I have become fully obsessed with Souen! Souen is a Macrobiotic restaurant with a few locations in New York City. A little about Souen:

• Since 1971, Souen has been offering natural organic food to New York diners, with the foremost priority being to serve delicious meals in keeping with good health. We prepare our food simply and naturally, offering you the best quality grains, beans, and produce. No refined, chemicals, preservatives, meat or dairy products are used in our kitchen. We also employ traditional methods of preparation whenever possible to enhance the healthful quality and natural flavor of our food. With the increasing awareness of the connection between food, health and the environment, we continue our consistent effort to maintain and improve upon our high standards and Macrobiotic principles. Our concept is to let people all over the world experience real traditional Japanese food, delicious Macrobiotic food.

I have no been to two different Souen locations. One in the Union Square area, and the other in Soho. The menu varies between locations. But everything I had at both locations was delicious.

Souen is traditional macrobiotic food, so they do serve fish. But everything without fish is vegan since they do not use any dairy products. So it’s a great place to take friends that might not be vegetarian, but have been wanting to eat healthier.

If you are unfamiliar with Macrobiotics, I really suggest you put on your adventurous hat and give Souen a try. The food tastes amazing, and you will truly feel better afterward.

The basic idea of Macrobiotics is simple.

It is thought that by eating balanced foods such as grains and vegetables that are more local and in season, we can maintain good physical and spiritual health and live in harmony with nature. A typical Macrobiotic plate for our area will consist of a large portion of grains, beans, seaweed, vegetables and vegetable protein, such as tofu, seitan, beans and tempeh. Following the traditional Japanese food model of a simple and natural diet, macrobiotics dictates eating food in a natural way – unrefined and unprocessed.

But what does unrefined and unprocessed mean? It means for example, eating whole foods such as vegetables together with their skins and stems. It means not eating husked, processed rice but whole grain brown rice. It means, we living people should eat from a living land – taking food in season, in its entirety.

To clarify, I do not follow a macrobiotic diet. But it’s something I enjoy eating when I can.

If you try it out, let me know what you think.