If a sign reads "gluten-free," it's safe to assume that someone is either selling gluten for zero nickels or celebrating the delayed emancipation of the lone citizen in the land of Glute. Viva la evolution of eating with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of groceries at stellaLucy Gluten-Free Market. This deal is good at the San Clemente location.
After her husband was diagnosed with celiac disease, Josie Rietkerk decided she'd had enough of frustrating gluten-free food hunting and opened a grocery overflowing with more than 5,000 gluten-free products, as well as a large supply of casein-free grocery items. The store packs pantries with staples such as bread ($3.72–$7.47), cereal ($1.09–$7.99), and dairy alternatives ($1.89–$6.34) including almond and hemp milk ($2.68-$4.43). Specialty items grant everyone with gluten allergies more flavorful dinner options than the usual pizzas drawn on raw onion slices with a Sharpie. Though once assumed to be as rare as a fruit fly's leap-year birthday, a wheat-free Italian dinner of Andean Dream quinoa pasta ($4.40) and Cucina pasta sauce ($6.15) is as delectable as it is easy to prepare. Annie's rice pasta mac 'n' cheese ($3.10) will make gluten-intolerant tykes cheese from ear to ear, and it even comes in a blue box. The bright little store also stocks a ton of cookies, pizza crusts, and canned goods, along with frozen items and gluten-free beer.
Smaller than a regular big-box store with 10 times the charm, stellaLucy has organized its limited space into an aesthetically pleasing and easy-to-maneuver setup. Dozens of cookbooks($14–$29.50) fill a painted bookcase and will come in handy for those new to the gluten-less lifestyle. To help the earth shed a layer of plastic-bag skin, customers are asked to bring their own shopping bags.
Reviews
Four Yelpers give the San Clemente location of stellaLucy Gluten-Free Market an average of 3.5 stars:
- I found a HUGE selection of gluten-free foods. – Guadda-Sheryl G., Yelp,1/28/11
stellaLucy Gluten-Free Market
Once upon a frustrated Friday, the futile hunt for gluten-free foods began to upset the stomach and mind of Josie Rietkerk. Shortly thereafter, with wellness and diversity in mind, Rietkerk opened stellaLucy Gluten-Free Market in a modestly sized, 1,000-square-foot space. Since then, she's managed to expand the space, now carrying thousands of grocery items devoid of gluten, plus a wide assortment of casein- and Kryptonite–free goods.