Pearl #16: Gluten-free at Wild Flower St. Louis

There’s a new sheriff [boss] in town at work, so we’ve been doing our fair share of dining out. For his first day, we headed down to Wild Flower in Central West End.

It was a gorgeous day out, so we dined outside. They have a great patio – it would definitely be a nice spot for a post-work cocktail.

We had a pleasant dining experience, albeit nothing out of this world. The lunch menu was marked with gluten-free options *which is always much appreciated*, but I didn’t see anything mind-blowingly different offered other than some delicious-sounding GF pastas. Though our server wasn’t particularly well-versed in the gluten-free menu options, she did happily double-check on ingredients.

I settled on the Golden Chevre salad, adapted, and added grilled chicken breast for extra protein. If I may quote from their regular, non-GF menu – “A breath-taking salad with fresh berries, candied walnuts, julienne apples and mixed greens accompanied by a strawberry poppyseed vinaigrette topped with chevre (goat cheese).” What a delightful summer salad description! Sadly, our server let me know that their standard chevre salad is encrusted in walnuts and panko bread crumbs. However – Wild Flower came through for me. Since I’m a sucker for goat cheese, I was pleased to learn that they could just crumble the goat cheese on top.

The salad was good. Refreshing, fresh, crisp. I was satisfied – not still hungry and not nearing food coma territory.

So you’ll imagine my shock JUST NOW when I browsed to their website to dig up the name of my salad and discovered…THEY HAVE A DEDICATED GLUTEN-FREE MENU.

WITH BREAD.
And pasta.
Say what??

So I called them to investigate a little more. While it doesn’t appear they have a separate gluten-free menu they hand out in the restaurant, they do indeed have bread. *For the win*

Wild Flower, I’ll be back for you.

I’ve got my eye on the Wild Mushroom Fettuccine. Or the Phil Burger. Or one of their small plates…brussel sprouts and pancetta, sauteed and drizzled with a balsamic reduction.

zomg.

Ken, date night soon?

Until next time,
Kate