Bringing the Mountain to Brooklyn

Crown Heights changes by the minute. Thank God, its grande-dame apartment buildings and brick-faced repair garages still sport their ancient bones. But among these hard corners, a girl can't help but wish for air, for the spread of an open ocean or a mountain's reach. It seems that Tom McCauley and Justine Lynch had the same longing, and after years spent dreaming of an escape to a mountaintop in some remote and restorative corner of the world, they decided to bring the Mountain to Brooklyn. Theirs is a generous, unprecedented project. A fusion of Chinese herbal pharmacy, yoga studio, art venue, and a seasonal creative eatery they call their Apothecary Kitchen. The project revolves around an idea that is at once ancient and cutting-edge: food is medicine; food can heal; food is joy. More to the point, healing must happen beyond and before shots, pills, or surgeries. It must be a practice of self-care, a practice of the meals we prepare and eat, of mindful movement and communal connection and energetic ideas. So you'll find a cabinet of herbal potions to bolster their locally sourced vegetable concoctions and grass-fed lamb meatballs. In an inviting corner, a mysterious beaded curtain hides a bright, spare space for yoga, tai-chi, and reiki practices. Healing food in Brooklyn, and a venture that reimagines what it means to feed a neighborhood. If you're hungry for ancient wisdom and a taste of the wild, you need not head for the hills. Especially since they deliver.