Gluten-Free Passover Grocery Jackpot

A few weekends ago, I made a trip to the local Shoprite near my mom's house in Plainview, NY. With Passover approaching, I knew I would find some gluten-free treats at the supermarket. Never did I expect to see so many new gluten-free products on the shelves. In years past, I would normally find one or two gluten-free marble cakes or maybe some gluten-free cupcakes. Now, I think just about every Passover item has a gluten-free counterpart.

Much of Long Island, New York and the surrounding tri-state area has a large Jewish population which makes some of this gluten-free Passover food so easy to find. If you don't have a good selection in your area, much of this food is now available for purchase online. Do a search on Google and see what you come up with! Now that we are in the middle of Passover, you might even be able to get some of these gluten-free items on sale.

The top gluten-free Kosher for Passover brands on the shelves that I found at Shoprite include: Yehuda, Manischewitz, Jeff Nathan Creations, Gefen, Streit's, Lieber, Oberlander, and Hagadda. Kedem either owns or is an exclusive agent for many of these brands. Visit the Kedem website for a VERY long list of gluten-free products.

So far, my favorite items have been the Jeff Nathan Gluten-Free Panko and the Yehuda Gluten-Free Matzoh. I have literally been eating the matzoh every day. Mind you, I don't even celebrate Passover. I was just excited to find new treats during this holiday season! Have you found any gluten-free Passover items that you are excited about this year?

Happy Passover to all of you who celebrate! 

Organics for All Comes to Astoria, Queens

Organics for All is a new health food store in a sea of cheap jewelry and clothing store on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens. This new store is a welcome addition to this otherwise unhealthy stretch of neighborhood that consists of at least five fast food restaurants and two sit-down restaurants.

Opening in October 2010, Organic for All owner Amir Shukurllaev recognized that neighborhood needed a place to buy organic and healthy foods including gluten-free food.

When you walk into Organics for All, you will first notice a juice bar and a deli counter. All of the deli meats are Applegate Farms, which are gluten-free and organic. There is also a very nice selection of organic fruits and vegetables which seem reasonably priced and fresh. As you continue through the store, you will come to the grocery section which includes snacks, flours, soups, rice, pasta, and more.

I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of gluten-free food at Organics for All. Amir said that the store is working with a nutritionist to help decide which food to put on the shelf. Since their grand opening, I would say Organics for All is doing a great job stocking up on gluten-free food.

Some of the gluten-free products and brands on the grocery shelves include: Schär, Nature’s Path cereals, Glutino, Enjoy Life, Mary’s Gone Crackers and Cookies, Pamela’s Products, Eden Organics, Glenny’s, Pacific Soups, TastyBite, Amy’s soups, Arrowhead Mills, coconut flour (this was a new-to-me-product), King Arthur flour mixes, Lundberg rice, and Gillian’s Pasta and Breadcrumbs.

In the frozen section, there were Amy’s Organics Meals, Garden Lite Souffles, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Original and Multigrain Bread, Soy Delicious desserts, and Van’s Gluten-Free Waffles. In the refrigerated section, Organics for All had Chobani yogurts, Bobbi’s Hummus, Applegate Farms sausages, and Evolve Kefir.

I am really impressed with the selection of products at Organics for All, especially the robust selection of gluten-free food. Owner Amir tells me they are still loading up the shelves and will happily order additional products if suggested by customers. This store is conveniently located less than one block from my house so I will most definitely be stopping in there frequently. In addition, Amir hopes to honor coupons and EBT soon but he is just working through logistics at the moment.

There are some grand opening specials that you can take advantage of today, so stop in. Be sure to let Amir know you heard about his store from Erin at Gluten-Free Fun!

Getting to Organics for All is easy. You can take the R or M train to Steinway Street and walk one and a half blocks; the store will be on your left. The Q101 also runs down Steinway Street so you can take that to either the 31st Ave or 30th Ave corners and walk to the store from there.

Organics for All doesn’t have a website yet, but as soon as it is ready I will share it with my readers. In the meantime, you can reach the store at organicsforall@gmail.com.

