"I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SO CONCERNED
ABOUT YOUR DIET. LOOK AT
ME: I'VE ALWAYS EATEN ANYTHING I
WANT, AND NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED.
WELL, EXCEPT THAT TIME I NEEDED
TO HAVE MY GALL BLADDER REMOVED..."
(Actual words spoken to me by my dad:
The Arbiter of Over-indulgence.)
My old man was taking down a cheeseburger
at the time, apparently, irked that I
had ordered a salad instead. "Great" I sarcastically
replied, "So you're saying I can
eat all the junk food I want, and it will
only cost me just one internal organ by
the time I'm sixty."
He was wrong, too. I really am not concerned
about what I ingest, just conscientious.
Remember, I write about/recommend
restaurants for a living, so you'd
better believe I have my fair share of cholesterol
& caloric moments. It's those other
meals (the typical three squares), where I
tend to take it as healthy as I can get it.
Which leads me (usually 2X's a week) to
Oasis Living Cuisine a simple yet welcoming
café in Frazer; serving what has to be
the healthiest lunch in our region, and
also, possessing the only raw foods menu
in the county.
Situated in an unassuming strip center
along Route 30 (just west of Route 401),
Oasis is operated by Tiffany Watts, who,
since 2003, has been offering vegan wraps,
salads, and her "Living Pizza," along with
fresh-blended juices, raw smoothies, coffees
& teas, and even shots of "superfoods"-
- algae-like elixirs with exotic names such
as spirulina, revitaphi and chlorella.
Don't mistake Oasis for a New Age-y, Bohemian
hangout. This 20-seater is spartan
inside, pleasant mind you, with high, airy
ceilings and a nicely mellow soundtrack
drifting through the café portion. Clientele
there ranges in ages and social strata
- a place for anyone looking to break away
from the processed, saturated, hydrogenated
norm.
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I'm fairly addicted to Tiffany's wheat
wrap, overly stuffed with avocado, hummus,
carrots, tomato and lettuce ($6.95),
though I've been known to go for the Garden
Pizza from time to time (spicy cashew
crème, zucchini, carrots, beets, and red
peppers on a crunchy buckwheat crust -
$7.25.) She also creates other unique,
made-on-the-spot items including her flax
wrap, nori (seaweed) Brazilian nut pate
roll, and a sweet sandwich comprised of
natural peanut butter, banana, crunchy
sunflower seeds, and agave syrup ($5.50).
For those who simply demand food that
once had a face, there are wraps and salads
available with fresh Applegate Farms
sliced turkey.
Another component of Oasis is its onsite
natural food market. You want hemp
powder? Hunza raisins? Goji berries?
You'll find them by Watts' own exclusive
line homemade raw chocolates and truffles.
Oasis Living Cuisine may not be everyone's
cup of Chai, or, at least, it certainly
isn't for carnivorous, gall bladder-less guys
like my dad. For those of us who are conscientious
about what we eat though, this café
is definitely an earthy-crunchy alternative.
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