Sep
28
By Lief Let Us
Last month I wrote about my visits to Vancouver's two solely raw food restaurants: Gorilla Food and Organic Lives. They were two quite different experiences.
Gorilla Food is right downtown near the junction of Seymour and Dunsmuir. You enter, from sidewalk level, by descending a few steps into a cozy cavern-like milieu furnished in what I refer to as "70's funk". We were not that hungry, but wanted to sample at least a couple of items. My companion and I each had smoothies - one chocolate ($6.50), the other strawberry ($6.00) -thick milkshakes, except in place of dairy they were made with almond milk. The portion was generous, but not super thick. We also had a mixed seaweed salad ($6.50), which we thoroughly enjoyed and would have again. If you have a computer you can explore their extensive menu onlineat:http://www.gorillafood.com.
Organic Lives is situated about five blocks north of the Main Street (Science World) skytrain station and six blocks south of Broadway. It is located in a large brick warehouse with a high ceiling, taking up almost the whole block (3,000 square feet). Members of the staff are dressed in white and wear hairnets when dealing with food. Within their facility, Organic Lives hosts classes on how to prepare raw food. Most of the operation, however, is given over to producing and distributing raw food, with only about 20% of the concrete floor space given over to tables for customers who want to eat in. You can watch, through glass, the whole kitchen operation, and there are shelves stocked with items to buy and take away. I found the prices high, but the quality was exceptional and almost all the items would probably appeal to those uninitiated in the raw food lifestyle. Indicative of our appreciation for the food is the fact that we ate here twice, sampling the lasagna, the pizza, the masala cakes, the chocolate ganache cake, smoothies and a soup. Be prepared to wait, as they make everything from scratch. You can view their menu and pictures of their food online at: .
Right here in Victoria we have our own solely raw food restaurant: Café Bliss: . While a two hour drive north to Qualicum Beach will bring you to Rawthentic Eatery: More on these two next month.
For those wishing a first-hand experience with raw foods, Royal Roads University, in partnership with Victoria Transition town will be offering two half-days (noon to five) on October 16th and 23rd on 'Living Foods'. Contact Royal Roads University Continuing Education for details and to register.