BLOOMINGDALE'S HEALTHFUL RESTAURANT, FORTY CARROTS, MOVES TO SEVENTH FLOOR

NEW YORK, NY . . . On Wednesday, August 22, Bloomingdale's famous, and famously crowded, restaurant "Forty Carrots" will re-open with an enhanced menu in newly designed and expanded space on the seventh floor of the 59th Street flagship store.

The new Forty Carrots is attractive and enticing, awash with garden-inspired colors. In addition to 100 seats, fully twice the capacity of the old restaurant, and enlarged take-out area, the all-new location boasts a light and lively design with sleek, contemporary flatware and china from Villeroy & Boch to compliment the updated food presentations.

Forty Carrots will offer a delectable modern menu to refresh and re-invigorate Bloomingdale's shoppers with new versions of its famous classics, now using all organic and natural breads and rolls; and featuring daily specials including homemade soups, grilled chicken and fish. Among the novel sandwich inventions is a nutritious no-mayo tuna salad, an original twist on a most-requested item. And perhaps most notably, production will dramatically increase to meet demand for the restaurant?s most iconic offering, frozen yogurt.

Forty Carrots Frozen Yogurt
The Snack That Changed Snacking

Bloomingdale's opened Forty Carrots in 1975 to appeal to its fashion-conscious customers with low-calorie, healthy entrees served in an upbeat casual environment. To go along with its featured salads, sandwiches, homemade carrot and bran muffins, Bloomingdale's unveiled a new dessert it had discovered in New England, "frozen" yogurt. It was an instant hit, becoming the restaurant's #1 selling item, and remains so today 32 years later. The store estimates over 3.2 million servings have been enjoyed by legions of frozen yogurt connoisseurs, some of whom visit the restaurant four or five times a week.

As with any great recipe, the special formula for Bloomingdale's yogurt hasn't changed in the three decades since its launch. The healthful mixture is made unique by its abundance of active yogurt cultures, the only frozen yogurt so enriched, which gives Bloomingdale's original plain yogurt its distinctive slightly tart, lemony taste.

Bloomingdale's currently sells frozen yogurt nationally in 19 of its stores. The most popular flavor is still the original, signature plain. Number two with New Yorkers is coffee, followed by chocolate, though chocolate beats coffee for the number two spot in the national rankings. Banana and strawberry round out the top five favorites. The yogurt has roughly 25 calories per ounce. Original plain is low fat; flavored versions are no fat. Top five favorites in the world of toppings include fresh fruit, Melba sauce, granola, wheat germ and shredded coconut. An increased list of family-friendly toppings will tempt visitors in the new Forty Carrots location.

How The Garden Has Grown

Within a year after it first opened as a 12-stool counter restaurant, Forty Carrots itself was as much in demand as its famous frozen yogurt, and was expanded to 34 seats plus an additional 5 stools adjacent to the small take-out counter. In 1997 a new, larger Forty Carrots opened on the Metro Level. For the first time guests could be served at tables as well as at a counter. There was also a larger take out counter, which in turn had to be expanded again, to meet the increased demand for take out frozen yogurt. The restaurant is one of five dining options within the store.

To reach Forty Carrots directly, simply dial 212.705.3085.

Bloomingdale's is America's only nationwide, full-line, upscale department store; and a division of Macy's, Inc. It was founded in 1872 and currently operates 39 stores in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Nevada and California; and will open its 40th store in Chevy Chase, Maryland later this year. For more information, or to shop any time, visit www.bloomingdales.com.


# # #