New England Traditions Collide in Somerville Pizza Joint

“Hi there. My name’s John and I’ll be your server tonight.” John is in his late twenties, tall and lean with long hair pulled back into a loose knot at the back of his head, and a scraggly beard just a few centimeters longer that simple scruff. This description could be used for about three quarters of the guys around me. A few are standing next to two massive clay wood-fire ovens with bandanas keeping their long locks out of the stretched dough in their hands. “Think good thoughts, ” “drink local beer” and other sayings are written on the walls in a precise but free style. The Beatles’  Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da comes on over the sound system and John Lennon’s cooing harmonizes with the whoop and hollers coming across the room from the eight lanes of candlepin bowling. This is the Flatbread Company.

Raucous twenty- and thirty-year olds stand around munching pizza and slurping micro-brew beers next to parties of seated retirees with their grandchildren as the smells of burned dough and garden herbs wafts over them. The Flatbread Company began in 1998 with one location in Amesbury, Massachusetts. This company began with the goal to bring organic locally sourced food to its customers, and it relied heavily on the growth of local farms and producers to sustain its own expansion.

Between 1998 and 2016, the Flatbread Company has opened nine more locations in New England, including one at 45 Day Street Somerville, Massachusetts. Located in the building that from 1939 to 2010 was home to Sacco’s Bowl Haven bowling alley—a Boston institution to the hardcore candlepin bowlers—the Flatbread Company made sure to renovate around the candlepin lanes in order to preserve part of Boston’s history and a New England pastime.

Nothing quite yells old-time Yankee spirit like candlepin bowling. Red Sox in the summer, pond hockey in sub degree temperatures in winter, and candlepin bowling all year round. It’s a New England staple that is as much New England as Vermont Maple Syrup or clam chowder. The sport was invented in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1880. Since then New Englanders have been chucking grapefruit sized balls at small skinny sticks sixty feet away. Though at one point the Somerville Historical Preservation Commission says that you could take your pick from four different bowling alleys around Davis Square, Sacco’s was the lone survivor. 

Bowl Haven was a smoky pool hall with ten bowling alleys that had been in the Sacco family for four generations until 2010. At one time there were nineteen Sacco bowling alleys in the Boston area alone, but over time this number dwindled down to just the Davis Square location. This was a place where a shoe rental cost $1.50, and a lane was $3.00 ($2.75 on weekday mornings and afternoons). No food or alcohol was sold because this was bowling for Spartans with a thirst for hitting things with balls.

Sacco's Bowl Haven motto said it all, “we've got small balls, but we're big on fun.”

Nowadays there is a slightly different motto inscribed on the wall. The Flatbread company’s motto “renew their spirit” holds no reference to bowling, but to their organic and locally sourced pizzas and salads, Managing Partner Evan Fetras explains. Free-range chicken, nitrate-free meats and organic vegetables top the wood-fired pizzas offered in organic wheat or gluten-free crusts. New Hampshire’s Peace of Mind Baking Company supplies the gluten-free, vegan crusts, made with *Brown Rice Flour, *Garbanzo Bean Flour, Arrowroot Powder, *Tapioca Flour, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, *Flax seed Meal, *Pure Cane Sugar, *Xanthum Gum, *Active Yeast, * Sea Salt, *Cider Vinegar (*Indicates Organic).

But the spartan bowling continues in this hip establishment that still has eight bowling lanes, where score is kept by hand with pencil and scorecard. The ninth and tenth lanes are no more, but instead there is a full bar where New England distilled spirits are concocted into a variety of seasonal cocktails.

“If I may, I would say that a large is good for two hungry adults,” John said in response to my friend, Nathaniel, and I deciding to split one twelve inch gluten-free pizza. John was quite astute. Both Nathaniel and I were adults and we were quite hungry. John, obviously worried that Nathaniel and I would start eyeing each others less vital limbs in fits of hunger, convinced us to get another small pizza: the Punctuated Equilibrium. What is another $12.25 to “two hungry adults.”

As John moved off I shouted, “Oh hey, how long until a lane opens up?” John looked back with a smile and said, “Oh you can count on waiting another hour.”

I looked at my watch. It was already 9:30 PM on this Sunday and the Flatbread Company closed by 10:30 PM. Oh well, at least the pizza was tasty, but I still want to hurl some balls.

