Grounded’s upcoming cafe specializes in toasts, including a smoked salmon variety. | Mignon Hemsley The duo behind online plant shop Grounded add a Southeast cafe serving vibrant toasts and turmeric lattes Sprouting up in Anacostia this fall is a healthy cafe that emphasizes toasts topped with avocados, bananas, strawberries, and smoked salmon. Grounded — part plant shop, part cafe, part wellness studio — is the brainchild of co-founders Danuelle Doswell and Mignon Hemsley. The 3,300-square-foot community hub of sorts, opening Saturday, October 12, sits in the shiny new MLK Gateway development (1913 Martin Luther King Avenue SE). Doswell and Hemsley debuted Grounded as an online plant store during the pandemic and announced last year that they would open a brick-and-mortar location, complete with the 30-seat cafe, in Anacostia. Well-known D.C. chef and restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang worked with the Black women entrepreneurs to create a lineup of toasts with nutritional ingredients in mind ($7-$10). “We want our community to come in, buy a plant, stay for a coffee, come back for a wellness class,” says Hemsley. Sit-down dining and healthy food options are limited in Ward 8. The cafe sits across the street from Capital One Cafe and not too far from Sapodilla’s Caribbean Restaurant, Kitchen Savages, and Busboys and Poets. “Everything’s up and coming,” says Doswell. “We’re not competing with our neighbors, but offering something unique, healthy, affordable, and good — tasty.” Doswell and Hemsley, natives of Alexandria and D.C., respectively, designed the menu to match the ethos of who they are when it comes to their passion for plants and wellness. The banana toast, served on sourdough with peanut butter, chia seeds, and honey, is something Hemsley loves and finds herself making at home. She added chia seeds because they’re good for immune and digestive systems. On the savory side, a smoked salmon toast comes topped with capers, eggs, and pickled onions. Doswell calls herself “the queen” of avocado toast, and its version topped with fried garlic gets a fiery kick from chile crisp and chile flakes. Mignon Hemsley The avocado toast at Grounded’s cafe can be topped with egg. “I love avocado toast, and all variations, and that was an instant for us,” says Doswell. They also added a strawberry toast because the fruit is packed with Vitamin C and powerful antioxidants, joined by cream cheese and cinnamon. The whole menu can be ordered for dine-in or to-go. When it came to the coffee program, the duo polled their Instagram followers, did market research, and visited dozens of cafes before deciding on standard drinks such as espresso, drip coffee and cappuccinos, with some specialty lattes thrown in. The founders’ favorite is the colorful Grounded Matcha latte ($6.50) made with matcha, butterfly pea flower, milk, and vanilla and pistachio syrups. The beautiful beverage resembles a globe as an ode to the company’s debut on Earth Day. “And it’s a cute drink to have in your hand,” says Hemsley. “Who doesn’t want a pretty drink?” Mignon Hemsley The Grounded Matcha latte is “our pride and joy drink,” says co-founder Danuelle Doswell. The Golden latte ($5.50) is mixed with turmeric, an immunity booster that can help ease arthritis. Chai, which promotes digestion and mental focus, is another latte option. The tea program includes caffeinated and herbal teas, such as Duchess gray, hibiscus, Moroccan mint, ginger lemon, and rooibos vanilla teas. “We’re teaching you about nature,” says Doswell. “You can eat plants, you can be surrounded by plants and drink plants.” Since its start, Grounded has shipped and installed more than 35,000 plants across the U.S. and collaborated with more than 100 organizations, including Google, ESPN, and Meta. An August sample sale at their NoMa plant warehouse attracted more than 200 customers. Bruner-Yang, owner of H Street hot spots Maketto and Providencia, advises the women on everything from pricing to current labor laws and construction permits as Grounded moves from a digital arena to a physical space. He also guided them through vendors and ideas for the cuisine. Bruner-Yang and Hemsley met at Maketto almost a decade ago when she DJed there, and he’s committed to doing whatever it takes to help the duo achieve success in the white woman-dominated wellness industry. “They have a very clear vision about what they want to accomplish, it’s just about helping them execute it,” says Bruner-Yang. “Black entrepreneurship, especially Black women entrepreneurs, especially in the wellness space, is hugely important.”