Organic to Go: Fast and Green

AU BON PAIN? POTBELLY? Subway? D.C.'s lunch options are sounding tired. But there's a new kid in town. Organic to Go, opening in the spots of lunchtime standby High Noon, is spreading the anti-pesticides gospel.

Between the soups, sandwiches and salad bar, Organic to Go looks like any other Golden Triangle cafeteria, but through its commitment to avoiding trans fats, partnering with family farms and using hybrid delivery vehicles, this "fast-casual café" operates on a different model. The menu has its quirks as well, with salad-bar options of curry chicken salad, Italian-dressing-spiked quinoa and wild salmon chunks.

Breakfast is served all day, featuring the naughty bacon, egg and salsa burrito to the nice spinach and egg white sandwich. For the true to-go crowd, international pre-made options abound: Thai-style veggie wrap, Greek orzo pasta and Mediterranean salad. The coffee is organic and free-trade certified. And environmentally speaking, the drink cups, containers and bags are made from corn and are biodegradable, sustainable and compostable.

If you can make full use of your lunch hour, there are seats outside while the weather is still accommodating, as well as couches and tables in the mock living room.

With locations in California and Washington State, Organic to Go looked to D.C. as its shining city upon a hill on this side of the country.

Michael Johnson, vice president of regional development, explains D.C.'s attractiveness: "The density and demographics are ideal: D.C. is a highly educated population who cares a lot about responsible, organic eating [and its] transient population from all over the world, [is] are more likely to embrace new concepts." (Feel free to interpret that marketing talk as, "Downtown workers have demonstrated a willingness to pay $8 for a sandwich.")

The organic paradigm can include additional tenets regarding sustainability. But fitting that philosophy into a bicoastal, multi-store front company can be a challenge. Organic to Go is "in the process of reaching out locally," explains Johnson, "specifically around produce. ... With local co-ops. I would love to say that we could get as focused as becoming completely seasonal and local, but the reality is that our customers are not there yet. They will still want tomatoes in the winter."

Johnson believes that in the spring and summer, more items will "help tell the story of organic and sustainability while putting some awesome farm fresh products out there."

» Organic to Go, 1311 F St. NW (Metro Center); 927 15th St. NW (McPherson Square); 1100 Wilson Blvd, Arlington; 800-304-4550, (Rosslyn)

Written by Stefanie Gans for Express
Photo by Freddie Lieberman for Express