Luna's Living Kitchen | Restaurant Review | Charlotte, NC

Recently I, along with one of my friends who is also a nutrition major, attended the North Carolina Dietetic Association's quarterly meeting in Charlotte, NC. While in Charlotte, I decided to check out a restaurant that I had heard great reviews about. Luna's Living Kitchen is mostly raw and vegan, so obviously I was in love with it before even going to the restaurant. The atmosphere was a wonderful; quiet, dimmed lighting, comfortable seating, and great service.

After feeling overwhelmed at looking at the huge menu filled with delicious sounding food and drinks, we each settled on what we were going to order. I got the Mock-Tuna Salad Sandwich with a side of Broccoli Waldorf and Hanna got the Pad Thai dish. Our food came out in less than ten minutes, and we both tried to savor the delicious food but it was so good we quickly devoured it. I love going to vegan restaurants, specifically raw vegan because it never takes very long for the food to arrive. Because the chefs aren't dealing with meat, or sometimes stoves/ovens it takes very little time to prepare which is the best when you're really hungry!
My sandwich was made with two slices of vegan bread, I'm not sure if they make this in-house but it was delicious regardless. Inside the two slices of bread was some cashew mayonnaise, I wasn't too sure about this part of the sandwich because I've never enjoyed real mayonnaise but surprisingly it was so yummy and didn't taste at all like real mayo instead it was light and creamy. There were also some crisp lettuce leaves and a few slices of tomato.

My favorite part was the huge scoop of the "tuna salad." Before giving up meat, I had never even tried tun, so I wasn't sure what to expect for this mock version of it. It was amazing! The consistency was creamy and hearty, and I loved the texture of it in the sandwich along with the other ingredients.  The broccoli salad was also delicious, and had the taste of both sweet and savory: my favorite combination. Hanna let me try some of her pad thai which consisted of raw spiraled sweet potato and zucchini and a thai peanut sauce. It was also delicious, and the flavors were spot on. For dessert, we got raw vegan ginger snap cookies that were incredible. It brought me right back to fall time, yum! 
Overall, the service was great along with the food, and the atmosphere was perfect for a nice, relaxed meal. I would definitely recommend Luna's Living Kitchen to anyone that is in the Charlotte area, it is great for everyone even if you're not vegan the food is delicious! I can't wait to go back and try something else.
Check out their website at http://www.lunaslivingkitchen.com 

The Laughing Seed | Restaurant Review | Asheville, NC

Have you ever eaten something that was so wonderful, you knew that you'd never forget it....not only the meal, but the atmosphere or events that were taking place while eating it? I call these "life meals." I love asking people what their life meals are, because I feel like it really helps me to understand that person.

For a while, my "life meal" was a vegetarian sandwich I had in New York City, followed by a huge slice of tiramisu. It was one of those meals that was so good I knew I wouldn't forget it. But last week, my life meal changed...

My sister and I drove to Asheville to go to a concert, but before the concert, we stopped by a restaurant called The Laughing Seed to get some dinner. The Laughing Seed is almost all vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten free. The menu was filled with so many different options, from salads to soups, raw dishes to cooked, cocktails to beer, Indian to Mexican cuisine, so deciding what to order took quite some time. I finally decided on a raw dish that was both vegan and gluten free. It was called The Dragon Bowl, here is the description from their menu...

Dragon Bowl $12 (V, GF)

An all-raw version of our Harmony Bowl. A layer of cauliflower/nut rice, an assortment of seasonal vegetables, arugula, avocado, and sunflower seed/beet pate topped with housemade kim chee and our organic purple kraut. Served with miso-tahini sauce.

I loved being able to order straight from the menu and not have to ask for no meat, or no cheese. As soon as they brought out my food I was so excited, it looked beautiful and smelled amazing. I of course took photos, because even before eating it I knew this was my new life meal and I didn't want to forget it. It was delicious and I can't wait to go back and order it again. 

 

My sister, who isn't vegetarian or gluten free ordered the Tico Taco Salad (A bed of organic mixed greens topped with black beans, shredded Jack cheese, our grilled spiced crumbled Tico tofu, salsa, brown rice, guacamole. cherry tomatoes, red onion, and fresh jalapenos. Served with organic blue corn chips) and a blueberry pineapple mixed drink. She said that it was also amazing, and she was definitely just as pleased with her meal as I was with mine. 

The Laughing Seed in general was an amazing restaurant and if you're ever near Asheville I highly recommend you try it out! The ambiance was so relaxing, filled with flowers and twinkle lights. The service was great, the food was perfect, and I will definitely remember it for a very long time. The link to the website is http://laughingseed.jackofthewood.com