What’s the Fuss About Farm-To-Table Restaurants?
Farm to Table restaurants are all the rage these days. But, what does farm to table mean exactly?
In the last 5 – 10 years, there has been increasing demand by diners for food that is locally grown and seasonal, preferably grown without pesticides and other chemicals and grown in a way that is kind to the animals, the environment and to humans.
Most restaurants, whether they are inexpensive fast food chain restaurants or expensive and elegant, serve food that is produced with industrial agricultural methods. Industrial agriculture produces food using a lot of fossil fuels, which creates large amounts of greenhouse gases and contributes significantly to climate change. Additionally, industrial agriculture creates large amounts of air and water pollution, uses a tremendous amount of water, treats animals raised for human consumption as factory products, not intelligent, feeling creatures and applies large amounts of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals on crops.
Unfortunately, the restaurants that market themselves as farm to table in New York City tend to be rather pricey. If you are looking for fast and inexpensive food, this is not for you! On the other hand, if you are a discerning diner, who wants to try quality food that is grown in sustainable ways, here are a few restaurants you may want to try in alphabetical order.
Note: moderately priced means that entrée prices average between $18 and $25 while expensive means that average entrée prices are more than $30.
ABC Kitchen – 35 East 18th Street, Manhattan – expensive
AWOL Eatery – 336 Graham Avenue, Brooklyn – moderately priced
Black Tree – 131 Orchard Street, Manhattan – moderately priced
Blue Hill – 75 Washington Place, Manhattan – expensive
Foragers Table – 233 8th Avenue, Manhattan – moderately priced
Gramercy Tavern – 42 East 20th Street, Manhattan – moderately priced
Market Table – 54 Carmine Street, Manhattan – expensive
Mas Farmhouse – 39 Downing Street, Manhattan – expensive
Print – 653 11th Avenue, Manhattan – expensive
Roberta’s – 261 Moore Street, Brooklyn – moderately priced
Telepan – 72 West 69th Street, Manhattan – expensive
The Green Table – 75 9th Avenue, Manhattan – moderately priced
The Marshal – 628 Tenth Avenue, Manhattan – moderately priced
Alas, I have not eaten at any of these restaurants so I will not recommend any of them. I invite our readers to write to me at les@greencitychallenge.org to let me know your experiences at any of these restaurants.
