Artisan Raw Dining In Trendy Notting Hill, London W11

Ever since Nama Artisan Raw Foods opened up in classy London suburb of Notting Hill (a stones throw from the Portobello Road) I've been wanting to visit.  I finally took myself, a friend, and a healthy appetite there in May.  The small restaurant is decorated a la minimalist, clean lines and seven shades of white. Its large, glass front was streaming in the afternoon sunshine.  It felt fresh and clean.  Just the atmosphere for being with friends and enjoying a healthy raw gourmet treat.  I'd gotten a bit lost (I blame it on Google maps!) getting to the restaurant so I was properly hungry and ready for a spot of weekend feasting!

My (very patient!) friend had been waiting for me to arrive so he had already perused the menu and chosen the dish he wanted.  After a quick scan and a tussle between curry and a sushi platter I settled on the cauliflower based Thai Coconut Curry, and he opted for the Lasagne Verdure.  We shared a small plate of sauerkraut and crackers as something to stop the gnawing hunger (and our stomachs noisily signalling it was time to eat!).  We did not wait too long before our friendly server brought us our dishes.  10 out of 10 for presentation, but what about the taste test?  The Coconut Curry was delicious with a lovely coconut based sauce. Full of flavour and just the correct amount of heat (for me).  The rice made from kohlrabi pulsed in a blender, was the perfect light accompaniment.  My friend cleared his plate and declared the lasagne a triumph.

I wasn't particularly hungry after my rich curry (the sauce is made from fresh young coconut) so we decided to share the plate of Selection of Sweet Treats for dessert.  Which we both expected to have a taster of the fermented blueberry cheesecake on, but alas it comprised of a rather disappointing array of small raw, heavily date based confections.  One of the bites however, did stand out from the rest and I could have eaten a ton of them. A sweet, delicate the trio of coconut nibbles. They tasted just like a Bounty Bar!  Lovely. But why give three on a platter that two people were sharing?! War could have erupted right there!  Next time I will just ask for a plate of coconut treats (all to myself!).

The restaurant was not packed, as most of the diners were seated outside. I suspect evenings would be much busier and so have more of a buzzing atmosphere. Whatever time of day, I will definitely return.  As would my carnivorous dining companion.  

Cost for our raw organic lunch, without drinks, for both was just under £50.  Not bad for such salubrious surroundings in the heart of London.

Note: An optional 12.5%  tip is automatically added to the bill. 

Everything on the menu is vegan, wheat and dairy free.

Nama Artisan Raw Foods

1. 110 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR

   020 7313 4638

Paris - My Top 5 Vegan & Gluten Free Eats In Paris (Part 1)

I once heard 'Paris is tough for vegans'.   Pah!  Parisians are embracing not only veganism but health.  Ok, so I'm not saying that every inhabitant of the French capital is denouncing meat and jogging to the Patisserie, but if the legion of Bio and health food stores spread over the city are a marker then I'd say that Parisians are mindful of their diet and the origins of their food.  Artisan vegan cheese makers are rising in number and developing delicious flavours.  The near future is bound to bring Dairy Free Fromageries to our shopping experience. I found, like so many I've visited recently, is very vegan and gluten free friendly.

I was grateful to Happy Cow, et al (whom I will document in Paris Part 2)who list all the vegan eateries in the city. I grabbed my Euros (and I needed many.  Paris is SUPER expensive!…Seriously Paris, 4 Euro for a cup of green tea!? Hanging out and people watching is certainly not a cheap pastime). I was impressed with what was on offer.  After ten days of feasting and vacillation, these are definitely best five vegan meals, or at least dishes, I enjoyed on this trip.  I'll share the others in the next post.  The top five are in no particular order.  All the dishes are gluten free.

No.1

In my hunt to bring you the best vegan 'junk' food joint in Paris I discovered Hank Burgers Bio.  I use junk loosely rather than a reality of the food.  A fill up at Hanks manages to deliver HUGE flavours.  The best gluten free burger buns I've tasted..soft and actually like a burger bun.  Toppings and sauces that marry perfectly with their meatless bun.  And crispy fries that left me contentedly stuffed.  