The Flatbread Company Sacco’s Bowl Haven, open Monday through Saturday, 9:00 AM. to12:00 AM, and Sunday, 9 AM to 10:30 PM, is at 45 Day St., Somerville, Massachusetts. Lane rental is $25 an hour; shoe rental is $2. Pizzas range $9.75-$19.75 with gluten-free crust available for an additional $4.50. By public transportation, take an outbound MBTA Red Line train toward Alewife, and get off at Davis Square. Sacco’s accepts lane reservations for groups of eight or more; smaller groups are accommodated on a first-come, first served basis in designated walk-in-only lanes. Make reservations at 617-776-0552.

by Kit Norton

A Turnaround Twelve Hours in Chicago

At 4:30 am the train pulled into Chicago’s Union Station, fourteen hours late, meaning an unexpected and weary day in Chicago until the next train east at 9:30 pm. Not surprisingly, my traveling companion and I were exhausted and uncomfortable. We had been assured for more than ten hours that Amtrak would put us up in a hotel and rebook our travel home. Being hyper vigilant about bed bugs I always check the online Bed Bug Registry prior to booking accommodations. Blurry-eyed (without enough reading glasses to read everything on my cell-phone screen), very hungry (I ran out of food around seventeen hours prior), and grumpy to my core, I scanned bed bug reports and, sure enough, the hotel we had been comped had fourteen bug alerts. I start Googling the hotels that showed zero reports and they were all fully booked.

My companion was equally exhausted, but less concerned about bed bug contamination than I was so we were at odds. Finally I proclaimed that she could go to the hotel without any luggage (she didn't), but that I was going to stay at the station and wait the forty-five minutes until the lounge for sleeping-car travelers opened up. I felt like I was on a camping trip where it starts pouring, the tent leaks, and you’re having car problems….you are so uncomfortable you just want it to all go away (especially since the expectation was that we would be spending a whole night (instead of a partial morning) in a comfortable hotel bed (sans bugs). Expectations mixed with no sleep and low-blood-sugar made for tender and trigger-cranky emotions.

My companion decided to fly home due to work commitments (our new scheduled arrival home was a minimum 24-hours later than originally planned.) My day had grim prospects. I thought likely I would spend it curled up on a stained, lumpy love seat in the windowless lounge room of Union Station, dozing on and off, hopefully not visibly drooling. I didn’t have motivation for much else, but the love seat was less than appealing, so I mustered my last shred of energy and headed off to Whole Foods, not far from the train station. This was slow-shopping in the extreme. My daze was reminiscent of how I used to feel after working a twelve-hour shift all night at the hospital. I was working hard at concentrating and was slightly aware that I looked like someone on drugs or newly homeless (after three and a half days on a train from California I was doing a good imitation). Then I slowed down even more when I realized I had nothing to do for twelve hours. S-l-o-w shopping. If my companion had stayed she would have killed me.

After stocking for two more full days of travel, I settled into the cafe area and ate, which fortified me enough to think about spending my day outside of the station.

I knew I would be a horrible companion in that I needed every ounce of reserve to function and couldn’t expend any on niceties or social interaction, so I did not contact the handful of people I know in Chicago. It was sunny, with a slight breeze and perfect temp, so off I went to explore. Since not all my cylinders were firing, I took a water taxi to Navy Pier, where I boarded a larger boat for an architectural tour of Chicago. This was the perfect solution for the worn-down traveler: I was sitting outside, soaking in the sun, but learning things about the “windy” city: the bridge designs are from Paris, the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) can sway three feet in any direction at upper stories; and, the Haymarket Riot, a tragic event in labor history resulting in the hanging of union organizers, took place in downtown Chicago.

After the informative and, for me, therapeutic boat ride, I wandered around the shoreline and city beach, then made my way towards a day spa where I had booked a massage. Exploring the neighborhoods on the way, I stumbled onto Local Root, a local-foods restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating in the Streeterville neighborhood of the city. I had plenty of time before my appointment, so I savored a full, fresh meal for the first time in four days. While vegetarians will find a number of things to eat, the menu is heavy on meat and fish. My salad of local greens and pickled onions was delicious (the pickled onions were especially good) and went well with my perfectly cooked grass-fed burger. Chicago’s tap water tastes heavily of chlorine and has other known contaminants in it, so I would recommend ordering bottled water (although I would rather see restaurants doing their own in-house filtration of tap water).

