I am back!!!! Yes…. in my bikini! Here is another update and links to my journey along the way if you are new to my blog. I hope you enjoy and this inspires you to take immaculate care of your body!
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Dhrumil, myself, Anita, and Ben all enjoyed our experience at M Cafe in Culver City, CA.
Restaurant: M Cafe
Type of Cuisine: Macrobiotic w/ vegan options
Location: 9343 Culver Blvd. Culver City, CA (map)
Contact: (310) 838-4300
Hours: Sun- Thur: 9am – 9pm, Fri & Sat: 9am- 10pm
Parking
There is parking available behind the building as well as metered parking on the street. I parked across the street with a strip of metered parking which was not required to pay parking after 6pm.
Ambiance
This was a bright, open, clean cafe where you walk up to the counter and place your order. Some of the dishes are already prepared and displayed in the front. You can choose to eat indoors or outdoors. We sat at the big picnic style table indoors since it was drizzly and cold outside.
Menu
There is not really a raw selection minus the salads which need to be special ordered to make totally raw. In the winter months I will eat more cooked food and if I am going to eat it this place was the right place to enjoy it. This menu is not vegan since fish is served, but there are several vegan dishes.
Service/Staffing
The staff behind the counter was very friendly. They even took our photo pictured above. The server joked about posing for the prom which we did, but there was no way I was going to post it! We stayed beyond the cafe hours, and the staff was really cool about it.
Our Order
Chai Mate Latte (w/ rice milk)
This was an interesting beverage, especially since I love chai, but it tasted far too dilluted for my tastes. I would have preferred a stronger chai flavor, but I love the mate latte concept. If I have it again I will definitely ask for more chai.
Scarlet Quinoa
The quinoa is red because of beet juice. It came out family style and we all took turns scooping a spoonful of the quinoa and then dipping it into the butternut squash soup. I tend to stay away from grains for the most part, but on occassion I will have them. This was a great way to have quinoa. I liked the veggies in it as well.
Spiced Butternut Bisque
I am really glad we had the soup considering butternut is my all time favorite soup. It was delicious, creamy and warm. It was served with pumpkin seeds on the top which gave a nice crunch, and as I mentioned before we all liked mixing this with the quinoa.
M Chopped Salad
This was suggested by the staff. It was made with organic hearts of romaine & mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas herb-baked tofu, scallions, ume-pickled radishes, carrots, beets, tamari-roasted almonds, crumbled tempeh “bacon” , tofu-peppercorn ranch. I made some modifications to my salad. I changed the dressing to an avocado lemon viniagrette and passed on the tofu to make it a bit more appropriate for my needs since I prefer no soy.
Portions
The salad was huge and very filling. I could have easily shared it with someone. The large quinoa was enough for 4 people to share. The soup was an average sized portion.
Price
Um, it is bad I really didn’t pay much attention to this detail? BTW, thanks again Dhru for your generosity.
Overall
This is a place I would go to on a cold day or if I was with non raw friends. There are several vegan dishes so it helps keep things healthy without weirding out the raw-phobic people.
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.
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.
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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.
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