Tag Archives: dc

Good Things Sunday

Posted on July 24, 2011 | 4 comments

Some good things from this weekend:

1.  Floating down the Shenandoah River in a tube with a box of wine fun friends.

Complete with some gf traveling snacks in the form propel and coconut water (for hydration), an apple, string cheese, sweet potato chips, and gf pretzel sticks. Oh, and a Larabar, you know, just in case I got lost and needed it for survival.

2.  Awesome friends who bring you gluten free treats for the car ride.  And not just any gf treats, but a super tasty cookie from Hoff & Holmes.  I will be finding them at the Grey DC Market soon, because this cookie was buttery, chewy, and may turn you into a cookie monster.

Me want cookie

3.  The perfect way to start a morning. Coffee, crossword, and some tunes courtesy of Spotify.

Now off to bottomless mimosa brunch at Vinoteca.  Yes, life is good.

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Chocolate Fix: Firehook Bakery DC

Posted on June 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

After picking up a shirt from the dry cleaners that I sprayed with curry sauce when I got Thai food from Sticky Rice last weekend, I stopped into Firehook Bakery in Cleveland Park on a whim.

Usually I try to avoid bakeries because of their forbidden fruits and torturous smells.  But I thought I remembered something about them having gluten free options, so I figured I’d check it out.

The guy working there told me that they sometimes have brownies, but since they get all of their food delivered from the central Firehook bakery, they don’t have them all the time.

They did, however, have coconut macaroons.  Which are fine and dandy.  But the real star of their show are the chocolate-covered coconut macaroons.  Not ones with the chocolate mixed in, but covered in a layer of dark chocolate.

After waiting all of five minutes when I got home, I broke into it.  Um…amazing.  The chocolate is dark, but creamy, and the macaroon in the center is really moist.  Plus it’s the size of a tennis ball, which doesn’t hurt either.

If you wanted to make them yourself, I’m sure you could use this recipe tutorial which features a really awkward old people on Facebook interlude around the 2:00 mark… but why do that when the ones at Firehook are this good?

All Firehook Bakery Locations

3411 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20008
(202) 362-2253

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Redemption for Sticky Fingers Bakery – Cookie Win

Posted on June 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

After a less than impressive trip to Sticky Fingers Bakery for a cupcake, I decided to give them another shot this weekend.  This time I had a laser focus on getting a chocolate chip cookie.

When I got there, however, there were none to be found in the case.  Only those darned dry cupcakes.   But then I asked the nice girl there if they had any, and she quickly retrieved one from the back room (not sure why they weren’t out…)

So I forked over my $2.25 and headed out to peruse the farmers market. Nothing like looking at rows and rows of vegetables while eating something made of 80% sugar and butter 😉

This cookie provided redemption for any wrong that Sticky Fingers could have done in the past.  It was more crispy than I usually like my cookies (which is just a bit more baked than straight-up dough), but the flavor was great.  Chock-full of brown sugar and so buttery it immediately greased up the brown paper bag (yum?).  Plus it reminded me of those giant bakery cookies that are sold at Panera or Starbucks that I usually drool over.

I ate a big chunk off, and saved the rest for when I had coffee in hand later, for the dunkability factor.

Now I will give Sticky Fingers my stamp of approval.  Steer away from the cupcakes, but crash head on into the cookies.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

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Zengo

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last Friday I went to Zengo with a friend with the main objective of taking advantage of their $5 mojito happy hour.  Zengo describes itself as a “eclectic, energetic, and hip Latin-Asian restaurant,” and when I went I sampled a bit of each.

Off of their happy hour menu I got some edamame, which they must have smoked (?) or broiled because they came with a nice char on the outside.  There wasn’t much more on the happy hour menu that I was interested in (besides the mojitos, of course) so I asked for their gluten free menu.

Out came the “Arepas de Shitake” (with no hoisin sauce).  Mini cornmeal cakes with shitake mushrooms, guacamole and crema fresca, topped with a slice of some kind of pepper.

