How to Eat Well and b.good

Spicy avocado quinoa bowl at b.good

Like many New Yorkers, I have a bias against chain restaurants. I prefer to frequent a local coffee shop than a national chain, and I almost never choose to eat in a chain restaurant.

I have to rethink that bias with the Brooklyn opening of b.good. This Boston-based chain, about a dozen years old but new to me (despite frequent trips to Boston) quiet landed in Brooklyn Heights last month and is expanding to Jersey City, New Jersey and Park Slope, my Brooklyn neighborhood, soon.

This is a chain with a huge difference: each store highlights local purveyors and farms. In the Brooklyn store, this means using the excellent breads from Tom Cat Bakery, whose artisan breads also grace the tables of Le Bernardin, Jean Georges and Bobby Flay restaurants. Pretty rarefied company.

Some of the local farms used at b.good and the West Side veggie burger

Eight New York farms provide the produce and meat used at the b.good in Brooklyn, so the food is fresh.

And a family foundation provides micro grants to local community organizations; in Brooklyn, the community partner is P.S. 8, a local public school.  On the b.good app, where you can order food in advance (to go in compostable containers, natch) you can donate the the school; when the store rewards you with free meals or sides, you can donate those to the community partner as well.

b.good's seasonal watermelon and feta salad

The tagline is "real food fast" and the fast casual place- meaning you order at a counter and carry your own food to a table - includes kale and grain bowls, burgers (veggie or meat) and salads. It is ideal for a vegetarian or vegan, and has many gluten free options to boot.

I sampled a wide variety of the b.good offerings and was impressed with how tasty and fresh everything was. The spicy avocado and lime bowl stood out: served on a bed of organic quinoa (or a super-grains mix  or short grain brown rice, kamut wheat, hard red wheat berries, millet and lentils) the salad also included kale, black beans, corn, grape tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco and chipotle. Equally delicious was the power bowl, with kale lentils, carrots, brussels sprouts, crunchy chickpeas and pepitas, over either grain and topped with a local egg over easy.

Hungry yet? The power bowl has easy over eggs

The seasonal salads now include watermelon and feta with arugula, baby spinach  and sundried tomatoes.

Dressings and pickles are made in house; the mustard and ketchup are from Sir Kensington, a wonderful NYC based maker of artisan condiments.

We tried a couple of veggie burgers (also made in house) including the vegan West Side with avocado and fresh salsa, and the Elizel with asparagus and sharp cheddar. You can get any burger with a beef patty, turkey or vegetarian.

b.good also has breakfast bowls, kid's meals and cold pressed juices and smoothies.

Warning: this could be habit forming.


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Fitness Challenge: Boston Travel

Getting in a good workout when you travel is easy at the InterContinental Boston. This waterfront luxury hotel has a huge state-of-the-art fitness center with treadmills, stationary bikes and elliptical machines, all with their own screens.

There are lots of free weights and strength machines, an indoor pool and plenty of space to stretch. Best of all, the gym is open 24 hours for guests, so if you are jet lagged and up at 3am, you can work out instead of gorging on candy. There is also a spa for those who like to relax on vacation.

Cambodian Food in Boston

Ethnic cuisine is often a great bet for vegetarians who are traveling, and Elephant Walk, with 3 Boston area restaurants, is no exception.

Elephant Walk separates out Cambodian, French and vegetarian entrees, and even has gluten-free offerings. In its prix-fixe menu, it offers to make some dishes vegan or vegetarian. We were in faux-hog heaven. Spring rolls are an excellent way for kids to eat their veggies. The spring rolls at Elephant Walk had greens, shiitake mushrooms, carrots and bean sprouts, with a peanut dipping sauce. We had 2 different vegetarian curries, one redolent of ginger; both were spicy and filled with vegetables and tofu. The restaurant also made creative cocktails, and had a local IPA from Mayflower Brewing Company on tap.

Hotel Dining

When I was a kid, the only reason we ate at a hotel was we were staying at Howard Johnson and kids ate free. Now, hotel restaurants are destinations in and of themselves, and on a recent trip to Boston, we ate at Henrietta's Table in The Charles Hotel, but we weren’t even staying there.

The market focused restaurant, which has a large outdoor patio in warm weather, relies on local farms to supply it with produce. So the huge salads are an excellent way to start a meal. Try the simple ‘native’ greens with a lemon vinaigrette or the spinach salad, with blueberries, goat cheese and spicy maple pecan vinaigrette. The latter is a bit sweet with the berries and maple, so I tried it with the lemon- much better. There is also smoked salmon over greens, with a potato wafer and a retro iceberg lettuce (but an heirloom variety) with blue cheese dressing.

I am always happy when a menu offers more than a token vegetarian pasta and no other veggie choice. Here, there is no pasta on the menu, but you can have an entree of roasted carrot, squash, celery root and spinach with quinoa, white beans and farro. This changes seasonally, but when I had it, it was a festival of flavors, each offering a delicious morsel.

You can also create your own vegetable plate from sides: we tried the roasted beets, wilted greens, butternut squash puree and Brussels Sprout. Or get the appetizer of grilled Portobello, with blue cheese but without the bacon vinaigrette, and add some other sides: roasted root vegetables, roasted or mashed potatoes.

Seasonal drinks also offer vegetarians a place at the table; instead of trendy bacon infused drinks, find a Dilly Bean Martini with beans, or the Pepperoncini Martini with pickled peppers. Don’t try to say that five times after a drink or two.