When you spend three weeks living with a certified (literally) raw foods chef and cookbook author, it goes without saying that you’ll eat many delicious raw food creations.
Sometimes you’ll get to do so at home without having to change out of your pyjamas (even if your pyjamas aren’t really pyjamas at all, but a black leggings/tank top combination that makes you feel like Audrey Hepburn doing her existentialist dance). Other times, though, you’ll need to spruce up in order to visit raw food restaurants.
As soon as I stepped inside FÜD and found myself bedazzled by its brightly coloured and eclectic décor, I knew Amber had brought me to a place of joy (this was before I’d even seen the sparkling blue horse in the bathroom. A painting, that is. Not an actual horse).
FÜD’s Nachos came as a colourful mountain of chips, cashew nacho cheddar, cashew lemon cream, salsa, and guacamole, and dear heavens was that cashew nacho cheddar sauce good. So salty, but so good good good.
The Rainbow Salad of mixed greens with apples, carrots, tomato, squash, cucumber and pecans (to which I added two scoops of FÜD’s Wild Mild raw taco filling, made from wild rice and mushrooms) was fresh, vibrant, sweet-salty-nutty, and surprisingly filling.
Next up was Café Gratitude, an amusing and quirky restaurant not far from Amber’s apartment. Amusing both in terms of the names of the dishes (you’ll see), and because our waitress looked directly at Amber to ask “Have you been here before?”, apparently not realising that Amber’s cookbook was displayed for purchase on the Café Gratitude counter right next to us.
I wanted to proclaim this fact to the waitress, but Amber wouldn’t let me. Perhaps because she ordered the I Am Humble?
Matt was manly and went for the I Am Fortified meal, which I ended up wishing I’d ordered because…
… my I Am Gorgeous salad was the opposite of FÜD’s satisfying salad, in that it was pretty much just a pile of salad greens with a scattering of hemp and a tiny handful of figs and apples. I was starving again ten minutes after finishing.
Just as well I have endless stashes of candy, chocolate (Unjunked Peanut Butter Cups = tasty, but Unjunked Peanut Butter Cups < Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups), and flavoured nuts (the glazed pecans were the best by far) in my suitcase at all times.
P.S. See Amber’s take on these restaurants here.
Mmmmm, that food looks delicious! The nachos from Füd in particular. Pity about the salad from Café Gratitude though, although an excuse to top up on those other yummies was welcome I’m sure
(That waitress story gave me a much needed laugh this afternoon, pretty sure I would have been tempted to at least drop some subtle hints)
Not going to lie; it’s not the worst thing to have mega space left for dessert
I LOVE raw food. I wish we had more of it in ATL. I left Cafe Gratitude in San Fran feeling soft of high. LOL!
I was in your airport again today. It has no free wifi, so I couldn’t message you. That is all.
I was there yesterday! Will be there again Thursday and again Friday.
Yeah… the wi-fi situation sucks.
So close, and yet so far!
Where’s the photo of the sparkling blue horse?
As willing as I am to make a fool of myself in most situations, taking my camera into the toilet with me is a line I haven’t yet crossed.
HOLY FUCK NACHO MOUNTAIN!
OF AMAZINGNESS I MIGHT ADD.
That is one big pile of nachos!!!!!!! O.O I wish that we have more raw restaurants around here!
Would you believe that was the HALF serve?!
Yay for delicious raw food! I’m trying to incorporate more of it into my diet. And that nachos looks epic!
I had the most incredible raw mousse dessert in Austin. Twice.
Happy Intergalactic National Unicorn Appreciation Year!!
That first salad better be filling, it’s about the size of a house;)
HINUAY to you too!!
My kind of salad. None of this wimpy business, I want salad with heft and calories, damnit!
Wow, those nachos! I also like the look of “I Am Humble”, though I think it would’ve been perfectly cool to proclaim the facts. The truth can set you free!
