During my visit to New York City last month, I was excited that I had a several evenings to search for new food options after the workday was over.
One such discovery was Indikitch, a New York City-based chain that spices up the fast casual assembly line model with Indian flavors and flair.
I am a huge fan of Indian food and have been adding more and more Indian flavors and styles of food to my home cooking, but it's still such a treat to be able to enjoy Indian food when eating out. The cuisine is naturally inclined to be gluten-free friendly, and Indikitch's menu has a lot for gluten-free foodies to love.
In reading (and bookmarking!) my friend Alexis's recap of her recent gluten-free odyssey through Rome (on her blog Alexis's Gluten Free Adventures), one eatery she mentioned popped out to me: a gelateria called Grom. I knew that name rung a bell for me, and I quickly put two and two together that I had walked right by one of Grom's New York City shops this past summer. I had no idea that the gelateria was 100% gluten-free, and knew that I had to pay them a proper visit when I was next in the area of one of their stores.
That's why when I found myself with 20 minutes of down time before catching an off-Broadway performance in the West Village, I knew I wanted to head over to Grom to investigate further. Lured by the promise of my first visit to a 100% gluten-free ice cream shop, I was thrilled that I would have an opportunity to have the "normal" experience of visiting an gelateria without fear.
As a work trip brought me to New York City for a week, I had a chance to settle in and explore around the Chelsea neighborhood that was my temporary home. With the first feeling of fall in the air, the chilly weather sparked a craving for fast food, and luckily enough, brgr was a couple blocks from where I was staying.
While brgr might seem like a dime-a-dozen fast food restaurant from the outside, looks can be deceiving, because they hold themselves to a higher standard, crafting each burger, shake, and fry with quality ingredients to ensure they both taste great and are better for you. Of course any place with a dedicated gluten-free fryer is worth stopping my book, so I was eager to see what kind of experience brgr would serve up.
