Health

Raw Food Restaurant Review: Cru

Posted By Lori on Jan 15, 2010

Restaurant: Cru

Type of cuisine served: organic, raw & cooked gluten free vegan (menu)

Location: 1521 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, CA (map)

Contact: 323-667-1551

Hours:

Mon-Sat open for lunch 11am-4pm, and dinner 5:30pm-10pm

Sunday brunch 11am-2:30pm, and dinner 5:30pm-10pm.

Ambiance

Cru is a casual restaurant with a nice intimate low key vibe. It’s decorated with warm cozy colors and a stained polished concrete floor. The lighting is dim, soft, warm and inviting which had me feeling very comfortable. The seating was simple with a long cushioned bench along the wall with simple sleek chairs across the tables. Each table had a candle votive and simple vase with charming Gerber daisies that my friend couldn’t resist putting behind his ear! The restaurant was fresh, clean, and well maintained. Even the bathroom was clean, which always gives me creepy vibes if I go into a restaurant bathroom and it is a wreck. It always leaves me wondering how the kitchen must look behind closed doors. It can be very unsettling, but in this case I was happy to see it was tidy and clean.

Service/Staff
We were greeted and seated right away. There are some raw restaurants where the service is less than stellar or the restaurant seems understaffed. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the attentiveness as well as the prompt service. Not only was the food served in a timely manner, but the servers were very approachable and friendly. They really took the time to go over any questions that we had. It was so refreshing.

Menu

While overlooking the menu I enjoyed a warm cup of chamomile tea. The menu was easy to read without having too many complicated choices. They keep their menu simple and sweet. My friend and I weren’t really hungry at the time, but since we were in the area we decided to get the order to go. We shared the following:

Kale Apple Lime Juice

This approx 12 oz. nourishing juice was very refreshing with a nice subtle sweet, crisp, clean flavor. The ingredient ratios were perfect, not too strong, not too sweet, not too tart, just right.

Deep Green Salad (pictured above)

We ordered the large to share which was a very generous & filling portion. The salad consisted of kale, tomato, avocado, sprouts and sunflower seeds. The chili lime dressing was outstanding. The menu showed that this dish came with sunflower seeds, however ours came with pine nuts which I prefer anyway. I loved the different textures and all the flavors mixed well together.

Asian Noodle Bowl

Kelp noodles topped with sprouts, chopped almonds, radishes, cucumbers and drizzled in the prefect amount of almond, chili sauce. This dish was so good! I really like spicy food so I might have asked for a side of minced jalapeno or some more chili, but to the regular guest it was perfect as it is. I will definitely be back to have this one again and again. No joke I am still thinking about this dish days later!

Pesto Ravioli

I wish I had a photo of this dish, it was truly beautiful. The wrap was made of white, thinly sliced root veggie (I wish I knew what it was, perhaps jicama) stuffed with herbed cashew cheese and topped with a pumpkin seed pesto sauce. It was wonderfully accompanied with a spicy arugula salad. I really savored the flavors in this dish. I suggest you eat this dish really slowly to get the full effect of the herbed cashew cheese!

Portions
The portions were so generous that we were able to share all the dishes and even save half of it to enjoy the next day. All the dishes were very filling.

Price

Organic raw food is always going to be a bit pricier than a standard cooked restaurant considering the labor and quality that goes into the food, however the value matched the prices.

Overall
One thing this restaurant seems to do well is to let the flavors merry together so that the dishes are full of flavor without seeming like the dishes were rushed. You could tell each dish was made with love and care and isn’t that what you want when you go out to eat? BTW, I tend to eat very simple fare (mostly mono foods) most of the time and my tummy can get a bit upset with all the complicated food combinations however I did not experience any “weirdness” with the combinations. Perhaps because we passed on the desserts.

Recommendation

I highly recommend checking Cru out. The only drawback I experienced was parking. We had to walk a short distance to the restaurant, passing a small pack of gated in yapping Chiwawas. 😉 but I know that I will definitely be back to try other menu selections. I will definitely have to munch on those amazing Asian noodles again too! This is a place that you can bring raw curious people to as well especially since there are gluten free cooked dishes on the menu as well.

Raw Food Recipe: Broccoli Coleslaw Salad w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette

Posted By Lori on Jan 8, 2010

I spent the day recently at Glen Ivy Hot Springs and while I was in the steam room the conversation got onto raw food. (gee, imagine that…) As the group was talking about their different experiences or lack of knowledge on the subject completely, someone shared one of their favorite raw recipes. It was so simple I didn’t even need to write it down. I decided to make it and see how I liked it. It was a broccoli salad. Now, I am not a huge fan of raw broccoli, but I knew I had a ton of it in my fridge from last weeks share from my wholesale organic produce buying club. It turned out pretty good so I thought I’d pay it forward. I have no idea what the ratios were so I will post my approximates, and feel free to modify it to your liking.

