Lighten Up
January brings a slew of New Year’s resolutions, like the perennial mantra to eat healthier. Since wan lunchtime salads quickly lose their appeal, consider these local eateries offering delicious dishes that also keep your waist small.
Ozu (566 Amsterdam Ave., near 88th St., 212-787-8316): This Japanese restaurant focuses on vegan dishes that eschew refined sugars and showcase fresh produce and whole grains. The pocket-sized eatery has only 26 seats, but dishes out huge portions. Kabocha, a Hokkaido squash similar to butternut, appears throughout the extensive menu. In an appetizer, the steamed pieces are smothered in a seitan sauce so delicious it ought to come with a spoon. Steamed kabocha, carrots and sweet potatoes, or a generous romaine salad with a tangy beet dressing, accompany the entrées. Read more
STRINGER: PLAN FOR FOOD
The availability of healthy food should become part of the review process that new development projects must go through, Borough President Scott Stringer told the City Planning Commission.
In a letter to the board, which votes on development projects that need city approval, Stringer called for adding “healthy food infrastructure” to housing developments in areas where fresh food is often scarce.
Such considerations could be a part of a project’s environmental quality review process. Stringer feels that the new proposal would allow the city to determine how new developments could burden healthy food options for the neighborhood. Developers would then be required to improve the food choices around their projects.
“Healthy food options are as important as clean air and water, and we have to do everything we can to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to fresh, wholesome food,” Stringer said.
