Top Restaurants With Organic Food In Connecticut
Many Connecticut restaurants have gotten behind the whole organic, non-GMO, locally-sourced food movement, and have done so in a big way. Some, like Claire's Corner Copia near Yale, were among the founding members and banner carriers for this healthy eating crusade. For most of the chefs, owners and staff at these restaurants, preparing healthy, organic meals is about more than making a living – it is a mission, and one that, fortunately for diners in the Nutmeg State, is as tasty and as delightful as it is honest and good for them. Here are just five of the top restaurants with organic food in Connecticut.
Organic Planet
107 Greenwich Ave.
Greenwich, CT 06830
(203) 992-1800
www.organicplanetct.com
Organic Planet in Greenwich touts itself as "Connecticut's original real foods restaurant." Chef Gerry Herrfurth takes great pride in cooking only with organic ingredients, and with organic ingredients from local farms. "Local, sustainable, vegetarian, vegan and health-supportive cuisine" is how he describes the menu and the philosophy behind Organic Planet. Herrfurth does offer salads and other dishes made with chicken from Hemlock Hill Farm, and does have salmon and rainbow trout on the menu (and even burgers and meatballs), but the ingredients for those come from organic, local sources, notably the Back Forty Farm in Washington, CT.
The Green Granary
84 Railroad St.
New Milford, CT 06776
(860) 799-7405
www.greengranary.com
The Green Granary takes the whole farm-to-table movement seriously. The restaurant proudly supports CT NOFA (the Connecticut chapter of Northeast Organic Farming Association), the Non-GMO Project and Slow Food USA, and has pledged to cook only with food that is organic and, if at all possible, locally produced. Putting together a good healthy meal with ingredients produced by farmers who produce wholesome food and who also care for the environment is part of their mission statement. After all, as the website notes with pride, "the Green Granary isn't just a cafe; it's a calling." Its cuisine, however, does also call to its loyal customer base, who often begin their day with organic eggs or organic oatmeal, stop by to lunch on grass-fed beef or organic turkey sandwiches and then come back on Sunday for brunch, where the Farmer's Breakfast and Apple Pie Pancake vie with Eggs Florentine and Eggs Benedict – made, of course, with organic eggs.
Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe
39 Unquowa St.
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 212-8190
www.catchahealthyhabit.com
The food at Catch a Healthy Habit is so organic that it is served raw. It is also vegetarian and gluten-free. Start with the Grateful Green, Superfood Hero or Holy Cacao smoothie, then move on to a main course selection like the "Tomavo" (nut pate, tomato, avocado and rawmesan on an onion roll or romaine), Veggie Patty Po'Boy or the Asian Ginger Salad. Finish the meal off with some soft-serve "ice cream" (their quotes) and perhaps instead of coffee, the Magic Mushroom Elixir – served hot or cold. One of the few and perhaps the best known raw food restaurants in the state, Catch a Healthy Habit is as unique as it is organic.
The Lime Restaurant
168 Main Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06851
(203) 846-9240
www.limerestaurant.com
When the waiters tell the customers that everything is "naturally delicious" at The Lime Restaurant in Norwalk, they are not only referring to how good the food tastes, but also to where the food comes from – and that is from nature. The Lime is so serious about organic food that even its signature vegan burger is called "The Nature Burger." Its cousin, the Nut Burger Roll Up, and other vegan and vegetarian items on the menu, like the popular Zucchini Loaf and Black Bean Chili, also attest to its organic nature. The Lime does have meat, fish and chicken on the menu for those diners who may not be in the mood for Tofu Patty Parmesan or the Soy-Carrot Loaf, but even those are prepared with ingredients that support its motto of "Eat Healthy, Live Well."
Claire's Corner Copia
1000 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 562-3888
www.clairescornercopia.com
For nearly 40 years, Claire Criscuolo has been in the forefront of the organic, natural, vegan and vegetarian dining and eating movement in Connecticut. Her corner restaurant near Yale University is all of the above – and Kosher. It is also welcoming and perhaps most important for students, affordable, which has also helped her spread the word and make converts to her cause. That cause, spelled out in four books, is to help people eat organic, healthy, vegan and vegetarian meals. Claire also has a sense of whimsy, which is often missing from many proponents of organic and vegetable-based cuisine. That whimsy shows up both in the creative mix of ingredients and the names she gives them, like the Fire Island Sandwich (made with buffalo soy chicken) and the ever popular Topo Gigio – a roasted portobello cap and eggplant delight named after an Italian puppet made famous from appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show" back in the 1960s.
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Mark G. McLaughlin is a professional and prolific writer with a proven publishing record in a wide variety of fields. An historian, novelist, freelance journalist, ghost-writer, book reviewer, magazine editor, web and magazine columnist, Mark has more than 30 years of experience. His work can be found at Examiner.com.