Who's Hank?  Well, I asked that of Pierre (the guy on the right) the proud owner of this newly opened burger house (or should I say maison?!)  'I don't know' he replied with a warm smile.  Hank is a figment of his imagination and part of the whole branding of his establishment.  The small, clean and bright restaurant is situated in the uber hip neighbourhood (arrondissement) of La Marias.  Pierre is an earnest new chef,  not long wrenched from the world of tech.  He is a vegan newbie too. Only having notched up just over a year of meat AND dairy free living.  He told me a light bulb went off and not long afterwards Hank Burgers was born. LOVE.

Hank Burgers

55, rue des Archives 

Paris, France 75003

                                                                                                                                

No.2

Next up  Le Potager Du Marais.  This berry crumble nearly made me humbly weep with joy.  The perfect balance of tart and sweet with a generous layer of golden crumble.  It needed no creamy embellishments.  I took an inordinate amount of time to thoroughly devour this dish. I scraped the dish clean and then I mourned it's demise!

Yes, I list the dessert first.  The courgette soup, with the lavish side of soft gluten free bread, was watery green vegetable alchemy... transformed into silky, flavoursome soup. But even this palled in comparison to the dessert.

If they injected as much love into the decor as they do their food it would take the dining experience up that final notch.

Le Potager du Marais

24 rue Rambuteau 

Paris, France 75003

                                                                                                                                                                   

No.3

Pousse Pousse(pronounced puss puss..doesn't sound quite so good in it's translation Sprout Sprout).  Ah, the French language mellifluous in nature could make a tax return sound like poetry.  I loved merely just being in the City, surrounded by these sensual, exotic accents.  My efforts to emulate it where poor, but I did try my best.  Though even my novice attempts were appreciated, as more than one Parisian told me (in English).

This restaurant, just south of Montmartre, situated in an area being slowly gentrified (where isn't these days?!) has both raw and cooked dishes.  My tartelette sans gluten dish had both raw and cooked elements.  A host of wonderful flavours and textures on the plate that made eating quite a mindful experience. 

The raw dessert was fudge-y, chocolate heaven. Cacao nibs offering a wonderful bitter crunch and the added hazelnut butter battled for attention with the raw cacao.  I was transported back to childhood when Nutella was consumed in heaped spoonfuls after a long school day.  A little raw fig cracker commanded attention and served as a good reminder to try to eat with delicacy!  

All dishes are vegan with lots of gluten free options. I suggest booking ahead as Pousse Pousse's tables are few in number. 

Pousse Pousse

7, rue Notre Dame de Lorett, 

Paris, 75009

                                                                                                                                                                  

No.4

Cafe Ginger a charming little vegan cafe tucked in a side street, a stones throw from La Bastille.  The staff were super friendly and it had a nice relaxed atmosphere.  I actually wasn't going to try this place but I'd walked to MOB and found that they were not like their Brooklyn counterparts and had no gluten free options. I hope this changes.  Anyway, so I had a quick chat with The Gentle Gourmet who are close by and they recommended Cafe Ginger.  It turned out to be a good call.  

They had just a couple of gluten free options.  I was actually glad the menu was limited because choosing can get exhausting!  I chose the vegetable crumble bake.  The polenta topping was delicately flavoured and complemented the soft stewed vegetables sitting below perfectly.  The plate was dotted with other elements.  Sauces, salads, stews, curry's and grains.  Like a restrained buffet plate! Great flavours and textures. 

The ONLY thing I would say is to make sure your serve knows you are gluten free and it may be worth mentioning with each course just to make sure they remember.  The cafe is busy and my server had to be reminded that  I was gluten free when running through the choice of desserts with me.  I had their raw carrot cake and it was good.

