You don't appreciate the beauty of a gluten-free restaurant until you don't have one. Actually, that's not true. As soon as I needed a GF restaurant, I realized I'd been eating at one for a couple years without knowing it. And I appreciated the hell out of them instantly.
That's what's so cool about Craft Kafé. You don't even realize its spread doesn't have gluten. And that, my friends, is about the highest compliment one can pay gluten-free food: It doesn't taste like ass.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not going to lie to you and say everything here tastes the same as their gluten-filled counterparts (ask El Cap about a particularly unpleasant experience with their "pancakes"). I will say that what I ate there before I realized no gluten darkened their doorstep gave me no indication I was "living GF," as the kids like to say.
Here's what happened. I interviewed for the CL job — the one I currently have — with David Warner, who suggested we meet at West St. Petersburg's Craft Kafé because he'd been meaning to try it. I ordered quiche, not realizing the crust lacked gluten (I reference my first #BecauseGluten column as evidence that, had I known I was getting a quiche with gluten-free crust, I wouldn't have ordered it. In fact, had I realized I was meeting David at a GF restaurant, I would've suggested eating elsewhere and perhaps reconsidered the job altogether).
Poised to open a second location at 200 Central Ave. (the former home of Patanegra) over the summer, Craft Kafé is a comfy, neighborhood coffee shop and bakery, the kind where it's easy to work and relax or meet a friend. The decor's well thought-out and created by local artist Ron Francis (check out the bathroom doors), who has some cool stuff in Buddy Brew Coffee and was commissioned for work in downtown St. Pete's Salvador.
I had no clue Craft Kafé served only GF eats because there was no sign over the door touting its gluten-free-ness… and, again, the food is good. In my experience, the only GF food that tastes good is stuff that isn't designed to include gluten — like meat, cheese, fruits and veggies. Gluten-free quiche? Go fuck yourself.
At least, that's what I said before I started making myself at home.
The shop serves salads, pastries, sandwiches, desserts and breakfast. I love their quiche second-best-of-all, and my absolute favorite is the rolo cake, which isn't available every day (but really, really should be).
I asked the founder, Teddy Skiadiotis, about his decision to open a gluten-free restaurant. A strict gluten-free diet, while a necessity for some of us, is also a fad for people who want to lose weight/clear up their skin/sound cool, and when that fad passes, how will GF eateries survive?
Skiadiotis isn't banking on a fad, though he's not turning away those fad GF dieters. While he doesn't eat gluten — and is quick to shy away from saying he has celiac ("I felt so much better when I stopped" eating gluten, he tells me) — he is proud to say he mills many of his own "flours" (I'm sorry, I still can't consider anything without gluten a legit flour) and has dreams of expanding into other GF foodstuffs.
What would be really cool is if his family could use his products in their restaurants, too. They founded St. Pete Beach's Skidder's Restaurant and own Selene, also on St. Pete Beach, and Neptune Grill in Gulfport. Skiadiotis smiles when I suggest this, but says nothing.
Until then, I'm content to lounge on the couch and work while I eat quiche, drink chai lattes and hope the shop puts its rolo cake in steady rotation.
Email CL A&E Editor Cathy Salustri at cathy.salustri@cltampa.com.
This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.
