FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 73
dining out
Photo by Karen Goldfarb
Entrepreneur uses Greek herbs
to create healing concoctions
BY KAREN GOLDFARB
Herbal remedies are regaining popularity,
and there’s a new place to get your
fi x right here in western Queens. Loose
Leaf (28-10 23rd Avenue), a charming
and sunny café at recently founded by
Astorian Peter Zotis, is making available
those ancient cures to help with modern
woes.
Zotis came to the United States from
Kastoria, Greece, with his parents and two
sisters in 1975. Th e family spent a short
time in Woodhaven, Queens, before settling
in Astoria, where Zotis has lived ever
since.
A few years ago, Zotis, who used to
work in construction, became mysteriously
ill – and nothing seemed to help.
“I went from physician to physician,”
he said. But none of them could help him.
He decided to return to Greece, where he
hadn’t been for 18 years. His experience
there, he said, was revelatory.
“Th ere is a huge resurrection now in
Greece where people are going towards
natural remedies,” he said. A holistic doctor
he found there helped him with a combination
of herbs such as St. John’s wort
and sea buckthorn berries, which he said
energized his system. “Th e berries are a
little pungent in taste, but they are fantastic.
Th ey have 191 nutrients and have
been used from the time of Alexander the
Great.”
Zotis, who exudes gentleness and a lowkey
but defi nite joie de vivre, said he now
feels fantastic and wanted to bring these
ancient herbal remedies to his beloved
Astoria community. He sells those herbs,
superfoods and other assorted delicacies
at Loose Leaf, where one can buy such
herbs as milk thistle, peppermint and
lemon balm; drink a mocktail with a delicious
combination of blueberry, lavender
and lemonade; or just have a cup of freshly
brewed coff ee. He can also off er suggestions
Loose Leaf
28-10 23rd Ave., Astoria
Shoplooseleaf.com
INSTAGRAM: @shoplooseleaf
for herbal cures for whatever ails
you, as well as superfoods.
Customers can also go to his online store
at shoplooseleaf.com to buy the herbs they
need. Zotis also plans to expand nationally,
with potential franchises across the
country.
Many of the herbs come from his
hometown of Kastoria, a northern city
at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains,
between 3,500 to 5,000 feet above sea
level.
“Th ere is very little industry so we have
extremely pure land, very clean water,” he
said. “Th ese herbs and superfoods have
been used for thousands of years and do
great things for people. And there has
been a huge resurrection especially now –
and in the past fi ve years in Greece – and
they are being rediscovered,” he said.
Zotis also imports herbs from all over
Europe. He even travels to Greece four
times a year to pick wild herbs, since he
has a wild cultivation license from the
country’s Department of Agriculture.
Zotis said he hopes people will not only
have an “enjoyable” experience when they
come to his shop but will also acquire a bit
of knowledge about the exciting possibilities
to create good health. He wants people
to know that “there are other solutions. I
came from a world where I believed what
the doctor said only,” he said. “But once
I started exploring I realized that there
are other options available. Using these
herbs has kept him healthy and strong. I
feel great.”
Zotis says he chose to open the shop in
Astoria because of his love for his community.
“I am a true Astorian,” he said.
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