Cafe Ginger

9 Rue Jacques Coeur (metro Bastille) 

Paris, France 75004

                                                                                                            

No.5

Joint winners take the fifth spot.  Each had their own individual merits. I could not choose.

Caroline, owner of The Gentle Gourmet and her staff were so utterly sweet, I could not help but love them for that.  I only tried dessert here.
I did forget that 'pastry' means a sweet treat to the French so when I ordered the vegan white Bavarian chocolate pastry I imagined a towering stack of 'buttery' flaky pastry amid clouds of thickly pipped chocolate fondant.  I actually got a cheese cake.  A delightfully smooth and creamy cheesecake with a gorgeously tart coulis that made this dessert sing.

The Gentle Gourmet

24 Boulevard de La Bastille (at Place de La Bastille), 

Paris, 75012

And in joint place for 5th best vegan restaurant is 42 Degres.   A raw food (nothing cooked about 42 degrees to maintain maximum nutrients) restaurant in the 9th arrondissement.  I had to place them in the top 5 as their flavours were good.  The mushroom burger entree was a mushroom based patty in between two marinated portabello mushrooms that served as the 'bun'.  It was lovely but with a single kale chip and two green leaves it was not for the hungry.  The raw passionfruit torte was stunning but the meanness portion I've ever encountered.  I looked around and mine got the medal for the smallest portion given out in the room!  (I couldn't help but feel irked as being short changed!).  I would award few points to 42 Degres for value for money but  they make up for it with presentation and flavour.  If I lived in Paris I'd have this place on my list of favourites but I'd only visit it on occasion.  

42 Degres

109, rue du Faubourg Poissonniere, 

Paris, 75009

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Be sure to check out my next post…Paris Part 2.  I'll list all the other restaurants I visited and give you options for 'eating in' which can be found in most supermarkets.   Also, I will share the great blogs that helped to make my Parisian experience a good one.

Healthy Snacks. Parsnip & Brussel Invite Kale To Step Into The Ring - Who Won?!

Kale is king.  It has reigned for a few years now as the supreme raw food chip.  Of course, other vegetables were going to want a slice of the action. So kale got competition!

I love brussel sprouts.  I love parsnips. I heard they were being 'chipped'. I had to sample them. 

Wonderfully Raw chips were developed by a chef named Sequoia, a graduate of the Living Light Institute who began making raw foods after healing herself of Type 11 Diabetes through diet. 

New Product Review

Generally, they were good. But, honestly, not all of the flavours rocked my world, but some defiantly generated a tremor! All of the line up contain raw coconut among their ingredients.  Coconut is not only delicious but a metabolism boosting super food. Guilt free healthy snacking.  Each pack is only approximately 120 calories and 8g of fat (but it is easily digested, healthy MCLA - medium chain fatty acids). According to Dr Oz coconut improves thyroid function, too. Vegan. Gluten free. Soy Free. Sugar Free.

Brussel Bites - Chili Pumpkin Seed Crunch 
The chipotle heat is so good mingling with the slightly bitter brussel and the toasty flavour of the coconut. Loved!

Brussel Bites - Tamarind Apple Crunch 
I could not detect the tang of the tamarind but the ginger and coconut were a divine mix. Loved!

Snip Chips    - Cheezy Herb Truffle 
I was excited about this flavour combination. However, I didn't love this one.  Too 'parsnippy' for my liking and not enough truffle and cheeze flavours.

Snip Chips    - Chipotle Lime Cilantro 
More chipotle flavour, please!  If you don't like heat then you may enjoy the subtlety of it. Otherwise, a good flavour.

Snip Chips    - Dill Pickle 
a lovely buttery taste with a gentle dill flavour. Loved!


So..the clear winner..does King Kale need to be nervous?? No. Competition is good.  I think the healthy snack market has room for them all!  I will definitely be buying these again.

Wonderfully Raw sell their Snips and Bites in many natural food markets, Whole Food and grocery store locations in North America.

