| Let's start by quickly dispelling any myths that Calgary isn't a vegan-savvy town. Ruth Tal and Jennifer Houston recently stopped here with their book reFresh: Contemporary Vegan Recipes from the Award-Winning Fresh Restaurants (John Wiley & Sons Canada, 224 pp.) as a shout out to Calgarians who eat at Fresh when they are in Toronto. After all, the Toronto eatery-turned-empire boasts dedicated local regulars and famous clientele such as Eric Clapton, who all flock to Fresh for a hit of uber-health. I caught up with Tal and Houston over lunch at The Coup, where we snacked on the special daily hot-pot soup, the popular el tacos and some messy Janes.
FROM D.I.Y TO DYNASTY
Fast Forward: How was Fresh established?
Ruth Tal: The beginning of Fresh was 16 years ago. One day, I went into a health-food store and ordered a carrot juice, and it totally blew me away. I had become vegan and there was nowhere to eat, so I was cooking at home a lot. I decided to start a little juice bar vegan place, to start sharing what I was learning with as many people as possible.
How did that translate into creating a culture around healthy eating in Toronto?
Tal: My first objective was to juice up. I was mobile, and I went around to juice up at places where you couldn't get anything other than pop – rock concerts, Lollapallooza and Caribana.
That sounds really renegade!
Tal: It was at the time! I developed this large following. Everyone would ask me, "Where are you located?" I didn't have anywhere yet. The permanent location was a tiny kiosk across from CityTV. Bands like Iron Maiden would come across the street for interviews and to eat well while they were in town. That was getting the word out.
(When) I opened my first restaurant, I went from an eight-seat kiosk to a 50-seat restaurant. I met Jennifer, who was a trained chef. I had never run a restaurant before, and she organized everything and just saved me. We became co-owners and partners. It has been 16 years and we've established that it is possible to eat well and it's cool to be healthy.
Do you support local growers of organic produce?
Jennifer Houston: Yes and no. For sunflower sprouts and other specialties, yes. We've tried over the years to support local organic growers, but it (can be) difficult. We go through enormous quantities of carrots and beets, and we need them delivered every day – about 500 or 600 pounds of carrots alone. When we go through so much, the local growers cannot always keep up with us. If someone can supply that for us, we will change that.
A popular misconception about vegan and health eating is that it is expensive.
Houston: We offer a meal and a juice for half-price everyday to enable people to try a new thing.
How do you balance good, designer ingredients and keeping everything at a reasonable cost?
Houston: We want to keep Fresh at an average price range. Sunflower sprouts and arame are really expensive, as are red peppers, cashews, pecans and almond butter, but we're never going to use truffle oil, for example.
Calgary is a real burger town. You write in reFresh that you searched for a great vegan burger that didn't taste like cardboard. Did you ever find any wicked vegan burgers?
Tal: No! Honestly, I love my vegan burger the best. I'm not into those mock meat burgers.
Houston: I like those burgers. There are two kinds – the veggie burger that can never be mistaken for meat and the burger that is totally like meat. When you order it you might wonder if your veggie one got mixed up with the meat one.
Exactly. So you're an imitation meat fan?
Houston: Only veggie burgers – no steak or shrimp. I don't really understand the gluten that tries to look like shrimp. We do serve a little bit of that, like veggie sausages at breakfast.
What are some classic vegan food pairings?
Tal: Beets and raspberries are amazing together in a smoothie. You juice the beets then blend it with apples and raspberries.
Houston: Wasabi and dill is one of our dressings. It started as creamy dill and was dull, but with wasabi, it was a combo made in heaven. Avocado is another – it brings everything together. It's like the vegan mayonnaise. |
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.