Next stop on my grim-day-turned-fabulous, was the Allyu Spa located along the Riverwalk in the River North area. The large, airy, Buddhist-inspired day spa offers a range of massage and spa therapies as well as a far-infrared sauna. There is a meditation/relaxation sanctuary where you can wait before and after your therapy, as well as outside seating along the river. From start to finish Allyu was what this weary traveler needed.

The sad love seat where I might have spent my day was still at the train station when I returned, waiting for some other desperate traveler. My message to them—you have options.



Full Disclosure: no businesses listed here had any knowledge that I would be writing about them and provided zero comp benefits.

Ultimate Gluten-Free in Prague

The belief held by some in the United States that the Gluten-Free diet is a mere fad has not stopped this nutrition-alternative from spreading in Eastern Europe. As such, practicing “anti-glutenists” need not worry if they are visiting the picturesque city of Prague.

A would-be traveler to Prague cannot go without sampling the Czech beer, and so the first, and most important, gluten-free product that it available is Zatec Celia. This gluten-free beer is available for purchase in Galerie Piva at Lázeňská 15, Prague and nowhere else in the area. However, if you are in the mood to sit down and enjoy your gluten-free Czech pilsner along with traditional gluten-free Czech cuisine, you must visit Svejk Restaurant U Karla at Kremencova 7, Prague 1. This restaurant was the gastronomical highlight of this writer’s trip to Prague, and any traveler, gluten-free or not, should visit this establishment. Svejk U Karla is open daily 11am-12am and offers a complete mouthwatering gluten-free menu. For $15 or (299 Czech Koruna) you can order freshly baked gluten-free bread, horseradish sauce, gluten-free beer, and four of the largest and best tasting pork ribs.

After being fortified with this hearty meal you are welcome to continue to walk the streets of Prague, exploring at your leisure, but do not be surprised if your thoughts, and perhaps your feet, bring you back to Kremencova 7 searching for another dish.

Guest blog post by Kit Norton

Surprising—Gluten-Free in Wells/Ogunquit Maine

For reasons defying explanation, the Wells/Ogunquit area of Maine with its long, wide flat beaches, is onto the gluten-free scene. A number of eateries offer gluten-free options including, thankfully, our favorite lobster-roll haunt, Jake’s Seafood on the corner of Route 1 and Bourne Road—the road to Moody Beach. At Jake’s you can get a lobster roll with or without mayonnaise—my preference with butter or even naked on a wheat or gluten-free bun. This transformed our trip as two out of three of us need to eat gluten-free, so we could all happily enjoy our generously portioned lobster rolls.

Wild Blueberry conjures waffles and pancakes, but The Wild Blueberry Restaurant in Ogunquit is a fine dining establishment with a casual air serving fresh, local fish and other foods. The local Lemon Sole was delicious as was the Maine-caught Haddock, but the Lobster and Avocado starter was sublime.

Roost Cafe and Bistro offers a wide range of gluten-free dishes including local fish and chips made with non-gluten-breading.

Happy gluten-free eating on the southern Maine coast!

Local and Natural Restaurants on the Cape

Looking for groovy eats on the Cape? Like farmstands and health food stores, there are great places to eat sprinkled throughout Cape Cod.

The Juice in Wellfleet offers up sandwiches, salads, pizzas, real-fruit smoothies and fresh juices. The bestselling piña-colada-like Maui Wowie was the favorite in my group, but we sampled all the options and gave thumbs-up to all of them. The Juice is in downtown Wellfleet, 6 Commercial Street, Wellfleet, MA 508-349-0535. From May to September it is open daily for eating in or take-out lunch 11:30 am to 3:00 pm; Dinner 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm.

Other local food restaurants featuring, local, organic and natural menus include Local 186, Harvest Gallery Wine Bar, Pizza Barbone, and FarmMaid Foods Cafe. You can find out about others through the beautiful print and online magazine Edible Cape Cod. Other sources of good eats: www.BuyFreshBuyLocalCapeCod.org for lists of  restaurants offering and supporting locally grown food.

