If I Ate Like This Every Day…
If I ate like this every day, I’d be
- poor by the end of the week
- happy as a clam
- the “healthiest” me I could be(in my opinion, though this is completely relative)
Really, words cannot express my gratitude just for being alive today. To recap from my breakfast post, I kicked off the day with a full core and cardio, after convincing myself that a core wouldn’t be that bad if the promise of a raw vegan raspberry brownie was attached(I totally bribed myself with food here :-)). I followed that up with a bangin’ breakfast of greek yogurt and oatmeal with a couple of cage-free organic Eggland’s Best eggs. Have you heard that they now test higher in vitamins and minerals than supermarket eggs? Fascinating.
After breakfast, I was off to the city(which in my case means “Beantown”, or simply Boston) to meet with an old friend from high school. I suggested a cozy little restaurant I’ve been wanting to try.
Grezzo Restaurant
Grezzo is the only raw vegan restaurant around Boston that I know of and as I learn more and more about that cuisine, I’ve been dying to eat here. I arrived a bit early and got to look at the menu before my friend, Eury, arrived.
Grezzo Menu
Not like that extra 10 minutes helped me at all; I still had no clue what to order after reading all their good options. I wanted to ask the waitress about everything because the descriptions were all very brief and you know at a raw and vegan restaurant a “slider” is very different. I ended up just taking a leap of faith and choosing the burger(that’s a safe choice wherever you go, right?).
Seaweed And Wild Mushroom Bistro Burger With Guacamole
Sweet Potato Chips
The burger was made with seaweed and mushrooms, topped with guacamole, and served between cucumber “buns”. The burger had a great meaty texture, but it might have been a tad bit underseasoned. The guacamole was absolutely delicious and pure and I ate it by the spoonful. On the side came “sweet potato chips”; they were very thin slices of sweet potato dehydrated overnight. They were sooo good; they actually sort of reminded me of dry marshmallows, but in a delicious way. Maybe I need a dehydrator next Christmas?
Big House Salad
Eury got the big house salad. I had a lot of fun explaining my knowledge of raw food and explaining how the “cheese” was actually made of nut milk. You know you’ve been a blogger for too long when you are surprised that someone doesn’t know what a nut milk is. We had a great time catching up; I had yet to giver her her graduation present 8 months gone by and it was hilarious not remembering in the least what I wrote on the card.
We ended up walking around a bit afterwards down to South Station were we went our separate ways. On the way home my dad and I did weekly grocery shopping at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Note to self: Saturday afternoon in the city is not the time to go grocery shopping; I’m surprised we got out with our limbs! There was a cute baby behind us in one of the register lines who kept on saying “Hi”. When we finally got home, I was so happy to put away the groceries, brew up some decaf coffee, and break out this baby:
Raw Vegan Hemp Seed Brownie With Chocolate Frosting
I took a dessert home from Grezzo, namely their hemp seed brownie with chocolate frosting. Another raw brownie? Sure, why not 😉 The raw frosting was simply amazing. I’m guessing it was agave nectar, cocoa powder, and avocado from my limited knowledge of raw foods and how they work together. The brownie was OK I thought. It had a nice chocolate flavor without any fruitiness; it might have been a bit too hard and dry for my taste, but seeing as how I can’t get my recipe to be hold together better I was very impressed that there’s is so firm.
If the day had just ended there, I would have been very content. To my blessing, it continued. For the past two weeks, I’ve been hearing about the dishes Tomasso has been making with 1/2 of a local, 100% grass-fed cow they received. Do you get where this is going? We wanted to go Thursday night, but then ended up closing for a private party. Thankfully, they still had the beef for a special tonight(though by far a pricier cut).
18oz Local Grass-Fed Sirloin Steak
Rather than eat there and all order entrees, we decided to simply get the special take-out along with an appetizer-size pizza, and cook our own vegetables as sides; we figured just the one entree should be enough for the 3 of us( I mean, we aren’t that big eaters).
Local Grass-Fed Beef
Steamed Broccoli With Sea Salt
Holy. Freaking. Yum. This was absolutely everything I could have hoped for. The meat was so tender that parts of it just melted away in my mouth. I had 3 big ol’ slices of the meat. I have no clue how much that totaled up to and quite frankly I don’t care; when the beef is grass-fed like this was, the quality is through the roof, the fat is omega-3 rich, and in my line of thinking it’s all “healthy”. Portioning out and only eating 3oz would have been a shame, so I didn’t bother. As a simple side, I steamed up some broccoli; just like the beef was grass-fed, so was I 😀
And now, with today as a memory, I will not at all mind returning to eating oatmeal and beans for every meal this week(and with me returning to school soon, that’s not that big an exaggeration). I’m stuffed. And I can hardly fathom(though I will) eating something for dessert(cheap, like a banana processed with cocoa powder). Perhaps I could add to the menu some Honest Food Granola Bars if I won this giveaway or some Zevia if I won this one.
