When you have a child with celiac disease, eating out in Bucharest turns from a matter of taste into a risk assessment. Most places have a small, discreetly marked section with two or three “adaptable” options – a salad without croutons, a pizza with a “special” crust ordered a day in advance. We arrived at Mimosas without high expectations, more out of necessity than curiosity. Instead, we found a restaurant where the entire menu, from the first page to the last, is gluten-free, with no separate lists – and with the strange feeling that, at some point during the meal, I actually forgot about it and simply enjoyed some incredibly delicious food, almost too good to be gluten-free.

There is, however, one important point for people with celiac disease. The team at Mimosas explained to us that some of the flours they use carry a label stating that they are packaged in facilities where products containing gluten are also packaged. This is precisely why the restaurant describes itself as gluten-free, rather than as a restaurant specifically dedicated to people with celiac disease. It is something that anyone who needs to avoid gluten should take into account before ordering.

We sat outside on the terrace, in a simple but welcoming setting. Through a large window beside us, we could see the entire kitchen in motion: steam rising from pans, hands turning corn on the grill, trays coming out of the oven at just the right moment, like a show no one was trying to hide. Seeing everything gave me, without my even realizing it at first, a kind of peace of mind I hadn’t felt in a long time while eating out. For the first time in a long time, I could order a sauce without wondering whether it might contain gluten (and parents of children with celiac disease know that feeling very well).

Like any child tired of having to say no to bread, my son went straight for the burger. I was surprised by the bun: round, with clear grill marks and a layer of seeds on top – pumpkin and black sesame – baked to a deep golden-brown. I was even more surprised when I broke it apart and it didn’t crumble all over the table or stick to the roof of the mouth, as gluten-free bread so often does, ending up either too crumbly or, at the other extreme, rubbery. I watched him eat without stopping to ask any questions, without that familiar hesitation before taking the first bite in a new place.

I chose the avocado toast and, when it arrived, I felt I could have eaten it with my eyes: a splash of intense green, with the yolks of the two poached eggs peeking through here and there in bright yellow, spread over a dense slice of bread that, unlike many gluten-free versions I have tried over the years, didn’t fall apart into crumbs at the first touch of the fork.

We also ordered chia pudding with berries and, for dessert, a tiramisu, along with two small scoops of ice cream, vanilla and strawberry. Having celiac disease and finding a gluten-free tiramisu in a restaurant is no small thing.

I had forgotten how good it feels not to be the kind of customer who asks for a separate menu, who has questions about every dish and looks at the waiter hoping the answer will be the right one. We were simply a family out for brunch, ordering whatever we wanted, just like everyone else around us, with no separate list and no explanations needed beforehand.

I don’t know if the people at Mimosas realize how much that detail matters to someone like us, but I hope they keep doing exactly what they are doing now, because in Bucharest, a place with an entirely gluten-free menu is, unfortunately, still a rarity.

We found Mimosas at 13 Puțul lui Zamfir Street, Sector 1. Opening hours: Monday–Thursday 8:00–16:30, Friday 8:00–18:00, Saturday 9:00–18:00, Sunday 12:00–18:00.