Whole Heart Provisions Pours Veggie Goodness Into Central Square Tomorrow

Whole Heart Provisions (487 Cambridge St., Allston) expands to Cambridge tomorrow, showering the Central Square neighborhood with meat-free dining for three days during lunch hours before opening with full hours this Saturday, April 28. The new restaurant (298 Massachusetts Ave.) has been under construction since the fall, and it’s now ready to welcome customers.

Chef Rebecca Arnold, an alum of Alden & Harlow and Sarma, opened Whole Heart Provisions with Roxy’s Grilled Cheese founder James DiSabatino in September of 2015. Incidentally, the new Whole Heart is in the same building as DiSabatino’s Roxy’s/Area 4 collaboration, A4cade.

Whole Heart is a fast-casual vegetarian restaurant, with copious options for vegan and gluten-free dining. The menu includes green- or grain-based bowls with accompaniments like smashed cucumber, crispy chickpeas, bulgogi-style beets, Brussels sprouts, and eggplant, and there are pre-set combinations as well as customizable options. Other toppings include falafel, tofu, seeds, and dressings, and there are also dishes like street corn and a falafel dog with Grillo’s pickles.

There are a few new dishes specific to this location, including green beens with basil, orange miso dressing, and peanut crumble; the Levant with smashed cucumber, Japanese eggplant, cured tomato, red cabbage slaw, pickled cauliflower, tahini, harissa, crispy chickpeas, sesame, and falafel; and the Kaya with red cabbage slaw, basil, green beans, currants, roasted broccoli, pickled jalapeño, coconut curry, tahini, and peanut crumble.

Here is the opening menu for Whole Heart Central (please note that it may display incorrectly or not at all if you are reading this on AMP or Apple News):

Central Square’s Whole Heart Provisions will operate during lunch service starting Wednesday, April 25, through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with full-blown hours from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting Saturday, as an employee at the Allston restaurant confirmed Tuesday.

This location joins the blossoming edge of Central nearest MIT, a strip of Massachusetts Avenue that has seen a large amount of restaurant openings in the last couple of years, including the aforementioned A4cade as well as Pagu, Saloniki, Oath Pizza, and long-term pop-up tea shop Abide, not to mention a bunch of older spots.

Next up, Whole Heart Provisions will also open at the renovated Smith Campus Center at Harvard (1350 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge) around fall 2018.

Updates, 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.: This story has been updated to include details on several new menu items specific to the Central Square location. Plus, the opening menu has been embedded.

• Whole Heart Provisions Coverage on Eater [EBOS]
• Whole Heart Provisions [Official Site]