VIRTUOUS AND VEGAN
Westboro eatery is a winner
“I’m in love already,” my dining companion gushed. She was speaking, it must be said, not of me but of her first impression, seconds after sitting down, at Pure Kitchen.
It didn’t surprise me that the Westboro restaurant, which opened in late February where Milagro Grill used to be, would prompt such an immediate and emotional reaction. With its menu that caters to vegans, vegetarians, organic-food advocates and gluten-avoiders, its healthful juices and smoothies, its bright, clean ambience and a predominantly fit and female clientele, Pure Kitchen is something greater than just an eatery. It’s more like the culinary embodiment of a shiny, happy lifestyle, in sync with its neighbourhood’s cluster of yoga studios and upscale sporting gear stores.
In fact, among the restaurant’s five principals are the two coowners of the Pure Yoga studio further west on Richmond Road. The yoga ethos is apparent in a menu with dishes with names like Transform (kale salad), Peaceful (a wrap of falafel, tabbouleh and hummus), Vibrant (a punchily spiced wrap of curried chickpeas) or Carefree ( black bean or squash tacos). Are these names uplifting or precious? I’m on the fence, although I do think the juice named Flush could be renamed.
Meanwhile, the motto on the dining room’s wall reads: “Pure nourishing food for the way we live today. Always fresh and always evolving.” Try to imagine a mission statement as earnest and high-minded at your neighbourhood sports bar.
And yet, even if you’re not a vegan yogi, you should give Pure Kitchen a go. The food and drinks that I’ve tried have been, for the most part, winningly flavourful and irreproachably fresh. Olivia Cruickshank, Pure Kitchen’s chef and one of its five co-owners, devises dishes with plenty of pizzazz, if not animal proteins. A self-taught cook who has studied holistic nutrition, Cruickshank, 34, has filled her menu with globally inspired flavour profiles and astutely combined ingredients that make for interesting as well as virtuous eating.
Among the very best dishes was the Loved salad ($12), a hearty, filling, sweet, tangy concoction in which cubes of squash, brown rice, greens, diced cranberries, pomegranate seeds, more nuts and seeds and a miso-rice vinaigrette playing together perfectly. The crisp, voluminous kale salad was assisted by not only a sharp Caesar dressing, but a faux-bacon crumble of smoked coconut.
I’ve stolen from the maincourse bowls ($12 for a generous small portion, $16 or $17 for a large) of several dining companions. The Fantastic bowl lived up to its name thanks to its punchy peanut sauce and impeccable assorted greens, red pepper and rice noodles. Wedges of firm tofu (tofu steaks, the menu hopefully called them), bolstered with maple syrup and tamari, were a fine addition, although, on another bowl, I had too-dry, leathery tempeh.
Kudos too for the perky, Mexican-themed mix of the Mystical bowl (lime jalapeño tofu steaks, black beans, sweet potato, pico de gallo, avocado, chipotle avocado sauce, brown rice or quinoa) and the Grateful bowl’s faux-pho of shiitake mushroom-tofu dumplings and mushroom-miso broth. The Warrior bowl, consisting of grilled avocado, spiced chickpeas, carrot, beets, sprouts, greens and more, started strongly but became more of a bore to eat.
The only notable disappointment was the Awesome burger ($15 including a side salad or fries). Its mushroom-walnut patty was just too mushy and smoky for my liking.
For those who must have fried indulgences, there were fine french fries, even a vegan poutine, and some jazzed-up onion rings ($11). The rings, battered in a chickpea flour and speckled with puffed quinoa, came with two zingy sauces and made a fine starter for four of us.
Every sweet finish that I’ve had here was worth eating again, from the various juices and smoothies to the delectable energy balls made of dates, coconut, cranberry and chocolate and the pecan-and-date-and-chocolate clusters. If you’re lucky, the fine chocolate-salted caramel nut tart will be offered.
All menu items can be made to go and, at lunch, some salads, wraps and juices are pre-made and packaged at the front counter. But one incentive to linger is that Pure is licensed, and serves a small selection of local craft beers and Niagara and Prince Edward County wines.
The first time I went to Pure, I sat in its dining room, which when packed with guests was very loud. For a quieter time, choose the juice bar side of the restaurant, although the trade-off is having to sit on tall metal stools. Either way, service has been spot-on, with pleasant, knowledgable and attentive staffers roaming the floor and checking in.
All in all, this is an appealing addition to Ottawa’s dining scene, hip rather than hippie as vegetarian restaurants go.
The restaurant’s owners have already spoken about wanting to open a Pure Kitchen in Centretown and an express bistro in the By Ward Market. Those neighbourhoods should be so lucky.
The crisp, voluminous kale salad was assisted by not only a sharp Caesar dressing, but a faux-bacon crumble of smoked coconut.