While I've been vegan for almost two years now I still consider myself quite a novice in the raw food department. Part of this has to do with my cashew allergy (sad I know) that has prevented me from wanting to try some of the offerings of the raw foodies, and the other part has been a lack of raw restaurants available in my area. As luck would have it my travel companion Marty was more than willing (excited even!) to try raw food and suggested we eat at t.h.r.i.v.e..
The restaurant is tucked back behind a garden shop on a non-desrcript looking street in South Beach. When we walked into the intimate little space we were immediately greeted by the 3 ladies who acted as cooks, juicers and servers all at once.
There was so much on the menu that I wanted to try but I also wanted to push myself just a little. So I resisted the raw burger (next time you will be mine, burger!). I resisted the urge to fall back on my love of carbs and go for the sandwiches. I considered the Pesto Alfredo, Spaghetti and Nut Balls, and the Avocado Soup.
In the end we took the advice of our lovely hostesses and tried two of the daily specials.
Thai Peanut Kelp Noodles with a t.h.r.i.v.e salad.
Spinach and Cheese Lasagna with a t.h.r.i.v.e salad.
As you can see it went over quite well! I really loved the tangy noodles and while I only got a bite of the lasagna I was quite impressed with it and a little mystified by its rawness. I'll admit that I was too busy shoveling this (daintily and like a lady of course) into my mouth to try to decipher or pick apart all the ingredients and layers. Alas, raw food is still a mystery to me. A delicious mystery.
We decided to force in some dessert (I ate entirely too much on this trip) and went for the raw berry crumble. I have to say..I am a big big fan of crumble...and this was not to my liking. It was not at all crunchy and perhaps thats just not possible with raw crumble but I felt like some raw crushed nuts on top would have added some bite to it perhaps.
I should have gone for these tasty looking truffles perhaps.
On my next visit to South Beach I would like to swing by for their brunch because I'm really curious about RAW tofu scrambled with sweet potato hash browns, sprouted flax banana pancakes, breakfast tacos and a garbanzo scramble. Has anyone tried them?
Also, t.h.r.i.v.e. offers juice and yoga detoxes! Check out their website if you plan to be in town or need a vacay and some good food to reboot.
Location:
1239 Alton Rd. Miami Beach FL 33139
Hours:
Mon - Thurs 12-7pm
Friday - 12-9pm
Saturday - 11-9pm
Sunday Brunch - 11-4pm
Thanks to the ladies at T.h.r.i.v.e for making our meal so relaxing and delicious!