BTW, I am not a culinary artist or a great photographer, but I thought you’d like to get an idea of what this looks like.

Broccoli Salad
Broccoli (chopped small or food processed) -I used 1 bunch
Dried cranberries -I used one handful
Sunflower seeds- I used 1 handful of walnuts since I was out of sunflower seeds
Apple (chopped or food processed)- I used 2 small apples (one granny smith, one fuji)

Toss with the following dressing

Raspberry Vinaigrette
A couple handfuls of raspberries (mine were frozen from late summer)
2 T lemon juice (I prefer to use lemon or lime rather than vinegar)
1/2 C water
A handful of walnuts (I prefer to use whole foods rather than oil for my fat in dressings)

Blend in the Vita-mix till smooth, toss all ingredients together.

This recipe has a holiday vibe to it with the walnuts, apples, and cranberries. It’s crisp, sweet, tart, crunchy and creamy. Plus the broccoli is in season right now so this makes a perfect winter broccoli coleslaw salad.

This recipe is also in alignment with the 80/10/10 diet if you keep your nuts down to a very small quantity, but there is no salt or vinegar or spices that 811’ers tend to steer clear from.

BTW, this keeps really well in a glass storage container if you are traveling, out working or running errands. There is no mixing or messing with putting things together, just a fork and voila!

If you have any variations of this recipe or if you try it, please let me know how you enjoyed it.

Bikini Body Challenge Update #10: 124.5 lb Weigh In

Posted By Lori on Dec 15, 2009

My Weekly Grocery Shopping Experience

Posted By Lori on Dec 14, 2009

If it wasn’t for the IEOPBC I doubt I would be consuming as much organic produce as I do. Even better I get it wholesale. I co-organize this group & I strongly feel that in order to stay on a healthy lifestyle you need to put yourself in situations where you are accountable. In my situation people count on me so I can’t exactly let them down. It’s a win win situation for me.

This produce is enough to feed myself, Alex & Mehgan who also eat the same foods I prepare.

Groceries
30 red potatoes
3-4 bunches of kale
3-4 heads of red leaf lettuce
3-4 heads of celery
3-4 fennel bulbs
3-4 bunches of carrots
3-4 bunches of golden beets
6+ zucchini
3 bags of mixed peppers
3 bags of spinach PLUS a half case which is 12 bunches
5 lbs of tomatoes ( forgot to video tape them)
12 golden delicious apples
12 persimmons
16 lbs of grapes
40-50 Fuji apples ( I know I said Gala in the video, but I meant to say Fuji)
20 bananas (normally I get about 50, but I had many left over from last week)
12 cloves of garlic ( this will last much longer than this week)
2 pineapples
3 pkgs of sunflower spouts

This total cost was approx: $100 Now tell me where you are going to beat that price?

This week’s menu

(some of the ingredients I still had in my fridge from last week)

Breakfast

Green Juice
Romaine (1 head), cucumber (1), spinach (1 head), ginger (thumb sized chunk), apple (2), cilantro ( 1 bunch), parsley (1 bunch), & celery (3-5 stalks). I plan on juicing the greens to the carrot tops and beet tops also.

This is taking up 80% of my daily dietary intake for this week. I am drinking at least 48 oz if not more daily. I just feel like I need more re-mineralization for healing emotionally as well as physically. Juice usually clears my mind and creates a sense of calm and focus. I can totally use more of that these days! If I make too much in one sitting my kids help me drink it. I try to consume it within 15 minutes of juicing.

Green Smoothie
Banana and greens ( this week I have romaine, red leaf, spinach, & kale) I may throw in pears, mango, or pineapple as well, but sometimes it’s just leafy greens with banana.

Snacks
Apples, persimmons, bananas, and grapes (my kids like almond butter w/ the apples & bananas) Guacamole or zucchini hummus w/ carrots

Lunches & Dinners
Steamed Red Potatoes & Broccoli (left over from last week)
Massaged greens w/ sprouts, grated beets and zucchini hummus
Warm Veggie Soup- carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, fennel, and garlic

Welcome Kevin Talley & Juicing

Posted By Lori on Dec 9, 2009

Here is a quick video of Kevin & I talking about how he has been feeling as a result of cleaning up his diet and experimenting with juicing. Raw food is a new concept to Kevin and I am amazed by his openness and willingness. Since Kevin is very interested in raising consciousness I shared with him some information about the energetic value of food. He was fascinated to learn how diet affects his vibration. I look forward to sharing more videos on his transition and journey.