No Compromise Healthy Eating In New York. Quintessence

The temperatures may have been dropping in New York, and the thought of a cold salad may not have been on the top of my list, but if my little ears get wind of a raw food restaurant I am on Google and mapping my way to it quicker than you can say 'activated nuts'!

Sometimes, a raw restaurant (nothing cooked above 118f, to retain the essential nutrients) may be living off the aged reputation of the ubiquitous dishes of raw pizza, raw lasagne and chocolate, avocado mousse.  For the uninitiated these will be eye openers, not to mention shifting your perceptions of uncooked food.  But, I'll be honest, when I have a short amount of time to run around a city discovering exciting, innovative food, if this is all they offer, I'm skipping it.  An online glance over the Quintessence menu  intrigued me. The whole menu is 100% organic, gluten free and vegan).

I called up a foodie playmate and we headed over to the East Village. I'd already made up my mind from my menu musings earlier so my friend and I decided to order two of the most interesting looking dishes and share them.  I opted for the Indian dish.

  

Indian Platter 

The India Platter was a Mali Kofta, chickpea and vegetable balls covered in a curried almond sauce, served with mango chutney and cucumber raita.  It was creamy pillows of curried heaven. 

Our second choice had to be the
Mexican Platter

Flax and corn enchiladas with 'refried' beans, 'cheese', dowsed in mole and guajillo chilli sauce.  My dining partner had long been a fan of the Mexican Platter but his allegiance shifted that night to the Indian plate.  Honestly, I'd happily choose either of them.

The food was exceptionally flavoursome and inventive with wonderfully balanced textures.  Filling too.  No room for dessert!!  The service was non-invasive but present.  It was early, 6pm so it was fairly quiet.  It is a small place so it probably fills up quickly.  It had a nice ambience but I didn't see how it had the 'spa like experience' their website spoke of?  In my opinion, it is just a nice, relaxed atmosphere to enjoy good food with good friends.

There are a few cooked items on the menu, sadly it was a one time visit on this trip so I cannot vouch for those. Their menu is extensive with original, amazing sounding appetisers and entrees (they have a dish called fofu?  I'm waiting on a reply from them to enlighten me to what that may be). They serve shakes, raw pies and puddings, too. Their website is a bit odd.  On face value it looks like they only deliver, this is obviously not the case.

quin·tes·sence  (kwn-tsns)

n.

1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.

2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil.

3. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things.

Quintessence

East Village

263 E 10th Street 

(btw. Ave A & 1st Ave)

NYC

(646) 654-1823

New York never fails to be so vibrant and utterly entertaining.  I captured a great moment on the subway  This guy was the icing on the cake to a great night.  He just walked up and started showing some moves. Only in New York?!

Raw Butternut Squash And Kiwi Soup With Chilli Apple Croutons

I have been wanting to make this soup for a while.  I love butternut squash.  Really love it.  I love the way it is just about the most patient vegetable there is.  It sits, looking pert and lovely upon my shelf until I decide to use it.  It doesn't sag or deflate in despondency.  Sometimes weeks can go by and it stays as fresh as a daisy.   As September brings that sweet smell of falling leaves and shorter evenings I am far too inclined to cook everything,  it's all about the comfort and the salads and raw foods come second best.  I try to do my utmost to stop this.  My body craves nutrients, not lost in the steam of long cooked stews.  I've wanted to make raw butternut squash soup forEVER but I didn't have a kickass blender that could whizz it up to a sweet thick cream. Well, now I have one (I'll tell you about that another time).  

It's Vegan MoFo Day 14 (my life already!). I'm plunging on.  Most other bloggers take a break at the weekends but I'm travelling again soon and am not sure I'll get chance to post.

This recipe was the very first thing I made with my new kitchen gadget.

