situeating

Your mother always said to eat your greens. Show her one better at these eco-friendly eateries where solar power, reclaimed wood, and rickshaw delivery systems share the menu with (mostly) organic eats.

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN
Habana Outpost
[757 Fulton St.] [718.858.9500]

The corn and frozen mojitos would have been enough to create a following. But Sean Meenan’s unwavering commitment to the community and environment raises boozing and snacking to a civic duty. The Brooklyn offshoot of Soho’s Café Habana was designed entirely with conservation in mind. The furniture is recycled plastic and aluminum, the door salvaged from a church, even the rainwater is collected and reused to water the plants. Add in solar panels and the post office truck turned kitchen and you have New York’s first eco-eatery.

EAST VILLAGE
Birdbath Bakery
[223 First Ave.] [646.722.6565]

At this bakery everything from the floors to the ingredients to their delivery system is totally green. Rickshaws are used to transport their organic baked goods to their other locations (West Village, and soon-to-be-opened Battery Park.) The store itself pays homage with walls made from wheat and sunflower seed, cork floors, and a discount for anyone who shows up via bike. And their croissants are good too.

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS
Community Food & Juice Bar
[2893 Broadway] [212.665.2800]

The founders of the Lower East Side’s Clinton St. Baking Co. bring their energy and some new energy saving tactics uptown. Greener kitchen equipment, local produce, composting, and tables made of reclaimed wood make indulging in their delightful comfort food even more satisfying. Plus: grass-fed burgers have no calories, right?

CHELSEA
Del Posto
[85 Tenth Ave.] [212.497.8090]

This fine-dining mammoth of a restaurant in no way implies conservation but does practice some impressive eco-friendly moves.  Biodiesel trucks run off used cooking oil and transport compost to an upstate farm and produce back, while bottled water is replaced in favor of filtering and carbonating their own. Definitely makes an expensive (albeit delicious) meal even easier to swallow.