Most restaurants worth eating at serve locally caught fish and of course oysters and clams! Always ask where the fish is from—you will be surprised by some of the places it comes from like Iceland and South America.

Bon appetit!

Fast-Organic in Paris at Boco

 We first ate at Boco two years ago when we were in Paris and loved it. It was on the short-list of places to try again on this trip and I’m pleased to report it didn’t disappoint!

There are so many things I like about Boco—their commitment to sustainability and organic food (called bio in France) top the list. But a close second is the adorable glass containers they serve their food in (which also support their eco efforts by being washed and reused). After our last trip I bought similar containers to use at home for packing my lunch.

Boco meets the need for fresh, healthy, bio food available quickly. The dishes are prepared in advance and artistically displayed in the front portion of the store. 100% of ingredients are bio, and options include vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free. There are main dishes (we had curried lentils and asparagus pasta), sides (we had carrots and parsnips roasted with cumin), and desserts (we didn’t have one this time, but enjoyed an apple crisp last time we were here). You use a basket to select your items and bring them to the counter to check-out and have your food warmed-up.They also make coffee, tea, juices, and hot sandwiches at the counter if you’d like.

There is plenty of seating to eat at Boco, as well as options to take the food to-go. At the back of the restaurant is a wall of artisan goods for sale (wine, jams, chocolate etc.). 

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners while we were eating at Boco. Frederique, was circulating the restaurant with a mother-hen quality—greeting guests and making sure everything was running smoothly. She was lovely and very proud of Boco’s offerings to the Parisian community.

We ate at the Opera Boco location (3 Rue Danielle Casanova), but there are three locations in

downtown Paris, each with its own hours. The Opera location is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. I strongly recommend making time to eat here on your next trip.

Enjoy!
Z
To read more about my culinary adventures, please visit www.onebeet.com

Gallete Café for Gluten-free Crepes

I am thrilled to welcome Z from One Beet, a blog about nutrition, good food and recipes, as a guest blogger here on Traveling Naturally and the Green Earth Guides, as she shares her great eco and organic finds while traveling through Europe this year. This month she is in France and offers some great places in Paris to eat.

    It was a rainy afternoon in Paris and we were hungry. We had spent the past few hours walking through the Louvre and needed an energy boost before tackling the Musee d’Orsay.  We wandered through the streets on the Left Bank near the d’Orsay and came across Galette Café on the corner. We were pulled in immediately by the funky exterior and were sold when we read the menu of gluten-free, organic buckwheat galletes.  
    The food was delicious! We shared two savory buckwheat galletes—one topped with a salad, fresh goat cheese, baked apples, and walnuts. The second topped with an artisanal sausage, onion confit, and tomato compote. Gallete Café prides itself on their traditional menu and commitment to local and organic artisans.  There is a nice page on their website that outlines some of the producers they work with (including the buckwheat flour miller). The menu is simple, yet tasty – it highlights excellent ingredients and innovative combinations.
    So what’s the big deal about buckwheat? Buckwheat is actually a pseudo cereal (rather than a grain), so it is gluten-free and perfect for people watching their wheat intake.  In addition, it’s high in fiber, contains all eight essential amino acids, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium, copper, and zinc.
    Not only did we enjoy the food at Gallete Café, we also appreciated the ambiance. The small café is well designed with a clean, trendy aesthetic. The staff was also very friendly and spoke excellent English (they had menus available in a range of languages at the host stand).
    This place is a worth a trip to 2 Rue du l’Universite for a delicious lunch or dinner. Buckwheat galettes run between 7.50 and 12.80 € and the café also serves organic wheat crepes, oysters from Brittany, a range of beverages and artisanal ice cream. Don’t go looking for breakfast, the Gallette Café opens at 12 noon Tuesday through Sunday. Open until 10:30 pm  Wednesday through Saturday, the café closes at 5:00 pm on Tuesday and Sunday.
Enjoy!
Z
To read more about my culinary adventures, please visit www.onebeet.com

Vermont Eats...Again

I am thrilled to announce the launch of the Vermont Eats app.... again. Due to some technical difficulties the app got off to a rough start last fall, but it is now available as an individual app on both the iTunes® store and the Android Market.

Vermont Eats is a tour de force of the great, green, groovy food scene in Vermont.

