Last week I dedicated the newsletter to quickly answering seven reader questions, but some questions come up so frequently that they deserve a newsletter all their own. And by far, the query that has appeared in my inbox with the greatest frequency has been about gluten-free dining.
More than 2 million Americans have been diagnosed with Celiac — though researchers estimate that far more people have the disease — and about one-third of Americans say they are trying to avoid or reduce gluten in their diets. I don’t fall into either category, but I can empathize with those who feel as if their dining options are severely limited by the ubiquity of gluten in, well, all of human existence.
You can come at this two ways. One, go to restaurants where gluten-free dining is the selling point — Senza Gluten in the West Village, Agata & Valentina and Noglu on the Upper East Side, Modern Bread & Bagel in Chelsea and the Upper West Side, and the Friedman’s chain of restaurants all come to mind. But that can be limiting, and the options often don’t live up to their gluten-full cousins. The second option, below, is to try a few restaurants I love with menus that aren’t filled with gluten land mines.
Nami Nori
One reader was elated a few weeks ago when I spotlighted the sandos at Postcard Bakery in the West Village, which are served on gluten-free bread. But the gluten-freeness doesn’t end there: Postcard is a spinoff of Nami Nori, the temaki hand roll restaurant with locations in the West Village, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Montclair, N.J., which are also completely gluten-free restaurants, from the tempura misto starter all the way down to sesame miso chocolate chip cookies. The reason: Takahiro Sakaeda, a partner and chef at both restaurants, has Celiac disease.
I love pretty much everything Nami Nori has to offer — after my first visit back in 2019, I returned for lunch the next day. But if forced to choose favorites, I would go for the shishito peppers and any of the temakis, but don’t miss the spicy crab dynamite or the coconut shrimp temakis, and the mochurros, or churros made from mochi.
Multiple locations
Claro
Another undersung option for gluten-free dining is the Mexican restaurant Claro, in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The chef T.J. Steele discovered that he had a gluten intolerance in adulthood, but luckily it didn’t conflict with his obsession with the food of Oaxaca. (Thank goodness for corn flour, am I right?) Accordingly, the entire menu at Claro is gluten-free, so you can eat the fiery aguachile de mandarina, rolled-up barbacoa tacos and hearty tetela enfrijolada with aplomb. And if you feel like partying you can ask for a $50 mezcal flight to go along with dinner. In fact, the restaurant’s mezcal ice cream with orange and Tajín is made with mezcal from Mr. Steele’s company, El Buho.
284 Third Avenue (Carroll Street)
Inday
By now, you’re surely picking up on a theme: Alternative flours and grains are a gluten-free person’s best friend, as are the cuisines that don’t rely too much on wheat. And clearly marked menus are the ultimate defense. That especially applies at the Indian American fast casual chain Inday; if you’re avoiding gluten, go for their curries, two out of three of their signature bowls, or their salads.
At the two-year-old sit-down restaurant Inday All Day, in Williamsburg, you can enjoy all of the above and my new favorite just-happens-to-be-gluten-free brunch: a crispy dosa made with yellow lentils and stuffed with bacon, eggs and cheese, served alongside tikka masala sauce and crispy potatoes. (It is appropriately named The Boundary Six, a cricket reference and a nod to the boundary it is pushing between American and Indian food.) That and two back-to-back mango lassis, light on the ice, will set you right — with nary a gluten protein in view.
658 Driggs Avenue (Metropolitan Avenue)
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