13 Places to Eat Healthyish in NYC
Creamy beet-cacao cake for breakfast, the umami-est power bowl you’ve ever had for lunch, and a sweet, charred chickpea burger for dinner…this can’t possibly be New York City, can it? Here’s where to join in—just make sure to get that feel-good tonic on the menu, too.
New Yorkers love extremes. In no other city will you find such peaks of kindness and pits of rudeness. We bask topless on rooftops in August and slide down frozen subway stairs in February. We eat hot dogs on dirty streets and take barre classes during lunch hour. And because we value efficiency as much as extremity, we appreciate healthyish restaurants that inject bits of decadence into the menu. Occasionally the two poles even meet in the same item, like the wheatgrass margarita at Dimes. Flooding your system with amino acids while getting tipsy? Talk about multitasking.
1/13Dimes Deli
This is where it all began. And by “it,” I mean the wave of California-inspired eateries that started dotting lower Manhattan around 2014 and have since migrated upward and outward roughly in line with our capacity for açaí bowls carpet-bombed in bee pollen. Dimes is now a mini-empire of farmers’ market wizardry, with a restaurant (harissa salmon!), a boutique (palo santo sticks!), and an informal deli (supplies for the most photogenic picnic on earth!). The customer base is model- and skateboarder-dense, with your occasional Spike Jonze sighting thrown in for good measure. Be cool! Don’t stare. 143 Division St, New York, NY 10002
Photo by Alex Lau2/13Springbone Kitchen
Part take-out counter and part minimarket, Springbone Kitchen sells grass-fed ghee and collagen peptides (with a cow-derived protein purported to improve your general glossiness.) But the bone broth is the draw; choose chicken or beef, both respectably gamy and lip-coating. Add kimchi if you’re nasty. And if they have the chili, get that. It’s so beefy you’ll grow a muscle just smelling it. 90 W 3rd St, New York, NY 10012
3/13Stanley's Pharmacy
Stanley George is partying like it’s 1908. “Gone are the times when people knew their pharmacist by name,” says the (licensed) pharmacist and ebullient proprietor of Stanley’s Pharmacy, a juice bar slash tea counter slash medication dispensary open since 2013. For culinary-minded visitors, there’s a posted menu of herb elixirs to cure everything from PMS to brain fog, but the smart move is to sit back, tell Stanley your ills, and watch him whirl together an edible solution. Dull complexion? A gingered concoction of fresh juices and blue-green algae is the answer. With his club-kid energy and physical luminosity, Stanley is his own best advertisement. You’ll have what he’s having. 31 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002
4/13Abracadabra
The decor at the tiny Williamsburg restaurant Abracadabra is pure Berkeley co-op circa 1997—yarn God’s-eyes, mismatched chairs, and a rack of alt-weeklies (which, yes, still exist). And beyond the tofu is an inventive array of Turkish-inflected gems, like an organic meatball plate with pickled cabbage and roasted celery. (Roasted celery! Not only better than it sounds, but borderline genius.) The true alchemy of this place is in the clientele it attracts, which is a mixture of Swedish tourists (Hallå!), high school students reading Rumi poems, and people who look like they have a lot of Burning Man anecdotes they could tell you. No restaurant is an island, but this feels pretty damn close. 347 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Photo by Alex Lau5/13Superiority Burger
There is zero atmosphere and about five coveted seats, which can be the subject of intense low-blood-sugar-induced quarreling, but Brooks Headley’s Superiority Burger is that indefinable thing: a “scene.” The music is loud, the employees are on their game, and the food is like something the world’s most talented drunk person would throw together at 3 a.m. to sop up a bender: Think griddled ribbons of yuba smothered in cheesy non-cheese sauce. The chickpea burgers come drenched in special sauce, providing dueling sensations of wholesomeness and decadence. Isn’t that all anyone wants? 430 E 9th St, New York, NY 10009
6/13Modern Love Brooklyn
Chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Modern Love Brooklyn is the vegan version of the Cheesecake Factory. Treats like warm cherry cobbler with frizzled lemon peel are gleefully, Americanly huge, occupying a matrix that’s best described as “ethical hedonism.” As with the Cheesecake Factory, it’s not a place to go when you’re feeling abstemious. (On one recent visit I ordered so many desserts that the server asked if I was stoned. I wasn’t.) 317 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
7/13abcV
At Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new restaurant, abcV, it’s a vision in pink, with pink salt in pink trays, and servers in soft shirts of (presumably organic) cotton in sunset hues. Here, you’ll find plates so richly scented they’re less dishes than bouquets: gems of fermented vegetables, say, or thin-sliced kumquats under a shower of earthy cacao nibs. On a recent afternoon, Hugh Jackman popped in for a bite. “I train at the same gym as Jean-Georges,” he explained, as birdlike diners at communal tables paid no mind. New Yorkers, after all, have always been more interested in food than fame. 38 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003
Photo by Laura Murray8/13L'estudio
Welcome to a little slice of Big Sur in the Lower East Side. The light is golden, the hummus-avocado-kale sandwich comes on crusty miche, and the average customer resembles Joan Baez. L’estudio performs the feat—more of a miracle in a space this small—of offering a space with zero bad seats; you’re either in a sunny nook or atop a rustic stool or nestled into a banquette. The food is cozy, with Brazilian tints: Instead of a scone, get the cheesy gluten-free orb that is pao de queijo or a chia pudding with roasted pineapple and coconut. 61 Hester St, New York, NY 10002
Photo by Alex Lau9/13LifeThyme
What’s a small-town hippie co-op doing in downtown New York? Who knows, but thank Jah it’s there. The vegan buffet is vast and organic, with addictive garlicky cauliflower and the kind of homey grain salads that you might find at a church picnic if Michael Pollan was preaching. The vegan desserts are downright accomplished. Nibbling a slice of pumpkin sponge roll or a dainty raspberry thumbprint cookie with strong tea is like transporting yourself to some freaky 21st-century version of Downton Abbey. An upstairs seating area is, shall we say, “bare bones”. A rotating crew of theater people, local eccentrics, students and solo corporate lunchers huddle over falafel bento boxes and fig pie, leafing through “Our Bodies, Ourselves” or “The Big Broccoli Book" from the free library. Sometimes there’s a random dog curled up in the corner. Read our full interview with owner Jason Bander here. 410 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Photo by Alex Lau10/13The End
This Williamsburg cafe specializes in “coffee, juice, and vibes." The coffee is coffee. The juice is excellent and herb-dusted, like the Bonfire Cider (a stormy bottled concoction of carrot, green apple, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, and cayenne) and the Sweet Harvest (an herbivore ambrosia with fennel, romaine, pear, and moringa leaf extract). The vibes are all around you, in the form of a sage smudge on the counter, an amethyst on the bar, and an Instagram-bait sign that reads “OH. MY. GOD. BECKY. LOOK AT HER UNICORN LATTE. I AM SO JEALOUS.” The Unicorn is a pastel tonic of coconut milk, ginger, lemon, and blue green algae. “Do you want me to leave it uncovered for pictures?” the barista asked. She knows her audience. 522 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Photo by Alex Lau11/13Souen
Then there’s Souen, across the bridge in Soho—which proves detoxing can be fun! That’s the subtext of this café, which has been pushing brown rice and sea vegetables since the 1970s. For those who like to dine solo, it’s an inviting spot; half the customers are always ruminating with a book in front of them. (A real paperback, not a Kindle.) The carrot-ginger dressing is good enough to throw back like a shot, but be polite and use it to smother a piece of organic salmon instead. Pro tip: Ask for table salt and apply liberally. 210 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014
Photo by Emily Eisen12/13Okonomi
In the midst of New York's chaotic brunch scene, Okonomi stands out. There are no bottomless mimosas here, only an ichiju-sansai set meal straight out of a Kyoto ryokan: seasonal fish, a fluffy tamago cube, various pickled vegetables, miso soup, and purple rice. The menu is inspired by the Mottainai philosophy of minimizing waste—fish is locally sourced, produce comes from nearby farmers’ markets, and everything is served on beautiful ceramics commissioned from an artist upstate. The space is tiny (only 12 seats!) and doesn’t take reservations, so come early or put your name in and wander around residential Williamsburg. At night, the restaurant transforms into a bustling ramen shop. 150 Ainslie St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Photo by Alex Lau13/13ATLA
There are few better places to pass an afternoon than ATLA’s airy dining room. Chef Daniela Soto-Innes’ new all-day menu elicits Mexico City’s leisurely lunch culture with vibrant additions like lobster salpicon tostada and corn pancakes with apple jam, along with crowd favorites like the now-famous fish milanese with cucumber ceviche. Stay through the evening for cocktails laced with mezcal and homemade hot sauce, and perhaps a churro or two. 372 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012
