Final week I devoted the publication to rapidly answering seven reader questions, however some questions come up so regularly that they deserve a publication all their very own. And by far, the question that has appeared in my inbox with the best frequency has been about gluten-free eating.
Greater than 2 million Individuals have been identified with Celiac — although researchers estimate that way more folks have the illness — and about one-third of Individuals say they’re making an attempt to keep away from or scale back gluten of their diets. I don’t fall into both class, however I can empathize with those that really feel as if their eating choices are severely restricted by the ubiquity of gluten in, nicely, all of human existence.
You may come at this two methods. One, go to eating places the place gluten-free eating is the promoting level — Senza Gluten within the West Village, Agata & Valentina and Noglu on the Higher East Aspect, Trendy Bread & Bagel in Chelsea and the Higher West Aspect, and the Friedman’s chain of eating places all come to thoughts. However that may be limiting, and the choices typically don’t dwell as much as their gluten-full cousins. The second possibility, under, is to attempt a couple of eating places I like with menus that aren’t crammed with gluten land mines.
Nami Nori
One reader was elated a couple of weeks in the past after I spotlighted the sandos at Postcard Bakery within the West Village, that are served on gluten-free bread. However the gluten-freeness doesn’t finish there: Postcard is a derivative of Nami Nori, the temaki hand roll restaurant with areas within the West Village, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Montclair, N.J., that are additionally fully gluten-free eating places, from the tempura misto starter all the way in which all the way down to sesame miso chocolate chip cookies. The rationale: Takahiro Sakaeda, a associate and chef at each eating places, has Celiac illness.
I like just about every thing Nami Nori has to supply — after my first go to again in 2019, I returned for lunch the following day. But when compelled to decide on favorites, I’d go for the shishito peppers and any of the temakis, however don’t miss the spicy crab dynamite or the coconut shrimp temakis, and the mochurros, or churros comprised of mochi.
A number of areas
Claro
One other undersung possibility for gluten-free eating is the Mexican restaurant Claro, in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The chef T.J. Steele found that he had a gluten intolerance in maturity, however fortunately it didn’t battle along with his obsession with the meals of Oaxaca. (Thank goodness for corn flour, am I proper?) Accordingly, all the menu at Claro is gluten-free, so you possibly can eat the fiery aguachile de mandarina, rolled-up barbacoa tacos and hearty tetela enfrijolada with aplomb. And should you really feel like partying you possibly can ask for a $50 mezcal flight to go together with dinner. In truth, the restaurant’s mezcal ice cream with orange and Tajín is made with mezcal from Mr. Steele’s firm, El Buho.
284 Third Avenue (Carroll Road)
Inday
By now, you’re absolutely choosing up on a theme: Various flours and grains are a gluten-free individual’s greatest good friend, as are the cuisines that don’t rely an excessive amount of on wheat. And clearly marked menus are the last word protection. That particularly applies on the Indian American quick informal chain Inday; should you’re avoiding gluten, go for his or her curries, two out of three of their signature bowls, or their salads.
On the two-year-old sit-down restaurant Inday All Day, in Williamsburg, you possibly can take pleasure in all the above and my new favourite just-happens-to-be-gluten-free brunch: a crispy dosa made with yellow lentils and filled with bacon, eggs and cheese, served alongside tikka masala sauce and crispy potatoes. (It’s appropriately named The Boundary Six, a cricket reference and a nod to the boundary it’s pushing between American and Indian meals.) That and two back-to-back mango lassis, mild on the ice, will set you proper — with nary a gluten protein in view.
658 Driggs Avenue (Metropolitan Avenue)
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