Natural is Growing Yet Again

I have been told that the Natural food store on Austin Street will be taking over the CTown space next door. This will be at least the second time Natural has expanded in recent years, after having taken over an ice cream shop that used to be at the corner. CTown will be closing this weekend.

Healthy & Fresh Eats in Forest Hills

With this post, we introduce one of our new writers, Rebecca Banchik. Rebecca has lived in Forest Hills for two and a half years with her husband after 10 years of living in Manhattan. She traded in her Upper East Side life for the quaint and ever evolving Forest Hills neighborhood and never looks back. She’s a true foodie always searching for delicious and interesting meals in Queens and beyond. You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook @Foodieinthefrills. Edge of the City is still looking for more local writers, photographers and contributors. Email edgeofthecity@gmail.com for more information!

Around this time of year, you’re either staying strong and committed to those New Year’s resolutions and plans to eat better, drop a few pounds, workout more, yadda yadda yadda or you’re feeling sorry for yourself because it’s cold and nasty outside and you definitely deserve a giant bowl of macaroni and cheese. I fall somewhere in the middle – I know I want to eat well and feel good about what I put into my body…but I still want my meals to be tasty and flavorful. Forest Hills has some good options for healthy eats – here are some of my personal favorites. I hope you give them a try and never forget, it’s always ok to ask for alterations to your selection to make them fit into your healthy lifestyle. So, hold the bun and take a look:

Agora Taverna 70-09 Austin Street

Agora Taverna's Prasini Salad

The Prasini salad is my favorite. It’s simple, but that’s what makes it so fresh and satisfying. The feta Agora uses is a really delicious Greek feta that is creamy and not dry and crumbly. There are herbs that really bring out a nice flavor to the salad and the greens are crisp and refreshing. The salad is tossed with a house-made vinaigrette too – no creamy fatty dressing here.

Looking for protein? The lamb or pork kebab sticks are hearty, simply grilled, and can be ordered with a side of horta – a sautéed escarole green with garlic and oil. Squeeze some lemon on the dish and you have a protein rich, no carb dinner that will warm you on a cold night.

Bareburger 71-49 Austin Street

Burgers and fries probably sound the opposite of healthy. But that’s why Bareburger is a great choice if you know how to order. You can customize anything from their menu. They also have a great selection of salads and greens. They even have some interesting appetizers making quinoa and wholesome grains taste quite delicious. You can feel good about the food you eat here too, almost everything is organic and even the ketchup is homemade.

What to order? Try a burger (pick your protein – for a leaner choice, try the Bison) wrapped in a collard green leaf or for a gluten free option try the tapioca bun. Load up on the veggies and avocado for toppings. Order a side salad or for a more creative salad, order a small-sized main entrée salad. If you need a beverage, try their natural sodas. The ginger brew is my favorite; this isn’t Schweppes. This is natural soda made with real ginger. It’s strong, spicy, and delicious.

Ripe Juice Bar and Grill 70-13 Austin Street

Ripe has been around and they know how to do smart eating. They make a mean smoothie too. For a more treat-like smoothie, try the Pina Colada made with coconut milk, yogurt and honey for sweetness. It has the taste of the islands {ignore the snow mount by the stairs}. The Sunset Beach and the Coco Cabana are also excellent choices.

If you’re making Ripe a stop for a meal {great for a post workout dinner or lighter meal mid-week}, try the Grilled Tilapia platter. The dish is filled with brown rice, simply steamed vegetables, and a nice piece of fish. Ripe is focused on healthy low-calorie ingredients. Don’t expect jam packed flavor. But you can feel good about fueling up with whole foods that aren’t overly salted. For more jazz, the Mexican-Tex Quesadilla is a healthier take on a comfort food staple. Order it with the grilled steak and you have a nice protein rich but yummy dinner.

Roast n Co 100-12 Queens Boulevard

Roast n Co's Rotisserie Chicken

This newcomer to the area has some really delicious rotisserie chicken. You can’t go wrong with a platter of nicely seasoned and slow roasted chicken alongside greens. If you aren’t nearby to walk over, they deliver well and quickly. The chicken is antibiotic free, free range, and non-gmo which makes you feel good about consuming a responsibly raised meat. I enjoyed the sautéed kale and broccoli, but you can opt for a beet salad or ratatouille for something a little more unique. They operate a full service coffee shop as well that I haven’t yet tried – but it looks cozy and worth a stop soon!

