Maurepas Foods, City Greens Both Open Today

Today is a good day for fans of fresh produce, with the opening of two restaurants that, while very different in cuisine and vibe, still share a pretty serious respect for the importance of fresh veggies.

The first, and perhaps most noteworthy, is the long-awaited opening of Maurepas Foods in the Bywater. Most of the staff there are veterans of area fine dining restaurants, including chef/owner Michael Doyle, formerly the sous chef at Dante's Kitchen uptown, and General Manager Chris Cuddihee, most recently at Gautreau's, also uptown. That's a sensibility they bring to Maurepas Foods, though the menu, which features lots of local produce and a pretty serious Southern influence, doesn't have any items listed for more than $12. They open tonight for dinner at 6PM, and will be open from 11AM to 11PM every day, except Wednesdays, when they're closed. Find more info on their Facebook page here.

Meanwhile, in the CBD, a new shop called City Greens opened this morning. Owned by Michael Birtel and Ben Kazenmaier and led by executive chef Tim Bordes (who has worked at restaurants like Lilette and Mesón 923), City Greens is much more geared towards breakfast and lunch for the white collar CBD crowd, with much of the produce coming from a hydroponics farm in Florida owned by Kazenmaier. The menu is mostly composed of salads, wraps and the like. They're open Monday to Friday from 7AM to 2PM. [EaterWire]

Photo of the outside of Maurepas Foods from Facebook]