Let's take a moment to remember the old Natural Pantry: that pokey old building attached to the University Mall, with its harsh fluorescent lighting, chaotic shelves and bewildering labyrinth of naturopathic bottles and salves. And how it was just about impossible to walk through the door without dropping a small fortune. Two organic onions? That will be $30, please.
That Natural Pantry -- the building, at least -- is gone. Anchorage's only organic/natural foods grocery store has moved over several blocks to a different location and a shiny new complex that would be the envy of any Whole Foods.
Inside, it feels airy and bright, with tall ceilings, colorful walls and even an indoor waterfall. When you walk through the store, it seems like there is just more -- more aisles, more meat and cheese, more produce, more space, more everything.
That extends to the lunch. When I visited with a friend last week, the deli counter was out of commission and it looked like only sandwiches were being made to order. No matter, because the buffet bar is epic.
The stainless steel table looks over twice as long as the average salad bar. One half is occupied by cold salad ingredients: fresh spinach and other greens, shredded carrots, tofu, cubed chicken breast, various sprouts. These are the predictable offerings, though a much bigger variety than you'll find elsewhere.
The other half of the table resembled nothing so much as someone's amazing Thanksgiving spread. There was macaroni and cheese, potatoes, grilled vegetables, spicy meatballs, roasted squash and quinoa salad. In the center of the table were three varieties of roasted bone-in chicken breast quarters.
Immediately ignoring the fresh salad ingredients, my friend and I loaded up our paper plates from the calorically dense side of the bar. The cost is $8.49 per pound, which for the two of us came out to a total of $22.84, plus about $5 in bottled beverages. Considering we got three full plates of food, with over a dozen dishes and side dishes piled on between them, it seemed like quite a deal.
We took our plates and plastic cutlery to the "Hydration Station," Natural Pantry's coffee shop and seating area. It's another bright room, with lofty ceilings, big windows and a cool, contemporary feel. We parked ourselves next to the fireplace and dug in.
The food ranged from okay to very good. The meats were a tad dry, like you'd expect from a buffet situation. The spices were noticeably mild, even in the "spicy" meatballs, and we found ourselves salting everything liberally from little paper packets we found at the condiments station.
But the vegetables were spot on -- the grilled zucchini and broccoli were crisp-tender, the roasted potatoes were soft inside and firm on the outside. The quinoa salad was nutty and unexpectedly citrusy. The macaroni and cheese was rich and velvety, with a liberal amount of sausage and a layer of melted cheese on top.
Altogether it reminded me, again, of Thanksgiving at someone's house, where not everything is perfect, but when you mix it all together on the plate it becomes something greater than the sum of its parts. Maybe there's some macaroni and cheese with that bite of pulled pork, or a bit of roasted squash with the chicken breast. It was also easy to see how people with special diets, gluten-free or vegan or otherwise, would have an easy time finding different combinations of food that would work for them, and not get trapped into a narrow selection of dishes.
If you're looking for fast lunch options that don't require pre-ordering or sitting down, or you're on a specialized diet, Natural Pantry is tough to beat. Don't forget to stop by the new wall of organic/fair trade chocolates on the way out either -- if you end up dropping $30, I won't judge.
Natural Pantry
Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., closed Sun.
Location: 3680 Barrow St.
Contact: 770-1444, natural-pantry.com
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