Gluten-Free Events Calendar
If it’s gluten free and happening in Victoria, Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands, you’ll find it listed here! From tastings to contests, farmer’s markets to food trucks – this is your calendar to Gluten-Free Paradise! Join Victoria’s Gluten-Free Foodies and add a new restaurant – and possibly a new gluten-free friend – to your repertoire!
‘Dining-in’ is back at 900 Degrees Wood-Fired Pizzeria Langford 4:30 to 8pm
Introducing 900° 2 Go! Contactless Take-Out & Curb-Side Pick Up.
900 Degrees offers delivery up to 7km distance. Enter your address at https://900degrees.moduurn.com for eligibility and to calculate your delivery charge (between $3.50 and $5.50.)
Build Your Own
Organic tomato sauce, house-made lemon olive, aged balsamic reduction, brie cream sauce, chilli oil, house-made pesto, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, & pizza dough, to go!
Phone orders 250-590-4493. Special COVID-19 hours, open daily from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Order online here
- 900 Degrees Wood-Fired Pizza 101B 2401 Millstream Avenue, Victoria (250) 590-4493
- Menu • Facebook • Instagram
- Contact Executive Chef & Owner Adrian Ortiz-Mena
My curiosity about 900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria was piqued when I read in the September Edition of Eat Magazine (page 27) that the owner’s son was a celiac. Executive Chef and Owner, Adrian Ortiz-Mena was quoted as saying,
- “I think the most innovative thing we have done is bringing really good gluten-free pizza to our customers. My son was diagnosed celiac when he was 5 years old … and he loved pizza. It broke my heart thinking that he could no longer have pizza, so I developed a gluten-free pizza dough just for him. It was a real challenge, a labour of love.”
The Celiac Scene needed to learn more!
I popped into this warm and inviting restaurant on a cold and rainy September night, hoping for the opportunity to speak to a chef or server about their gluten-free options.
I was pleasantly surprised when Adrian himself bounded from the back of the restaurant only too eager to share his son’s health journey and how he had worked at home to create a gluten-free crust that met his discerning chef standards. Using one of the best all-purpose gluten-free flour mixes on the market and few extra-special ingredients, he was able to create a crust that pleased his son – and one that Adrian believed would please his customers.
The details.
As our community well knows, it takes more that a crust to create a gluten-free pizza. Adrian set about to contact the manufacturers of every ingredient used in his entire operation to ensure that the components used in all of his pizzas were celiac-safe. Apart from the wheat flour used for his regular crusts and the garlic bread, every ingredient that 900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria in house is gluten-free.
What about the process?
Adrian brimmed with enthusiasm as he explained that gluten-free pizzas are entirely prepared in a dedicated gluten-free area, in a room away from the regular production area. Sauces and toppings are stored in dedicated containers and applied with dedicated utensils that are never used to dress regular pizzas.
When a gluten-free order is processed, the chef washes his hands – up to his elbows – before starting work on an the order. When complete, the pizza is placed on a dedicated gluten-free pizza peel (handle) and transported to the 900˚ pizza oven where it is cooked to perfection.
Here’s where it gets complicated.
At 900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria, pizzas are cooked directly on the hearth of their single pizza oven, where other gluten pizzas have also been cooked. The concern on my face prompted Adrian to escort me directly to the oven itself where he proceeded to sweep to the side the burnt, charcoal dust of the pizza crusts that had been cooked.
While Adrian whole heartedly agreed with me that deep frying food at a standard 325-375˚F does not destroy gluten, he maintains that incinerating to 900˚residual gluten crumbs and flour from previously cooked pizzas and then sweeping them aside, most assuredly does.
That said, 900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria is pleased to cook gluten-free pizzas on sanitized pizza pans for any gluten-free diner’s peace of mind. As a wood-fired pizza purist however, Adrian cautions that cooking pizza on a pan may generate different results.
Final consideration.
900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria is most assuredly a pizza lover’s pizzeria. Gluten pizza dough is thrown into the air with gusto, wheat flour coats the kitchen floor like dance dust and a fine coat of flour is evident on surfaces throughout the main preparation area.
That said after two years’ serving gluten-free pizza, Adrian shared that there have been no reports from gluten-free diners that they have experienced gluten contamination.
As Adrian is quoted as saying in the EAT Magazine article, “I don’t think we really did anything new – we just did it better!”
I would have to agree: for celiac diners who are comfortable with these practices or those who avoid gluten as a lifestyle choice, 900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria sets the gluten-free bar as high as I have seen it on Vancouver Island.
Love Pasta?
900˚ Wood-Fired Pizzeria stages occasional pasta specials and always offer the option of Italy’s Schar Gluten-Free Pasta to gluten-free diners!
Gluten-Free Beer?
900˚ Wood Fired Pizza is pleased to serve 100% gluten-free Forager Beer, made in Whistler from sorghum and rice.
“Where to Eat in Canada” adds @900.degrees to it’s list of worthy restaurants, calling their pizza “as close to perfection as it’s possible to get,” and one of only a handful of restaurants here in Victoria named “Good Buys”. Check out the full review on page 306 of the 2017-18 guide published by Oberon Press. Pick up your copy today!
