Maybe because it scratches that persistent OCD itch, but there’s something deeply satisfying about looking at layers of food in jars. From the very first moment images of mason jars crammed with intricate layers of grains and greens started popping up on Instagram, foodies everywhere dropped their flat-Earth images of dressed-down kale and cranberries for all things Ball.
But let’s be honest here. While you might have a cabinet full of mason jars for optimal salad presentation in the office lunchroom, you can’t pack your lunch every day, especially when you’ve hit the snooze button for the fourth time this morning.
And that’s why you need to start grabbing your lunch from Tyme.
Tyme is vegan fast food housed in a screw-top container that’s healthy and immensely eatable. Based in New York City they have five Manhattan outposts where you can choose to pick-up directly or have your meal delivered directly to you.
Started by The Fat Radish’s Phil Winser and former Burger King executive Felipe Hallot, they wanted to create a fast food experience where healthy eating and sustainability were front and center on the menu.
It’s the perfect grab-and-go-meal for both city-dwellers on the move and people that enjoy seeing their food touch, with options like their Indian and Mexican jars, chockful of the best ingredients like turmeric roasted cauliflower and cilantro brown rice. There’s also their original jar which features chickpeas, a green tahini sauce, black rice, and honey mustard beets (it’s also the only option on the menu that isn’t vegan because of the honey).
But the true beauty of their entire fast food concept is the jar. Just because you’re ordering fast food, it doesn’t mean it has to be wasteful. Normally any meal you grab on-the-go comes housed in packaging that’s ultimately destined for a landfill. With Tyme, they’re packaging all of their meals in a reusable jar. Even the fork that’s included with the meal is biodegradable too and it goes straight to the compost bin with your leftover food.
But now you have this jar, right? What happens to that?
Sure, you could go home and use that jar to plant some herbs, use for future leftovers, or just keep as a never-ending home for swear coins, but you can also take the jar back to Tyme for a dollar off of your next meal.
If all goes according to Winser and Hallot’s plan, you might just have your own nearby Tyme available for super fast and healthy delivery. Until then, you’ll have to settle for following them on Instagram while longingly gazing at their stacks and stacks of deliciously jarred food.
