Living raw bliss at Organic Lives

I’ve wanted to visit Organic Lives for a long time and especially since food blogger Mijune Pak highly recommended their Coconut Cream Pie… after all, Organic Lives is said to be the city’s best raw vegan restaurant, and desserts recommended by non-vegans are all good in my book.

The main location is at Quebec Street and 2nd Avenue, but I planned out my Chinese New Year to eat with company downtown, so ventured to the brand-spanking new location at the Chopra Yoga Centre on Granville of Hastings.

At the downtown location, it’s more of a take and go. There are seats, but no tables, so unless you’re having a quick bite, it’s probably best to take your meal with you. I ordered the Pecan Sushi, Pad Thai, and Ridiculous dessert to share with my sister. The menu is definitely more limited than the main location’s, but some of the selections are the same. The counterperson was still getting used to the computer payment system and the order took about 10 minutes to make, but good god, was it worth the wait! I wasn’t even going to take photos, but I had to show you how beautiful this stuff looks, even in to-go boxes. Great photos is one reason why people should convert to vegetarianism!

Pecan Sushi: Pecans, alfalfa, cucumber, carrots, mango, tomato, seaweed, wasabi 

There was also a side sauce with the sushi whose flavours I can’t identify, but it was more on the sweet side. The sushi didn’t taste like your average Japanese sushi, as there was no rice. This baby is all good stuff and I was even ok with the dash of wasabi, which I normally don’t like. The mango was also a nice punch of sweetness.

Pad Thai: Noodles, peanut sauce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, parsley, red chili sauce, nuts

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Classy pizza dining at Verace Pizzeria

Verace Pizzeria Napoletana and Enoteca is the second authentic Napoletan pizzeria Leo and I have been to. The location is great, though it’s a tricky place for parking on game nights. The decor is great – a bit of European flavour – and when we went in the place was PACKED with two big parties going on.

Photo courtesy Roberta L. on Yelp.ca

With a reservation, we were able to be seated within 10 minutes, even though there was only one server working the whole restaurant, the other tending to the big parties.

Diavola and Campania pizzas with garlic oil and chili oils

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Cocktail Heaven at The Refinery

Photo courtesy vancouverdealsblog.com

I heard a lot of hype about The Refinery and its cocktails in particular, so when Ethical Deal did a deal for half off food I jumped on it. The cocktails are indeed no joke. I had the Gunpowder, which was just the perfect sweetness (more tarte than sweet) without much taste of alcohol.

There are a few vegetarian options, and I’m glad I went for the Fettucine Primavera ($14) because it had a good helping of veggies. And if I hadn’t had pasta, I might have been in serious trouble with my cocktail! As I ate I started to feel a nice buzz.

Fettucine Primavera with seasonal vegetables

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Tiramisu Cheesecake

I had a few bites of my boyfriend’s Heirloom Tomato Salad ($10) which was also very good and cleverly seasoned. We ended off with the Tiramisu Cheesecake ($9), which was the best cheesecake I’ve had in a while. A very subtle taste of cheese, with whipped coffee icing served on the side. If I wasn’t such a lightweight and already buzzed off the one cocktail, I would have had another one with dessert (they do have dessert cocktails on the menu too). The interior deco is very cool and trendy; I see why this place gets talked about & agree with the high ratings. Definitely the best place for professional-level cocktails & a good meal downtown.

Photo courtesy Urbandiner.ca

The Refinery
1115 Granville Street & Helmcken Vancouver BC V6B 2G6
604-687-8001
info@therefineryvancouver.com
therefineryvancouver.com

Hours:
5pm-1am Tuesday to Thursday
5pm-2am Friday & Saturday (good idea to make reservations)
Sunday & Monday for bookings only