Organics for All
30-50 Steinway Street
Astoria, Queens
New York

Gluten-Free Shopping in NYC and the 5 boroughs

Thanks to a member of my NYC Celiac Disease Meetup Group I am happy to post this extensive list of gluten-free shopping in New York City, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. (Those are the five boroughs for those of you outside of NY.) This list is especially helpful to those visiting NY who don't want to eat at a restaurant for every meal. Please feel free to add any additions to the comments section of this posting.

ABOVE 42nd:
UPPER WEST SIDE: Fairway Market 2127 Broadway at 74th 6am-1am
UPPER WEST SIDE: Health Nuts, 2611 Broadway at 98th Street
HARLEM: Fairway Market 2328 12th Ave. 8am-11pm
HELL'S KITCHEN: Westerly Market 8th Ave. & 54th Street, til midnight
HELL'S KITCHEN: Amish Market, 9th Ave. btw 49th and 50th, 7am-9:30
MIDTOWN EAST: Health Nuts, 2nd & 45th Street
MIDTOWN EAST: Amish Market, 240 E. 45th St, 7am-9:30
UPPER EAST: Health Nuts, 2nd & 63rd Street
UPPER EAST: [unknown name], 75th and 1st, til 7pm
UPPER EAST: HealthSource, 69th and 2nd Ave,
UPPER EAST: HealthSource, 57th and 2nd Ave
UPPER EAST: Natural Frontier Market, 83rd and 3rd
UPPER EAST: Matter of Health, 1st Ave at 77th st., til 8pm weekdays, til 6pm weekends
COLUMBUS CIRCLE: Whole Foods, Time Warner Center

BELOW 42nd:
MIDTOWN: HealthSource, 120 E. 34th & Lexington
UNION SQUARE: Trader Joes, 142 E. 14th Street, 9am-10pm
UNION SQUARE: Whole Foods, 40 E. 14th Street
CHELSEA: Whole Foods, 250 7th ave.
EAST VILLAGE: Whole Foods, 95 East Houston
WEST VILLAGE: Health and Harmony, 470 Hudson
MURRAY HILL: Natural Frontier Market, 22rd and 3rd
SOHO/TRIBECA: Earth Matters, 177 Ludlow
SOHO/TRIBECA: 53 Park Place, btw Church and W. Broadway 6:30-10pm
DOWNTOWN/FINANCIAL: 17 Battery Place, 6am-10pm

BROOKLYN:
RED HOOK: Fairway Market, 480-500 Van Brunt Street, 8am-10pm
PARK SLOPE: Back To The Land, 7th Ave and Carroll
PARK SLOPE: Everybody Eats, 3rd and Caroll
PARK SLOPE: Traditions, 465 5th Ave between 10th and 11th
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS: Perelandra, 175 Remsen Street
SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG: Sunac Natural Food, 440 Union Ave. (btw Devoe and Keap)
BOROUGH PARK: Coluccio & Sons; Wholesale/Retail Italian Grocers 1218 60th St., Brooklyn, NY. Tel.: 718-436-6700.
KENSINGTON/FLATBUSH: Flatbush Food Co-op, 1318 Cortelyou Rd, 718-284-9717
SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG: Josefs Gluten Free, 194 South 8 Street, Brooklyn NY 11211

QUEENS:
FLUSHING: Queens Health Emporium, 159-01 Horace Hardin Expressway
BAYSIDE: Health Nuts, Bay Terrace Shopping Center
ASTORIA: Broadway Health Foods, Broadway at 30th Street
ASTORIA: Astoria Natural Center, 4103 31st Avenue
ASTORIA: Sai Organics, 3607 30th Avenue
GLENDALE/MIDDLE VILL./FOREST HILLS: Amish Market, Atlas Park Mall, 8000 Cooper Ave.
KEW GARDENS: Linda's Organic Kitchen and Market, 81-22 Lefferts Blvd A, 718-321-2088

STATEN ISLAND:
Family Health Foods, 177 New Dorp Ln.
Family Health Foods, 604 Forest Ave.
Family Health Foods, 1789 Victory Blvd.
Family Health Foods, 7001 Amboy Road