And garner your table special treatment! Maybe we would’ve got a free dessert…
yeah I wanted your fud salad but not your pile of leaves – you have much wisdom in your travel snacks – cute names are not enough to endear you to a place but goodness fud looks excellent – I wanted every dish – mmmm nachos
You should definitely lose yourself in half an hour of exploring the FUD menu on the website. The site itself is a mess, but the food is incredible!
Confession: Matt and I went back to FuD last Friday…I was determined to finally try the pizza, but…I got the nachos again. I couldn’t help it.
Told ya that CG salad wouldn’t fill you up!
Miss us yet? We miss you!
I MISS YOU SO MUCH IT HURTS INSIDE.
Part of me wishes I’d stubbornly argued for FUD instead of the Mystery Train, but ah well. Live and learn
And yes, you were right! But, in fairness, you only said that after it arrived, not before I ordered 
(I’m trying to save face here.)
wow a whole raw food cafe!
Actually, both of these places had cooked options, but both were entirely vegan
I’ve wanted to eat at Cafe Gratitude for as long as I knew it existed! That salad is shockingly disappointing though… Yikes. Fud, on the other hand, is completely new to me, but those dishes look ridiculously amazing!
I should’ve taken Amber’s advice to get the salad with the seaweed in it; perhaps that would have been more filling! I forgot to mention that I also ordered kimchi, though, and that was delicious
I have a friend who frequents both those places. Glad to see you got to make it to Cafe Gratitude even if your I Am Gorgeous was less than filling.
Made more room for dessert
Your salad does look like it’s for someone being restricted to around 400 calories/day but the first two meals are very generous. The plates are piled so high I wouldn’t know how to attack the food for fear it would end up collapsing all over the table and me. Great looking vegan food though xx
I’m sure the tables were clean. No Nacho Mountain Avalanche would’ve stopped us.
The very idea of eating non-vegan disgusts me right now because this food looks way too delicious to pass up!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
It all looks so good, fresh and vibrant…. me wants!
yummy looking food.
Isn’t it bizarre how varied salads can be? The wonderful ones are complete meals and satisfying beyond belief, whilst the unsatisfying ones are dismal in their lacking-ness. Still, at least the unsatisfying ones leave room for peanut butter cups
To be fair, I always have room for peanut butter cups.
I so badly want to eat at Cafe Gratitude! I’ve been so so many raw food restaurants yet I haven’t made it there – but yeah that was one sad salad you had, lol. Thank god for stash of goodies in your bag!!! Sometimes its better to have a light meal for extra dessert space
Amen, sisterfriend. And hey, the kimchi was good!
I would love to be fed glorious raw vegan delights everyday!! Amber seems divine. Love this look of these eats. So colourful. Want some more raw vegan options in my life. Although I do like cooking things….I like heat, cooking….but raw is delicious too!
Heidi xo
Methinks that as I head into winter, the heat is going to call to me more and more, whereas where you are… but I shan’t think of that. I shan’t.
Those nachos look amazing!! Too bad about your salad though. I hate when raw/vegan/vegetarian restaurants disappoint because I so badly want to like them!
I wouldn’t say Cafe Gratitude as a whole was disappointing; just a bad menu choice on my part. The other salads may have been far more filling!
The food at FUD looks so fabulous! How wonderful to have such meals- a bit of a contrast to the typical American food we see. Are the nachos cooked though? You can’t have uncooked nachos- can you? That cashew sauce sounds very delicious. I went to two healthy food restaurants in Houston, but I don’t think they were raw. I think I’d be brave enough to try a raw food restaurant after seeing your exploits.
Those nachos used normal corn chips, but actually you can make raw nachos out of dehydrated crackers (using corn, flax, seeds, etc). Oh heavens, raw food restaurants are so worth it! They actually tend to be quite wonderfully rich, too, because of all the nuts, seeds, avocado, etc, but so refreshing and happy-making because of the fruits and veggies