Community Corner

Recologie Store New to New Rochelle, Promotes Sustainability

A vegan cafe will eventually be open in the store on Lawton Street.

Step by step a new New Rochelle business is opening its doors.

Recologie Lifestyle Inc., located at 49 Lawton St. where Alvin and Friends was previously situated, is headed by Judith Weber and Maria Santino Cisneros.

Cisneros operated Recologie in Larchmont for many years, but closed that store to reopen in New Rochelle. The soft opening was during ArtsFest in September.

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Weber said, when it is fully built out, the store will have a retail space, a gallery, a cafe and an event space. 

She said its mission is to "foster greater awareness of how the consumer can use their purchasing power to promote social and environmental responsibility" and "to combine vegan/vegetarian dinning, eco-retailing and education" to cultivate appreciation for a sustainable planet.

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The merchandise in the retail component will be affordable, Weber said, and will be made from "recycled, repurposed or reimagined" materials.

An example is a lamp, made from the building material Tyvek, which was hanging over a bar. The lamp was less than $100.

Weber said the chef, Amy Bach, will eventually have a full kitchen from which to create vegan and gluten-free dishes.

As of now, Bach cooks everything in a commercial kitchen.

Weber said there will be a gradual roll-out of events and tastings.

Eventually, she said the store will be the place for people coming home from work to take out dinner.

"You'll be able to stop by and pick up your polenta and vegetable lasagne," Weber said.

Recologie's Web site can be found here.


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