Gluten-Free Dinner at Log Haven

Log Haven has been on our list of restaurants to try for quite some time. It's in Millcreek Canyon, where we often hike in the summer and fall, so we pass by it often.

I don't think it turns up in any of the places I usually go to find gluten-free restaurants, but they do have a gluten-free menu. In fact, it's one of the best laid-out gluten-free menus I've ever seen. At first it's a little confusing, but what they've done is highlight everything that isn't gluten-free. From there, you can pick something that is completely gluten-free, or check to see if substitutions are available. Either way, there are plenty of choices, and the staff is very careful with cross-contamination.

Since it was a special night, we split a half-bottle of pinot noir that was slightly above our normal price range for a full-size bottle at a restaurant (making it doubly nice). And since it was a half-bottle, there wasn't too much wine.

Mike and I shared the Alpine Nachos, which is the restaurant's signature appetizer.They were amazing, although the portion was a little big - we we should have gone with the "taste" portion, which was available for all the appetizers.  Instead of your typical nacho chips, the chips were potato chips, topped with forest mushrooms, smoked proscuitto, and Raclette cheese. Let's just say that if the meal had ended there, I would have been completely satisfied.

But the meal went on, and I wasn't disappointed. Next we had the Baby Romaine salad, dressed with the creamy poblano-lime vinaigrette and shaved parmesan. We had them leave off the almonds since I'm allergic to them. I thought the salad was perfect - the dressing really was spot-on - but Mike wasn't that impressed.

Our main course was taking a little while, so the waiter whose name I have shamefully forgotten brought out little scoops of cherry sorbet in frosted martini glasses. Even though I don't eat cherries (I think I'm allergic), I hadn't told the waiter that and it was a kind gesture just the same. For the record, Mike gobbled up both his and my sorbet in no time, so it must have tasted good.

For the main course, Mike had the steak with aligot potatoes, broccoli, onion marmalade, and Shiraz reduction. It was all wonderfully cooked. I had the smoked duck, which came with poblanos, Beehive Habanero Cheddar, mango salsa, and chipotle butter. It was also supposed to come with hand-cut serrano chile pasta, which I had asked to be left off so the dish would be gluten-free. But the culinary staff thought it wouldn't be enough food to count as a main course and rustled up some gluten-free pasta for me! The dish was just a touch too spicy for me, but still quite delicious. And there were enough leftovers for me to have the next day (with some plain cheese to temper the spice):

We didn't save room for dessert, but all in all ,we were very pleased with our experience at Log Haven and can't wait to go back again!


P.S.  Did I mention that the dining room overlooks a waterfall? And that they had a live pianist the night we were there? And that our waiter was awesome? All contributed wonderfully to the ambiance.