Create is the perfect antidote to holiday overindulgence. With a vast array of heart-healthy, organic fare, you can “create” your own meal, from bowls, to salads, to market plates, “slamwiches,” wraps, juices, and more. Create on Ditmars Blvd. opened four years ago and has a second location on 30th Avenue so both sides of Astoria can have access to the delicious creations you’ll Create yourself.
The modern, spacious, and sparkling clean interior offers plenty of wooden tables, benches, and seats for casual dining at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can even have your delicious meal delivered and both Create locations will happily cater to your home or office party. Owner Teddy Karagiannis and Manager Anca run an efficient kitchen with an emphasis on a great customer experience.
Create opens at 7am when breakfast is served and delivered. Start your day in a healthy way with a bowl of steaming hot, steel cut oatmeal cooked with apples, walnuts and cinnamon or strawberries, blueberries, banana and raw honey, available in two sizes, to stay or to go. Acai bowls are all the rage, as this Brazilian berry is known for its antioxidant superpowers. Create has four varieties including the Acai Power Bowl with peanut butter, protein, strawberries, banana, shaved almonds and flax seeds. After eating that, you’ll be ready to build a house. Breakfast “Sammies” are neat sandwiches built on your choice of either seven-grain bread, or gluten-free bread filled with hummus, avocado, and tomato, or natural almond butter, sliced Granny Smith apples, cinnamon, and flax seeds. These “Sammies” are great to take with you as you ascend to the N train just steps away. The same is true for the Greek yogurt bowls, full of healthful probiotic, creamy yogurt and lots of fresh fruit, chia seeds, or granola ($6.19). Breakfast is served all day at Create which I appreciate because I love omelets for dinner, and the breakfast quinoa bowls make a perfect lunch or dinner as well.
At lunch or dinner time, Create offers a variety of ways in which to enjoy their healthy, homemade dishes. Choose a House Select Salad such as the “Kalefornia Cobb” tossed with baby kale, cherry tomatoes, avocado, turkey bacon, hard-boiled egg and crumbled blue cheese. You can also have the attentive staff compose a salad of your choice from the extensive array of ingredients, all of which are behind glass so it all stays sanitary and always fresh. Quinoa and rice bowls start with your choice of a ‘base’ of either brown rice or savory quinoa, then topped with flavorful ingredients such as the Cuban Bowl with sweet plantains, black beans, avocado, cucumber, and pineapple salsa. Stop there or top it all with your choice of protein. You’ll be very impressed with the array of ‘protein’ at Create. Tender, grilled chicken or panko-crusted chicken, wild-caught salmon, tofu, grilled flank steak, or vegetarian eggplant balls add delicious magic to your meal.
Create’s “Market Plates” really showcase their choice of proteins. For example, we had a combo of wild-caught salmon and grilled flank steak and were very impressed with the quality and flavor of each. I can’t say enough about the vegetarian eggplant balls and they can be combined with your choice of any three side dishes as part of your Market Plate. We chose roasted beets, perfect for the season, charred, turmeric cauliflower, and sliced avocado that all complimented the juicy salmon and steak. There was also plenty left over for another meal, taken home in a recyclable takeout container.
“Slamwiches” are filled with spicy Korean bi bim bop or try the Spanish Harlem sandwich with hot baked ham, fresh turkey, Swiss cheese, pickle, and Dijon mustard on a baguette. The Buffalo chicken wrap is full of grilled chicken, jack cheese, crisp romaine lettuce, tomato and dressing. A popular item is the crushed avocado sandwich, with a choice of toppings and dozens of other wraps and sandwich varieties are made fresh to order. They all go well with one of the homemade soups on the menu. Accompany any meal with an organic coconut water, iced tea, soda or mineral water.
The juice and smoothie bar is busy all day and night with the whirr of the juicer making the healthiest blends of fruits and vegetables. Get your morning or midday smoothie here where you choose all the ingredients and the friendly staff will blend it up right in front of you. Create also brews excellent coffee and coffee drinks, both hot and cold, teas and chai, and tempting desserts.
Take a stroll to Create either on Ditmars Blvd. or on 30th Avenue and see what everyone is eating and talking about. Create is open seven days a week from 7am to 9pm and they’re just steps away from the Ditmars Blvd. subway station and 30th Avenue station. Keep it healthy this winter and get creative at Create.
29-21 Ditmars Blvd. | Astoria | 718.777.0504
36-03 30th Ave. | Astoria | 718.204.0333
createastoria.com
Leave a Reply