April 11, 2012

Cafe SuperNatural and Eatery 1025 serve vegan, healthy choices

By Heather L. King

Special to The Tribune

As a child, my mother frequently told me: “Eat your vegetables.” This common parenting phrase still makes sense for everyone — not just kids — as vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet and provide multiple nutrients with fewer calories.

Two new restaurants — Cafe SuperNatural in Salt Lake City and Eatery 1025 in Bountiful — have situated themselves adjacent to yoga studios and are preparing healthy vegetable dishes in new and creative ways that taste appealing, too.

Cafe SuperNatural

VegNews magazine recently named Salt Lake City the “next great vegan city.” Ian Brandt, chef and owner of Sage’s Cafe, Vertical Diner and his newest endeavor, Cafe SuperNatural, could easily be crowned the king for his more than decade-long dedication to sharing the vegan lifestyle with Utahns.

Cafe SuperNatural, in Trolley Square, offers vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and raw fare to the adjoining Prana Yoga studio clients, as well as anyone looking for a fresh, healthy drink or meal in a bright and modern atmosphere.

Opened last November, the café offers vegetable selections in all of its dishes, which change frequently depending upon what Brandt is growing in the garden or sourcing through Cali’s Natural Foods, his organic food distribution store.

I am, most certainly, a carnivore. Having been raised on wild game as well as garden-fresh vegetables, I have a strong appreciation for Brandt’s mastery of producing filling and flavorful meals. In particular, I am absolutely amazed at what Cafe SuperNatural does with a raw cashew — my eyes have been opened to an entirely new world of cashew-based foods here.

This nut is transformed into the shining star of each plate, in dishes such as a daily soup special of pureed cashew and broccoli rabe ($4) that was perfectly spiced to highlight each ingredient, to creamy raw cashew hummus ($7.75), and the roasted chili cashew cream sauce generously covering purple potatoes and other steamed vegetables on the Machu Picchu entree ($8.75).

My vegetarian dining companion, as well as the carnivores of the group, enjoyed the collard leaf-stuffed SuperNatural Wrap ($7.75) that was packed with complimentary flavors of SuperNatural Pate (a mix of almonds, cashews, carrots, celery, parsley and other seasonings), avocado and artisan sauerkraut.

We were further impressed with the tastes and textures offered by such items as the wabi sabi entrée ($9.75) of steamed and sea vegetables, brown rice, tofu and a kicky mystical miso raw dressing, or the Raw Noodles dish ($9.75) with raw turnips, beets and zucchini spiral-sliced into long spaghetti-like strands and sauced with a raw basil walnut pesto dressing over greens.

Cafe SuperNatural also offers snack bars and sweet confections, as well as a variety of fresh juices ($5 or $7); delicious SuperNatural shakes ($7) made with raw almond milk, banana, agave and various natural ingredients such as cacao, goji berries and vanilla; or chakra elixirs ($7) focusing on the seven energy centers of the body.

Eatery 1025

You’ll find Eatery 1025 a bit off the beaten path in Bountiful, sharing space with Infusion Yoga. It’s such close quarters that, as a diner, it’s a bit uncomfortable if you’re seated near the front of the restaurant, where yoga clients are coming in and out and climbing the stairs in their workout clothes. (I imagine it’s even worse for them.) But from tables nearer the kitchen in the back, the quiet and calm atmosphere lends customers some breathing space to enjoy their meal.

Opened in May 2011, Eatery 1025 highlights new American tastes of local, sustainable products with a nod to vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free fare. Executive chef Chelsa Best (previously of Moxi Wine Bistro in the same location) and sous chef Liam Connelly are producing flashes of brilliance in the kitchen, although the healthfulness of some of the dishes is questionable.

At lunchtime, the grilled pear-and-brie sandwich was dripping with grease, despite the hefty wedges of bread perhaps meant to soak it up. However, the accompanying side salad was plentiful.

The zucchini ribbons with marinara and spicy chicken sausage ($11) entrée on the dinner menu admirably delivered on the taste and health fronts, and the addition of a generously-sized dinner salad ($3) with dark, leafy greens, raw peas and red peppers, left my weight-lifting husband satiated.

Where Eatery 1025 excels is in the art of seasonal soup making. A roasted cauliflower-and-rosemary soup ($4 cup, $6 bowl) had depth and heartiness and also a delicious house-made taro root chip for garnish. Last fall, the chilled beet-and-cucumber soup received rave reviews and a Tribune write-up.

An evolving small plates menu was more hit or miss. The southwest bruschetta ($6) on the lunch menu had nothing southwestern about it, despite the slices of avocado. The bread only vaguely represented bruschetta, in that there were some tomatoes served on top of a rather large slab of bread, not crostini, covered with partially melted slices of cheese. At dinnertime, the wild mushroom polenta cakes ($7) featured crisp, well-cooked polenta patties piled with an odd mushroom stroganoff-like sauce with very little mushroom essence in it. Fortunately, these missteps were redeemed by the braised lamb-and-artichoke mélange served with pita chips ($8).

Salads, lunchtime sandwiches, and seafood and meat entrees at dinner complete the offerings at Eatery 1025, with a selection of loose leaf teas ($3 and $4 pots) and three types of coffe ($2 house, $3 pour overs, and $4 French press). Desserts change frequently, and range from four variations of vegan truffles to airy profiteroles filled with ice cream on top of a tangy strawberry rhubarb sauce.

Tribune's rating system

Overall rating

1 star Good

2 stars Very good

3 stars Excellent

4 stars Extraordinary

Entree price

$ Entree under $10

$$ $10-$18

$$$ $18-$25

$$$$ Above $25

Restaurant Noise

1 bell Quiet (under 65 decibles)

2 bells Can talk easily (65-70)

3 bells Talking somewhat difficult (70-75)

4 bells Raised voices (75-80)

A bomb Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

The Tribune covers the cost of all meals at reviewed restaurants. Star ratings are based on a minimum of two visits. Ratings are updated continually based on at least one revisit. There is no connection between reviews and advertising.