A 'CLEAN' PLATE

As of this saturday I am completing my third week of my organic journey. It's not easy here in the Big Apple! At this moment I am taking in information and looking for guidance in all sorts of areas! For instance my friend Lisa just told me Alicia Silverstone has a new book called The Kind Diet which sounds very interesting. She said it includes reasons we shouldn't eat foods that are not in season.

For weeks now a particular book has been staring me in the face when I check out at the register of Organique. It's titled Clean Plates NYC. I just purchased it the other day because I found out Organique was on the approved list. The book is by a Nutritionist, Jared Koch and Food Critic, Alex Van Buren. All of the 75+ Restaurants had to undergo certain criteria. Taste, Atmosphere, Type of Cuisine, Lifestyle, Geography, Healthfulness of ingredients, Food Source, High percentage of veggies on the menu, etc.

I truly applaud Jared for taking on such and ambitious and very necessary project. I was sad when I began to scan the book and didn't find Gustorganics. I immediately emailed Jared to ask why Gustorganics did not make the cut? Chipotle did, but Gustorganics didn't? He explained that Gustorganics is in the supplemental list as "Healthy, not Tasty".

Not tasty? I had to figure this out! Were my taste buds not fully operating? I decided to enlist my friend Lisa this evening for dinner because she always gives here unfiltered opinion to me (because we just have that kind of relationship). She (just as Maureen) was "blown away" and by they time we got to dessert, the organic chocolate fondue with organic fruits, we couldn't control the groans coming out of our mouths. It was like two women reenacting a scene out of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY! One of the hosts thought it was so funny he couldn't resist topping us off with a taste of organic champagne. The staff was quite amused.

Clean Plates NYC also puzzles me because I look at some of the places that made the list like Angelica Kitchen and feel a lot less inspired by their menu. Angelica's foods were heavy and dense for me, but it's been several years since I've eaten there. Quintessence is also not on the list. Quintessence does a raw menu that doesn't seem as taxing on the intestines as Pure Food and Wine (also on the list). This is Jared's book and not everyone is going to have the same preferences.

Whole Foods is also on the list which renders some questions. I was told only 15% of their food is organic. The Organic Consumer's Association has even posted a letter from Sept 2009 urging Whole Foods to straighten up their act.

Once again I am left with a lot of confusion and feel like I am just entering inside of a crossfire I didn't intend to encounter.

I wave the white flag and trust that this year the proof will be the changes in my own body, health, and mind. There's a lot of things brewing in my mind, but don't worry, I'll keep pushing forward!