Live Restaurant

Unfortunately we cannot go to vegan restaurants with my sister, because almost all of them use nuts (except Loving Hut, which is nut free). We had tried to go to Live Food Bar a few times, but they never had a table for us when we got there – which I guess is good, because they are getting busy serving really good, real food.
We were the first ones in the restaurant on a weeknight, dining early before my talk at the Dufferin Peel Community centre, where I was so excited to speak to other kids and their parents about eating healthy and feeling good about it.
The only problem with the menu at Live, was that there were so many good things, that I couldn’t decide which to choose. The appetizers were a really big problem since I wanted them all. We finally settled on a jicama poutine, which was excellent – it’s a raw dish (which means nothing is cooked, sometimes it can be dehydrated), and it was chili seasoned jicama, miso gravy, macadamia cheddar cheese, and cashew sour cream. I’ve decided to have a battle of the jicama fries between Carol Belmonte (her cashew cheese is better than anything!) and the chef at Live. In the meantime, I suggest you try both! Next time, I am definitely going to try the chickpea fries and the layered Mexican dip as appetizers!
I also really enjoyed the Chia Lemonade, I had never had chia in my drink before. My mom had a blueberry kombucha that she really liked, if you want a bubbly drink that is fruity, I suggest ordering that.
We also had a kale Caesar salad, which was really large, in a good way. The flavour was really, really good, and I liked the smoky, bacon-like flavour of the eggplant “bacon”. The sprouted grain croutons were amazing and a really nice touch. The Dijon Caesar dressing was certainly not devoid of flavour and there was just the right amount on it.
My main course was the “Bacon Cheeseburger” (it’s cooked, not raw) and was very tasty. It’s a chickpea patty, macadamia cheddar cheese, eggplant bacon, sesame hemp mayo, BBQ sauce, tomatoes and arugula on a gluten free bun with pickles and veggie chips. I loved dipping the veggie chips into the hemp mayo – if I wasn’t so full, I would have asked for more!
The portions are so big (again, in a good way), that I had to take the leftover jicama fries home, but couldn’t take them to school for lunch because of a no nuts policy. And, I sadly forgot about them the next day and they went to waste. I will not make that mistake again!
The desserts looked amazing, but we were too full and in a rush, so we’ll have to go back again to try a selection of them.
Live is a great casual spot, and more like a café than a fancy restaurant, and they have lots of their stuff to takeout.