Essentials Organic and International Cuisine
Some may have noticed a new restaurant going up on Sterling Place and Nostrand Avenue recently. Well the restaurant, Essentials Organic and International Cuisine (hmmm …. that’s a mouthful. We’ll just go with “Essentials Organic” for short) is now open for business.
When we stepped into the restaurant, we were greeted by one of the owners, Kris. As it turns out, Kris is a fairly new Crown Heights transplant (via Bed-Stuy) and is also a small business banker with Chase.
Noticing a jerk shrimp dish on the menu we skeptically pressed him, “So what makes this restaurant different than any of the other Caribbean restaurants on Nostrand?” Without skipping a beat Kris responded, “Because we’re not a Caribbean restaurant.”
He went on to explain that the restaurant has three main chefs – one versed in Caribbean cuisine, one versed in Italian cuisine and one versed in organic cuisine. Taking a closer gander at the menu, indeed the selection is much more diverse than we first recognized. The offerings include portabello burgers, salmon swiss melt, hummus platter, veggie lasagna, fried chicken and stuffed red snapper (plus many more items). Perhaps due to his background as small business lender at Chase, the owner was able pick up on the fact that people are “hungry” for a broader food choice on Nostrand.
Of course as can be expected with any start up restaurant, they are still working through the menu, and still ironing out the opening kinks (we briefly tagged along with one of the owners on his quest to find a can opener on Nostrand).
Essentials Organic is a small space but it has a nice ambiance. We hadn’t noticed it at the time, but it appears from the menu that the establishment will be open 24 hours a day, with a breakfast menu from 2:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and a lunch/dinner menu for the rest of the time. We were assured that the food and the music selection would please. Hopefully they deliver! (Not deliver deliver … but you know … deliver. Well maybe deliver deliver too!)
Popularity: 4% [?]
Can you post a menu?
We were peeking in the window a few weeks and and a guy – it was probably the Kris you mentioned – started talking about the restaurant and how good it was going to be. Well, I for one, cannot wait to try the place out. I hope the menu is as good as it sounds. I will be ecstatic to have a sit down place that serves good food right around the corner. I’d be happy to run over if they need a can opener!
as long as my rent don’t go up y’all can eat sitting down, standing up, lying sideways for all i care
what$ E$$ENTIAL for this <<<<dude right here<<<<is keeping his bills low
I ordered from here today. They were so nice! They even went across the street to get plantains when I ordered them. I told them not to worry, but the insisted! I got the tofu stir fry lunch special ($7). It didn’t come with any of the veggies the menu said it would…but it was still tasty. This place is clearly still setting up, and I kind of wish it didn’t open until it’s ready to serve what’s listed on the menu, but the people are still accommodating. They don’t have much right now and they’re not 24/7 yet, but I look forward to what they’ll be in the future. They guy said they’ll have juices in December!
Oh cool! I saw this place open up and figured it was another Caribbean place. I’ll definitely check it out now. Anyone been there the past couple of weeks? Are they running at full capacity now?