Raw Butternut Squash And Kiwi Soup With Chilli Apple Croutons

1 medium butternut squash

1/2 organic kiwi (leave the skin on..this is good if it is organic

1/4 red onion

1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger

1/2 hot(ish) red chilli pepper, seeds removed

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp of cracked black pepper

apple croutons

dice 1/2 a dessert apple really small, keep the skin on

dust with salt, cracked black pepper, hot chilli powder (or chipotle powder if you have it).

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the squash.  Chop into chunks and remove the seeds (you can dust these with seasoning and roast for  a healthy snack).  

Use a garlic press to mince the ginger (I know, isn't this a great tip..I was busy the other day and a lightbulb moment struck and I popped it in and hopped up and down at my discovery. So much easier than grating!) mince it straight into your blender. Throw all the other ingredients in along with it and blend on high speed for about 2 minutes.  In this time, the centrifugal force of the blender will transform into a warm silky soup.

Serve into bowls, placing the chilli, apple croutons in the centre. Shake over a few chilli flakes too.

The kiwi just gives it a slight edge to cut through the sweet squash.  It is also a great boost of vitamin C.  With the colder weather it is a good idea to up your intake.  Stay healthy.

I don't know, sometimes I just feel so smug that I wised up to vegan food so long ago.  To coin a phrase, 'it's the nuts'!

x

No Bake. Bakewell Tart In A Jar

What day is it??  All this cooking! AND eating.  Jeesh!  It's Day 12 of Vegan MoFo 2013.  In all honesty, I am loving this challenge.  It is getting me to flex my organisational skills and my love of making lots of lists on scrappy bits of paper, and occasionally in my planner. It is also getting me out of any hummus eating cooking comfort zone I may slip into from time to time.  

So, next up: to dessert we run.

These pots of yum are so healthy you could eat them for breakfast, too. 

White processed sugar free, gluten free, soy free & vegan.

I've had dessert-in-a-jar envy for far too long, whilst drooling over other food blogs. It was a little victory for the bucket list making these.  YES, it was on my bucket list.

Don't be scared off by the 3 steps to this recipe.  It looks like a lot to do but your blender whizzes it all up in minutes. 

No Bake. Bakewell Tart In A Jar

serves 2 

Raspberry Chia Jam
1 cup organic raspberries (frozen is ok but thaw a little first)
powdered xylitol or agave syrup to sweeten.  The amount depends on the tartness of your raspberries.  I used 1 tbs of agave.
squeeze of half a lemon, probably about 1/2 tsp (acts as a preservative)
Pop all the ingredients into a blender and then blend until smooth.
Mix with chia gel.

1 tbs chia seeds mixed with 1/2 - 3/4 cup water to form a gel (about 15 mins).  Chia has been said to contain the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids of any plant known and lots of fibre and protein (in short it is a filling superfood).

I have read other recipes that do not make the gel in water and just add the chia to the fruit puree and leave over night but I tried this and the seeds didn't hydrate that well and become very gelatinous.  It would be a better way however as the jam flavour would be more concentrated.

Almond 'Crust' 
6 tbs almond flour
1/2 tbs gently melted coconut oil
1/4 tsp almond extract
good pinch of salt

in a bowl mix all the ingredients. The mix should stick together when pressed between your fingers.  Put the 'crust' into your serving bowls or jars and press down.  Pop in the fridge to set.

Sponge Mix
1/2 cup chopped courgette/zucchini (a bit weird but trust me, Russell James turned me on to this one and it works)
1/2 a chopped dessert apple (I love Braeburn)
7 tbs almond flour
1 tbs psyllium husk (makes it spongey)
2 tbs ground flax seeds
1 tsp quality vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pink salt

Mix all the ingredients until it become dough like, in a blender.


Vanilla Sugar Icing Drizzle
4 tbs powdered xylitol (so much healthier than sugar)
dash of vanilla extract
water to mix to a paste


Crust on the bottom.  Jam is next. Spoon in that crimson loveliness. Gently drop the sponge on top.  Drizzle with the sugar icing.  Top off with toasted almond flakes.

lovely AND good for you.  x