North Saanich Flavor Trails Celebration Weekend! Explore and Experience the Tastes of the Saanich Peninsula!
August 27 & 28 – 14 venues hosting special activities ranging from farm gate tastings to winery and orchard tours, from sheep shearing demonstrations to scare crow making, authentic Thai cooking to a pig roast.
Printer-Friendly Flavour Trails Brochure and Map
Facebook • Instagram • Twitter
Stop in at the Oh-So-Celiac-Friendly Deep Cove Market!
10940 West Saanich Road (near Wain Road) • 250-656-2547 • Mon-Fri 7am to 7:30pm Sat-Sun 8:am to 7:30pm
Deep Cove Market • Facebook • Instagram • deepcovemarket@shaw.ca
Deep Cove Market has been serving celiacs for more than 15 years with the most eclectic selection of gluten-free products that Vancouver Island has to offer. Trust Deep Cove to carry the brands that are impossible to find at major retailers – honouring independent celiac manufacturers who are dedicated to supporting us – one kitchen to another.
A first and last stop shop for locals and tourists alike. Minutes from Schwarz Bay Ferry Terminal as you arrive or a last stop before heading to Vancouver or the Gulf Islands, you’ll be sure to leave with items you won’t find anywhere else.
An ideal destination for a Sunday drive or bicycle trip from Sidney or even Victoria. Be welcomed with wide verandahs, aisles jam-packed with goodies and shaded, picnic seating in a beautifully landscaped garden.
NOTE: While Deep Cove Market offers to make sandwiches with gluten-free bread, the risk of cross contamination with gluten ingredients is high in the close confines of their kitchen.
A Small Business at the Heart of the Community
Rosemary Scott, Seaside Magazine
“The Deep Cove Market is not your typical convenience store. A destination for foodies, it’s a charming country market nestled in North Saanich that has become, through much hard work, a gem of a meeting place for the community.
After the Deep Cove Farm on Wain Road was retired, I wanted to provide locals like myself with a place to meet over breakfast, lunch or lattes and have a place to shop that supports our local farming community. If you want locally raised lamb, beef, poultry and eggs, it’s a place worth visiting. 10 years ago, with no grocery experience whatsoever … more
Deep Cove 10th Anniversary Feature Review in the Peninsula News, March 2015.
“Walk into Deep Cove Market and the first thing you’ll notice is the abundance of smiling faces. With the smell of fresh coffee lingering in the air, the charming wood plank floor and woven baskets of produce capping off the aisles, it’s easy to see why the shoppers are in a good mood. There’s a quaint feeling of discovery that permeates the shop, as though the perfect ingredient is waiting just around the corner. “I’ve tried to offer a lot of organic products and local products. In the summer, we try to have 100 per cent local produce,” she said. “We try to make the choices really interesting, besides regular grocery, we try to have a lot of specialty items just to make it more fun for the consumer.” That includes spending sometimes hours on the internet trying to track down a supplier if a customer has made a special request, said Waddington, always prioritizing local first” … more
Rosemary is a frequent (gluten-free) recipe contributor to Sidney’s Seaside Magazine.
Here are just a few of her best!
Tomato Jam, recipe by Rosemary Scott
Island Dish: Tomato Jam
“What is tomato jam? It’s a thick, intensely tomato-flavoured condiment that is delicious enough to
- spread on your favourite burger (you’ll never use ketchup again)
- serve up on a fresh (gluten-free) baguette
- toast point with cheese
- toss into pasta with some fresh parmesan shavings
- add to your homemade soup to elevate it to a whole new level
- eat it all by itself right out of the jar. It should come with a warning on the label: “highly addictive.”
Summertime Spinach Salad, Seaside Magazine
Island Dish: Summertime Spinach Salad
“I have to be honest here and tell you that this recipe is courtesy of my sister-in-law, Ros Scott. I love this salad for many reasons: it is colourful, quick to prepare, super healthy and the dressing is to die for!
There are a number of ingredients in this recipe that are part of the top 100 healthiest foods list. First of all, we have the fresh local spinach that is readily available at markets this time of year. Spinach is among the top greens for folate, and it contains high amounts of vitamin A, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, and selenium, which offers antioxidant protection and supports thyroid function.” See recipe here
Island Dish: Spring Fettucine
Spring Fettucini, Seaside Magazine
“When I think of spring, lamb and asparagus come to mind! The Galloping Goose Sausage Co. in Metchosin makes excellent herbed lamb sausages. They are gluten- , MSG- and preservative free. We are fortunate here at the Deep Cove Market to be able to carry fresh asparagus from Raphael at Guités Farm on Oldfield Road. I’m a big fan of easy one-dish meals, so I have combined a number of items I carry here at the Market into one entrée. This dish could easily become gluten free by substituting the pasta with a rice pasta or quinoa. I also think the lemon cooking sauce would pair nicely with chicken if you are not a lamb fan. We carry farm-fresh, free-range, antibiotic-free chicken from Kildonan Farms located right here in North Saanich. I am also a huge lover of Greek food, so I combined the lemon and lamb with peppers, onions and feta. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! ” See recipe …
North Saanich Flavor Trails Celebration Weekend! Explore and Experience the Tastes of the Saanich Peninsula!
