Greenology Kitchen, Plant Based Eatery, Opens in New Canaan

Greenology, a new plant based restaurant recently opened its doors in downtown New Canaan. Greenology is located in the old Organika spot at 96 Main Street, and is owned by local New Canaan residents, Helen & James Marks, who followed their passion to provide healthy and sustainable food to the community.

The Plant Based eatery serves organic ingredients, in a fast, made to order environment. Every item on the menu is made with fresh ingredients, no GMOS and all packaging is biodegradable.

The menu offers a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items… everything from Acai Bowls, Fresh Pressed Juices, Smoothies, Toasts, Pancakes, Salads, Wraps, Pasta, Pizza and so much more including TONS of allergy free options. In fact there is an entire section of the menu dedicated to Gluten Free Pasta, and sandwiches are available with gluten free bread or GF rice wraps. Additionally, the pizzas can be made with either “glutinous” or gluten-free pizza crust. Obviously, as a plant based eatery, there is no dairy served, so other than an occasional nut, this is a very safe spot for those requiring allergen friendly dining.

Here’s what we ate:

Fan Fave! CARROT LOX & CREAM CHEESE BAGEL (above): Coconut cream cheese, carrot “lox”, cucumber, capers, chives, red onion, on a sprouted bagel. Bravo on this cleverly executed item. The “lox” is made from pickled carrots tossed with dill, and the coconut cream cheese absolutely worked for me as a dairy substitute.

AVOCA-DOUGH TOAST: Organic American Ancient Grains Sourdough bread (from artisan baker 123DOUGH), poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, sea salt, lemon zest olive oil and garnished with radish slices. Available on gluten free toast or a gluten free rice wrap. This is a simple dish but the bread kicks it up a notch and the “everything” seasoning combined with the crunchy radish does the trick.

RAWTELLA TOAST: Organic American Ancient Grains Sourdough bread (also from 123DOUGH), Greenology house made plant based Rawtella hazelnut spread, strawberry slices, coconut flakes and drizzle of maple syrup. I mean…can you really go wrong here?

G BOWL: Banana, mango, açai, almond mylk, topped with pineapple, strawberry, goji berries, coconut flakes and raw honey. I preferred this Acai bowl to many others found in the Fairfield County area as there is no added sweetener, and the Acai was not overly cloying as can be the case at many local spots. The Goji berries were a nice touch.

PIZZA-THE ITALIAN COMBO: Tomato, mozzarella, beyond meat, spicy italian sausage, pepperoni, basil. The Beyond Meat used for the “sausage” and “pepperoni” is surprisingly effective at mimicking the real deal and the lightly spicy sausage has great flavor. My kids weren’t fans of the “cheese” on this as it does have a different consistency and mouthfeel than actual mozz, but I liked it, and the thin crispy crust on the pie was quite good.

We also sampled a few of their smoothies and juices which were all bright, well balanced, and clearly made with great ingredients

Greenology has plenty of indoor seating and future plans for more outdoor seating, and is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with easy access for to-go and delivery.

Greenology is partnering with local businesses like NYC first Organic Coffee, Jacks Stir Brew. Jack’s started as NYC’s first coffee house to serve ethically sourced organic, shade-grown coffee and helped pioneer the crop to cup movement working directly with farmers. Izzi B’s allergy free baked goods and Charlie’s Chaga tea are also local products that customers can enjoy at Greenology! 

The long-term goal is to partner with sustainable and authentic businesses in an effort to support one another. Taking the efforts further, Greenology has the intention to collaborate with more local farms to provide seasonal ingredients for their menu items.

“We are not restaurateurs, we have never done this before, opening a restaurant has its challenges and doing so during Covid has been even more challenging. We are New Canaan residents raising our children in the community, we saw a need for healthy fast-food options that would benefit the health and wellbeing of others. We are excited for the opportunity.”—Helen Marks

Although Greenology’s growth will be a team effort, Helen Marks is the face of the brand. Her own knowledge and lifestyle have led her to believe that food is medicine.  At a young age Helen had an unhealthy relationship with food, using food as a crutch for control. Growing up in the Philippine’s a western diet of high fats; carbs, dairy and sugar were not the custom of Helen’s culture. When moving to the United States in her early 20’s to study anatomy and physiology, Helen was introduced to a western diet and with the stress of studying, lack of healthy meals, an active social life, Helen was diagnosed with several stress related illnesses.

This was the awaking that Helen needed to fundamentally change her lifestyle, manage her stress and look deep inside herself. Taking action, Helen started working with a nutritionist, therapist, finding yoga and meditation. These practices inspired Helen to study more holistic modalities, becoming a holistic massage therapist for over a decade now. These changes repaired Helen’s relationship with food and with herself. Finding her purpose, after spending years of soul searching, Helen manages her health with a plant-based diet; this has led to true healing in her body. Helen believes that Greenology can help support others to finding good health and nutrition. Living in New Canaan with her family, creating community around beautiful, sustainable food is her goal. 

New Canaan has already found their new healthy hangout. Go check it out for yourself.

Greenology 96 Main St., New Canaan 1 203-309-5700