HEALTHY EATING IN 2015
Here are the five restaurants where you’ll find us going when we want to eat healthy this coming year. Some of them might not be what you think of when you think “healthy eating,” but that’s ok. It’s time to expand your mind. And maybe your waistband?
Brodo
Hearth’s Marco Canora’s new spot is in the East Village, not Brooklyn, but it’s also the perfect place to head this winter when you want to consume something that tastes amazing and is also good for you. And that something? Is bone broth. Yup, all Brodo serves is Grass-Fed Beef (with ginger), Organic Chicken, and Hearth broth, and that’s just fine with us. After all, grandmothers have known for years about the medicinal properties of soup, and grandmothers are never wrong about anything. Trust us, a cup of this savory treat is a much better thing to be walking around sipping than a Gingerbread Latte. Not even close.
403 E. 12th Street, East Village
Prime Meats
We know what you’re thinking: “First you tell us to walk around sipping beef soup and now you’re saying to go to a steakhouse in a wellness guide? Are you crazy?” Maybe! Maybe we are. But we’re not recommending you go to Prime Meats for the steak, or even for the delicious sausage. No, we’re recommending you go for the roasted sauerkraut, which is the best we’ve ever had. Sauerkraut, after all, is a fermented food, and fermented foods are hands-down supposed to be what’s good for you and your digestive system. So go to Prime Meats, get a heaping serving of sauerkraut, and, uh, get an old fashioned, which Prime Meats makes with pear bitters. Because bitters? Are also really good for you! Especially when taken before eating rich food. Like sausage or steak. True story.
465 Court Street, Carroll Gardens
Tiny Empire
And now for something completely different: juice. That’s actually healthy, right? Right! We did a five-day juice cleanse from Tiny Empire earlier this year and it kind of changed everything for us. We completely recalibrated the way we were eating and had an all-new appreciation for food once we, you know, started being able to chew it again. Plus, our skin glowed, our hair was shiny, blah blah blah. It wasn’t really about how we looked though, it was about how we felt. And in 2015, we’d like to feel that way again.
142 N. 6th Street, Williamsburg
Semilla
This brand new spot is not only vegetable-oriented, it’s also wildly delicious. Chef Jose Ramirez-Ruiz does magical things with his tasting menu, guaranteeing that you’ll feel decadent as hell despite eating relatively virtuously. Win/win.
No. 5 160 Havemeyer Street, Williamsburg
Take Root
Recently awarded with a Michelin star, this reservation-only, tasting menu-only restaurant will NOT accommodate people who are gluten-free, vegetarian, or dairy-free, meaning that if you have any of those pretty common-at-this-point dietary restrictions, this suggestion for healthy eating might seem totally strange. Except! There are not many other (if any) places we can think of in Brooklyn where you can get as mindful a meal, where every course—and every ingredient—has been chosen so deliberately that you feel like you’re being cared for with each bite you take. And what is wellness after all other than mindfulness? We honestly don’t know!
187 Sackett Street, Carroll Gardens
5 BOOKS TO READ ON HEALTH AND WELLNESS
So, you know, you don’t just have to take our word on what is and isn’t good for you. Check out some of our favorite reads on the topics of health, diet, and wellness, and see what the professionals have to say.
The Microbiome Diet
by Raphael Kellman MD
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from obsessively reading about fecal transplants in the last year or so, it’s this: Our bodies are comprised more completely of bacteria than of anything else. All of which is to say, it’s pretty important to keep that bacteria healthy. So, sure, this book centers around how gut health promotes weight loss, and that’s great and everything, but it’s also an important thing to read in order to understand just how much our health relies on keeping the bazillions of bacteria that call our bodies home, happy.
Homegrown Herbs
by Tammi Hartung
Take the DIY path to health by growing your own medicinal and healing herbs. This book will start you off in the right direction. It’s a definitive guide on what to grow and how to grow it, no matter how black of a thumb you think you have.
The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
by Valerie Ann Wormwood
Wormwood explores the more marginalized world of essential oils (consider them the Jan to healing herbs’s Marcia) and reveals the varied uses for oils as well as many recipes and blends that you can make at home.
Grain Brain
by David Perlmutter MD
Oh, gluten, everyone’s favorite food demon. Find out why so many people are turning their backs on what has long been a fundamental part of our food pyramid (like, it’s the literal base), and determine for yourself how much—or little—of it you’ll want to consume in the future.
Gift of Healing Herbs
by Robin Rose Bennett
Not only are there wonderful, useful recipes for all sorts of healing teas and tinctures within this book, but Bennett also shares stories and anecdotes about the history of healing herbs—”nature’s medicine”—making this book as enjoyable a read as it
is informative.