In the middle of the day, I sat in traffic to get across the city from the westside of Los Angeles to the downtown LA Arts District. It was a rather frustrating drive considering it was not during rush hour and I was stuck behind a lot of trucks.
When I entered The Springs, a sense of serenity came over me. Perhaps it is because it is a yoga and wellness center that lends a calmness to the space. But, perhaps it is the massive open space with high ceilings and the bright color chairs and accents against the slate-gray, industrial base that has a calming effect.
As you walk into the space, the restaurant is in the front. Yes, the menu is generally gluten-free, free of refined sugar and uses organic, local and sustainable produce. And it is vegan, except for the sustainable eggs that are responsibly sourced from Petaluma Farms. After all, remember that The Springs is a yoga and wellness center.
We can eat healthily at home but when we go out, we don't want to think about how much butter might be in the dish or how much cheese. We just want to enjoy. Going out to eat can be a good excuse to just let go and be a bit decadent. After all, who wants bland food when they go out to eat? So, wouldn't it be nice to be able to go out to eat for a delicious, flavorful, filling meal that happens to be health-conscious at the same time?
When you think about health-conscious eating, California is probably the state that comes to mind. With the stereotypes and fads that people like to jump on here, this is a normal conclusion. But, I not talking about the newest raw-food, vegan, juice bar. I am talking about the new health-conscious restaurant in New York - Cafe Clover.
Featuring an American cuisine, there was not a single thing that didn't look good on the menu. The menu is diverse and creative but it's also healthy. As my friend and I looked at the menu and tried to decide what to order (or rather what items we had to leave out of the order due to our eyes being bigger than our stomachs), instead of a basket of bread, we were served chips made from flax, chia, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and served with butternut squash hummus with berbere.