Red Pipe Café 71-60 Austin Street

Red Pipe's Breakfast Sandwich on Ciabatta

I can’t tell you how much I love this place. It’s a coffee shop serving organic Counter Culture coffee. Forest Hills needed a high caliber coffee shop and Red Pipe came to answer that need. In fact, the entire place is organic serving fresh, wholesome breakfast and lunch salads and sandwiches. Stay for a meal and you won’t be disappointed. The breakfast sandwich on a multi-grain ciabatta roll with hard- boiled egg thinly sliced, layered with melted Vermont cheddar cheese, a garlic aioli, and avocado is to die for and super filling. It’s no carb or dairy free, but it’s organic and it’s delicious. If you want to go lighter, they have salads and creative vegetarian sandwiches to enjoy. You can’t go to Red Pipe and not feel relaxed. Sip an almond milk latte, linger long enough to order a snack, and be grateful Forest Hills has place for the cool kids to hang.

Honorable mention:

You can find wholesome dishes at other restaurants in Forest Hills. It’s all about being creative, ordering smartly, and exploring your options. To name a few, Nick’s Bistro serves a really great homemade quinoa veggie burger. Have it over lettuce {sans bread} and substitute the fries for some lemon roasted potatoes. Aaheli Indian Cuisine does a nice warming mulligatawny soup and tandoori chicken that’s free of cream and the heaviness that often comes with Indian cooking in America. A Sushi NY has fresh sushi and {insanely} fast delivery if you’re craving sushi but want to keep it affordable, simple, and yummy. Inside Natural you can have them make you a healthy salad with all the mix-ins you can imagine.

Natural Gets a Facelift

The only thing about this that has me bummed is that it won't look quite like it did in Spiderman...

On the Cusp of Salad

My quest for an easy, effortless way to obtain a salad in Forest Hills is almost over, but not quite. Yes, this simple desire, so easily fulfilled in countless other neighborhoods in New York City, remains stubbornly out of reach of us Forest Hillers—unless, that is, you are willing to play by the rules.

For example, the wonderful new make-your-own salad bar at Natural is oh so inviting and a fantastic idea. But then there are its sketchy hours of operation—apparently they only make the salads during the day-time. And since no hours of operation are posted on the salad bar, when you are going to be delighted with a crisp, freshly customized salad of your own choosing, and when you'll be greeted by a sad empty metal salad space remains uncertain. Not the best way to plan your salad days.

The new wonderful cafe OvoSodo on Queens Blvd. near Ascan has a customized salad option. But it's not a salad bar. You have to order what you want off the menu. Not a salad option for us harried New Yorkers who want to see salad, point, mutter, and leave.

BareBurger has some incredibly complex, inventive and healthy salads. But, once again, sans bar. You have to order it off the menu like you would one of their scrumptious Bison Burgers.

In this age of Just Salad and Chop't, where freshly-built, custom-made salads are just a short line wait away for millions of other New Yorkers, I long for the day of a no-drama, streamlined salad operation that will bring Forest Hills truly into the 21st Century and help all of our waistlines. There are a lot of chubby Forest Hillers who are only getting chubbier.

Behold! Natural's new semi-open salad bar:

Natural News

Looks like there's some interesting changes afoot at Natural.

Natural Goes Indian

By the way, while we're on the subject of food, I was thrilled to see the other day that Natural on Austin is now selling frozen meals from Cafe Spice. I've been getting these from Whole Foods in Manhattan for years and they are really great.

Yes, I know, some will say, why in the world when we have the best Indian food in all of the US of A an express stop away would we want to have a frozen Indian meal? Well, for those days when we are spectacularly lazy, of course.

Greenline Has Flatlined

Well, that is apparently the end of Greenline Organic.... As a commenter posted here this afternoon -- and I just confirmed with my own two eyes -- the organic grocer has been taken over by the marshalls. It's a sad development, but probably not a huge surprise given Natural and the Organic Market so close by... nevertheless, it is always sad to see a business try and fail, especially here in Forest Hills.

First Casualty of Organic Wars?

It's interesting how developments in one part of town can sometimes have unforeseen impact on an entirely other area. Case in point, I am not sure but it seems as if the small mom and pop fruits and vegetable store next to the Key Food on the northern side of Queens Blvd. is kaput. I've passed it over the past week or two and noticed it was closed. But it was always such a quiet, unassuming little place I never paid it much attention. In any case, I am pretty sure that after years of doing business from that location it has now closed. If you know any differently, please let me know by commenting below or sending me an email.

The strip of stores to the north of Queens Blvd.

I named this post what I did because this is a rather unscientific assumption, but I wonder if this small mom and pop just couldn't hack it any more because of the competition from the three organic/natural food stores that are now just several blocks away, Natural, Organic Market and the newest of the lot, Greenline Organic, and of course the Key Food right next door and the newer Twin Value Supermarket that is just a couple of blocks away.