Vermont Eats has over 1500 photos and 470 entries, all searchable by price, region and type of business including farmer's markets, artisan cheeses, farm-to-table restaurants, micro-breweries, pizzas, gluten-free foods, vegetarian options, organic farms, health food stores and about thirty more categories

—all easy-to-find with built-in Google maps.

Vermont Eats is a must-have for both residents and travelers—you won't want to leave home without this App! Eat well and enjoy!

London & UK Organic & Sustainable Eating

UK green travelers and residents need never go hungry again! Explore the following super useful tools:

At the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) you can search for restaurants which have been rated based on 14 criteria including use of local and seasonal foods, sustainable seafood and meats, water conservation, and fair trade.

Check out the 2012 sustainable restaurant award winners such as the restaurant at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, Oxford where organic food grown in its own two-acre garden supplies the kitchen with over one hundred and fifty different vegetables and herbs. Another award winner, Ode, in Devon, serves local and organic meals for lunch and dinner.


With the new app from the Good Food Guide 2012  you can search for restaurants by cuisine type (vegetarian, French, etc), cost, distance, or alphabetically by name.

And for organic and natural food markets check out The London Organic Directory to find restaurants, cafés, pubs and health food stores.

If you need gluten-free options the UK Celiac Society provides a guide for allergy-sufferers which will help you find eateries and hotels.

Eating in the UK will never be the same—enjoy!

Paola's Restaurant—Inconspicuous Italian

 

I had no idea the treat I was in for as I settled into eat at Paola's with a very dear old friend of mine. I had been in New York for almost two weeks working on the grueling task of emptying a wreck of an apartment while staying at a friend's place. On my walk between the apartments I unwittingly passed Paola's every day, never noticing it behind its subdued facade. When my friend suggested it I was surprised at the address she gave, "Really? It's on 92nd and Madison?" certain there must be an error.

Low and behold, the address was correct and Paola's, whose entrance is on 92nd Street, not Madison (which explains how I missed it—sort of) is a sizable restaurant specializing in Italian food. Open for lunch and dinner, the restaurant is abuzz with people so reservations are recommended.

What many of the customers are likely unaware of is Paola's commitment to using fresh and local ingredients whenever possible. While the political issues of local food are understood, it is the freshness, quality and taste that drive the restaurant to prepare as much of its dishes with New York produced ingredients as it can. 

Vegetables and seasonal fruits come from the Union Square farmer's market (worth a trip if you have never been), as does some of the meat. One of the owner's of Paola's works some land in upstate New York, producing a small amount of vegetables for the restaurant and the future goal is for the restaurant to have its own farm where the restaurant can source a high percentage of its food.

Diners looking for gluten-free options will find plenty at Paola's including gluten-free pasta on request as well as specialty dishes that are senza gluten. My dish samplings included sumptuous spinach and ricotta on a bed of house-made tomato sauce and delectable grilled artichokes— a house specialty with origins from Rome's Jewish ghetto where fried artichokes are still a popular delicacy. The Carciofi alla giudía (Jewish-style artichokes) have a taste and texture not ordinarily experienced with this edible thistle—crunchy and succulent—it leaves you wanting more, as it should be.

While Paola's is not for those on a tight budget, you can certainly eat for under $30 if you order one course, but I warn you it is hard to only have one.

Paola's
1295 Madison Avenue (entrance on 92nd Street)
New York City, NY 10128
www.paolasrestaurant.com
212-794-1890
Open for Lunch: 11:00 am to 4:00 pm; Dinner: 4:30 pm to 11:00 pm
Prices: Antipasti $12-18; Pastas $20-22; Main/Secondi $22-40; Brunch $12-26

Android Vermont Eats App is Here

Android users rejoice! The Vermont Eats app is now available in Android format—and as an individual app (yay!) not within "Sutro World" like on the iTunes store.

So it is easy to get your copy of Vermont Eats and start enjoying the over 400 sources of great local food and places to eat.

Apple® device users—an updated Vermont Eats will be available soon—stay tuned.

Celebrate Food Day October 24th Every Day

Food Day, on Monday October 24th, is fashioned after Earth Day and promotes healthy, safe, and affordable food with the goals of reducing diet-related diseases, supporting sustainable farms, limiting subsidies to big agribusiness, expanding access to healthy food, protecting the environment, curbing junk-food marketing to kids and supporting fair working conditions for food and farm workers.

