Paleo Things to Do in New York City

In early summer 2012 we visited NYC for the first time together to find paleo and keto options. If you scroll down you will find pics from our second trip. My husband, Chef Nabil had never been to this culinary capitol. And the last several times I visited I was far from Paleo/ Keto and cared more about nightlife than the restaurant and farmers market scene. We love to travel and in the nine years we have been married we have been quite a few places. You can read all our travel posts here.

@Grassfedchef loved filling up at the Halal carts that you will find on every corner in Manhattan. They make a good platter with meat, salad, rice and yogurt dressing. Probably not the best choice if you are celiac FYI.

I loved going to the Union Square farmers market that is full of organic, pastured meats and wild fish. It was on several times a week based on the season.

We went to this great Brazilian place in East Village that was very gluten free friendly with my cousin Thomas and his wife. It was called Esperanto.

Earlier that day we went to Eataly which is an imported Italian as well as a local food paradise!! It has a market, coffee shop, gelato, and several Italian restaurants all in one. We could have stayed for hours and I think we did. It is not all Paleo but a lot of it is and we feel most at home in the grocery store so we were definitely in our element.

Grass Fed Chef Stares longingly at the pasta. Avoid that if you are gluten free like we did.

Chef Nabil Checking out the book selection at Eatlaly. This was way before we had our own 432 page Mediterranean Paleo cookbook.

Across the street from Eataly we found a great open market that was going on. I forgot my summer clothes and had to suffer in my jeans and closed Vibrams. Can you tell San Francisco is cold most of the time?

One thing not to miss is the great coffee shops in NYC. I visited this one and had a wonderful omelet. Just ask them to cook your food in butter to avoid vegetable oils and you are all set! I love to ask for extras like smoked salmon and avocado! Love this Keto friendly diner breakfast.

Another cool place is the markets and restaurants in Grand Central Station. We loved browsing these fresh fish stands and gourmet markets. There is a whole food court as well so check it out!

Don’t forget to book an Airbnb for the insiders feeling to NYC. We probably had the only yard of any place in the East Village, this was the listing. We even host our own Airbnb in Nashville if you want to visit us. Use my code here to save $40 off your first stay.

We stopped at the huge Whole Foods across from the entrance to Central Park and packed a great picnic. Just watch out for Canola oil. Many locations have Paleo choices labeled on the food bar now. Love all the keto options on the hot bar.

Grass Fed Chef forgot his flip flops for earthing in Central Park.

Later that night we went to a great Italian place that has a keto plate of local fish with olive sauce that was very moist. I heard it was closed since then so that is sad becasue it was very good and had a great fish dish. We met up with my old friend from Nashville and her fiance (now husband). It was great fun to see them!

The next day we went to Le Pain Quotidien . It was kind of a bread maze but they did have some gluten free options. The best part was they use organic eggs and lots of local produce. I loved the atmosphere too becasue it felt like we were in a Rustic French Village. If you have a severe gluten allergy though probably best to keep walking.

Photo from Tripadvisor.com

Another place I loved was Katz Deli in the Lower East Side. It was short on charm but high on flavor. I just got a plate of pastrami and sauerkraut with tons of mustard and pickles. I was in in Paleo heaven! Since I am not a celiac I took my chances here and honestly I was afraid to ask but if you have the kahones then let me know! _____________________________________________________

From 2nd trip together in April 2014

Hu Kitchen is a 100% Paleo eatery and we were thrilled! It was so great and so fun. We will definitely return. Nabil got the rotisserie chicken that was non-gmo. I got grass fed and grain free meatloaf that was very moist. The vegetables are cooked in Paleo friendly fats like coconut oil and bacon fat. The best part is everything is labeled. The only thing I was not so keen on was their bread which was very dense but I think if it had been toasted with some grass fed butter it would have been amazing. They have a great selection of kombucha and even many raw vegan nutty desserts. Check out their menu!

Grass Fed Chef wanted to go back to Eataly for gelato. I tried some but it was too sweet for me. I ended up eating chia chocolate coconut pudding from Hu Kitchen that was awesome!

Then we stopped at Chelsea Market which is kind of like an indoor farmers market/food court. It was really great and we got some tasty treats. It was not quite as big as we made it out in our minds but still worth the trip. I think the food network is upstairs but that is a no-go unless you are Tyler Florence.

A grass fed local butcher at Chelsea Market where I got some epic pastrami for the loooong plane ride home to SF.

Spice-palooza at Chelsea market. We stocked up to make more great recipes from Mediterranean Paleo Cooking!

Giant local shrimp at Chelsea Market.

Authentic beef in corn tortilla tacos at Chelsea Market.Sometimes @grassfedchef likes to splurge on corn tortillas while traveling. When I got for Mexican I usually get a big salad bowl with lettuce, meat, veggies, salsa, guacamole and sometimes I splurge on cheese. Shhhh don’t tell the Paleo police!

Next stop was a must before boarding the plane back to foggy SF. We were crazy for bareburger! The menu had so many customizable options for the picky or particular like me!

My food at grass fed Bareburger salad with goat cheese was epic! and Grass Fed Chef got the Tapioca bun below.

The next stop was not open when we were there but my good friend Hannah from Healy Eats Real went to NYC recently and she tried the new broth and soup restaurant Brodo! It got two real foody thumbs up from her and her fiance!

Another place my good friend and fellow foodie blogger Hannah recommended was Local Thyme which has ton of gluten free options and organic and grass fed meats. It is also full of veggies, juices and smoothies that you can get with your organic breakfast frittata! Score for the #paleo team!

My sister also recommended Baby Cakes for allergy and gluten free sweets. She and my step-mom went there on a recent visit. Be careful sometimes Vegan butter means oxidized soybean oil so ask about that.