Roadtrip to LA: Better Life Cuisine and Cafe Gratitude

Diane recently acquired a cute little hybrid car - a Honda Insight. It runs on both gas and electric and is incredibly fuel efficient (the previous owner managed to get a lifetime average of 86 miles/gallon!!!) Unfortunately she learned quickly that town driving is not the best way to keep the battery recharged. Therefore every so often Diane likes to take her new sweetie on the highway for a ride. You know, make her happy! ;-) And so a couple of weeks ago we took a little road trip to L.A.

As soon as we got the chance we left the Interstate in order to hop on the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a clear sunny day and the ocean was stunningly beautiful.

Our route took us right by the residences of many a Hollywood celebrity as we passed Malibu. Not surprisingly all you could see from the road were fancy gates and tall trees as they value their privacy. (I certainly can't blame them!) It was strange, though, to think that most of the famous movie stars have, at one point or another, driven down this very same road.

Feasting at Better Life Cuisine
Our first stop was Better Life Cuisine in Santa Monica - an awesome raw cafe that Don and I visited last spring. The food is phenomenal, the portions generous and the prices super reasonable. In other words, a raw enthusiast's heaven!

I ordered the same thing as before: the Curry Wrap. I know, I know, what a bore but it was so darn yummy! It consists of copious amounts of mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower, green tomato, 'grilled' onions, cucumbers, curry sauce, 3 croquettes and house dressing expertly tucked into a soft veggie tortilla.

The Wrap was still huge as ever! I thought that the flavor of the wrapper itself was a tad too strong, overriding the subtlety of the filling. No doubt something about that particular batch of tortillas. It was accompanied by a side of Kale Salad that was super tasty.

As it happens Diane went with the Lasagna (marinara sauce, zucchini, mushroom, 'grilled' onion, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese), which is what Don had ordered back then. So much for novelty I guess! She absolutely loved it, especially the marinara sauce which was flavorful and light. It came with a small serving of Tomato Basil Soup that was really very good, albeit cold. (We're so used to enjoying warm raw soups!)

Isn't the presentation sensational?

I was so full I only managed to eat half of my Wrap, but that's not to say we couldn't try their desserts! We left with a piece of Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Pie - both to live for! - and a Cinnamon Roll. Yum yum yum! (Sorry no pic as they had lost their firmness by the time we got home. boo hoo. Still tasted divine!)

A Walk on the Pier
Satiated, we headed to the famous Santa Monica Pier for a walk. I was vaguely aware that I might encounter a familiar face, something common here on star turf and all. Wouldn't you know it, as we were driving down Broadway on the sidewalk I caught sight of Carrie-Anne Moss who played Trinity in The Matrix. Wow! What are the odds that, of all people, I should see the lead actress from my favorite movie!?!

The pier was buzzing with activity; street performers, tourists, kids happily boasting ginormous balls of cotton-candy (yikes!), and locals enjoying a stroll with friends.

It was windy and cold - even for a Kanuck like me - so we stayed on the pier and didn't venture onto the beach.

The views from both sides of the pier.

 

 

The famous Ferris wheel at the amusement park.

Feasting at Cafe Gratitude

Just before we left that morning I was struck with a rather bold idea: since we were going to drive that far, why not continue a little further to Cafe Gratitude's new LA location for dessert? After all, according to Google Map it was only an extra 12 miles... Didn't sound too bad!

In reality it meant getting deeper into the mouth of the beast - the most populated city in the US. In spite of our intention to avoid the highway we ended up on it for a short stretch. It was of course packed and traffic was at a crawl. Sooooo stressful! Both Diane and I got headaches from the tension.

Thankfully, in spite of that, the GPS took us uneventfully to our destination through the beautiful residential streets of Beverly Hills. This latest addition to Cafe Gratitude's chain was opened earlier this year. Neither of us were overly impressed by the place. For one thing the restaurant is very spacious and in my opinion completely devoid of atmosphere. It felt slick and commercially oriented, lacking the warmth and heart that their San Francisco locations are renowned for. Perhaps because of all the hard edges, the combination of the customers' voices and the music was also so loud that we couldn't comfortably carry on a conversation.

The menu is designed to appeal to a wider clientele and range of taste buds by offering both cooked and raw vegan items. Not a bad idea as I know that the appeal of raw foods can reduce dramatically during the cold months. Although we came with the intention of just having dessert - their specialty in my opinion - we ended up ordering a couple of savory things.