August 27 & 28 – 14 venues hosting special activities ranging from farm gate tastings to winery and orchard tours, from sheep shearing demonstrations to scare crow making, authentic Thai cooking to a pig roast.
Printer-Friendly Flavour Trails Brochure and Map
Facebook • Instagram • Twitter
Stop in at the Oh-So-Celiac-Friendly Deep Cove Market!
10940 West Saanich Road (near Wain Road) • 250-656-2547 • Mon-Fri 7am to 7:30pm Sat-Sun 8:am to 7:30pm
Deep Cove Market • Facebook • Instagram • deepcovemarket@shaw.ca
Deep Cove Market has been serving celiacs for more than 15 years with the most eclectic selection of gluten-free products that Vancouver Island has to offer. Trust Deep Cove to carry the brands that are impossible to find at major retailers – honouring independent celiac manufacturers who are dedicated to supporting us – one kitchen to another.
A first and last stop shop for locals and tourists alike. Minutes from Schwarz Bay Ferry Terminal as you arrive or a last stop before heading to Vancouver or the Gulf Islands, you’ll be sure to leave with items you won’t find anywhere else.
An ideal destination for a Sunday drive or bicycle trip from Sidney or even Victoria. Be welcomed with wide verandahs, aisles jam-packed with goodies and shaded, picnic seating in a beautifully landscaped garden.
NOTE: While Deep Cove Market offers to make sandwiches with gluten-free bread, the risk of cross contamination with gluten ingredients is high in the close confines of their kitchen.
A Small Business at the Heart of the Community
Rosemary Scott, Seaside Magazine
“The Deep Cove Market is not your typical convenience store. A destination for foodies, it’s a charming country market nestled in North Saanich that has become, through much hard work, a gem of a meeting place for the community.
After the Deep Cove Farm on Wain Road was retired, I wanted to provide locals like myself with a place to meet over breakfast, lunch or lattes and have a place to shop that supports our local farming community. If you want locally raised lamb, beef, poultry and eggs, it’s a place worth visiting. 10 years ago, with no grocery experience whatsoever … more
Deep Cove 10th Anniversary Feature Review in the Peninsula News, March 2015.
“Walk into Deep Cove Market and the first thing you’ll notice is the abundance of smiling faces. With the smell of fresh coffee lingering in the air, the charming wood plank floor and woven baskets of produce capping off the aisles, it’s easy to see why the shoppers are in a good mood. There’s a quaint feeling of discovery that permeates the shop, as though the perfect ingredient is waiting just around the corner. “I’ve tried to offer a lot of organic products and local products. In the summer, we try to have 100 per cent local produce,” she said. “We try to make the choices really interesting, besides regular grocery, we try to have a lot of specialty items just to make it more fun for the consumer.” That includes spending sometimes hours on the internet trying to track down a supplier if a customer has made a special request, said Waddington, always prioritizing local first” … more
Rosemary is a frequent (gluten-free) recipe contributor to Sidney’s Seaside Magazine.
Here are just a few of her best!
Tomato Jam, recipe by Rosemary Scott
Island Dish: Tomato Jam
“What is tomato jam? It’s a thick, intensely tomato-flavoured condiment that is delicious enough to
- spread on your favourite burger (you’ll never use ketchup again)
- serve up on a fresh (gluten-free) baguette
- toast point with cheese
- toss into pasta with some fresh parmesan shavings
- add to your homemade soup to elevate it to a whole new level
- eat it all by itself right out of the jar. It should come with a warning on the label: “highly addictive.”
Summertime Spinach Salad, Seaside Magazine
Island Dish: Summertime Spinach Salad
“I have to be honest here and tell you that this recipe is courtesy of my sister-in-law, Ros Scott. I love this salad for many reasons: it is colourful, quick to prepare, super healthy and the dressing is to die for!
There are a number of ingredients in this recipe that are part of the top 100 healthiest foods list. First of all, we have the fresh local spinach that is readily available at markets this time of year. Spinach is among the top greens for folate, and it contains high amounts of vitamin A, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, and selenium, which offers antioxidant protection and supports thyroid function.” See recipe here
Island Dish: Spring Fettucine
Spring Fettucini, Seaside Magazine
“When I think of spring, lamb and asparagus come to mind! The Galloping Goose Sausage Co. in Metchosin makes excellent herbed lamb sausages. They are gluten- , MSG- and preservative free. We are fortunate here at the Deep Cove Market to be able to carry fresh asparagus from Raphael at Guités Farm on Oldfield Road. I’m a big fan of easy one-dish meals, so I have combined a number of items I carry here at the Market into one entrée. This dish could easily become gluten free by substituting the pasta with a rice pasta or quinoa. I also think the lemon cooking sauce would pair nicely with chicken if you are not a lamb fan. We carry farm-fresh, free-range, antibiotic-free chicken from Kildonan Farms located right here in North Saanich. I am also a huge lover of Greek food, so I combined the lemon and lamb with peppers, onions and feta. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! ” See recipe …