Next time I go back I’ll have to get the dulce de leche pudding because it sounds and looks amazing (chocolate caviar / gosling rum~plantain sauce, coconut macaroon)

Zengo

781 Seventh Street NW, Chinatown
Washington, DC 20001
Tel. 202.393.2929

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Sticky Fingers Bakery – DC

Posted on June 22, 2011 | 5 comments

Yesterday after work I needed to pick up some things in Cleveland Park, which conveniently has a gluten free bakery, Sticky Fingers.  Sticky Fingers is a vegan bakery, but they also have a full menu of savory dishes.

I was very excited to see on their menu that they serve gluten free bread and wraps, as well as gf pancakes on the weekends (before 2:30pm).

I think I’ll have to go back for lunch and try the black bean quesadilla, hummus wrap, or Mac n’ Teese (gluten free pasta and daiya cheese).  Their menu isn’t incredibly easy to navigate, since things aren’t marked clearly as gluten free, but they do provide a list of all the ingredients in their sweets online which is helpful.

Since it was dessert time, I was looking for something with sugar in it.  Unfortunately they sold out of their gluten free cookies for the day, so the only option was cupcakes.  They had three gf varieties, all with chocolate cake, and your choice of mint, vanilla, or chocolate frosting.

I nabbed a chocolate one with vanilla frosting, mostly because I’m a sucker for rainbow sprinkles.  They’re like edible confetti.

Now don’t get me wrong; it’s impressive that anyone can make a vegan cupcake taste good at all.  Sticky Fingers uses tofu in their chocolate batter, and soybeans, and a whole lot of other stuff that sounds complicated.  So I appreciate the work that they did that I didn’t have to.

However… this cupcake was no match for Red Velvet Cupcakery’s chocolate one.  The frosting was really good, but the cake itself was just so-so.  I only ended up eating half of it and throwing the rest out 😦

I’m looking forward to going back to Sticky Fingers to try their savory dishes and get my hands on one of those cookies.  The people there were super nice and helpful, and I’m excited that there is even an option within walking distance of my apartment.

Sticky Fingers Bakery

1370 Park Rd NW
Washington DC 20010
(202) 299-9700

Order online

 

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Teaism DC – Fool me once

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Last weekend I had a lovely dinner and a movie lady date with a friend.  Dinner was at Teaism in Penn Quarter (they also have locations at Lafayette Park and Dupont Circle).  I was initially excited because they have a menu for dietary restrictions, some great reviews from a decade ago, and they were featured on Rachael Ray’s “40 Dollars a Day”.

I opted to get the shrimp ochazuke – a soup made with leftover brown rice, carrots, cabbage, and a big dollop of wasabi.  A pot of green tea comes on the side, which you pour over the main ingredients to make it soup.

Silly me – but I thought that there would be more to the soup than just what it looks like at face value.  But it tasted exactly like what it sounds like – brown rice with tea.  Hardly any flavor, except for the bit of heat from the wasabi – which I thought was kind of a weird addition anyway.

My friend got the salmon bento box, which looked wonderful, but sadly isn’t gluten free.  The tuna and veggie ones are though, with slight modification (no dressing on the tuna bento and no soy sauce on the veggie).  So, maybe I’ll try that next time.  Although there probably won’t be a next time, unless someone forces me.

Pic c/o wayfaringchocolate.wordpress.com

They were baking something in there that smelled like cinnamon amazingness, but none of their baked goods appeared to be gluten free 😦

Luckily watching Midnight in Paris made me forget about this forgettable meal, plus a little Pitango gelato for good measure.

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Gluten Free Pizza Quest – DC

Posted on June 10, 2011 | 9 comments

So excited to post my first official eating out entry from Washington DC!

When I moved to DC I knew that one of my first orders of business was to find some decent gluten free pizza, since that is one of my favorite things to eat out.   In NYC I tried a ton of pizza (Risotteria, Mozzarelli’s, Slice, Naked Pizza), and narrowed it down to Pala Pizza as my favorite.  The first place that I tried in DC was Ella’s Pizza.