With over 100 partner organizations including The Real Food Challenge, Food Alliance and Slow Food USA, there are hundreds of Food Day events planned all over the country—check the Web site to find a local event.

Created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization working for more than forty years on nutrition and food safety, Food Day’s advisory board is comprised of notable food advocates including author Michael Pollan, former Texas agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower, publisher Maria Rodale, chef Alice Waters and doctor Dean Ornish.

Vermont visitors and residents can find local, organic and artisan foods with a finger stroke using the new App, Vermont Eats within the Sutro World free app on iTunes®, enjoying the principles of Food Day everyday. Local and organic food businesses are also featured in all the Traveling Naturally guidebooks and apps available at the Traveling Naturally Web site and iTunes®.

Support Food Day and sustainable food systems—eat local and organic—better for you, better for the environment.

Foodie Heaven In Vermont

LIVE today on iTunes, the free Sutro World App contains Vermont Eats.

Vermont Eats: The Essential Green Travel Guide App is a tour de force of the great, green, groovy food scene in Vermont.

Vermont Eats is a localvores delight, with over 400 entries, 1500 photos, all searchable by price, region and type of business including farmer's markets, artisan cheeses, farm- to-table restaurants, micro-breweries, pizzas, gluten-free foods, vegetarian options, organic farms, health food stores and thirty more categories—all easy-to-find with built-in Google maps and regular updates.

Vermont leads the country with the highest number of farmer's markets, artisan cheesemakers and breweries per capita. It also has the most certified organic farms, maple trees and more local dollars are spent on local food in Vermont than anywhere else in the country.

Whether a visitor to the state or a resident, Vermont Eats will change the way you travel in the Green Mountains—you can eat your way through the state supporting local foods and farms leaving a small footprint as you go. Vermont Eats lets you locate hard-to-find farmer's markets; search for vegetarian, gluten-free, raw and vegan eateries; discover sources for locally grown meats and eggs; pick-your-own organic berries; drink fair-trade coffees and eat fresh-baked breads.

Vermont Eats—a must-have for both residents and travelers—your mobile device won't want to leave home without it!

To purchase go to the FREE Sutro World app on iTunes®. Download it and within the App find Vermont Eats listed alphabetically under North America, click on it, buy it, ENJOY it!

$2.99—Available immediately on iTunes®—available on Android soon

Spanish Liquid Sunshine from Soler Romero

Most people don't realize that Spain, not Italy, is the largest producer of olive oil in the world. Organic olive oils are becoming increasingly available and one of the largest producers of organic olive oil in Spain is the family-run Soler Romero.

Situated in the Spanish province of Jaen in the southern region of Andalucia—the largest olive and olive oil producing area in Spain—Soler Romero uses only its own olives and does not buy from other farms or cooperatives so as to maintain the strictest control over the quality of their oil. They compost and recycle all the scraps and waste from their olive groves.

In business since 1850, Soler Romero was the first olive farm in Jaen to follow organic farming practices and was also the first to receive organic certification from the USDA in 2002. They also are certified organic by the European Union, Japan, and China as well as the local organic certification area for the region of Andalucia.

The estate's more than 1500 acres produce 700,000 pounds of olive oil every year from the picual olive variety, high in antioxidants, which makes the oil stable. Every stage of the process is performed on the estate, including processing the olives within two hours of harvest making for a very low-acidity oil— 0.10 percent (to be considered extra virgin an oil must be below 0.80 acidity). Soler Romero chooses an early harvest time, between mid-October and mid-November, which they feel results in the perfect oil made with ideally ripened olives.

Soler Romero olive oil is available in Spain, and also in the United States as well as other countries—including the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, China and Korea. If you live in Portland, Oregon (or are visiting) you can find Soler Romero oil served at Higgins Restaurant. Badger organic health balms and creams uses Soler Romero organic oil in their organic body-care products.

For more information about Spain's organic olive oils see the Green Earth Guide, Olive Oil: An Olive Oil Lover's Guide to the Organic Oils of Spain, with listings of forty organic oils and tips on having olive oil tastings. Use the Guide to help you tour through olive groves and estates, sampling Spain's liquid sunshine as you travel through Spain.

