NYC's Best Farm-To-Table Restaurants
New York City's farm-to-table restaurants are brimming with fresh ingredients sourced locally. Whether you're looking for a casual, quick dinner or a fine dining experience, these farm-to-table restaurants will hit the spot. By Adrienne Smith.
Union Square Café
21 E 16th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 243-4020
www.unionsquarecafe.com
The beloved Union Square Café is a pioneer of farm-to-table food in New York City. Danny Meyer's first restaurant relies heavily on the neighboring greenmarket, which dictates the changing vegetable-heavy menu. Start with snacks like salt-baked sunchokes with lemon aioli before moving on to pastas like winter greens ravioli or the popular lasagna Bolognese, featuring nine sheets of pasta packed with pork, veal, chicken livers and prosciutto.
Note: the Union Square Café will close at the end of 2015 due to rent hikes, but plans to re-open in a to-be-determined location.
The Farm On Adderley
1108 Cortelyou Rd
Brooklyn, NY 11218
(718) 287-3101
www.thefarmonadderley.com
This Ditmas Park restaurant sources most of its menu locally, from the produce to the dairy and meat. The menu is heavily seasonal, and so rotates accordingly. Many dishes are heavy on the vegetables, like a mushroom tart with caramelized onions, walnut puree and watercrees. But a go-to fixture at the Farm On Adderley is its farm burger ($14). Pasture-raised beef is slid into a homemade English muffin and served with top-notch fries. Bonus points if you secure a spot in the quaint backyard.
Blue Hill
75 Washington Place
New York, NY 10011
(212) 539-1776
www.bluehillfarm.com
Chef Dan Barber found a way to guarantee top-notch local ingredients. He is on the board of directors for Stone Barns Center for Food And Agriculture in the Hudson Valley. Blue Hill offers two tasting menus: a four-course tasting menu for $85 and a six-course "farmer's feast" for $98. If you can, spring for the farmer's feast. You'll dine on dishes like an open-faced celery root sandwich with farmer's cheese, speck and preserved tomatoes or Stone Barn's Berkshire pig with corn, squash Bolognese and black trumpet mushrooms.
Rosemary's
18 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 647-1818
www.rosemarysnyc.com
Where to go in New York City but up? Rosemary's rooftop garden takes advantage of often unused New York spaces, and lets the charming West Village restaurant source most of the menu's produce from upstairs. Expect easygoing Italian dishes like chopped salad 'Siciliana' with escarole, artichokes, chickpeas and ricotta salata ($13) or cavatelli with beef ragu, fresh orange, arugula and parmigiano cheese ($14).
ABC Kitchen
35 E 18th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 475-5829
www.abchome.com/abc-kitchen/
Michelin star chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Flatiron restaurant, tucked under the ABC Carpet & Home department store, incorporates farm-fresh, local vegetables in most dishes. Appetizer toasts are piled with mushrooms and spritzed with lemon, pecorino, lemon and herbs ($14). Roasted carrots are tossed with avocados, seeds, sour cream and citrus for a brilliant salad ($16). Even pastas incorporate vegetables, like fresh fettuccini with swiss chard and pistachio pesto ($17 for a small bowl).
Roberta's
261 Moore St
Brooklyn, NY 11206
(718) 417-1118
www.robertaspizza.com
Roberta's primary ingredient source is incredibly close by – outside the restaurant, in fact. The Bushwick restaurant grows almost all of its herbs, fruits and vegetables in its garden and greenhouse. Nearby urban farms and gardens also contribute to Roberta's menu. Pizza is the rockstar on Roberta's menu. Try the Mama Mia with tomato, cream, mozzarella, pork sausage, guanciale and pickled peppers ($18). For dinner and a "show," book tickets to Roberta's Thursday garden tour.
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Adrienne Smith manages Lifestyle & Entertainment content for CBS Local. Follow her on Twitter here.
