Double Blog: Book Review and Comet Ping Pong

Today, husband and I were back in my old neighborhood, circa 1999, for a reading of Don't Kill The Birthday Girl at Politics & Prose.  Whether or not you have experiences with food allergies, I encourage you to check out this book.  Sandra Beasley, who has a number of life threatening food allergies, recounts her life with humor and grace, as well as sheds some light on the science behind allergic reactions.  I'm fortunate that my allergies only result in severe unpleasantness, rather than something that would land me in an ER, but I sympathize with ruined special days (who else has spent part of their honeymoon sleeping off an allergy attack after an ill chosen lunch entree?), feeling the awkwardness of interrogating a waiter or the host or hostess of your dinner party and having to read food labels with the scrutiny usually reserved for legal contracts.

Post reading, we headed to Comet Ping Pong, which I'd been to once before a few years ago in my pre-vegetarian days and was eager to try out again.   Comet makes individual pizzas with neat toppings like broccoli rabe and arugula.  While it's not a vegetarian restaurant, they are definitely friendly to vegetarians and vegans.  A number of the pizzas, such the Districto Federal, have notes like "no beef, just beans . . . sure" under their descriptions.  There's also make your own pie options that include vegan friendly soy-cheese.

We enjoyed a fruit plate that had white peaches and red and yellow plums that we devoured.  For my pizza, I had a hard time deciding, but I ultimately chose The Drive, which was topped with "Broccoli Rabe, garlic, Whitmore Farm Egg, melted onion,  and Pecorino Romano."  While it was a teensy bit salty, the crust was great and the toppings were super fresh. 

We finished our meal splitting the salted caramel praline ice cream, which was "scrape and lick the bowl" good.  Definitely worth a return visit!