Vons/Pavillions No-Cook Cook-Off

A few weeks ago...hell, a few months ago, I participated in the very fun Vons/Pavillions No-Cook Cook-Off. I had a wonderful time schmoozing with my fellow contestants, shopping, prepping, and plating my Lime Chicken Tostadas with Cilantro Sour Cream. And even thought I didn't win (boo!), the Vons peeps hooked up all the contestants with a pretty sweet swag bag of cooking toys and a generous Vons gift card, which I eagerly used to throw a dinner party and then wondered a week later how I blew through that gift card so quickly (wine).

From what I gathered, Vons/Pavillions is undergoing a big ol' store remodel, and they're lowering prices. Plus, their customer service during this whole experience was and is fantastic (when spending my gift card, I was shopping there anonymously, not as a cook-off contestant running around the store like a madwoman).

While I had a great time throughout the event, I wouldn't be me if I didn't shine my Gluten Free love light on my perception of the newly remodeled Pavillions in Burbank. Since this was a no-cook cook-off, we were encouraged to use items from the pre-prepared foods section, which was beautiful and expansive. However, the only items I could spot that are gluten free are the Rotiserrie Chickens (which I used) and the Parmesan Risotto (bought it afterwards-it was good!). In a rush situation of having 10 minutes to shop, I would've spent all of my time reading ingredients and putting items back on the shelf if I didn't have an idea ahead of time of what I wanted to make. People with food allergies understand this. Always Be Prepared.

I would love to see Vons/Pavillions offer more Gluten Free items, maybe even devoting a little end cap to those items. There was a "health food" section with some old, tired Gluten Free flours and pastas, but they were placed right next to the "Vital Wheat Gluten," which smacks of someone who just decided to throw all of what appears to be "health foods" in one section, not realizing that "Gluten Free" and "Gluten" are the opposite, and placing them next to each other could actually risk cross-contaminating someone who is extremely sensitive to gluten. What winds up happening is that those people will shop at another store altogether because there are other stores who make more of an effort to be a one-stop-shop for Gluten Free/Celiac folks like myself.

If you do find yourself at a Vons or Pavillions, go immediately to the wine department and buy your favorites. The prices are comparable to Costco (the President of Vons told me this!), which is super smart. One thing we can all agree on is a damn fine wine department. Love it!