Davio's, where gluten-free meets gourmet

A sampler of spring rolls garnished with thin, crispy onion rings has looks to kill and tastes extraordinary. (The Lebanon Voice photos)

BOSTON - Eating at Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse is more like a culinary adventure than dining out.

With a gluten-free menu as extensive and exciting as I've ever seen, Davio's is the perfect place to satisfy those cravings for pasta and bread you've been holding stubbornly beneath your hankering palate for so long.

First, there's all kinds of made in-house fresh pasta creations, including penne as well as gluten-free gnocchi.

There's also gluten free panini, but enough about gluten free. There's delicousness aplenty for everyone.

When you first walk into their 75 Arlington St. restaurant the first thing you notice is the roomy and airy feeling with its high ceilings.

The service was first rate as you might expect, but what surprised me the most was the extensive gourmet gluten free offerings.

Chopped Romaine, Green Beans, Egg, Onion, Niman Bacon, Blue Cheese

It is pricey by Northern Seacoast standards, but when you're in Boston at a fine restaurant, not really the case. Pasta dishes at brunch start at $16 for the penne with fresh basil and San Marzano tomatoes.

I opted for a salad with chopped Romaine lettuce, green beans, egg, onion, Niman Bacon and blue cheese. Niman Ranch is a high-end meat wholesaler, where beef and pork is humanely raised, and it tastes it.

The diced bacon didn't do the intense and delicious flavor justice, but the rasher of bacon in Martha's build-your-own Bloody Mary did. Here's how it works: You order a Bloody Mary (around $15) and they come out with a cart carrying every conceivable garnish: the freshest, crispiest celery, carrots, olives, horseradish, others I can't remember and big, humongous rashers of bacon that include at least two thick slices: a meal in itself.

But back to my salad. It was impeccably built with all ingredients blending together in all their diced glory.

Meanwhile, Martha got the spring roll sampler, a collection of seven airy, light and succulent - but so small - creations. Just to get your mouth to watering, here's the lineup: Philly cheese steak spring roll with spicy ketchup and mayo, chicken parm spring roll with marinara, buffalo chicken spring roll with blue cheese, shrimp cotija spring roll with citrus aioli and a reuben spring roll with thousand island.

Warm gluten-free parmesan rolls are enough of a draw by themselves to give Davio's a try.

As an added bonus, knowing I was gluten free, the waitress was kind enough to bring me a basket of warm gluten-free parmesan rolls. Intimate share: I hadn't had a basket of warm rolls of any kind at a restaurant in more than 30 years.

Martha's spring roll sampler was $15, my salad was $12 and her bloody mary and my chardonnay were $15 and $10, respectively.

Short takeaway: The booze was as much as the food.

Long takeaway: This is a wonderful culinary experience that truly represents haute cuisine at its best.

Me: Five stars

Martha: Five stars

For more on Davio's, which also has restaurants in Foxborough, Chestnut Hill, Lynnfield, New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta, go to http://davios.com.