Thursday, August 7, 2008

Grass Root

Sometimes you get lucky. On a recent trip to Tampa Florida I googled “vegan restaurant.” Only one location came up and it was only about 15 minutes away, so I jumped in my rented Pontiac Solstice convertible (incredibly wild car) and headed to the restaurant Grass Root.


At first I drove right past, this is not the neighborhood you would expect to find a great eatery, but I looped around and saw a line of cars parked out front. That many cars in this little restaurant, it must have something going on. I went in and was nicely surprised. The place is simple and chic and draws the kind of crowd you would expect. A wonderful mix of affluent fifty-something yuppies to the group of twenty-something back packers. Very cool crowd.

The menu was amazing. This wasn’t just a vegan restaurant, but also serves organic living raw food. For clarification, vegan means no meat or dairy products. Raw food means uncooked vegan meals consisting of vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. For most this sounds extreme, but until you have had a fabulously prepared raw food meal - you have not eaten. Grass Roots is a must if you are in the Tampa area.

What I had: The Incredible Hulk (juice bar), Wheat grass shot, Raw Sushi (no fish), and Marrakesh. My complete meal was raw and living foods. It rocked!

Since being introduced to the raw food lifestyle, I try to incorporate living raw foods as much as I can. It is often easy to prepare and there is no cook time or clean up of pots and pans. I have several raw food cook books to learn the craft. For example, last night I cut up cucumber, parsnip, yellow squash, green peppers, a peach, and put them in the food processor with olive oil and a little bit of bread crumbs (bread is not raw food, but I like the texture). I then stuffed the mix into a bell red pepper and served it. 10 minutes and I have a great meal. Fabulous! Even my 2 year old enjoyed it.

If your think veggies are boring, you need to learn a new way to prepare them. Eat at a place like Grass Root and you will have a new love for veggies.

Live raw foods will extend your life and reduce most disease risks!

3 comments:

Chef Sabrina said...

thank you for the "ups" about Grass Root! We do appreciate your feedback and support for sure. We strive to keep Grass Root feeling like the kind of place we wish we could dine in and get healthy food when we eat out.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your review! I ate at Grass Root on Friday and enjoyed it! I had The Original Sabrina's Favorite Sandwich. It was the second vegan/vegetarian restaurant I had been to, and I love going to places where I can eat just about anything off the menu. :)

Raederle Phoenix said...

Hi Croix. I've first found you from a photo by Rawtographer on facebook, which led to checking out your website, reading your story, and wondering if indeed you are a raw vegan or not which led me to this page. Thanks for the tip on the raw dive in Tampa, I would absolutely check that out on my next trip to Florida. I love the message you're supporting and presenting. People need faith and real heroes (and less media-garbled-consummeristic-nonsense). Much love and light to you my friend! And hugs as well.