New York veggie chain vows Bostonians will eat their vegetables - and like it

The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to give a food-serving license to Digg Inn, a proposed new feed station for Boston's growing herd of locavore veggie grazers, at 557 Boylston St., between Dartmouth and Clarendon.

"Hopefully, this will be the first of many," Digg Inn attorney Andrew Upton told the board at a hearing this morning. "They want healthy, they want quick and they want sustainable," Upton said of today's fast-paced Boston diners.

The board's vote could mean bad news, however, for Roslindale omnivores who like a beer with their Chinese food - Digg Inn is also seeking permission to buy the beer and wine license Seven Star Street Bistro on Belgrade Avenue acquired only a year ago. The good news for fans of the Roslindale restaurant, however, is that Seven Star is staying open (see separate story on Seven Star).

At a hearing today, Digg Inn promised "sustainable" vegetables and beers from local producers, served from a long table from which diners would pick their meals and beverages either to go or to chew on in the restaurant or at its outdoor patio.

"We're looking to democratize vegetables," and make them so appealing that people "will want to eat them, as opposed to looking at them as a burden," restaurant manager Andrew Jacobson said.

Jacobson and Upton acknowledged the concept is similar to that of the Sweetgreen restaurants that have sprouted in Boston of late. But, Upton said, Sweetgreen "is not quite as hearty, not quite as sit down."