Raw Bliss in Dallas

I am so lucky and spoiled! When I arrived at my brother's in Dallas today I was greeted in the kitchen by seven bags of variously flavored kale chips bought in anticipation of my arrival by my brother's partner, Jamie. Next to these was a book, Nature's First Law: The Raw-food Diet, by Stephen Arlin, Fouad Dini, and David Wolfe. As if this wasn't enough, there is a cookie jar full of Lärabars, a fresh bag of grapes in the fridge, and a large glass jar full of raw nuts. I was simply overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness that went into their preparation for my visit. I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to do better about being prepared for eating "raw on the run", and while I did try to prepare more for this, he made it completely unnecessary, not to mention infinitely more tasty than what I had anticipated based on what I brought with me. So I snacked on much of this after I arrived, and for dinner we went out to Souper Salad and I was able to get two big delicious salads that were very satisfying.

Even all of that is just a preamble to the amazing dinner we just ate at Be Raw Food and Juice. I have been so incredibly excited to check out a raw food restaurant and am super happy to have gotten to with these two great guys in Dallas. As it was a special occasion, what with being together and trying a new raw restaurant for the first time, we splurged and got a little bit of everything. I am so full. Nate got the California Roll and a Hemp Horchata. Jamie got the Coconut Curry Soup, Rawsagna, and Pad Thai. I got the Vietnamese Pho Soup, Coconut Kale Enchiladas, the pizza sampler (included 2 slices each of the Margherita, California, and Greek pizza), and the Minty Hemp Elixir. We all shared each thing we got and ended up being able to try quite a bit from their menu. There wasn't a single thing that any of us disliked and there were several things that we went on and on about. I loved the elixirs. My Minty Hemp Elixir was so fresh and minty, and Nate's horchata was very smooth and sweet with just the right amount of cinnamon.

Front: California Roll. Back: Margherita Pizza. (Failed to get any pictures of untouched platters. Sorry)

The restaurant was small and the atmosphere was very cozy. I could probably move into the bathroom, it was so cozy and smelled so good; not to mention its close proximity to the kitchen. Our server was sweet and soft-spoken, and I'd say the service was quite good. Whether that was merely because there were so few customers there, I do not know.

California Roll

As we were wrapping up with our food, Jamie ordered the cookies & cream cheesecake and a brownie with strawberry sauce. We took these home to give our food a bit of time to digest, and promptly devoured them upon arrival. These too were absolutely delicious, particularly the cheesecake.

Left: Cookies & Cream Cheesecake. Right: Brownie.

While still in Austin, I had every intention of exercising in Dallas. The odds were against me, but I busted out a mile run in the rain, wearing old, thin street shoes, just to keep my commitment to myself. Well, and to my friend too. I had been telling her how soft I've gotten in Texas with the warmer weather. I used to bundle up in Utah in the snow and go running. I haven't done that here in nearly two years (if memory serves) because 40 degrees is too cold (as opposed to 20 or 30 in Utah?). So it felt really good to pull out the old winter running clothes, layer up, and run. I had forgotten how invigorating a cold, drizzly run could be. It was quite nice. I may have gone longer, but I've heard bad things about going long distances with an extreme and sudden change in shoe type.

So I guess that's about it for now. As I've heard some raw foodies say recently, I am just so "blissed out". ;)

Much love
Devan