Paleo dining in downtown Manhattan?

I wrote a dining guide to help you find great paleo / grain-free options around downtown Manhattan!  Enjoy!

 

Great place to have coffee and get some work done?

That place is Pushcart Coffee on 9th Avenue and 25th Street!  It’s my new favorite spot to get some tea, meet with writing partners or clients, or get work done on my own.  Nice people, nice vibe, there is tea I like (the green jasmine), they don’t use toxic tea bags, their snacks are great (my son loves the pumpkin bread, and I love the Brooklyn-made Rawpothecary Juices they carry), and their soup is wonderful (thanks for making me try it, Ashley!).  They also have a bunch of fancy ways of making coffee that boggle my tea-drinking mind. There is a community work table, a few individual tables, a comfy corner spot in the back and counter seats and there is free wifi (you have to sign up for it, but it’s free). Go there. You know I know what I’m talking about.

Pushcart Coffee, 25th Street and 9th Ave in Chelsea.

This is where the Rawpothecary is. Notice how it’s almost sold out.

Right on the middle shelf, over to the left, there are energy bars that I like. I think they’re homemade.

This is a comfy spot, back in the corner.

It’s a nice place.

These are friendly people who work there.

They have a pushcart. See?

Alert: Melvin’s Juice Box Open in Chelsea!

Melvin, at his new Chelsea location of Melvin’s Juice Box.

There’s a new Melvin’s Juice Box in the Dream Hotel – 355 West 16th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues, closer to 9th).  I was riding my bike past it today and saw Melvin out front.  I have enjoyed Melvin’s juice concoctions for years and am so happy his place is now (relatively) in my neighborhood.  Melvin is a great guy – always friendly and positive, and he really knows his juice!  All juices are 100% organic, and they also serve soups, salad, burgers, sandwiches, entrees, wine, beer, shakes, and shots (wheat grass and ginger).  There is eat-in, take-out and delivery, and it’s open 7 a.m. “until late,” 7 days a week.

Where should we go to eat when none of us can agree on a cuisine?

OMG, this is my life!  I feel your pain!  Either go to Whole Foods* or Todd English Food Hall in the basement of the Plaza Hotel.  Look at this TEFH menu and tell me that each of you cannot find something.  C’mon.  I’m not going to tell you that either of them is spectacular or the best food you’ve ever eaten or anything like that, but if you’ve all got conflicting priorities, these two places could do it for you.

* (Whole Foods warning: Chelsea location has nowhere to sit, Columbus Circle is always way too crowded – it’s a complete madhouse, Union Square is nearly always way too crowded, but Tribeca and Houston St have a lot of seating and great selections.)

Where can I find great paleo food?

Hu Kitchen

People, let me tell you about a little slice of heaven called Hu on 5th Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets in Manhattan.  It’s all familiar looking food – meatloaf, rotisserie chicken, great looking veggies, soups, coffee, muffins, wine, beer.  But it’s better sourced, more unprocessed, healthier, and more thoughtfully curated.

Should I still even bake when I can just buy stuff this good? Srsly, $hi+ just got real here.

You can take your Grandmother, your girlfriend who’s in that Greenpoint noise band, your supplement-popping and highly allergic uncle, and your pretentious college roommate here.  You’re going to be very sorry regarding your choice of dining companions, and they’ll balk at the prices (it’s not cheap), but they will all end up finding something delicious and they will love what they’re eating.  There are actual greens on the juice bar AND they have alkaline water, okay?  And the bread and the muffins are grain-free AND delicious.  What the what?!  I mean really delicious, not just some strange, dense, cardboard-y imitation of a pastry item like grain-free or even gluten-free bread tends to be.  Your grain-loving friends will like it.  Just trust me, fool.

The cauliflower mash (left) is stupid good.

Hu has no table service.  It’s all take-out and self-serve, but there’s plenty of seating.  The design is wood-focused modern minimalist and the music was late 90s Kruder and Dorfmeister-esque slo-beat trip hop (but really, what the hell else are they supposed to play?), so it can be welcoming to some and off-putting to others, but no matter how you view the superficial parts of this place, try the food.

A lot of variety, great combinations.

Alert: Good restaurant opens in Chelsea Piers!

Chelsea’s Table

UPDATE JANUARY 2013: CHELSEA’S TABLE IS CLOSED!
Their website is still active, with no indication of closure, but I assure you, Chelsea’s Table is no longer at Chelsea Piers.  The location is now a ‘wichcraft.  I like ‘wichcraft, but I will definitely miss Chelsea’s Table.  In looking at their Facebook page, I’m not the only one.  I called them today to find out if they have any plans to re-open, either at Chelsea Piers or anywhere in Manhattan.  I was told they do not have any plans to do so.  Sniff!

Chelsea’s Table opened this month (May, 2012).  Last weekend, five of us ate lunch there and were all very pleased with the selection, freshness, price and taste.  One caveat – we were all dying of thirst later in the day – was it the heat, too much salt or both?  Another trip is necessary!  I had the cous cous salad with grilled chicken, which was delicious.  The pastas and sandwiches got high ratings from others in my party.  This place is a goldmine for families.  There are tons of kid-type things to do right nearby (waterside playground, all the facilities at Chelsea Piers, bike paths, lawns and skateboard park above Chelsea Piers, etc.), and the food here is healthy, delicious and fairly reasonably priced (for a desirable area in Manhattan).  I highly recommend it!

If you are interested in farm-to-table restaurants in downtown Manhattan, see this earlier post of mine.

Alert: Union Square Souen is open for lunch!

June: 2011
I went there last week, and IT WAS ON!  The sushi bar was not open, so my craving for an umeboshi/shiso roll went unsatisfied, but alas, I lived through it.