cafe/restaurant upstairs. Gardening is hungry work after all.

The restaurant upstairs is huge by the way.

More and more smaller, independent cafes are becoming more aware of dietary requirements and a lot now do have gluten-free options on their menu. Fairways is probably one of the more clued up places I have visited recently. And here's why.

I was so pleased to see that their menu tells you exactly what gluten-free options they have - and there's not just one or two choices...they are 5 different options for lunch!

The garden centre's selection of cakes and pastries is pretty extensive but they have not forgotten us Coeliacs either - there was gluten-free flapjack or fruit toast on offer. They clearly know what they are doing when it comes to preventing cross-contamination too as the gluten-free items were all individually wrapped to protect them from any gluten crumbs (all the gluten-containing cakes were on big plates where you just helped yourself).

I was also really impressed to see that all the food was clearly labelled and indicated what allergens were present in each one - so for example, the ticket would read "contains wheat, gluten, egg" etc. So helpful! And is probably a result of the new law that came in in December 2014 which means that now all food businesses must provide allergen information for the meals they serve.

If you don't fancy a hearty meal like cottage pie or a roast pork dinner, there are lighter options on the menu suitable for Coeliacs, like the soup, It was great to see there were two soup options. And there's also gluten-free bread if you ask one of the servers behind the counter.

OK, so it wasn't a bread roll, but still I was able to have gluten-free bread with my soup (for me, there's nothing worse than having soup with no bread, you need something to dip in!). In a lot of places there isn't always an option to have gluten-free bread with your soup so Fairways definitely gets the thumbs up from me.

I think it was probably Genius bread (is it sad that I can tell what brand of bread it was?) and tasted great with a bit of butter and dipped in to my carrot and coriander soup.

The soup itself was really tasty, creamy and filling - it really was a massive portion! All the food is homemade, prepared from fresh ingredients on site and they use locally-sourced ingredients too. I have to say I was really impressed, not just with the quality of food, but also their knowledge of dietary requirements and availability of gluten-free options, I would definitely eat here again.

Primo Piano, Leek, Staffordshire

Primo Piano is a Ristorante and Pizzeria based in Leek, Staffordshire. Yes, you did hear me right, Leek - that's where I live! Finally, somewhere in Leek I can review, Hurrah! As far as I know this is the only restaurant in my home town offering to cater for Coeliacs (at the moment). But I'm really hoping I can change that soon.

It was a special occasion, our 3rd wedding anniversary, so we decided to book a table there on a Wednesday evening (I've heard it can get quite busy on Friday and Saturday nights so definitely book in advance). Family friends had mentioned that they offer some gluten-free options on the menu and I also checked www.onionring.co.uk in advance too and was pleased to see that "gluten free dishes available" was clearly stated on this website. A quick phone call to the restaurant a couple of days beforehand also clarified this for me. You can find a copy of their menu on onionring (although I'm not sure how up to date this menu is).

Once we were seated at our table the waitress very kindly explained that all the chicken and steak dishes could be prepared gluten-free so I could choose any of those. I had heard that they do provide gluten-free pizza bases so you can also get a pizza there but I decided to go for a steak, it was a special occasion after all, and I never would normally choose steak on a menu.

I must say I was a bit disappointed to see that although there were options I could have on the menu, there was no mention of a gluten-free pizza base on the menu and it would have been nice if there had been a gluten-free pasta option on there too. Still, the meal I had was delicious, steak in a blue Italian cheese sauce with salad and potatoes. The steak was cooked exactly how I liked it and the sauce was absolutely moreish, rich, creamy and filling and yet not too overpowering to the steak. I would most definitely order this again when I go back although I am trying to be careful with my dairy intake at the moment so I have to be careful with creamy sauces like that.

I'm hoping that the more people that get diagnosed with Coeliac Disease (and it is becoming more and more common) and as the demand increases for gluten-free cuisine, smaller restaurants like Primo will develop their menu to include more pasta and pizza dishes in line with some of the bigger chain restaurants that are already doing this. The good thing about Primo though is that it is my local restaurant and they do offer some gluten-free choices so it means I don't have to travel to Manchester for a meal out, however, if you don't like chicken or steak (or you happen to also be vegetarian) I do wonder whether there would be anything for you to have here. Also, the steak dishes happen to be the most expensive meals on their menu rather annoyingly! I do think in the future Primo should work on their menu, maybe highlight on there with a 'GF' symbol all the dishes that are gluten-free so it is really clear and if they could expand their menu to include one pasta dish this would ensure I came back time and time again. Still, I have to give it to Primo for being the first restaurant to openly advertise gluten-free choices in Leek and I'm hoping that other venues in Leek and the surrounding areas will catch on and also do the same.

If you're a restaurant/cafe in Leek, I'm coming for you!!!!

Happy Anniversary to us!