Healthy(ish) NYC Guide 2.0

300+ reccs. it's called a directory, sweetie

In March 2023, I traveled to NYC for a week of apartment-hunting with the intention of keeping a healthy routine. In an effort to avoid my typical dinners-out and back-to-back social plans that inevitably arise when I’m in New York, I planned to repeatedly slip unannounced into the Greenwich Village Equinox (this did not work) and explore what could become my new wellness destinations. My findings were grim on both fronts. More so than my vexing gym rejection, the lack of GOOD, HEALTHY, CONVENIENT food astounded me. New York is a city-on-demand; yet, it’s nearly impossible to find consistently high-quality and abundant groceries and prepared food, even if you’re willing to pay top dollar for it.

For busy professionals with demanding schedules and/or less-equipped kitchens, finding time to prep healthy meals to take on-the-go isn’t always possible. Unlike in LA, where almost everyone has flexible hours and can spend their weekdays loitering around Erewhon or making dinner all afternoon. Of course, it’s a little unfair to compare anything health-related to LA (despite the New York Times’ recent attempt to do so).

After living in NYC for almost a year now, this hasn’t gotten any easier. I can walk to Whole Foods (delivery requires 24+ hours notice) and Trader Joe’s (no delivery at all, plus lines through the entire store) in 20 minutes. The closer options—Gourmet Garage, Westside Market, Brooklyn Fare, Citarella—are pricier than Erewhon (gasp, correct; grocery guide coming soon), and they rarely have everything on your list. Organic is a fairytale. Places like Wegmans are available short notice on Instacart, but with a considerable upcharge for the platform. Instacart’s “in stock” data is chronically unreliable though, so be prepared for your order to arrive without the most important item because it turned out to be out of stock. Cue regret for ever placing the order in the first place. I like the local natural foods stores (Lifethyme, Elm Wellness, East Village Organic, Health & Harmony, etc.), but they’re no bargain either, and we still face the issue of limited selection. The list goes on. And that’s just groceries!

Suffice to say, I was bewildered that someone hasn’t yet figured out how to capitalize on all the healthy, smart, busy, rich, and hungry people in New York. Stay tuned for my next business venture (with or without Erewhon’s help).

Despite New York’s current wellness shortcomings, not all is lost. There have been improvements, and with more time in the city, I have refined and added many new recommendations and gems that I’m excited to share. I have also crowd-sourced and compiled resources from other lists, including “Green Books” from prolific Substack writers and industry people with great taste that I admire.

Below, find a breakdown of my favorite spots organized into “nice” restaurants, lunch/fast casual, grocery/grab & go/markets, juice and smoothies, natural wine and NA spirits, clean treats, meal delivery, detoxes and cleanses, shops, fitness, and beauty/detox destinations. As always, please tell me if I’m missing anything essential! I will continue to update this post as I go so it is an ever-evolving resource.

Last Update: 3/13/24.

But first, what makes a restaurant “healthy”?

The below conditions (1, 2, but ideally both) should be met.

1. the cuisine (aka, the food)

Some cuisines are much healthier than others. Sticking to these restaurants makes it easier to make healthier choices because we are less restricted. When traveling and eating out, it is best to focus on menus with minimal ingredients like simple meat and vegetables, a la carte models, single ingredient dishes, etc.

Look for Mediterranean/Middle Eastern, Greek, Steakhouses, Modern Mexican, New American, and simple Sushi of mostly raw fish or crudo. Ones to avoid or proceed with caution are Asian Fusion, old school Italian, French, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Fast Food, Fried Food, and the like. It is harder to be healthy at these establishments, and therefore much less fun. They also tend to use inflammatory oils, excess sauces and processing, soy (puffy sushi face), gluten, and fewer whole foods and vegetables.

2. the ingredients used to prepare it

The less obvious factor in evaluating a restaurant for health isn’t just what kind of food on the menu, but what ingredients and methods are used when preparing it. Ideally, this should be as close as possible to what you might use when cooking at home.

Many people wrongly assume that the use of too much butter is what makes a restaurant unhealthy. If I hear this from one more person, I’m going to explode. Butter is good for you! This isn’t the 1970s guys. Butter is a real, unprocessed, high quality traditional fat that is now understood to be the superfood that it is. It is not the cause of heart disease, despite what many people were lead to believe. We would BE so lucky if restaurants all used butter.

Quick backstory on fats… We know trans fats like margarine and shelf-stable hydrogenated oils are bad, i.e. widely known to contribute to the hardening of arteries. Then you have saturated (animal fats, butter, cheese, meat) and unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado, salmon). Since 1960, society has gone through waves of demonizing almost every type of fat, believing that “fat makes you fat”. Saturated fats in particular took a hit as they were lumped in with processed trans fats. People assumed that any fats that were hard at room temperature would clog your arteries. In response to this fear, people looked to “vegetable oils” because they were unsaturated, believing them to be healthier plant-based alternatives. During this time, our consumption of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich vegetable oils like canola, soybean, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed and more increased 1000%. It has also been proven time and time again that dietary cholesterol has zero impact on cholesterol levels in the body. Society is slow to accept this.