While browsing through their take out menu a couple of years ago I noticed that they offered a raw rendition of bagels. I was anxious to finally try it. I AM PEACE, a live onion bagel with cashew crème cheese, nori “lox,” tomato, onion, capers and sprouts, is technically only served for breakfast but the server didn't make a fuss about it. I thought it was super yummy; a really nice combination of flavors.

 

The people next to us received their food while we were browsing through the menu and I couldn't help but gawk at their fare: tamale. Diane could hardly believe it when I told her that I'd never had a tamale before, so we decided to order that as well.

The server asked if we'd like Guacamole and Nacho Cheese like the lady at the next table and I said "Sure!" What she failed to mention, of course, was that these came at an additional cost. The dish was very good although we agreed that red tomatoes were lacking for both color and flavor. I honestly think that the dish would have been grossly incomplete with only the Zucchini-Mushroom Tamale, black beans and salsa verde it comes with. Why they put the guac and cheese as 'optional' borders on a cunning ploy if you ask me.

We were told that they were out of the daily Layered Cake and the choice of Cheesecake was Banana Chocolate. Since Diane is no big banana fan in the end we decided to go with a piece of Tiramisu. I've made it at least a couple of times at home but was curious to taste the original version. I thought it was excellent and that the texture was perfect, although as Diane pointed out, the coffee flavor wasn't very pronounced. But that was actually fine by me as I was concerned to get a caffeine buzz, sensitive as I am to that stuff.

We decided to head back via surface streets. It did take longer but then again I was glad to get a chance to get a feel for LA since I was there. Melrose Avenue with its funky and hip stores reminded me a little of Montreal.

We were exhausted by the time we got home, 2 1/2 hours later. The extra drive to Cafe Gratitude was indeed a bit much. On the other hand in light of last week's shocking news this was perhaps my last opportunity to ever partake of their food. As most of you may already know by now, the Engelharts announced (on facebook actually - What a way to learn that you've lost your job!) the closure of all of their Northern California restaurants due to several law suits from former employees. (You can read about this unexpected turn of event here and here.)

I still don't totally get their decision to shut down seven locations (eight including Gracias Madre) and put over 200 employees out of work rather than fight back since, as it has been suggested, "the lawsuit number is under $200,000." The whole thing just doesn't make any sense and leaves a bad taste in my mouth - no pun intended - especially since they intend to keep their LA outpost and open a new venue in Venice.

Anyhoo I'll let you decide for yourself...

P.S. I couldn't help but smile at the clever title of this article: "I Am Closing:" Cafe Gratitude Owners Will Shut Down Rather Than Fight Lawsuits.

Raw Restaurant Review: Rawthentic Eatery in Qualicum Beach, BC

Hello everyone!

I know I haven't written in a while... I've been 'busy' chilling now that we're back in sedentary mode. The weather has been rather miserable - cold and rainy - for weeks which has also been having its effects on me. What can I say, I'm a sun gal in case you haven't figured that one out yet! ;-)

Anyhoo, as promised, here's my review of our experience at Rawthentic Eatery in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. As you may recall we decided to stop there on our way to the Comox Valley. That was over a month ago, so the memories aren't so fresh anymore - ooops! My bad! - but I'll still do my best to recapture the highlights.

When we first walked into Rawthentic I was immediately impressed by the spaciousness of the place. I mean, Qualicum Beach is after all only a small and pretty isolated town. I'm always amazed to see how the interest in the raw lifestyle has been spreading e-ve-ry-where in the last few years. Woo hoo!

Besides the eating area the restaurant also has a small store where raw enthusiasts can purchase some handy kitchen essentials. The owner, Bill, happened to be around that day so we chatted for a while as we savored our meal. He's a super nice guy with a vision; his next project is to open a second location in Nanaimo, a larger community that sees a lot of visitors due to its having a couple of ferry terminals.

Their menu was a little less varied than what was advertised on their website but still offered 5 or 6 different entrees. I learned that they serve special dishes a few times a month in addition to their 'regular' menu - a nice touch. We opted for a piece of Super Melt Pizza which we were told was a popular item: a thin veggie flax seed crust topped with marinara sauce, marinated mushrooms, tomato slices, crumbled "meat balls", caramelized onions, and their house dressing, all topped off with a nut cheese. Whoa! This was sooooo flavorful! Don and I both loved it!

We also shared a wrap which was the second largest we'd ever seen! (We enjoyed a ginormous one at Better Life cuisine in Santa Monica a few months ago).  The wrapper itself was made from flax seeds, veggies and spices and was much thicker than other veggie wraps I've had in the past. It was packed with mixed greens, sprouts, red and yellow peppers, Cashew Hummus, Falafel Balls, grated carrot, their house dressing and a special sauce. It was very good and super filling. At Rawthentic they give you the option to order any of the dishes with or without a side salad, depending on how hungry you are. We decided to go with their Caesar Salad: romaine Lettuce, wheat free garlic bread croutons, and sprouts with a cashew based Caesar Dressing. It didn't look like much at first glance but was excellent!

Once we worked our way through both of these I was quite full, but being Donnie's birthday and all, we couldn't skip dessert, could we? I let the birthday boy pick (for a change! hehe)

We had a piece of Qualicum Beach Bar, Rawthentic's raw take on the famous Nanaimo Bars. The traditional version consists of a wafer crumb base, topped by a layer of light vanilla or custard flavored butter icing, which is then covered with a thick layer of melted chocolate. I only tried it once before when I first came to Vancouver Island and didn't care for it much - that stuff is real sweet. I found the QB Bar still a wee bit too sweet for my taste buds but otherwise very yummy.

Lastly, we enjoyed a bowl of Strawberry Pudding which is basically the filling of their Strawberry Cheesecake sans the nut crust. This was also very tasty and had a lovely swirl decoration.

We were hoping to stop by again at Rawthentic on the way back down the island but that unfortunately didn't work out. Ah well, I'm glad we at least got to check it out!

I often get the comment that I should open my own restaurant, but I know deep down that that is not my path. I enjoy being able to be totally creative in the kitchen without having to be concerned with costs and overheads and all those numbers that come into play with the business aspect of things. I am so grateful that others do have that calling, though! I think that Rawthentic Eatery might have been the 19th or 20th raw restaurant we've had the good fortune to visit in the last 3 years, and it's always such a treat to be able to sit back and partake in the food that someone else has prepared. Kuddos go out to Bill for his rawthentic endeavors!

Raw Restaurant Review: Cafe Bliss in Victoria, British Columbia

To our delight we learned that a raw restaurant, Cafe Bliss, opened its doors two years ago right in downtown Victoria. Yay! The cafe is small and charming and was totally packed; I could not believe how many people kept buzzing in and out of the place! So nice to see in these times when so many little niche businesses are struggling. The server could hardly catch his breath but seemed otherwise to be having a good time, literally hopping from one end of the counter to the other.

They had a specials board which I thought was a smart move, as we find that fixed menus can quickly get boring, especially when it features a small amount of items. At Cafe Bliss they keep changing their soups, pizzas and what they call the 'Hearty Bliss' entree in order to feature seasonal ingredients. In fact, I was told that starting the following week their entire menu would be seasonal. Sounds promising!

We started off with a daily special drink: a Lucuma Creamcicle. It was made with orange, lucuma, banana, vanilla and almond milk. I thought it sounded like an interesting mix but found it a little bland and under-sweetened to my taste.

Next came a Cream of Cauliflower with Mango, Cashews and Curry served with Bliss Crackers and 'Butter'. The soup was warm which was a pleasant surprise, the consistency was nice and creamy and the cauliflower flavor not overwhelming. We were particularly impressed with the butter which was super tasty. We were told is made with olive oil, garlic and sundried tomatoes. Hum, sounds simple enough; I should try recreating it at home sometime!

We then went with the Hearty Bliss Burrito: Pumpkin Seed Refried Beans, Fresh Salsa, Avocado, Sprouts and Cashew Sour Cream served in a cabbage leaf with a Yam Cracker.

The Burrito was to live for! It was super flavorful and the spicing was just right. Yum! Too bad it was so small, I would have gladly devoured two of those babies! The Yam Cracker was slightly sweet and very crunchy. Double yum!

We would have liked to try their Burger but sadly they were out, so we opted for the daily pizza made with Fresh Herb Pesto, Spinach, Green Olives, Red Pear and Red Onion topped with Smoked Black Pepper Sauce.

The pizza however was a disappointment. The buckwheat crust, contrary to what the menu said, was not thin at all but nearly 1/2" thick and hard to the point of being difficult to eat. It was actually so thick that, as can easily happen with buckwheat, it tasted slightly fermented. As a result it was challenging to appreciate the toppings' flavors which were already quite subtle. I must admit that it was a bit of a strange combo, though.

By that point we were quite full but they had such a beautiful and appealing sweet display that we just HAD to somehow make space in our tummies. We took one glance at that Chocolate Cake with Cashew Vanilla Cream and simply couldn't resist a piece!

It was everything a raw cake should be; light, not too sweet and the almond pulp gave the cake layer a perfect texture. It was decorated with cacao nibs which not only made it pleasing to the eye but also gave the dessert a nice crunch. 

We found the food at Cafe Bliss rather pricey considering the size of the servings, but all and all it was a very positive experience. We would gladly eat here again!

Raw Feasting at Better Life Cuisine

While we were staying near L.A. one afternoon Renata, our host, had to do a short trip to Santa Monica. The town is home to not one but four raw restaurants, including Matt Amsden's Euphoria Loves Rawvolution and Juliano's Planet RAW, so we decided to hop along.

One of the things I've learned over the past few years is that if I don't resonate energetically with a chef I usually don't really enjoy their food either. And so while both of these are mega famous, instead we opted to check out the less known Better Life Cuisine which had gotten rave reviews from Heathy on her blog. Amazingly the restaurant is located only a block away from Juliano's on Broadway Street, which we thought provides good balance as both places are dramatically different; the latter is more 'high end' whereas the former is small, cozy and unpretentious - in other words, more up our alley. ;-)

We were warmly greeted by the waiter, who explained to us that the man who started Better Life Cuisine has spent about 20 years working at different raw restaurants. The place is therefore the culmination of what he has learned works and doesn't work, and his expertise really does show. The menu was quite varied, the portions very generous and the prices more than reasonable; basically what most foodies usually look for when eating out.

Our super friendly waiter recommended the Curry Wrap and we followed his advice. I swear it was absolutely ginormous; the biggest wrap I've ever seen, raw or cooked! When I commented to him on the size he apologetically explained that they are actually smaller than usual; a new person is making the veggie wrappers and they don't turn out quite as big. Eeek!

They were generously filled with mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, sunflower, green tomato, grilled onions, cucumbers, curry sauce, 3 croquettes and house dressing. The combination of flavors was to LIVE for! The spicing was just right with a touch of acidity and sweetness. Mmmmmmm all around!

Don was particularly drawn to the Lasagna which we were told was a popular choice. I wasn't very enthusiastic at first as we had raw lasagna at a different resto not so long ago, but my doubts vanished as soon as I saw it appear on our table.

The presentation was very lovely; the plate decorated with basil chiffonade and their signature parmesan made from almonds, turmeric and salt. The lasagna itself was slightly different than any other I've enjoyed in the past. While there were the common layers of thinly sliced zucchini, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese and mushrooms, it also contained dehydrated 'grilled onion', and was topped with a thin slab of 'mozzarella cheese'. The texture of the latter was surprisingly like its dairy counterpart. I was certain that it was made with Irish moss but I was told that nope, only cashews. Wow! The assembled dish was delicious and well balanced.

We were offered a choice of salads as a side and went with the Egg Salad. It looked uncannily like the SAD version, thanks to their ingenious use of strips of young coconut meat to imitate cooked egg white. The flavor and texture however were not as impressive; a little too much celery I thought and not enough coconut. Like everything else at Better Life though, the portion was very generous.

While we waited for our food to arrive I checked out the packaged products that they had to offer. Their Kale Nachos looked absolutely awesome! They were oozing with cheeze and fooled you into thinking that they had been cooked.

We're not used to eating 'solid food' for lunch so our better judgment told us that we should skip dessert, but their sweet display looked sooooo tantalizing! *sigh* We succumbed and ordered a piece of Banana Coconut Cheesecake. It came beautifully presented with a chocolate sauce drizzle, was light and utterly yummy.

We also indulged with a piece of Pumpkin Pie, which we were told is a hugely popular item. Heathy had also raved about it in her post (I actually got this next photo from her blog as my shot didn't turn out nearly as good.) What a beauty, eh?

We chose to have it served with a Vanilla Sauce and oh my, was it ever scrumptious! My mom never made pumpkin pie, so it isn't really part of my culinary repertoire. However Don used to be a big fan and he confirmed that they managed to capture the essence of this traditional favorite extremely well. I would have gladly had a second piece if it wasn't that I was already about ready to burst from eating so much food!

My conclusions? If I lived nearby and felt like having someone else prepare food for me (always such a special treat!) Better Life Cuisine would totally be one of my favorite raw hang outs!

Raw Feasting at The Blue Nile

Hi guys!

We've been having a fabulous and powerful time here in sunny California and I'm looking forward to telling you all about it, but first I simply must share a delicious raw feast we enjoyed shortly before leaving Arizona.

When we were in Phoenix last February we serendipitously crossed paths with the organizers of a local raw meet up group. (You can read the cool story of how that happened here.) Naturally, when we got back to the area a few weeks ago I contacted them, and with one, Monica, it worked out to get together over a raw meal.

A brand new raw restaurant, Chef Sara's Raw Vegan Academy and Cafe, recently opened in Cave Creek, and we considered checking it out. But since it's a little out of the way and the Phoenix traffic being what it is, instead we opted to meet at The Blue Nile. While they primarily serve Ethiopian food, they also have  'Raw Sundays and Mondays'. We didn't know what to expect since raw isn't their specialty per se, however it turned out we were in for a pleasant surprise as Chef Abel creates a different raw menu each week.

There were a couple of raw soups which sparked our interest so we decided to try them both.

Super Duper Green Soup

Fresh organic spinach and avocado blended to a velvety texture with herbs.

The consistency and flavor were awesome, but unfortunately it was way too salty for our taste buds. It might have been just that particular batch, though, as the other dishes we tried were fine in that department.

Yellow Pepper & Hemp Soup

Fresh peppers blended with hemp seed, curry powder, turmeric, avocado and a dash lemon juice.

The concept of using hemp in a soup was interesting but we thought that the spice blend was too strong and lacked depth.

Sandy and Bruce had also joined us for the occasion and ordered South of the Border Cilantro Hummus that we all shared. The Hummus was made of zucchini pureed with raw sesame seed paste, lemon juice and a mix of fresh herbs and cilantro, with a hint of garlic. This was soooooo good! It was served with two kinds of crackers.

Monica, her friend George and Sandy all went for the California Onion Bread Sandwich made with tomato, avocado and sprouts and drizzled with stone ground mustard. It was generous and I was told very very yummy!

Don and I shared the Living Lasagna; layers of spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes with cashew ricotta and pistachio pesto and drizzled with white truffle infused oil. It was light and tasty, and the piece was ginormous!

We made sure to leave some room for dessert... We ordered the Cinnamon Rolls which were to live for! I was sort of expecting something along the lines of Cafe Gratitude's rendition, using almond pulp as a base and then dehydrated. However these were made of figs, pecans, walnuts, almonds, and dates sandwiched with layers of chocolate and cinnamon. They were drizzled with a raw chocolate syrup and dusted with cinnamon.

Mmmmmmm! A big hit with everyone at our table!

There was an Almond Chocolate Chip Cheezecake on the menu, which sounded mighty scrumptious but we were told that it hadn't set yet (boo hoo), so instead we ordered the Banana Ice Cream. This was basically frozen bananas passed through a champion juicer and topped with Chocolate Sauce. It's the kind of thing you can make at home in a flash at a fraction of the cost so we were a little disappointed.

We had a truly fabulous afternoon, sharing all this delicious food in such good company! 

If you're ever in the Tempe area on Sundays and Mondays, I recommend checking out The Blue Nile's raw menu and see what yumminess they'll be whipping up that week!

Raw Restaurant Review: ChocolaTree in Sedona

I guess that a warning would be in order here; this post might sound harsh to some. I'm generally now not of a bitchy disposition (thank goodness! hehe) but I do feel compelled to give you my honest thoughts about ChocolaTree in Sedona. Last time we were here we had looked at their menu outside the door and didn't feel moved to go in. Instead we went to a vegan restaurant called D Lish (which has since closed, unfortunately) that offered a few raw items and enjoyed a generous and delicious meal.

The first thing one notices when walking into ChocolaTree are shelves of raw products that are made on the spot, such as crackers, kale chips and nori snacks. I thought that the decor looked inviting and warm. I was particularly drawn to the ginormous display of chocolates - apparently their specialty - but more on that later.

We started off with a Carrot Ginger Soup made with carrots, avocado, coconut and ginger which was tasty. It came with Pumpkin Chia Crackers that I thought was an interesting addition. They were also quite good.

Next came our entrees...We shared a Falafel Platter: Sprouted Falafel Balls, tomato, cucumber (or in this case zucchini), red onion and mixed greens, with a side of Cream Garlic Dill Dip, Veggie Hummus and their famous Onion Bread.

While it sounded mighty good, I was rather disappointed with this dish (to put it mildly). For one thing, the advertised mixed greens didn't make it onto the plate and were replaced by a teeny bit of sprouts. The real deal breaker, however, was that a copious amount of olive oil had been poured over almost everything! The Falafel Balls were soaked with it and both the Dip and the Hummus had a huge ring of oil (and I'm talking about easily 1 tablespoon per bowl!) I did my best to soak the oil away with a paper towel; the kind of thing I expect to do at a junk food place, not a raw restaurant. When I later suggested that they omit the oil the waitress rather defensively replied that "it's the way falafels are traditionally served." Hum, interesting as it hasn't been my experience during my SAD days and it certainly wasn't how Omar of Rawtopia, who is Lebanese by the way, served his. *shrugs*

Eeew is all I'm gonna say!

The Dip and Hummus were ok, although I couldn't really get myself to enjoy them, trying to sneak spoonfuls around the pools of oil. The Balls were so intensely flavored that I only reluctantly ate mine. I was certainly glad that I was sharing the plate with Don and didn't have to eat the whole thing by myself!

We also ordered a Veggie Sandwich: Creamy Garlic Herb Pate, Tomato, Avo, Red Onion, Sprouts & Spring Greens on a Onion Flat Bread. The bread was tasty and pliable which made for a good sandwich. However I found again the flavors overwhelming and by the time I finished my half I was glad there wasn't any more.

A sign at the entrance proclaimed that they are famous for their raw desserts, so that sounded a little more promising. Their display was quite varied and rather impressive: Pecan Pie, Coconut Pie, German Chocolate Cake... We went for the Tiramisu which I thought was very good. It had some kind of almond flavored cake base, a light Irish moss cream and some kind of other topping. I just wished that the coffee flavor had been more pronounced since it's one of the distinctive features of traditional tiramisu. It came drizzled with a young coconut cream which looked uncannily like the SAD white cream I used to pipe on top of bake-your-own Pillsbury's Apple Turnovers. (Yah, yah, I know... Not a happy thought! lol)

On the waitress' suggestion we also had a (gigantic!) piece of Chocolate Ganache. The texture was very firm and I was surprised to later discover that it only contained coconut oil and no cacao butter. The flavor would have been good except that I could detect a rancid aftertaste (probably from the coconut oil) which sorta ruined the experience.

Believe it or not, neither Don nor I could finish our desserts (that's something almost unheard of! lol) and had them wrapped up to go. We also chose a couple of chocolates from their very large selection. Someone told me that they are the biggest importer of raw cacao in the US and I can believe it! I have to say though that their choccies are ridiculously expensive: $2 for the teeny small ones and $3 for the slightly larger cups. Ouch!

I would have liked to try a few but in keeping with our budget we just took a couple. After much debating we decided on one made with crystal manna and one with rose essential oil. We also took them along to enjoy later. I guess there's no easy way to say this but we weren't impressed with them AT ALL. While they looked beautiful and they've certainly got the tempering process down pat (as they held well at room temperature like traditional chocolates), the flavors were rather blah and unbalanced. I thought that they overdid the rose essence which was way too overpowering. Not what you'd expect from master chocolatiers.

While on the topic of their chocolates I guess I should also mention that when we visited Jozzie in Oregon she shared with us some L.O.V.E. cups that ChocolaTree sells via The Raw Food World. We hadn't been swooned by these either; in fact, the pecans on top of one of them were clearly rancid. (Someone local confirmed that rancid nuts has indeed been an issue with their food.)

And lastly, before we left we bought a package of their Curry Wraps as we're starting to run seriously low on cracker supplies. While these were pliable they tasted as though someone had dropped the bottle of curry powder into the mixture; a very strong yet unrefined flavor. Of course that could have been just that particular batch I suppose...

In hindsight I see that our intuition had been right not to eat at ChocolaTree the first time. With all the restaurants that have had to close down in this time of economic struggle, it is a mystery to me that a place like that can stay in business. I'm also surprised that there is a demand for their products and chocolates locally and beyond. Granted that we've sampled a very small amount of the food they prepare, but virtually none of the dozen items or so we tried wowed us. Or perhaps it's just that our taste buds are very much misaligned? In any case, we're sorry we have to say that we certainly won't be eating there again!