Lilac Montecito

A case where gluten free is the baseline, not the exception

Everything in the case is gluten free, and that is the premise rather than a footnote. The Montecito counter carries the cakes, tarts, cookies and loaves that Alam and Gillian Muralles have been baking under the Lilac Pâtisserie name in Santa Barbara for more than a decade, and the two rooms run as one operation: some pastry is finished on site, the rest arrives each morning from the dedicated gluten free kitchen downtown. Gillian, who bakes and decorates, is coeliac, which explains why the programme is built the way it is. No wheat flour enters the production at all, so nothing on the shelf needs an asterisk and nothing reads as a substitute for a version you are not being given. The house line, “Fine Food First, Gluten-Free Second,” describes the order of priorities accurately.

Cakes to order, pastry to eat standing up

Two things happen at this counter. The first is walk-in pastry: the morning case, cookies, tarts and sliced loaves, with coffee and tea to go alongside. The second is the celebration work, which is the older half of the business and the more technical one. Lilac builds decorated layer cakes to order, including wedding tiers, chocolate cakes and smaller sweetheart cakes. That is unusual for a gluten free kitchen, because decorated cake punishes a weak crumb more than almost anything else; a sponge that has to hold buttercream, stack and travel cannot hide behind a good filling. The savoury side leans on the same pastry skill. Quiche and sandwiches built on house bread are the clearest proof that the flour blend works structurally and not just sweetly.

Start with whatever came out of the downtown kitchen

Ask what arrived that morning first. The daily delivery from the Santa Barbara kitchen is the freshest thing in the room and the best measure of the bake, and it changes, so the case is a better guide than any fixed recommendation. After that, the cake slices are the signature: they carry the decorating work the family is known for, and a slice tells you whether a whole one is worth ordering for an occasion. Lilac has been named one of USA Today's ten best artisanal bakeries in North America, and the recognition is for the baking rather than for the dietary label. If you are buying for a table that includes people who eat gluten and people who do not, this is the rare counter where you do not have to buy twice.