Hold on to your avocados, guys -- Bergen Street in Park Slope is about to get
even better. Vegetarian restaurant and vegan bakery
Organic Heights will close this Thursday, December 31 (sad!) and reopen as
Sun In Bloom on Saturday, January 2 (exciting!). Captains of the new ship are Aimee Follette, Tony Lastella, and former
SproutCraft co-owner Eric Levinson (whom you might remember as the dude lavishing us with his raw vegan cheese at
Vegan Drinks a few months back). My delicate heart skipped a beat when I realized SIB's new address is the same as Organic Heights's addy, so I spoke with Eric to learn about the new menu, hours, pricing, and most important, WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE TEMPEH REUBEN?
The menu, designed by Eric and spruced up by his partners, will feature living, organic, vegan fare, and raw, gluten-free breads and desserts, not straying too far from Organic Heights owner Mark Zumoff's vision for his own restaurant. The juices will stay, and SIB's Norwalk Press juicer, which the owners expect to provide better quality, less oxygenated juice, is new to the spot. Eric says the spiffy new juicer will enable SIB to offer bottled juices and nut milks "for grab-and-go customers, to serve the morning commuting crowd as well as the stroller mafia."
Bottled fresh juice is one of a few planned conveniences. "We're also looking to create a membership program where people can order entire meals for their family and pick up dinner after work, dessert, breakfast, and lunch to bring to work the next day, all in one stop. We want to make this kind of lifestyle more accessible, more available, and more fun," Eric said.
So here's the million-dollar question: will it be 100 percent vegan? "We haven't decided whether to serve milk," Eric said. "It's one thing to stick to your guns and your ideals, but if only one customer out of 10 wants almond milk, you have to kind of watch out for the bottom line. It's such a small thing to do, to just have that one pitcher of milk out there. We'll offer a good quality milk from a nice, organic, small farmer."