Columbus, OH

Ever since I was little, my favourite food has been pasta. I wanted it for every meal, I lived off of it my first year of Uni (as well as chip butty's. Whoops.) and my cupboard/fridge was always full of fresh & dry versions. When I learned I had coeliacs, I was livid. I mean, it made perfect sense as to why my body hadn't been functioning since I was tiny (seriously ask my parents about the amount of prune juice & orange with sugar they had to give me), but I was so angry that I'd no longer be able to enjoy such a great love of mine.

Well, times they have a changed. Not too much - it's still impossible to find GF Tortellini anywhere (let me know if you have a hook up that isn't ravioli), but these days leaps and bounds have been made in the Italian way of life for us sufferers and this post is about some places I just had to try in our hometown...

Marcella's 

Marcella's is an Italian chain in Columbus. I don't believe they reach outside of Columbus/Ohio, but there's definitely a couple in the Cbus area. And it is juuusssttt great!

Although it's technically a "chain", they offer different GF choices at different locations but at all of them they offer GF penne. Near our house we actually have a bit of a special one that is a test market, which means it not only offers the standard penne but also freshly made GF Gnocchi AND GF Ravioli! (can you hear angels singing too?). When I discovered this, I had to visit multiple times just so I could taste all the options (and I've been several times since too, but who's counting?).

So, where are we? The penne is pretty standard, if your location only offers this, it won't be a let down - just having an option in an Italian restaurant is a breath of fresh air. If you're lucky enough like me to have a test market (which will hopefully roll out soon), I highly suggest trying out the other two options - both are fantastic.

Marcella's of course offers free bread and oil, and they also have in-house made GF bread! Could this place get any better? It's got a salty, garlic-y crust and although a little dry, I'm just grateful to be able to eat bread when everyone else around me is tucking into it.

Their Gnocchi (which I'm afraid I don't have a photo of), is giant, fluffy and very filling. When it comes out it doesn't look like the portion would fill you up, but trust me, it does. Same with the Ravioli. They give you about 10 giant pieces of pasta (cheese filled) and I can never finish the dish; especially after the bread. I had both options (on separate occasions), with their Arrabbiata sauce which I added pancetta to along with lots of parmesan. The sauce is beautiful; abundant with fresh tomatoes, lots of heat from the chili's, shavings of fresh garlic and everything is clearly made with a lot of olive oil which I love, but other's might not. Wow, I think my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I honestly can't recommend it enough. Caleb is a bit braver than me, and ventures into the various other sauces you can have. I'm always tempted by the carbonara. They also make a slow cooked lamb bolognese, which Caleb loved. For dessert there's only a couple of options - one of them being Panna Cotta. I ordered this once, because, well, you know I obviously had to...for the blog - it was deliciously creamy! Next time, I'd like to try their Brick Oven Chicken Picatta and potatoes! You can read all their GF options here.

Martini 

I recently visited another Italian style resturant with my friend Gabi. Our waiter from the off was extremely helpful and he knew a lot about the wine selection which I always love. They had a GF menu readily available, which isn't as vast as Marcella's but is decent enough. Like Marcella's they also offer GF penne, but that day I opted for salad. We were trying to be healthier, so it seemed like a good idea, but I still need to return to try the pasta dishes.

They brought out GF bread baked in-house, which was surprisingly similar in taste and shape to the Marcella's one - I'm not sure if the chain's are owned by the same people, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Instead of just oil, they also brought out a house-made pesto, which was super delicious and I dipped my bread in that more than the oil & vinegar option.

I ordered the Martini Salad, but changed the Gorgonzola for Goat's cheese as I'm not a huge cheese lover, and goat's cheese is a flavour I prefer on salads. It arrived, and was a little smaller than I thought it would be (I compare everything to Northstar - brace yourself for that blog post because it's the best place to eat of all time.), and it was also a bit overdressed that it made it slightly hard to eat. If I had known they would have put so much dressing on, I would have asked for it on the side. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, but I'm looking forward to heading back to try something else on the menu to see if they can be better than mediocre.

Pistacia Vera

Now if you want a French (Italian?!?) dessert in Columbus, the best thing you can do is head straight to PV in German Village. I actually didn't try Macaroons until about a year ago and I can't believe I had never eaten them before - I was missing out on such a glorious world! Crisp but soft, Pistacia Vera is as good as it gets and all their macaroons are GF (they also do a ton of other pastries, brunch and desserts, but I wouldn't be able to tell you about those). When it comes to the macaroons, the Vanilla and Pistachio flavours are defninely the must have picks; everything is ridiculously delicious (seriously head there straight after reading this), but I would recommened those two flavours as the go-to; you can thank me later! And if you're reading this Pistacia - I will never say no to a free, constant supply of these. Thanks in advance!