Who would believe it? In downtown Manhattan there is a yogurt lab for which the milk is sourced from grass fed cows that are all called by name, the farmer delivers the milk from upstate New York in old fashioned churns, the essential accompaniments to the yogurt – Bergamot, quince and honey – are all flow in from Greece, and the Greek architect who designed this unique laboratory worked with the Miami based owners via Skype and didn’t see the business until construction was complete. What an old-fashioned, modern, hands-on international venture! The yogurt is absolutely delicious of course, which means that a global economy really can work – especially when it has a culture that speaks for itself…

Greecologies is a relatively new spot on the edge of Chinatown in Downtown Manhattan. Three times a week yogurt is made on the premises ( the ‘lab’ comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, not the City’s health inspectors, which is quite a feat for a small shop in the middle of NYC) and all the byproducts of the process become features on the menu. So the whey is blended with fresh lemon juice to create probiotic lemonade, and the butter is added to coffee to create a ‘bulletproof‘ potion that promises to keep you stimulated long after regular caffeine highs have diminished. While I can’t vouch for this first hand, I would have been perfectly happy with a little pita bread to accompany what must be the freshest, creamiest butter in the city.

The chef – or food director – of Greecologies has created a menu of ‘superfoods’ full of nutrients and antioxidants that can only be prepared in the cafe fronting the lab. A single induction burner limits the offerings of cooked food, but hey, on these glorious hot summer days when clear blue skies make you crave for sandy white beaches with aquamarine water glistening under a mediterranean sun, a terra-cotta pot of fresh cool yogurt can really take you there…