Tag Archives: intolerance

Jersey Shore

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Don’t worry, I’m not going to talk about Snooki. Jersey Shore, on this occasion, refers to a pizza you can find at Mike Isabella’s (of Top Chef fame) first DC restaurant, Graffiato. Good old Mike has actually just published his first cookbook, Crazy Good Italian, so it seemed timely to do a roundup of my dining experiences at Graffiato. And when I say dining experiences, I mean 6 or 7 trips (thank goodness I work only 2 blocks away!) of awesomeness.

Although the menu varies with the seasons, as all good menus should, I’m doing my best to tick off some of his classic dishes each time I visit. Being a small plate kind of a joint, Graffiato enables you to try at least 4 or 5 dishes per meal, so the variety (and my list) is quite respectable. So far, I’ve sampled:

  • Broccolini | spicy pepper relish, walnut, feta
  • Baby Beets | house ricotta, orange
  • Roasted Cauliflower | pecorino, mint
  • Marinated Olives | citrus, chili, herbs
  • Greens | pickles, radish, mint, ricotta, salata
  • Gnocchi | butternut squash
  • Hand Cut Spaghetti | olive oil poached cherry tomatoes, thai basil
  • Citrus Cured Striped Bass | peppers, fennel, saffron
  • Classic Pizza | melted cherry tomatoes, sicilian oregano, garlic
  • Papa Smurf Pizza | speck, gorgonzola, caramelized onions and potato
  • Jersey Shore Pizza | fried calamari, tomato, provolone, cherry pepper aioli
  • Flatbread with Pepperoni sauce (recipe is rumored to be in the new cookbook!)
  • Brussels Sprouts | maple, egg,  pancetta

I will admit that I keep checking the online menu to see if it’s brussels sprouts time again. Longing might be the right word for how I feel about those brussels sprouts. On my most recent visit, I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the gloriously lovely roasted cauliflower dish, which was, by far, the winning dish of the lot. Also gracing our table was the broccolini (served cold with a great crunch to balance the creaminess of the feta and relish), an herbed pasta dish with crab that deceptively appears to be gnocchi, and, of course, the inimitable Jersey Shore pizza topped with calamari. The aioli has a kick that’s just right, bleeding into the chewy, slightly charred crust.

Once you find a place that’s great about accommodating your particular dietary restrictions, chances are you’ll keep on coming back. Just so for Graffiato. On my first visit, I learned that the restaurant GM actually has a peanut allergy, so they rarely have peanuts on the menu (you’ll find some in the desserts occasionally), and they’re exceedingly understanding and careful about cross contamination in the kitchen. On my latest visit, after looking over the special $20 lunch menu (awesome deal!), we asked for a recommendation on a pasta dish, and the first words out of our server’s mouth was, “Oh, the corn agnolotti…” Unfortunately  I had to stop him right there and explain my corn intolerance, to which he gave me a sympathetic smile and suggested the crab pasta instead. People seem to melt at the very mention of the acclaimed corn agnolotti; a particularly eloquent Yelp Reviewer described the dish as “amazingly light handmade(?) pasta wrapped around a homemade sweet corn mash that hit me with a wave of fields, summer, and memories of eating corn on the cob all at once.” What imagery! If you don’t happen to be corn-intolerant, order it while it’s still on the menu!

Ultimately, I keep going back to Graffiato for their incredible food, very attentive service, and the knowledge that the peanut-allergic GM is keeping his staff accountable and the kitchen safe for me.

Graffiato | 707 6th St NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 289-3600

Peril-free Potlucking

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I spent a fabulous evening on Saturday with a group of singers at our opening season potluck. Of course, for a girl with allergies, this could’ve been a complete mess. But as much as my restrictions can be annoying, corn, peanuts and legumes are generally pretty easily identifiable. For instance, a lovely spinach and ricotta lasagna probably won’t be hiding those particular culprits, but beware a pesto sauce on a pasta or pizza. Why you ask? Just think of the hilarious (aka, terrifying) moment on How I Met Your Mother when Ted feeds his then-fiancé Stella a pesto sauce that has been laced with peanuts instead of the traditional pine nuts. The engagement might have been just a bit hasty, as evidenced by Ted’s ignorance of Stella’s (theoretically) life-threatening peanut allergy. Can I say terrifying again? Speaking of, in a future post, I’ll be exploring the do’s and don’ts of dating with dietary restrictions. Watch out.

“Maybe I should have said something about that life-threatening peanut allergy earlier.” “Yeah, maybe.”

Back to the potluck. Luckily, I have a few very close friends within the group that are aware of my issues, and omit those ingredients when planning their contributions to events. I invariably bring a dessert of some kind—pumpkin bread in honor of the first day of fall!—so that I ensure that there will be a least one sweet thing I can eat! I chose to downplay my allergies though, and didn’t ask that our host or the other guests make any special accommodations for me. It’s an interesting debate–one that is getting a lot of press lately. Most prominently, this New York Times article examines the evolution of our communal eating behaviors and mores. Who is responsible for providing a safe and enjoyable experience–the host or the guest? Should the host ask guests not to include certain common allergens in their dishes, or at least label their dishes, or should the person with dietary restrictions be encouraged to bring safe dishes for his or her own consumption?

There’s no one good answer to this problem—the issue is completely context-specific. Small family function? Go ahead and omit the offending ingredient(s) so that everyone around the table can eat the same food and not feel left out. 25+ potluck with people you know only casually? Make sure you bring a dish you can eat, and prepare to refuse a lot of food if necessary (and don’t show up ravenous; you might make bad choices out of desperation). Remember, most people aren’t aware of the seriousness of cross-contamination, and it would be a mistake to think that they are.

The article suggests that “it’s becoming harder for Americans to break bread together.”  It’s a romantic notion—a longing for yesteryear when we could all sit around a massive butcher block table and heartily down the common grub. I get it, but I can imagine that at least one person around that table would have been highly uncomfortable in the gastrointestinal department. The truth is, we’re becoming more aware of our body’s relationship with its environment in myriad ways and the increased awareness of potential food issues has also increased our ability to be proactive. Whether or not you announce your shellfish allergy or lactose intolerance to the world (and potluck attendees) is your choice, but the truth is that dietary restrictions are becoming ubiquitous in our society. Restrictions are only restrictive if we let them. Speak up, ask questions, and be proactive but friendly about your needs. You don’t need to send a mass email before a party warning that peanuts will kill you, and that all attendees should disinfect their countertops before making their dish. However, speaking individually with a few people  may lessen the embarrassment of having to refuse dishes, and may result in a few more safe dishes at the next potluck.

Ultimately, I was quite lucky this time. I was able to ask about ingredients in a few dishes, but almost everything on the table was corn and legume-free, and there literally wasn’t a peanut in sight! I’m also happy to report that someone was quite skilled with a cheese plate…I’m not sure it would be prudent for me to share how much brie I consumed that evening…

A little less mellow, a little more mushroom.

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We needed to salvage the evening. Four girlfriends out at a DC event, bored out of our skulls by the ramblings of uninvited, awkward, and oblivious boys. We were in danger of drowning our frustration with the overpriced drinks on happy hour, and then where would we be? Nowhere good. But the solution dawned on me. Pizza. What could be better than pizza to sate our appetites and regain some faith in mankind? As three out of the four of us are Adam’s Morgan girls, we headed out to Mellow Mushroom.

As we were handed our menus, the mood couldn’t have been cheerier. We were seated in a gigantic booth (the better to hold the friends and roommates that arrived later), the beer list was pretty exceptional, and we were free of horror that is the club happy hour scene. The elation only grew when I glimpsed the specially-inset menu that described the gluten-free pizza, including the full ingredient list of the gluten-free dough. Although I have no need to order gluten-free, those with an allergy to wheat or suffer from Celiac disease would definitely benefit!

Alas, I did not fare so well. After giving warning of my serious peanut allergy (no problem there!), I also indicated to our waitress that I have an intolerance of corn. Unfortunately, some chefs use a cornmeal dusting on the bottom of pizza dough to prevent it from sticking to the pizza stone or oven. Aware of that tendency, I asked the waitress to check whether the restaurant did this as well. She came back with an unsympathetic, “Sorry, yeah…we, like,…use corn.” Despite my ensuing questions about the feasibility of removing the cornmeal, she was unyielding. Her three trips to the kitchen (by my insistence) did nothing to change the answer. It was in the dough, or something, apparently. Never did I receive a satisfactory answer about why they couldn’t make an exception. However, by this point, my intolerance was becoming a major hindrance to my other dining companions’ enjoyment. I backed down. And I ordered two appetizers to serve as my meal: the bruschetta and the chicken wings. That’s almost like buffalo chicken pizza, right?

Wrong. After chatting with my group for about 10 minutes, what comes out of the kitchen but my two appetizers?! She sets them before me, and before I could make a peep, she whisks away. OK, now, everyone, listen up. If a person orders two appetizers to serve as their meal, do NOT serve them the appetizers before everyone else gets their food. Eating in front of one’s friends is uncomfortable and downright rude. Got it? Good.

Here’s the most unendurable part: the food itself was pretty terrible. The bruschetta was topped with some lovely fresh tomatoes, but they were literally drowned by the sickly sweet balsamic vinegar. The toast was stale (even all that vinegar couldn’t penetrate it) and tasted mostly of cardboard. The wings were worse: soggy, lukewarm and pitifully mild. The best thing about that dish was the celery. You can’t mess that up too badly, I suppose.

If it weren’t for the peach-infused beer that sustained me until the end of the meal, it would have been a complete disaster. Not only were they completely inflexible about their kitchen practices, but they did not volunteer any information that would have helped me make a better decision about what to eat, or offer any sincere apologies. Unfortunately, instead of regaining my faith in mankind, I lost just a little bit more of it.

Ok, I admit – that’s a little dramatic. So, to end on a more positive note… Yesterday, I did a bit more digging on Mellow Mushroom, and found that their attitude towards food allergies is relatively progressive. Similar to many national chains, Mellow Mushroom maintains a special allergy grid that documents each dish, and what potential allergens (of the big eight) it contains. You can find that here, but I would still do your due diligence with your waiter, and explain the dangers of cross contamination.

Mellow Mushroom | 2436 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 (202) 290-2778