Local and Organic Table in Dublin Ireland

The Farm—the name conjures a bucolic scene with hay and fences—but this farm is in the heart of downtown Dublin near Trinity College and Grafton Street. The outside of The Farm is unassuming with a sandwich-board announcing the day's specials. Inside, rather than rustic, worn-pine tables and chairs, you will find a seemingly upscale restaurant with white cushioned chairs.

Don't be fooled by the decor. The Farm lives up to its name, serving fare made with local and organic ingredients. The Farm burger is made with organic Irish beef, topped with cheddar cheese, organic bacon and a side of salad or fries. Other meats offered include free-range chicken, organic salmon and duck. Vegetarians can enjoy a variety of dishes and diners looking for gluten-free choices will happily find a number of potato options (it is Ireland after all).

The Farm also offers organic wines and has one of my favorite Spanish wines from the Aranleon Bodega. On our evening there we  enjoyed delicious duck, beef, goat cheese, salads and some mighty fine fried potatoes.

The Farm is conveniently located with generous hours—a great place to take a load off of tourist-treading, weary feet and to nourish hungry bellies with organic and local Irish victuals. Prices for starters range from 6 to 10 euros, entrees from 16 to 27 (the highest end for organic sirloin steak).


The Farm, 3 Dawson Street, City Centre South, Dublin 2; Tel: 01 671 8654/8323; open 7 days from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm.

Organic Burgers in New York City

Hankering for an organic hamburger in New York City?

You can find the largest variety of organic burgers in New York at BareBurger, with two locations in Manhattan, one in Queens and one opening in Brooklyn this summer. BareBurger's generous menu includes many foods that are 100% organic and they are good about making the appropriate distinctions between organic, natural and grass-fed. BareBurger serves meat, vegetarian and vegan burgers, as well as other dishes. 100% organic meats are beef, bison, sausage, and the vegetarian burger and vegan portobello mushroom burgers are 100% organic. Pasture-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats are elk, ostrich, lamb, chicken, and bacon. All the cheeses served are rBGH-free (growth hormone-free), three of which are 100% organic. All the milk, butter, eggs and ice cream are 100% organic as well, making for some fine old-fashioned tasting milkshakes. The meats at BareBurger come from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with the exception of the bison and elk which come from Montana. They offer a few bun options and for people needing to avoid gluten, they offer a lettuce-wrap (100% organic!). Peanut allergy sufferers take note: the french fries are cooked in peanut oil.

The Green Table, tucked in the middle of Chelsea Market, the renovated former Nabisco biscuit factory on West 15th Street, specializes in organic and local foods from area farmers. They serve organic meat as well as organic vegetables and beverages. The farms they purchase from include Hawthorne Valley Farm, a biodynamic farm in upstate New York, Flying Pigs Farm, Old Chatham Sheepherding, and many others. The beef for Green Table's burgers comes from Wrighteous Organics in Schoharie NY about 175 miles north of the city and is distributed by Dickson's Farmstand Meats, an organic and natural butcher a few doors down from The Green Table in Chelsea Market.

Local Food Lesson Learned: one of my traveling companions wanted to trade out the spicy tomato chutney and fresh kim chi served with the burger for lettuce and tomato—not possible, at least not in April. Since The Green Table specializes in local and seasonal fare, fresh tomatoes are not available this time of year in New York. Even though it made my companion a little grumpy, I was delighted at this clear ideological line. As consumers we have gotten used to having what we want, whenever we want it (like an organic hamburger in New York City). Fresh, young spring greens were served with the burger and my friend had the chutney on the side. The rest of us enjoyed the kim chi (crunchy and fresh, not long-fermented) and the tomato chutney slathered over our burgers resulting in savory, spicy, perfectly cooked burgers. Vegetarians can find a number of organic dishes at The Green Table too.

And while we are talking about organic milkshakes, if you are visiting the Metropolitan Museum (5th Avenue and 82nd Street), you will be delighted at the relatively new food concession stand/van parked outside. Cake and Shake serves up cupcakes, savory cakes and milkshakes made with organic ingredients (if you can not eat cow-dairy or wheat/gluten, I am afraid there is nothing for you to enjoy), open seven days a week.

