Carluccio’s Do A Gluten-Free Crostini
This week, Carluccio’s have a gluten-free crostini on the special menu.

Carluccio’s Do A Gluten-Free Crostini
It is all about garlic, mushrooms and rocket.
It made a nice change as a starter.
Incidentally, the Carluccio’s in Islington now has wi-fi. And like the system in Manchester Piccadilly, it is easy to connect to it.
An Ideal Job For A Coeliac!
Something seems to be stirring at Romeo’s Gluten Free Bakery On Upper Street in Islington.
A notice has appeared saying that they are hiring.

An Ideal Job For A Coeliac!
They also gave a web site address, which appears to be as they say still being cooked.
Eurostar Go For The East Coast Franchise
I have noticed that Eurostar are bidding to run the trains to the North and Scotland from Kings Cross.
I do hope that if they do run it, they bring the excellent gluten-free food from their continental services.
Lots Of Taxis But No Buses
I felt hungry, so I felt the best thing to do was move on towards Manchester, as there didn’t appear any good coffee or gluten-free snacks. This greeted me as I walked back to Preston station.

Lots Of Taxis But No Buses
Is this the cause of the city’s bus problems at the rail station? Moving the taxi rank to the side would allow buses to call at the station properly. But then rule one in planning traffic around railway stations and city centres is not to annoy the taxi drivers. and as I suspect many taxis are driven by ethnic minorities, rule two is not to annoy ethnic minorities.
But something must be done in Preston to make the city centre more viable. With a proper interchange at the station, it might encourage the use of buses to get to the outlying towns around the city. At present I suspect, that you have no excuse but to drive.
As a coeliac, Preston is a place, I wouldn’t put on a list of places to change trains. the only restaurant I know there, that I’d trust to do gluten-free well is Pizza Express.
The best thing about Preston was the train I took to Huyton.
Ready Meals
I have just realised I’ve not eaten a shop-bought pre-prepared ready meal for about five to six weeks now. I have had a couple of cartons of soup for lunch, as I’m trying to keep my liquid levels up.
Usually, I cook something from scratch.
On the other hand, I was looking around my local Sainsburys in Dalston, yesterday and there seemed to be some frozen ready meals from a company called Kirstys.
The range is shown here.
If I’m late and need a meal urgently, I might try one.
Spicy Ginger Crunchy Cookies From Kent And Fraser
I bought these Kent and Fraser biscuits in the Waitrose in the Brunswick Centre.

Spicy Ginger Crunchy Cookies From Kent And Fraser
They were delicious and a real surprise.
They were also very good for dunking.
Crushed Walnuts Everyone?
Around the corner from me is a walnut tree.

Crushed Walnuts Everyone?
It looks like there has been a good crop this year, but most have been crushed or eaten.
A Gluten Free Breakfast On Virgin Trains
I went to Liverpool today on the 08:07 Virgin train from Euston. I was in First and got this gluten free breakfast as part of the ticket.

A Gluten Free Breakfast On Virgin Trains
It came with lots of tea and an orange juice, and very good it was too! Sadly, I think it is only served Monday to Friday until 09:59, as I reported here.
The scrambled egg was particularly nice and was some of the best I’d had that wasn’t home cooked or in a top class hotel. It certainly gave the impression that it was freshly cooked and hadn’t been stewing for a couple of hours.
An interesting point on the price of train tickets is that it cost me £42.90 to go up in First and £25.50 to come back in Standard. So my comfortable seat, breakfast and extra tea, cost me £17.40.
Carluccio’s Gluten Free Bread Is In The Soup!
I had soup for lunch in Carluccio’s one day this week.

Carluccio’s Gluten Free Bread Is In The Soup!
The gluten free bread made excellent croutons.
