Sunday 24 March 2013

BOTANICA



WORDS AND PHOTOS | Thea Halpin

Veganism gets such a bad wrap.  People can be so judgmental of vegans the way people used to be judgmental of hippies, scene kids, ravers and all our forgotten sub-groups.  Sure it is hard to imagine a life without burgers and milky goodness of chocolate, but in an obese world running on an unsustainable food supply, we may just need to.  Enter vegan eating!  Vegan cafes and restaurants are slowly beginning to pop up all over Brisbane from East to West.  Even your local coffee shop has probably begun serving soy milk and, depending how fancy they have gotten, the occasional cartoon of almond milk.  Not just for flakes and health nuts, soon we will all be eating a little more vegan.  One of the newest additions to the vegan invasion is Botanica, tucked away on the corner of Enoggera Terrace and Musgrave Road in Red Hill.  Unassuming and simple you may never know that inside their white and glassy interior is a Mecca of healthy eating: and not just of the vegan kind.


Botanica is just a baby in the Brisbane culinary world, only open for about three months.  Run by former personal chefs, Brett and Ali, Botanica aims to offer a healthy eating alternative for our hectic lifestyles.  Although it was never the intention (apparently no one who works there is even a vegetarian), Botanica is entirely vegetarian and freaking delicious. 


A salad does have the tendency to leave you wanting more (hello three o’clock cookie with a side of Nutella straight from the jar.)   This will not be a problem with a Botanica salad.  A single serve lunch at a reasonable $10, will keep you fed for the afternoon and possibly into the night.  If a three o’clock cookie is still something you may be interested in, I can personally recommend their massive chocolate cookies.

Entering Botanica is like walking into the house of a friend whose mum is an interior designer and whose dad seems to take overseas business trips all the time.  Everything is white and pretty like a showroom house.  In this world there are no TV dinners, left over’s or toasted sandwiches.  Everything is colourful, fresh and mouth wateringly delicious. 



Food allergies are somewhat their specialty with all their baked goods (excluding their mouth-watering sourdough) it's entirely gluten-free.  A win for the coeliacs!  Plus their range of vegan options keeps the lactose intolerant people embarrassing-digestive issue free. 

I am no nutritionist but I am fairly sure eating this much salad is equivalent to going for a 10km run, so yeah, keep that in mind.  I literally went here three times in a week.  I am moving to Red Hill.

LOCATION | 9/1 Enoggera Tce, Red Hill
PRICE | Three serving sizes of single serving ($10), 2-4 people ($15) and family ($25)
SIDE NOTE | Botanica is take away only so don’t plan to eat lunch in.  You may end up on the footpath eating your salad.



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