Eating Out and Gluten-Free in D.C. Part II: Java Green

The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I discovered Teaism and their gluten-free menu. We just returned from another visit--and, oh, were the azaleas gorgeous! No Teaism this time, as delicious as it was during my last trip. I was hunting for new gluten-free territory, and I found it at Java Green, a downtown cafe on 19th, near K St.

After a morning at the National Portrait Gallery, we headed over to Java Green. The Science Teacher raised his eyebrows when I told him, somewhat sheepishly, that it was a (mostly) vegan cafe. He has nothing against vegan food, but having worked summers at a camp with a not-terribly-good macrobiotic chef, he maintains a healthy skepticism towards it. However, he loves to eat out and loves it even more when I get excited about eating out, so he was game.

We arrived and the place was fairly busy, but it was around 1 p.m. so we were able to order and find seats without waiting too long. The menu is large and consists of paninis, wraps, noodle and rice bowls, salads, and huge selection of blended juices and smoothies. They also only use wheat-free soy sauce! Kaveat: nothing on the menu is designated "gluten-free," but there are a number of items labeled "wheat-free" (their online menu doesn't indicate the wheat-free options, but you can download their new menu, which does show the wheat-free dishes, at the bottom of their homepage). From what I can tell, beyond the obvious fact that a panini isn't gluten-free, some of the fake meat products or the sauces used on them contain wheat and some don't. The Science Teacher ordered sweet potato noodles with spicy mock chicken, which was not wheat-free; however, if he'd ordered it with the regular mock chicken, it would have been wheat-free.

I ordered the Silk Road (pictured above), a plate of baby spinach, steamed silken tofu, mock chicken in a sesame-soy dressing, carrots, cucumbers, and roasted nori. I was a little worried about the mock chicken, thinking about my favorite vegetarian sausage that I had to give up when I went gluten-free (isn't all of that stuff made with seitan??). I questioned the woman who took my order, and she went back to the kitchen to check. When she returned, she said it was only made of soy products. I was good to go! As you can see, the food was beautiful and fresh. It was also very tasty. I usually don't finish my restaurant meals, but I kept nibbling at the mock chicken until nothing was left on my plate. It was a pleasure to be able to order something "as is" from the menu.

Java Green also bills itself as an "eco" cafe. They compost the food waste and recycle their utensils, glass, and paper products. They use china dishes instead of disposable and biodegradable carry-out containers. They buy wind power to offset their carbon footprint and support a variety of eco-conscious, fair-trade organizations. You can eat gluten-free and support a business that's trying to act in an ecologically responsible manner!

The Science Teacher's sister told me that Java Green is also one of the few places that her kosher-keeping friends can eat downtown. Another plus!

Also, check out the DCGluties' post on Java Green and other information on their website about eating out gluten-free and finding gluten-free food in the D.C. area.

Stay tuned for reviews of gluten-free eating (in non-chain restaurants) in Vermont:

Kismet in Montpelier serves up gluten-free buckwheat crepes, wheat-free tamari, rice bowls, tamales, gluten-free bagels, and more. The owner's son has celiac so she knows what she's doing.

That's Life Soup in Montpelier always has gluten-free options, and they're labeled on the menu. They also usually have vegetarian and dairy-free soups. Call ahead though because the menu changes daily and sometimes they run out of some soups by dinner time.

The Skinny Pancake in Burlington offers up a complete menu of gluten-free crepes to nosh on as you listen to their great line up of musicians.

Eating Out and Gluten-Free in D.C.: Teaism

I don't like going out to eat as much as my husband does, but I do love to travel and traveling for any amount of time usually means eating out. Last February we took our first gluten-free trip to to Istanbul. I've always prided myself on packing ultra-light and being able to schlep my own bags on any mode of public transportation necessary so I was somewhat disheartened--I think I actually cried, silly as it seems--to have to take, what I considered, a large suitcase mostly full of rice cakes and peanut butter.

It turns out Turkey is a great place to go for gluten-free food, though. I took cards explaining my dietary restrictions in Turkish and handed them out wherever I ate. And eat I did. I ate broiled, whole, fresh-caught fish, I ate kebabs without pita, I ate simmered bean dishes. I ate badem (Turkish amaretti), lookum (Turkish delight), dried fruit, nuts, and lots of yogurt.

Dining in the U.S. is rarely as exciting. Case in point: my family and I went to an old favorite Lebanese restaurant in Washington, D.C. over the holidays. Normally the gluten-free options aren't bad: hummus, ful, stuffed grape leaves. I, however, had the flu. All I wanted was rice and OJ, which you'd think a Middle Eastern restaurant wouldn't have a problem supplying. They were out of orange juice. Not a big deal, I ordered the cranberry. But the rice? It was mixed with vermicelli. Wheat vermicelli. Sigh. I drank my dinner that night.

But D.C. does offer some fabulous gluten-free fare. Teaism, a D.C.-based tea house with three locations, does gluten-free well. Most of the food is Asian--bento box meals, ochazuke (Japanese rice and tea soup), seaweed salad, green tea ice cream--which makes it easier to find gluten-free food. But here's the clincher: on the wall near the cash register, there's a posted list of all of their dishes with columns indicating whether each dish is vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free and how to adapt each dish, if possible (for instance, leaving out the soy sauce to make the food gluten-free).
What a great idea! I could read what was safe, instead of having to question a poor cashier who may have no idea what I'm babbling about, and the cashier could with confidence refer to the list. They even offer two versions of a classic afternoon tea. The traditional menu involves scones, crustless sandwiches, and tartlets, but the Asian menu is completely gluten free with rice balls, nori, salmon, tofu, pickles, mochi, green tea ice cream, and truffles. Yum. But remember to take your own bottle of wheat-free soy sauce...