Nanuet Gets Rockland's Largest Health Food Store

Nanuet welcomed Rockland's largest health food store.

"It feels like Christmas or something," raved Robin, a shopper at the newly-opened "Matter Of Health" located next to the Barnes and Noble and across from the Nanuet Mall, "and I shop everywhere."

"Matter of Health" is a sparkling new 20,000 square foot health food market complete with their own 7,000 square ft. warehouse making it the largest health food store in Rockland County. Cleverly designed to look like a typical street market in Italy or France, there are wrought-iron balconies and a windowed apartment facade overlook aisles with old-fashioned streetlamps and street names that tell you what you can find there. Even the aisles are angled so that you can easily see what is in each one as you walk down the main corridors on either side of the store.

According to co-owner Noelle Tabet, who personally orders everything sold in the store, all meats are either organic or from humanely-raised free-range animals who eat healthy and are not given any antibiotics. All produce and ingredients of food items made on premises are organically produced.

"I personally make sure nothing bad for you enters this store because my kids eat from this store," Tabet said.

Tabet grew up in this business working with her dad, who she says is the pioneer of health food.

"This is where he found his bliss in the beginning of its kind." Tabet is a chef who was trained at Natural Gourmet, a fully-accredited cooking school where they do not teach red meats.

"All of the ingredients I learned to cook with were from organic produce and items we sold in our store, so I was very comfortable," she said. Her husband Ed, is a licensed physician in Europe and Northern Africa where their families are from.

"But he cannot practice here in the U.S.," she said. "He found bliss in homeopathy and supplements. The best thing about homeopathic remedies is if they don't help you, they don't hurt you either."

"I knew you would bring the city to Rockland County," said a friend of the couple as she passed by in one of the aisles. Immediately to the right as you enter their store is an abundance of organic produce which appears enormous compared to some of the organic items found in some major chain grocery stores, yet they are priced more like non-organic produce, i.e.$1.99 per pound for apples, .79 per pound for bananas and $2.39 for six ounces of blueberries.

There is organic coffee or tea to greet shoppers on the left side of the store. In the balconies are tables and chairs where customers may enjoy free wifi or coffee and food made in the store. Some of these tasty treats include wood fired pizza made without any sugar in the dough and only organic toppings.

"He would not serve any pizza he would not eat himself, including anything that is slightly overdone," Tabet said of her husband. There is a sushi bar, organic juice blends, smoothies and shakes with names like "Liver Flush," "Power Booster," "Amazon Warrier," "Supper Detoxifier" and "Cold and Flu Buster."

In addition to the organic fruits and vegetables, ingredients for the shakes include bee pollen, spirulina, ginseng, acai, flax, hemp and yogurt. Next to the juice bar is a Fromagerie, Salad Bar, Chef's Specials both hot and cold, Gluten Free Breads, an Olive Bar, an organic cosmetics counter where they plan to do make-up training and demos. There is a huge frozen food aisle as well as a prepared foods aisle that includes appetizers, sandwiches, etc. There is a kosher section as well as other ethnic food sections.

While all of the produce is either locally or regionally grown (from farms less than 250 miles away) many of the organic farms in the immediate area are not big enough to support an amount which would make it cost effective to buy from them. Much of the produce comes from farms in New Jersey.

Although most shoppers seemed very pleased with the new market, some said that they had seen certain items priced lower in other stores. Still most said nothing could compete with the produce section here, which accounts for most of what was sold in the two days the store was open.

Still, Noelle says that their prices are better than "Whole Foods", a chain in New Jersey that is even bigger in size. The only problem that the couple encountered with the opening of the store was that credit cards were not accepted smoothly by the newly installed system and there were computer screen glitches, but all in all, there were plenty of shoppers checking out the new store and friends and well-wishers congratulating Ed, Noelle and her father who was on hand to personally make sure that the opening of store ran smoothly and that people could find what they were looking for.

The Tabets have lived in Rockland County for twenty years and this is the fifth in a line of family businesses with other names such as "Health and Harmony," "Health is Wealth," etc.  

Below is their store hours and directions to get there.

Driving Directions

From Interstate-87 North
Take exit 14 for NY-59
Merge onto Pascack Rd Bypass
Turn left at NY-59 East
Turn left at Rockland Plaza shopping center

From Garden State Pkwy North
Take the exit onto I-287 E/I-87 S
Take exit 14 for NY-59 toward Spring Valley/Nanuet  
Merge onto Grandview Ave  
Turn left at NY-59 E  
Turn left at Rockland Plaza shopping center

From Palisades Interstate Pkwy
Take exit 8W to merge onto NY-59 W toward Spring Valley  
Turn right at Rockland Plaza

Store Hours

7 days a week 8am - 9pm