Editor’s Note: Sadly, this restaurant closed in 2016. You can find other farm to table options on oM’s Top Green Restaurants Guide.
A restaurant that serves organic ice cream and cleans the kitchen with eco-friendly products is not out to green-wash you because saving the planet is so in right now. Applewood, the wholesome home-style restaurant that has left a large, non-carbon footprint in Park Slope, has a very real, down to earth mantra.
“We’re conscious, not militant,” says Chicago-born owner Laura Shea, who opened the restaurant with husband and native New Yorker David in September 2004. “Our message is that what we’re doing is important.” In the intimate, butter-yellow restaurant, the Sheas are creating low-impact agricultural menus that feature humanely raised livestock and support nearby farms like Red Hook Community Farm. It’s “going green” without needing to pour wheatgrass shots and plate raw veggies. With an emphasis on procuring local organic food, the Sheas have successfully managed to design a setting that is welcoming to fastidious foodies and the ecologically industrious. “We are so far from vegan,” Laura quips. “This is the house that Pork built.”
The ingredients used at Applewood come from farms that have been personally inspected by the owners. After deciding that the cooperative farms weren’t always up to par, the two have taken it upon themselves to see things from the roots up. They monitor the quality and sustainability of the ingredients through the moment they enter the Applewood kitchen. And for the organic newbies who might believe this to be solely about the produce—think again. Everything, from the meat (hormone free and butchered on site) to the cheese (which is rBST free, meaning the cows that produced the milk to make the cheese were fed hormone-free food) to the wine (which is made from untreated grape crops), must merit the best possible quality.
Following such a stringent course also involves using the entire animal (buying the whole animal relieves the farmers of the less popular parts that are left over when pieces are sold one at a time), which lends a hand to creativity in the kitchen; with different fresh products coming in every day, Dave is constantly reinventing the menu. While the varying schedule makes it hard to pick a favorite, the one dish that comes highly recommended regardless of the season is the grilled Vermont goat. (Side note: all of the entrées are filled with the most irresistible locally-sourced vegetables available.)
To further your education (or to just enjoy an interesting evening out) stop by for the Meet the Farmer evenings, which feature meat or produce from one of the Shea’s personal picks of the area’s best farms. With a four course tasting menu and an informational overview, these sell-out sessions are well worth booking in advance.
How to get there: Take the F train to 7th ave and exit near 9th St. and 7th Ave., then turn left on 11th St. Click the HopStop link below for directions from anywhere on Manhattan.(Applewood, 501 11th St., Brooklyn, 718.788.1014, applewoodny.com)
Photos: Courtesy of Michael Harlan Turkell
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram