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Live Organic Food Bar

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The Live Organic Food Bar in Toronto is an awesome place with many great raw vegan options and also cooked vegan food.

What we had at Live Organic Food Bar

Enchiladas

chipotle corn wrap, sunflower refried beans, tomato salsa, chocolate almond mole, arugula, pickled red onion, jalapeños cilantro, cashew sour cream

I had the enchiladas ($16) first. It was ok, not much flavor, pudding like texture. So good there were fresh tomatoes and arugula, they gave this dish at least some texture. The taste was not bad though.

mezze plate

Mezze pLate

sunflower falafels, sunflower hummus, mixed olives, cauliflower/kale tabouli, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, pickled red onion, flatbreads, tahini sauce, za’ atar oil

Mezze pLate ($16) was my favorite dish. I love falafel, tabbuoleh, hummus, olives and greens. The sun-dried olives were wonderful. Beyond wonderful. The regular olives were way too salty for me after not eating salt for month, I would ask for more sun-dried instead the next time. They are the best.

life food toronto raw food toronto

Pizza

almond crust, red pepper marinara, arugula, tomato, black olives, artichokes, cashew feta, almond parmesan

This Pizza ($16) was my hubbies’ favorite dish. The crust was wonderful, the sauce and the topping too, especially the nut cheese. First I thought the big fresh tomato slices on the pizza were a little to salady on the pizza, but actually it balanced the dish perfectly. The artichokes were so great on it.

life food toronto Falafel and Taco Wrap

Falafel and Taco Wrap

red wrap, sunflower falafels, smoked carrot hummus, cauliflower/kale tabouli, cucumber, tomato, pickled red onion, micro greens, tahini sauce, za’atar oil & flax corn wrap, sunflower refried beans, guacamole, tomato salsa, walnut taco meat, micro greens, cilantro, green onion

We took the 2 wraps ($15) to go to eat on the plane later that day. The falafel wrap was basically the mezzo plate wraped into a red wrap. The taco wrap was hearty and smokey, really delicious. The wrapping veggie paper itself wasn’t so great after caring it around for 3 hours, the next time I’ll make sure to eat the wraps right away.

Our experience at Live Organic Food Bar

We liked it here a lot. I would totally bring family and friends there.

What to order

They have a sample platter with 4 awesome raw vegan dishes to try. Perfect for first timers. The atmosphere is relaxed and alternative. They also manufacture crackers, wraps, superfoods, I saw some of them at Whole foods earlier that day.

Desserts

They also have a big selection of desserts, some of them contained honey. So be careful if you are vegan.

Quality of the food at Live Organic Food Bar

The food is supposed to be all organic and vegan, so we were told. On the way to the bathroom I passed by the kitchen and saw some boxes of non-organic avocados and greens. I asked about the corn, they guarantied me it was non-GMO. The thing about eating out is, you have to trust the restaurant, even knowing they might not try as hard as yourselves to serve you the best food possible for the money spent.

Menu

Raw and cooked mixed. A decent variety of raw dishes for a mixed restaurant.
We ate here April 2015.

Raw food recipe books you need in your life

Rating Live Organic Food Bar

Overall

Quality

Taste

Creativity

Variety

Vegan friendly

Communication

Atmosphere

Value

Waiting time

Rawlicious at Home

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| by | Raw Food Recipes |
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More Than 100 Raw, Vegan and Gluten-free Recipes to Make You Feel Great by Angus Crawford and Chelsea Clark

I got this book Rawlicious at Home after eating at the Rawlicoius restaurant in Toronto, or more like grabbing takeout there.

Recipes

The books holds many amazing basic recipes. Smoothie, starters, pizzas, wraps, soups, desserts.

Favorite must try recipes from Rawlicious at Home

  • Caramelized Onion, Cheese and Cherry Tomato Flatbreads
  • Taco Salad
  • Rawitch
  • Taco Wrap
  • Mexican Pizza
  • Pecan Pie

What to expect from Rawlicious at Home

You will learn to make lots of dishes served at the restaurant. The food is basic simple gourmet raw food. You will need a high speed blender and a dehydrator.

Not so good

  • oil used as an ingredient in over 50 recipes
  • photos are pretty bad

rawlicious at home recipe book

My rating of Rawlicious at Home

Contents Rawlicious at Home

A Practical Guide to Eating Raw and Eating Well
Equipment to Get You Started
Stocking Your Raw-Food Pantry and Fridge
The Five-Day Challenge

Drinks and Smoothies

Lean Green Juice
Veggie Juice
Vitamin See
Ginger Love Juice
Almond Milk
Chocolate Protein Shake
Choco-Minty Smoothie
Chocolate Nut Milk
Strawberry Nut Milk
Strawberry Milkshake
Tropical Green
Creamsicle Smoothie
Coconut Cooler
Lea’s Lemonade
Hot Chocolate

Breakfasts

Overnight Oatmeal
Granola
Hemp Seed Yogurt
Granola and Hemp Seed Yogurt Parfait
Sweet Crêpes

Appetizers and Snacks

Nacho Platter
Caramelized Onion, Cheese and Cherry Tomato Flatbreads
Nori Rolls
Spring Rolls
Pad Thai Sauce
Cranberry Sauce
Mango Chutney
Salsa
Guacamole
Avocado Scoop
Nacho Chips
Kale Chips
Sweet Potato Chips
Spiced Almonds

Soups

Velvety Vegetable Soup
Rosemary Red Pepper Soup
Confetti Soup
Creamy Tomato Soup
Creamy Celery Soup
Corn Chowder
Miso Noodle Soup

Salads

Rawlicious House Salad
Strawberry Pecan Salad
All Green Goodness Salad
Caesar Salad
Arugula Salad
Olive, Currant, Nut and Seed Salad
Taco Salad
Summertime Broccoli Salad

Sandwiches

Rawitch
Don’t Be Chicken Salad Sandwich
Caesar Wrap
Taco Wrap
Stuffing Wrap

Entrées

Thai Burgers
Savory Crêpes
Soft Corn Tacos
Teriyaki Stir-fry with Parsnip Rice
Pad Thai
Chili
Bolognese
Lasagna
Turnip Ravioli
Beet Ravioli
Zuchetti Rosé
Zuchetti Pesto
Sprouted Buckwheat Pizza
Mexican Pizza
Tropical Pizza
Desserts and Treats
Vanilla Hemp Bars
Superfood Cookies
Coconut Cinnamon Snowballs
Carrot Cake Bites
Blonde Macaroons
Chocolate Macaroons

Chocolate

Chocolate Crème Cookies
Brownies with Vanilla Icing
Chocolate Banana Cheesecake
Chocolate Sauce
Coffee Cheesecake
Lemon Cheesecake
Fruit Sauce
Key Lime Tarts
Chocolate Raspberry Tart
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Maple Walnut Ice Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Vanilla Cardamom Ice Cream

Staples

Nut Loaf Patties
Refried “Beans”
Rawitch Spice Mix
Almond Cheese
Cashew Cheese
Pine Nut Parmesan
Sour Cream
Pizza Crust
Burger Buns
Tortillas
Herb and Onion Flatbread
Onion Bread

Rating raw vegan food

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Eating out and writing about food, I came up with a rating system, that helps me to evaluate the restaurant more objectively considering all the important dimensions and not falling for the halo effect, the overall impression of the experience or the personality of the owner or server.

Overall rating

the average of the sub-category rating.

Hygiene

how hygienic is the restaurant and food handling

  • clean tables
  • clean kitchen (if visible)
  • clean menu
  • clean cutlery
  • hair in food
  • server touches the food while serving
  • dirty hands
  • sneezing, coughing in the kitchen or while serving
  • cutlery directly on the table

Quality

  • Organic
  • Freshness
  • clean food

    • Taste

  • not bitter or over-salted
  • good combination of ingredients
  • good texture

    • Creativity

  • I wouldn’t be able to do it easily in 15 minutes
  • I ate the same recipe somewhere else
  • plating

    • Variety

  • variety of the main dishes
  • variety of the deserts
  • variety of the salads
  • variety of the drinks

    • Vegan friendly

  • no honey
  • no dairy

    • Special requests

  • Substitution
  • Oil-Free
  • Salt-Free

    • Communication

  • Friendly stuff
  • Transparency

    • Venue,ambiance, atmosphere

  • temperature
  • space
  • decoration
  • location

    • Really Raw

  • nuts not raw
  • use other cooked ingredients
  • use blanched frozen ingredients

    • Waiting time

  • before order
  • before first meal
  • inbetween meals

    • Value for the money

  • price, considering the complexity the dish
  • price, considering the location, costs of labor in the country
  • price, considering the used produce

    • Crucina

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    Crucina is the raw vegan restaurant in Madrid that has been on our Spain travel list for a while. Today we had a long lunch here. I only had my iPhone on me, the pics don’t do the food justice.raw food crucina



    We more than recommend checking out the restaurant, not only if you are a vegan or a raw foody! It’s one of the few raw food restaurants in Spain. With its hearty, Greek twist, the dishes are flavourful and filling. The atmosphere is relaxed and the service simply awesome.

    Conveniently located in the city center, Crucina is the only raw vegan restaurant in Madrid. We were super excited to visit and to try all the dishes we checked out on instagram and google beforehand. Otherwise, we did not expect much, just wanted to dive into gourmet raw food we have been successfully avoiding for months, except for an occasional raw cashew ice cream.

    My overall rating of the restaurant compared to a “normal” restaurant in its price range is definitely 5 stars.The quality of the raw food, the mostly organic ingredients and the attention to the detail while creating these raw food dishes compared to the food at a regular restaurant food are winning all the way here. I will provide a more in depth rating, comparing this restaurant to other raw food restaurants down below.

    crucina
    Let’s see what we had! We ordered the tasting menu, that was different, than on the menu that day, the burger and the pizza.

    Lemon milk dessert crucina madrid

    Lemon milk

    macadamia-, brazil-, and almond nutmilk; avocado, xylitol, lemon juice and zest, berries

    The lemon milk (part of the menu 35 €) was amazing. It tasted like a sweetened condensed milk. The flavor and the texture were amazing, with a hint of lemon. I didn’t feel like eating the berries though, they seemed not washed. I know, many restaurants don’t wash the berries for the looks, I prefer them washed.

    Moussaka crucina raw food restaurant madrid

    Moussaka

    3 kinds tomatoes, avocado, sunflower seeds and sage base, macadamia cream with coconut sugar crust

    This moussaka (part of the menu 35 €) was great. Served on a warm plate it had this “out-of-the-oven” feel to it. The tomato layer was flavorful, sweet and savoury. The base was meaty, the cheese layer unbelievably cheesy, even texture-wise.

    meat balls crucina raw food madrid

    meat balls crucina raw food restaurant madrid

    meat balls

    sunflower seeds, almond, curry, coconut sugar, with broccolini

    The meatballs (part of the menu 35 €) were very tasty. Nice soft juicy meaty texture.

    burger

    zucchini, sunflower seeds, curry. raw bread, raw mayo, greens and veggies

    The burger (14 €) was delicious, the taste and texture was similar to the meatballs. The dish is super filling, a perfect main dish. We got an oil free version at our request, which was awesome.

    raw vegan restaurant pizza madrid crucina

    raw vegan restaurant pizza madrid crucina

    Pizza

    seed and veggie crust with sprouted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, and cashews; nutmeat, mayo sauce, tomatoes, arugula

    The pizza ( 11.25 €) was very tasty and filling. The soft crust, the sauce and the meat combined were on point, with a fresh touch of tomato and arugula. The meat tasted meaty, a perfect balance of juicy softness and bite. We got a customised pizza without oil. So happy about the substitution.

    Raw bread

    chickpea, flax, bell pepper, tomato, pimento

    The bread (free) was soft, spicy and amazing. We wanted to eat it with a dish, but while waiting, we devoured it, even before taking a picture, here you see the small left-over piece. Tasted like a delicious pizza.

    The menu at Crucina

    The menu was surprisingly small for a completely raw restaurant, many items were not available and the menu itself and the tables were dirty. I, with mine OCD tendencies, spoke out the option of leaving to Stefan, but I’m glad we stayed.

    Hygiene

    I’m a huge hygiene fan when it comes to food, and here, couple of things were disconcerting. Dirty tables, piles of dishes even the restaurant just opened after a day off, the server coughing in the kitchen and while serving, touching the food while serving, placing cutlery directly on the table, food scrapes on servers hands to name the once I observed without seeing the kitchen. Nothing really a big deal, but each of those make me less exited about going back.

    Special requests

    The restaurant made many alteration to our dishes as soon as we asked for it. We only asked for no extra oil, but the kitchen redid many dishes so there were no oils in dressing, just WOW! And everything tasted amazing, sometimes the dishes really on the oil for the taste, not here, everything tasted as if it was created oil free.

    Waiting time

    The waiting time was very long, I’m not sure if it was a misunderstanding, I specifically asked for serving everything at once, but the dishes came long time apart, we spend over two hours there, for a lunch way too long for my German taste. Maybe the restaurant wanted us to enjoy the food or the kitchen was simply slow, hard to say.
    As I have timestamps on my iPhone pictures, here is the exact time.
    Arriving 1:09
    Menu 1:11
    1st dish 1:49
    2nd dish 2:14
    free bread 2:25
    3rd dish 2:35
    4th dish 2:59
    5th dish 3:23

    The raw food takes a long time to prep, it surely does, but many components are pre-made. Then there were the alterations we requested. On the other hand, there were not so many other guests.
    Other than us, there were 2 more parties served, 4 businessmen on lunch break and a family of 4-6, don’t remember exactly. They all stayed almost as long for lunch as we.

    Quality

    The food is mostly organic, except for the nuts, we eat 100% organic at home and for us, a place that serves conventional ingredients even partially, will never become a go to spot on the regular basis. Considering all the dishes were nut based, we would prefer the nuts to be organic. And sure, we would be willing pay more for all organic ingredients.

    Taste

    The food tasted great, the flavors were rich and the texture great.

    Creativity

    The dishes were rather simple, there was nothing I haven’t had before in a similar form at couple of other raw food restaurants. Some parts of the dishes were surpassingly creative though, like the taste and texture of the dessert and the cheese layer on the moussaka. The plating was not amazing for most dishes, the veggies were not cut nicely and the broccolini had a dried out stem I would cut off first thing making a salad for myself.

    Portion sizes

    The portion sizes are on point. We shares 5 dishes plus bread, and it was almost too much even we were very hungry. A starter and a main dish are super sufficient for one person. Add a salad or a dessert, and you will be more than full.

    My rating of Crucina in Madrid

    Scale 1 (lowest possible rating) – 5 (highest possible rating). More about how I rate the restaurants here.

    Overall

    Hygiene

    Quality

    Taste

    Creativity

    Variety

    Vegan friendly

    Special requests

    Communication

    Atmosphere

    Rawness

    Value

    Waiting time

    Menu

    The english menu Crucina Madrid.