Plant a Seed, Grow a Cafe in Anacostia | Eater DC

"Opening Saturday, October 12 at 1913 Martin Luther King Avenue SE in the new MLK Gateway development, Grounded is a 3,300-square-foot community hub that blends a plant shop, a 30-seat cafe, and a wellness studio. Founded by Danuelle Doswell and Mignon Hemsley after starting as an online plant store during the pandemic, the menu—created with input from chef Erik Bruner-Yang—focuses on nutritionally minded toasts ($7–$10): a banana toast on sourdough with peanut butter, chia seeds, and honey; a smoked salmon toast topped with capers, eggs, and pickled onions; an avocado toast crowned with fried garlic, chile crisp, and chile flakes; and a strawberry toast with cream cheese and cinnamon. The full menu is available for dine-in or to-go, and the coffee program offers standard espresso drinks plus specialty lattes such as the colorful Grounded Matcha ($6.50) made with matcha, butterfly pea flower, milk, and vanilla and pistachio syrups, and the Golden latte ($5.50) with turmeric; the tea selection includes Duchess gray, hibiscus, Moroccan mint, ginger lemon, and rooibos vanilla. The founders emphasize community and wellness—“buy a plant, stay for a coffee, come back for a wellness class”—and bring proven experience, having shipped more than 35,000 plants nationwide, worked with over 100 organizations, and drawn strong local interest at a NoMa sample sale." - Lenore Adkins