Restaurant plans March opening in Woodlands

PURE Smart Foods, a new concept in healthy alternatives for eating, will open on Research Forest Drive sometime in mid-March. The restaurant is located between Shanghai Bistro and La Trattoria in the Technology Forest Plaza shopping center.
PURE will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus that focus on nutrition, sustainability, and organic food choices. Options for healthful eating range from a customizable salad station to free-range proteins, and all-natural fruit and veggie smoothies to hot and cold oatmeals. Signature items include wraps made with leaner steaks and brown rice, sweet potato fries" cooked in air fryers without oil, and the Fusion Roll", made of pan-seared Ahi tuna, sprouts, and sauce, cut to look like a sushi roll.
In addition to dine-in menus, PURE will carry prepackaged meals that are tailored to the fitness aspects in busy people's lives. Owner Patrick Asuncion, who also owns the Cold Stone Creamery in Market Street, has teamed up with renowned Houston nutritionist Marian Bell to develop his own line of the portable meals that offer on the go consumers a ready-to-eat, yet nutritionally sound, option. Asuncion also has plans to introduce homemade, all-natural baby foods at PURE in the future.
Inspired by similar restaurants he saw in his New York hometown, Asuncion wanted to bring a healthy taste of the Big Apple to the Piney Woods of Texas. Asuncion believes that everyone has their own idea of what healthy means," but that his concept will focus more on lifestyle versus trend. Our foods will be prepared with healthier alternatives," he adds. Instead of added sugars, trans fat or hydrogenated oils, we use natural juices, agave sweeteners, and macadamia, grapeseed and olive oils."
Asuncion has made a point of extending his philosophy of healthful and green" living into every aspect of the new space. The restaurant utilizes sustainable materials like bamboo and eco-friendly insulation, as well as refurbished and recyclable goods. The dcor incorporates the work of local designers and artists, and Asuncion is passionate about being involved in the community through sponsorships, charity, and educational seminars he plans to offer at PURE.
For more information on PURE Smart Foods, please
contact Patrick Asuncion via e-mail at patrick@puresmartfoods.com. To learn more about nutritionist Marian Bell, visit www.marianbell.com.