For those of us that don’t live in London, it’s easy to feel a bit left out when it comes to fully gluten free restaurants and cafés.

Thankfully, the good people at the Newark Artisan Gluten Free Bakery and Café have come to the rescue of East Midlands-based coeliacs!

I first heard about Artisan at last year’s Lincolnshire Gluten Free Food Fair where the team had a stall selling their freshly baked gluten free breads and cakes. Only living around half an hour away from Newark I was pretty excited to hear about them!

Soon after as a birthday treat I booked in for afternoon tea at the café. As first impressions go, this was a good one..

What really impressed me was that everything is freshly made in their dedicated gluten free bakery. No underwhelming sarnies on shop-bought bread here! Everything was so delicious that it’s hard to pick a favourite. However the mini battenburg was a real treat and not something that I’ve ever seen gluten free before.

Run by husband and wife team Ged and Wendy, with baking from Stephen (follow @glutenfreestee on Instagram to see his creations!), there’s a welcoming feel to Artisan. Inside it’s a really cosy space and if you’re lucky enough to visit on a sunny day there’s also outdoor seating which makes you feel like you could be in Barcelona!

While the café is an amazing shout for an indulgent afternoon tea as a treat, they are also open daily for breakfast, lunch, coffee and more gluten free cakes than you can shake your proverbial stick at. As well as all this they host a number of themed nights on Saturday evenings offering menus as diverse as tapas, Indian and Greek.

I recently returned to the café for lunch with the Coeliac Mama. We went for paninis (tuna melt and ham, brie and cranberry) followed by a dreamy caramel bite washed down with a gluten free San Miguel. All absolutely gorgeous!

It really does blow me away every time I visit. Having grown up with coeliac disease I can still remember a time when literally no restaurants offered a gluten free menu. It still feels like such a novelty to go somewhere which is completely gluten free.

Knowing that you can eat anything off the menu and it won’t make you ill may sound like a pretty basic requirement when eating out, but this peace of mind is worth a lot when living with coeliac disease.

I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough! If you’re ever in the area, be sure to check it out.

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