We know it’s easy to get sick of eating on campus; we’ve been back a few weeks, and already I can barely tolerate the DC. There’s tons of off-campus options on Collegeview and Raymond avenues, but many of these restaurants are not the healthiest. To help you make informed dining decisions, Charlie and I are starting a new series, “VC Fit Recommends.” We’ll bring you the best healthy restaurants/menu items/groceries/events around campus, so when that craving for “anything but the DC” kicks in, you’ll know where to go for a good and good-for-you meal.
In this first part of the series, we’re giving you in the inside look into one of our new favorite lunch places, All Shook Up!, on the corner of Raymond and Davis Avenues.
After talking about trying lunch at All Shook Up! forever, Charlie and I headed down on Friday to try it out. Upon walking in, this place looks nothing like a healthy alternative lunchette; it more closely resembles a really unhealthy 50’s diner. The countertops, seating, and appliances are all retro; Elvis and other 50s rocker paraphenalia cover the walls. “Jailhouse Rock,” one of the King’s greatest hits, was blaring from the speakers. Last time I was in a place like this, the menu had burgers, fries, and milkshakes…I wondered, “Do they actually serve health food here?”
Turns out, the offerings were healthy indeed. I knew I was going to like it as soon as I saw the day’s specials: a locally raised, grass fed burger with homemade tomato sauce and local mozzarella, and a variety of organic and local soups (the offerings change every day), including black bean and fennel, free-range turkey chili, old fashion chicken noodle, and french onion. The everyday menu is full of really health choices, including salads, sandwiches (named after retro rock songs), burgers, smoothies, and health shakes.
Starving, Charlie and I each ordered a soup and a sandwich. He got the vegan black bean and fennel soup with a “Silhouette” panini, which had marinated and roasted carrot, eggplant & yellow squash with agave caramelized onions and a black olive tapenade; I got the curried chick pea and spinach soup with an “Earth Angel” panini, which had roasted portabella mushrooms, zucchini, roasted red peppers, fennel & arugula topped with a spicy sun dried tomato spread.
The "Earth Angel" panini and bean salad at All Shook Up!
We absolutely loved the soups. Restaurants soups often have too much broth, but ours were full of veggies and flavor. The paninis were great, too. My veggies were perfectly well cooked and seasoned, and the whole-grain ciabatta roll they came on was perfectly crunchy and fresh. As a complement, the sandwiches were served with a three bean salad; it was nice to have a side dish with them that wasn’t high calorie, like coleslaw or potato chips.
While we loved our meal, Charlie and I were dying to know where the inspiration for a health food diner came from. Co-owner Michelle Morrill explained the idea for the healthy menu came first. Michelle struggled with balancing diets all her life, and in her adulthood, found a healthy solution in eating organic, local food, free of antibiotics preservatives. “There’s a lot of crap in our food,” she reminds us, which is why everything on the menu at All Shook Up! is as organic, locally produced, antibiotic-free, free range, and preservative-free as possible. In her own experiences, Michelle has seen the power of a healthy diet change the course of someone’s life. A few years ago, her mother was very sick; by getting her to eat an organic and antibiotic-free diet, Michelle says she got her mother off of seven of her nine medications and helped her get rid of all of her diseases.
Another inspiration for the restaurant was Michelle’s interest in glyconutrients, certain monosaccharides or carbohydrates that she says are key to maintaining health. These products “help the cells communicate” with each other, leading to better whole body health. Her products come from Mannatech, a company that has pioneered research on and production of glyconutrients. Michelle says she wanted to open a store so she could educated people about these kinds of vitamin compounds.
As for the theme, she and partner Frank Fasano decided 50s rock and roll was the only music they could tolerate listening to all day long: voila, 50s diner.
Whether or not you believe the hype about glyconutrients, the menu at All Shook Up! is still amazing in terms of its local and organic offerings. Michelle says that everything is as local and organic as possible, given New York’s seasons and her access to products. The restaurant serves Applegate Farm’s organic, antibiotic-free meets, local grass fed beef, Sprouted Creek Farms grass-fed cheeses, and produce as its in season.
All Shook Up! is a little far away from campus, but there are plenty of easy ways to get at the food. The restaurant will be appearing at the College Center’s Tasty Tuesdays on various dates throughout the semester, and offers discounts and delivery for Vassar students who pay with their VCard on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
With an outrageously healthy menu, reasonable prices, and fantastic flavors, VC Fit gives this eatery two big thumbs “Up!”