Even though they are both unsaturated fats, unlike omega-3-rich olive oil, avocado oil, and fatty fish like salmon, these omega-6-rich plants pose very dangerous health risks. As summarized by nutrition.org,

“Omega-6 PUFA-rich vegetable oils are now the most widely consumed cooking oils in the home and in restaurants worldwide.  Nonetheless, very little data are available on the risks these oils may pose for human health.  In particular, the rise of omega-6 PUFA-rich vegetable oil consumption in the United States coincides with the explosive rise in diseases labeled ‘lifestyle diseases,’ including Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other inflammatory disorders… When heated, omega-6 PUFA-rich vegetable oils generate a substance known as hydroxynonenal, which researchers now believe plays a key role in cell degeneration and cell death… ”

A study published in Advances in Nutrition examines this in depth, noting that “fatty acid composition rather than the amount of fat, may actually be the key factor inducing obesity.”  Summarized by the previous article, “more specifically, a higher percentage of omega-6 PUFAs in the diet increases appetite and adipose tissue inflammation, which, in turn, can lead to obesity.”

AKA, fat itself isn’t the problem. It’s the kind of fat.

Long story short, best to avoid “seed oils” (for lack of a better name) whenever possible. Unfortunately, these are the primary oils used in most restaurants as they are cheap and neutral-tasting. It is more expensive to cook with clean oils, and without pressure from the public, restaurants aren’t willing to go the extra mile.

It is not the end of the world to eat at a restaurant and consume seed oils, but it should not be a staple in your diet or a regular occurrence if you want to prioritize your health. However, what matters most is that you’re eating healthy foods, i.e. high quality protein, fruits, vegetables and 1 ingredient-foods with minimal processing and simple preparation.

An app I highly recommend is Seed Oil Scout. It tells you what oils all the restaurants around you that use these inflammatory oils. I discovered this last year and have been a religious user ever since. Spoiler—it also opened my eyes to places I thought but aren’t.

Seed-oil free premises at Springbone Kitchen, Greenwich Village, NYC.

How I Travel:

For me to full appreciate a trip, enjoy my experience and feel good to the end, I like to:

1. get some movement in most days (10k+ steps or sweat if I’m lucky)

2. eat healthier options when they are available. Striving for balance allows me to enjoy myself the maximum amount, maintain good energy and mood, and appreciate the experience.

There are always exceptions—life is 80:20. But generally, it’s about making choices. Personally, I choose fun cocktails over dessert or heavier meals. I actually LIKE healthier cuisines more because of how much better I feel without sacrificing taste or experience. Feeling shitty on an amazing trip in a beautiful place is not worth it to me. Once I stopped pretending that what I eat doesn’t have an effect on how I feel, my life got much easier.

On Not Caring What Anyone Else Thinks About Your Dinner:

When people say “come on, live a little!”… I don’t really get it.

To me, “living” is not feeling like shit. Living is knowing what works for me, and also knowing that it likely isn’t the same for you. And that’s fine! You do you, I’ll do me. I’ve noticed that society often encourages us to express opinions about other people’s food choices. This is weird. Some opinions are more offensive than others; from the insecure coworker’s backhanded comment about how healthy your lunch is, to “it won’t hurt you!”-type peer pressure, we can’t escape it.

Once I discovered how great I could feel with the right diet for me, there was no going back. At that point, I could easily set boundaries because it became so clear how certain foods were negatively affecting my experience. Something is wrong with a culture that sees “living” as an unregulated free-for-all with no regard for consequences.

Everyone should do exactly what they want. I’ve learned to truly not give a shit what others think. It’s great. Anyone trying to convince you to do something you’re not feeling is likely insecure about their own inability to set boundaries. They should respect your choice, and get over themselves!

THE RECCS:

Divided into:

1. “Nice” Restaurants

2. Fast-Casual, Lunch & Takeout

3. Juice & Smoothies

4. Grab & Go, Grocery and Markets

5. Bakeries, Clean Treats & Bespoke Kitchens

6. Meal Delivery & Cleanses

7. Natural Wine & NA Spirits

8. Clean Shops

9. Fitness

10. Detox, Beauty & Healing

Naturally, the reccs fall into the first category of health (cuisine), the second category (ingredients), or both.

KEY:

• ⭐️ = my favorite places

• 🥡 = takeout/delivery available

• 🫒 = Seed Oil Safe (100% or very close)

Unless otherwise specified, they are generally organized by location.