The Roslyn area is full of top-notch restaurants all offering rewarding dining experiences. And for the last year-and-a-half, those numbers have included the only USDA certified organic restaurant in New York State.
When Judy Racz moved to Roslyn in 2009, she claimed to be dismayed, as she put it, by the “comparative lack of healthy, high-quality food options available for delivery.”
And so, in 2017, this mother of four opened the Full House Organic Kitchen at 38 Glen Cove Rd., Greenvale. The mission of the restaurant, she added, is not just to supply healthy food but to also help people feel better by helping them change their culinary habits.
A native of Queens County, Racz began a career in finance in New York City before moving to Roslyn, with her then-three children, which included young twins and a newborn baby.
For Racz, it was “a shock to find such a drastic difference” from what she’d had access to in the city. Racz also noticed that certain foods with artificial ingredients adversely affected one of her children, who had sensory and learning difficulties. She resolved to feed her family only organic food, but discovered that it was nearly impossible to find it. “There were no organic prepared foods available, even at Whole Foods,” she said. “So I decided to do it myself.”
With no prior restaurant experience, Racz put her business background and MBA in management to use. Originally, the concept was a small market that would sell only high-quality organic ingredients and prepared foods. However, zoning ordinances didn’t allow a kitchen in a grocery market. Racz adapted her idea into a restaurant that would offer an array of certified organic foods for eat-in, delivery and take-out, as well as only certified organic snacks and beverages.
Racz also wanted her claims to be government-certified. She then underwent the exacting process of becoming USDA certified. To do so means that “every element” of the food served is at least 95 percent certified organic. Towards that end, Racz has also partnered with a registered dietitian to create customized meal plans, and the restaurant has catering as well as an app for online ordering.
“We buy from suppliers who are committed to the principles of organic food production and see the industry as an opportunity to effect positive change,” Racz said. “The beef and dairy we buy is always grass-fed as well as being certified organic. Grass-fed beef and dairy products help ensure that the animals were raised in open pastures and given a diet that is consistent with what their bodies were designed to process. Also, we think it tastes better. Just like with the food we prepare fresh every day in our kitchen, better inputs yield better outputs.”