The Green Table, Chelsea Market, 9th Avenue between 15th & 16th Streets, New York; Tel: 212 741 6623; open Monday to Wednesday 11:30 to 9:00 pm, Thursday & Friday 11:30 to 10:00 pm, Saturday 11:00 am to 10:00 pm, Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

BareBurger, 535 Laguardia Pl. (south of Washington Square Park between Bleeker and W. 3rd St. on the edge of NYU) 
Manhattan; and 514 Third Avenue (between 34 & 35th Streets), 
Manhattan; open 11 am to 11 pm, till midnight on Friday and Saturday and open at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday; and 33-21 31st Ave, Astoria, Queens; and coming in the summer of 2011—Park Slope, Brooklyn.

A Table of Slow, Local Food in Cambridge

Green travelers (or residents) visiting the Boston-Cambridge area looking for excellent food can indulge at Henrietta's Table. Chef Peter Davis has been on to the virtues of local, seasonal ingredients and slow-food for over fifteen years, well before the current trend.

Situated in The Charles Hotel, in the southwestern part of the Harvard Square area,  adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Park, Henrietta's has indoor tables and seasonal outdoor seating. Its full bar serves organic and specialty liquors, with house-special cocktails made without mixes, but rather with real ingredients. The strawberry-basil Mojito has chunks of fresh strawberries and chopped basil complementing the traditional mint and lime juice.

Henrietta's serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is busy at all three meals, so it is advised to make reservations. Henrietta's is especially known as the go-to place for business breakfast meetings, so be forewarned that breakfast can be the hardest time to find a seat.

The menus include vegetarian as well as meat and seafood dishes using local and organic vegetables, organic beef from Maine, New England seafood and antibiotic-free chicken. Entrees start at $13.00 for lunch and $15 for dinner. It is very easy to eat gluten-free at Henrietta's as long as you pass on the basket of delicious breads. The staff is friendly and helpful and the tables are full of happy eaters—enjoy.

Henrietta's Table, One Bennett St, Cambridge, MA 02138; Tel: 617-661 5005; open for breakfast Monday to Friday from 6:30 am to 11:00 am, Saturday 7:00 am to 11:00 and Sunday 7:00 am to 10:30 am; for lunch Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 3:00 pm, on Saturday and Sunday brunch is served from 12 noon to 3 pm; for dinner Sunday to Saturday from 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm.

Slow Food Spain

Last week, "alive" food. This week slow….. and not as in eating snails (even though that is the Slow Food logo) and sloths, but rather, slow as in the promotion of whole food meals prepared fresh from local and seasonal foods.

In Spain, the Slow Food Farm-to-Table project, called Km 0, certifies restaurants serving local, organic and indigenous foods that have come from farms less than 100 km (62 miles) away. Close to sixty restaurants around Spain have been recognized as Km 0. The highest concentration of Km 0 restaurants are in the Catalonia and Basque regions. The rest are scattered around the country. A couple are listed specifically in the Green Earth Guide to Spain—Kimpira in Valencia and Gaia in Sevilla.

Founded in Italy twenty-two years ago, the Slow Food movement mission is five-fold—to defend food biodiversity, safeguard the environment, advocate sustainable agriculture, protect small producers and their communities, and foster the gastronomic traditions of the world. Within that broad purpose, Slow Food has many projects including Farm to Table/Km 0 and the Ark of Taste. For restaurants in Spain to be accepted in the Km 0 program they must serve at least 5 dishes on their menu made avoiding GMO foods and with a minimum of 40% ingredients from local producers and 60% from foods that are organic or identified in the Ark of Taste project. The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity Ark of Taste project catalogs and promotes indigenous foods at risk of extinction. More than 900 foods from fifty countries have been identified so far. In Spain this includes seventy-nine foods—some olive oils, olives, fruits, vegetables, herbs, cheeses, meat, fish, grains and wines. Restaurants are reviewed annually to make sure they are maintaining compliance with the Km 0 requirements.

Thanks to Slow Food España for administrating the Km 0 project and for providing the list of Km 0 participating restaurants. To find the Spanish restaurants approved as Km 0 visit the new 2010-2011 list of restaurants, organized alphabetically by city:
http://cocineros.slowfood.es/2010/12/09/restaurantes-km-0-edicion-2010-2011/