Featured Review

May 2008

The Best Gluten-Free Food Available in Vancouver — and Maybe Available to YOU, too!

Welcome to GlutenFreeTravelSite.com! Each month we'll highlight an especially useful travel review as the Featured Review of the Month. This month, we’re showcasing a gluten-free cafe and bakery in Vancouver, British Columbia that one of our reviewers has been frequenting for years. For those of you who live nowhere near Vancouver — and don’t have plans to travel there, either — you can still savor their wonderful creations, since they ship their gluten-free specialties to many locations, including throughout the United States.

5.0 Palms	Panne Rizo Bakery, Deli and Cafe
Review Type:	Restaurant
Location:	1939 Cornwall Ave, Vancouver, BC, V6J 1C8
Phone:	(604) 736-0885
Website:	pannerizo.com
Trip Type:	Family vacation
Travel Dates:	2001-2006 (Various)
Review Posted:	Apr 03, 2008

Looking for the best gluten free food in Vancouver? Check out Panne Rizo, an entirely gluten free bakery/deli/cafe in a residential neighborhood only minutes away from the major hotels in downtown Vancouver.

Panne Rizo, in the Kitsilano area just across the Burrard Street Bridge, features an amazing selection of soups, sandwiches and bakery goods. With more than a dozen types of cookies and 10 different kinds of muffins, Panne Rizo clearly has something for everyone. My personal sandwich favorite is the Grilled Panini Sandwich on Rosemary and Scallion Foccacia with Turkey and Cheese. I also like their individual pizzas which they heat and serve. Choices include Zucchini & Sun Dried Tomato or Mushroom & Red Pepper. For dessert, I recommend a muffin or two...or three...try Banana-Chocolate-Chip; Blueberry-Lemon-Poppyseed, or Carrot-Walnut. The other seven choices are also yummy. If time and your appetite permit, enjoy a Gramma's Cinnamon Dot with a steaming pot of loose leaf tea, perfect if the weather is chilly. If the weather is good, grab a few things to go and walk four blocks down to Kitsilano Beach. There you can enjoy a gluten free picnic at one of Vancouver's best beaches.

I initially became acquainted with Panne Rizo when my wife and I travelled to Vancouver to run the Marathon. (The marathon route passes right in front of Panne Rizo). They make some of the very best gluten free pizzas, sandwiches, and desserts I've ever tasted in 21 years of being a Celiac. I initially discovered some of their wonderful products at Capers Market in Vancouver, then found their bakery/cafe the next day.

The fact that so many non-celiac Vancouverites eat at Panne Rizo further attests to the quality of their products. Upon entering Panne Rizo for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the variety of foods on display. Not knowing that everything was gluten free, I simply asked which were. Imagine my great surprise when the owner behind the counter said, "Everything we make is gluten free." My initial reaction was, for a fraction of a second, one of stunning disbelief; I had hoped that this cornucopia of gluten free treats tasted as good as it looked. Since it was, Panne Rizo can only be described as a "gluten free Nirvana".

In addition to Capers Market you can find their products in Whole Foods, Salt Spring Nature Works, LivNWell, Planet Organic (in Victoria), or order online--they deliver to US addresses. The owners allow no contaminating grains in the kitchen and everything they make is gluten free. The variety and quality of all the gluten free food will put a wide smile on any celiac's face. Even my wife, (not a celiac), enjoys their healthy food and says she can't tell the difference.

For a real treat, pack a Panne Rizo gluten free picnic with a bottle of wine and head for beautiful Stanley Park, also minutes away from downtown. There, in the shadow of the Redwoods and overlooking English Bay, you can see for miles out to the Strait of Georgia, all the way to Vancouver Island and watch as the ships come and go under the mighty Lion's Gate Bridge.

If you're headed to Vancouver, put Panne Rizo on your plans. You won't be disappointed!!