Pluses = they have a number of unique toppings (caramelized onions, gorgonzola and rosemary), they have gluten free beer (Redbridge and St. Peter’s)

Minuses = when you add $2 for the gf crust, it can get expensive for a 10 inch pizza, so I would recommend sharing.  But the biggest minus is that the crust is kind of bready and soggy.  I know it seems odd to describe something gluten free as “bready”, but it was.  I prefer my pizza thin and chewy though, so if you like a thicker crust you may like it.

Ella's margherita pizza

We also got the mini eggplant, parmesan and ricotta rolls as an appetizer.  These were alright, I guess.  They tasted good, but nothing that’s going to blow your mind.

Ella's eggplant rolls

Now, the second place that I tried might be the overall winner – trumping Pala Pizza in a surprising underdog victory.  What is this drool-worthy pizza?

Open City

First of all, I love that you can eat outside here and enjoy a Redbridge with a scenic view.

They also have a lot of other gf options on their gf menu that look amazing – like the Grilled Salmon with Coconut creamed corn & sautéed spinach.

And lastly, every Wednesday night they have a Gluten Free Pizza Party (squeal like a little girl).  When all of their gluten free pizzas are half priced.

The pizza is truly to die for.  It’s one of those things that make you stop and question for a second if it could really be this good and gluten free.  Then you just forget about it, push that thought out of your head, and shove another piece in your mouth.

Next time I’ll have to take a better picture…

Phone picture fail

This time I got the Julienned Vegetable pizza with zucchini, squash, carrots, pesto, parmesan & mozzarella.  I shared it with a friend and I still had a piece left over to take home.  This one was great – very cheesy and a good amount of EVOO spread throughout.  The thing that I love about this pizza is that it has that really great crust that is a bit hard to bite through, and then takes awhile to chew thoroughly.  I asked for a side of marinara to dip in, and next time I think I’ll get a tomato based pie.  Plus then I can take a better quality picture 🙂

Update (8/2/2011):

I went back to Open City with the Gluten Free Grazer, and got a traditional cheese pie with broccoli added. Even though it was no doubt a healthier alternative, I still preferred the greasy and cheesy julienne vegetable one 🙂

 

Ella’s Pizza

901 F Street NW, Washington DC

Gallery Place, Chinatown Stop Yellow, Red & Green Lines

Open City

2331 Calvert St. NW

Woodley Park, Red Line Metro

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Gluten free in Washington D.C.

Posted on March 31, 2011 | 1 comment

I’ve been spending some time in Washington D.C. lately for work and found a few great spots for me to get some good eats.

McPherson Square

Devon and Blakely

Since we ordered one of those big corporate samdwich platters for lunch, I had to find an alternative.  So I wandered over to Devon and Blakely and was very happy to see that all of their soups were labeled as vegetarian and/or gluten free!  In fact, I was so happy that I got two kinds!  Fire roasted vegetable and white bean and escarole.

I also found out that there are a few Devon and Blakely’s in Midtown.  I’ll have to stop by the next time I play tour guide around Rockefeller Center.

ChurchKey

After dinner at Thai Tanic, a friend and I went to ChurchKey for some drinks.  They had an overwhelming number of beers, and at least four gluten free ones.  I stuck with a Redbridge, since I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous.  The vibe at this bar is frat-guys-after-work, but the huge selection is a definite draw.

Barcode

On my second night there I met up with a college friend after work for dinner at Barcode.  I got mussels, which come in a big saute pan, and an apricot fizz to drink. The apricot fizz was really strong (Makers Mark, housemade apricot nectar, black cherry soda, bitters, orange), and the mussels were good – lots of onions and tomatoes in the broth that would have been perfect to sop up with some bread 😦

Zaytinya

This is a great brunch spot with Greek and Turkish tapas (is that a cultural oxymoron?).  Since all of the dishes are smaller than usual, this place fed into my love of anything that’s exaggeratedly big or exaggeratedly small.  There was so much to choose from on their menu, but I landed on the mini omelette and the fava bean and squash soup.  Because who doesn’t love fava beans/secretly fear them because of Silence of the Lambs?

Mini

Although there weren’t as many convenient places to grab something gluten-free as there are in NYC, I did find some yummy eats in the capitol.  Next time I’m making it a point to go to Hello Cupcake or Red Velvet Cupcakery while I’m there.

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