Dining out has lost a bit of its gluten-y luster since my celiac diagnosis, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to still try my darnedest to get my eat on without having to pull out my special g-free flour mixture and making a mess of my kitchen. That gets old, and fast.

Before I was told if I continued to eat gluten I could die, Susan Feniger’s Street was one of my fave LA dining spots. Their creative mix of ingredients to re-create street food from around the world is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, or tasted. Street is where it’s at, and that is that. Until I had to stop eating the gluten. Sigh.

However, Street surprised me by being so totally celiac-friendly, even while breaking my heart about not being able to eat their braised short ribs or sashimi. Hooray for nice restaurant people!

If you’ve been lucky enough to dine at Street, you know their Kaya Toast (as seen above) is a mess of egg, soy, and coconut jam goodness that is difficult to describe, yet heavenly to shove into your gullet. I knew I’d be missing out on that delicacy, but was even more devastated when I discovered their rice battered fried chicken (I so thought I was winning that one!) also had soy in the recipe. Damn that soy sauce! But the reason I had all of this specific information is because the second I said “celiac” the waitress pulled out a detailed list of what I could eat at Street. She really did.

I wanted to kiss her, even though my options were suddenly limited. Because even with my small list of menu items to choose from, there wasn’t a bad dish in the bunch. What makes Street even more rad? The amuse bouche thing (which is delicious and grainy and sweet, and I have no idea what it is) they always bring out, recently changed its recipe specifically to be gluten-free. I can’t believe my luck that one of my favorite pre-diagnosis restaurants is now one of the most gluten-free friendly places in the neighborhood. Even if you aren’t avoiding gluten — especially if you aren’t avoiding gluten, ‘cuz you’ve got to try their brioche bun — you should frequent Street. You’ll see me there drooling over the smashed potatoes and saag paneer.

Image via Street