Clean Plates NYC Book Review: Best Healthy Restaurants NYC!

Jared Koch, is the founder of Clean Plates NYC, a healthy, sustainability-focused NYC restaurant guide. Kind of like Zagats gone green and organic. Koch and food critic Alex Van Buren researched over 300 restaurants and chose 75 to review in their book,

Koch's philosophy is that everybody should be eating real, whole foods, namely veggies and fruits. His book is a way for busy New Yorkers to pick out restaurants that'll be easy to eat healthy at. With so many amazing bakeries offering up processed sugar and bleached flour on every corner sometimes it's hard to know what restaurants have healthy alternatives and use whole ingredients. Enter, Clean Plates NYC. 

The book consists of two parts–the first half is advice on eating well. Very simple and easy to follow, even for those of you who grab a coffee and croissant from your local cart and a slice for lunch–there are easy AND healthy options just around the corner. The second half is an awesome resource to help you pick the healthier options when dining out in NYC, which let's be honest is a good portion of the time (ahem, espesh for those of us working 2 jobs!). It just takes the guesswork out of going through Zagats and trying to find a review that mentions whole wheat or local ingredients. It makes it easier to eat well.

The reviews themselves are great. He spells out the bests and worsts and must-haves at each establishment. Each review is quirky and honest. He takes care to mention the ambience and even the drink list. Many restaurants in the book are very health-conscious even offering many vegan and vetarian options. However, he does throw in a few burger and pizza places that are done healthi-ER. He's honest and it's clear that he has a real passion for food and health. There is also a great little list at the end of health stores by neighborhood.

Clean Plates NYC, the book, retails for $13.95 and is well worth it in my opinion.

You can also follow Clean Plates on Facebook or Jared on Twitter