Greens on the Go restaurant offers plant-based foods
DARIEN — Restaurant owner Alyssa Kadow knows that people want healthy food. What they don't want are the labels — like ‘vegan' and ‘organiconly.'
That's why Kadow's recently-opened Darien restaurant, Greens on the Go, offers seasonal, fresh choices, many of them plant-based — but without the labels that could predispose a customer to judge a restaurant before they step inside.
“We're very down to earth, a hands-on restaurant like the ones I went to when I was younger,” Kadow said. “You can get a variety of things. It's not strictly vegan or organic ... this is food that you can eat every day, that will be beautiful and nourishing.”
Greens on the Go has been a New Canaan staple for five years, since Kadow opened the store's original location on Pine Road in 2017.
Her second location on Tokoneke Road opened last week and is now fully open to customers, she said. The New Canaan store is still operating as well.
“We really have grown our business and we ended up kind of outgrowing that space,” Kadow said. “My Darien customers kept asking me to open something in Darien. So I was just keeping an open mind and then this place came along.”
Greens on the Go took over the Baja Joe's storefront after that restaurant closed last year.
Greens on the Go is an ode to Californian-inspired dining, Kadow said. Customers can choose among dozens of smoothies, grain and vegetable bowls, salads and soups — all made-toorder from scratch, in order to accommodate customers' various dietary restrictions, she said.
The store is currently open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. but Kadow has eyes on expanding those hours — because “in Darien, they definitely like to eat out at night,” she said.
Since opening Apr. 7, Kadow said they have had a few busy days. Their most hectic season is through spring and summer, so she said the Darien location — which currently employs four people — is still figuring out the flow of business.
For first-time visitors interested in checking out the restaurant: Kadow's favorite item on the menu is the truffle burrata salad — which features the restaurant's signature lemonshallot dressing — or, in the summer, the peach caprese salad made with fresh local peaches.
Kadow said she also recommends the veggie sandwich, inspired by an earlier job as a baker in California.
“I can tell you that there is no place where you can get the sandwich between
New York City and here,” Kadow said, adding that many menu items are inspired by her longtime favorite meals.
Greens on the Go started out as a catering kitchen in North Salem, N.Y., where she and her husband moved after a stint in New York City.
Kadow's daughter was a horseback rider and her trainer asked Kadow to make salads for the equestrian barns in the area. From there, the operation took off.
And while some may be turned off by the concept behind Greens on the Go, Kadow urges people to “just try it.”
“I want to introduce everybody to a more plantbased diet,” Kadow said, adding many of her New Canaan customers had not had tofu before she started offering “Meatless Monday” menu items.
One in particular told her he would never eat tofu — until he tried hers, Kadow said.
“He gave up chicken and got our tofu at least three times a week,” Kadow said. “You just have to get them to try it.”