Food Makes Fun Fuel 
I really want to try a raw restaurant! My only experience is some random pre-packed meal from WF and it was not good.
Runeatrepeat
January 23, 2010
i’m not crazy about raw food and it doesn’t fill me up. but balance it out with some nice meat at night and i’m good. 🙂
Lynn at The Actors Diet
January 23, 2010
I leave my reader for 12 hours and you’re a freakin’ maniac over here…of the best sort!
Sweet Potato Chips = so perfect looking!
The raw brownie with a flower garnish? Nice. And the frosting prob was coconut oil, agave, cocoa powder, and avo. And possibly vanilla extract. It’s how i frost bday cakes. Serioulsy, just as good as duncan hines LOL
your Rasp brownies look faboosh!
And I am so thrilled youve been raw vegan all day. Re the comment you left me….AWESOME!
Your day and food looks amazing…wow. Far more stellar than mine in the exotic food dept! Keep on rockin out the goodness, Evan!!!!
🙂 timid? no. brainpower? yes indeed! re the comments.
Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)
January 23, 2010
Wow that restaurant looks great! That burger sure looks different from sliders you would get from TGI Friday’s…
And the brownie looks so good! I love how you always have great looking sweets on your page!
Michelle (Snacks and Field)
January 23, 2010
That restaurant looks amazing! Have you tried using walnuts in your raw brownies instead of flaxseed?
Ashlei
January 23, 2010
OK, seriously, I don’t know what I would do if I had a menu all for me. I get excited when a restaurant even has one single (usually sad) vegetarian option!
Heather (Where's the Beach)
January 23, 2010
that restaurant looks…interesting. haha i think i’d be lost in a raw vegan restaurant 😛
marathonmaiden
January 23, 2010
ya i was gonna say, i don’t think boston is really known for its raw vegan food lol. half of my family is from boston, and they are the least vegan people in teh world
Stef @ moretolifethanlettuce
January 23, 2010
nice choices at the restaurant! the burger looks interesting…love the sound of the guac though!
tryingtoheal
January 23, 2010
I love grass fed beef! That is pretty much all I eat now. It is really pricey, so I don’t eat it too often. It is a nice treat every once and awhile.
Matt
January 23, 2010
the fact that you ate at a raw, vegan restaurant for lunch and beef for dinner is amazingly hilarious. i love it 🙂
♥ lindsey
lindsey
January 24, 2010
oh dang what a GREAT day of eats!
love how that burger looks-most interesting burger ive ever seen!
kbwood
January 24, 2010
I actually had plans to go there last night, but had to cancel. It would’ve been funny if I saw you! I’m sad now 😦
Everything looks delicious. I’m really looking forward to dining there now!
MelissaNibbles
January 24, 2010
An impromptu blogger meet-up would have been hilarious. The restaurant wasn’t too crowded(or too big) when we went so I’m sure you won’t have a problem getting service whenever you work your way down there. Be sure to get a little something for dessert! No offense to the entree, but it was definitely the best part 🙂
Evan Thomas
January 24, 2010
Wow what amazing looking food! Especially those sweet potato chips 🙂
Heather
January 24, 2010
That place looks fabulous.. i love good, genuine, real food!
Abby
January 24, 2010
What a great lunch! I love seeing food from raw restaurants because it’s always something new. I went grocery shopping yesterday and it was tramautizing! Weekends are not good for us foodies!
ksgoodeats
January 24, 2010
I have heard of Grezzo, but every time I’m in Boston I end up forgetting to go there. Next time, I will definitely make it a point to go, it looks like a great place.
Jessie (Vegan-minded)
January 24, 2010
hey evan! thought i’d pop in and say HOLA rather than just continuing to lurk around your blog… =)
do you think we could figure out a way to “beam me” to that restaurant… it looks like a fun eating adventure!
susan
January 24, 2010
I live a mile from there and still haven’t been! Gotta go soon 🙂
eaternotarunner
January 24, 2010
Oh my goodness that seaweed mushroom burger looked amazing!!! I am gonna have to try and recreate that for sure!!!
Kelly
January 24, 2010
grezzo is hands down my favorite restaurant in boston. I’m so glad you got their hempseed brownie! to die for. Their brownie sundae (on the dinner menu) is also amazing! yes it may drain the bank account a bit, but so worth it!
There’s also Prana Raw in Newton which is a little less expensive and also delicious (they have the most amazing seaweed salad)
and Rawberts in Beverly MA, which has been there for quite some time.
and then Alissa opened a second Grezzo in NewburyPort (and rumor has it she’s working on her second book??)
hope you enjoyed your trip to good ol beantown!
elizabeth
February 1, 2010