When healthy met Spanky: A romance blossoms between a carnivore and wholesome organic sustainable food!
Spanx: I approached this theme with a great deal of trepidation.
All my friends know me as a dedicated carnivore, almost.
Neanderthal in my diet choices: bacon for breakfast, liempo for lunch, and a humongous steak for dinner. A whole episode dedicated to the complete opposite of my daily fare? How can I possibly survive, much less enjoy the shoot?
Steph: To be quite honest and as boring as it sounds I was really excited for this episode. A few years back I took it on to make a serious change in my eating habits. It wasn’t that difficult for me to begin with, because from the get go I really love vegetables and fruits and fresh tasting food — the only problem was it was difficult to get conveniently in the Philippines. Things have changed today and I’m so happy that eating healthy and clean is becoming more and more mainstream. And I was out to prove to Spanky that healthy eats no longer equate to bland food but can be really exciting and outright delightful!
Spanx: Speaking of delightful... what could be better than starting a day by having breakfast with two of the city’s most gorgeous and glamorous ladies? My partner Stephanie and Bianca Elizalde? I really love my job. And Bianca’s Wholesome Table serves my favorite meatloaf!
Steph: What I love about this place is that it debunks the misconception that eating healthy means being on a diet. It’s built around the concept of eating clean — of real whole food, made from scratch with no chemicals or preservatives just like our great grannies used to make.
Bianca is committed to giving a wholesome delicious meal to everyone whatever their dietary restrictions or lack their of. Meaning
‘You can eat something that tastes good but also literally does good.’
you could take a vegan friend here or a die hard meat lover and you could have a peaceful enjoyable meal without sparking World War III!
Spanx: Juju! I love the name, and then I learned to love the food here. For the first time ever, I felt really full and satisfied in a salad bar, and not only that, I really enjoyed myself. I know, I’m as shocked as you are. But Juju’s passionate owners, David and Kat Azanza, erased all my doubts and calmed my nerves. There’s a rainbow of choices at Juju, and you can never go wrong with their guilt-free options!
Steph: Erwan Heusaff and I had often lamented how easy it was to eat healthily on the go in Paris — you always had fresh salads, sandwiches and pastas that were easy to pick up conveniently. I’m so glad he finally brought this idea here.
Sprout has all kinds of options including really light but satisfying meals for those watching their weight and heartier dishes for those who just want to eat good clean nutritious food.
Spanx: Earth Kitchen’s Got Heart. Literally. The restaurant is actually an offshoot of the Got Heart Foundation that seeks to support and sustain small farms by providing channels to distribute their produce. Sweet serendipity. And the food here’s so divine, Let’s Eat magazine awarded the restaurant as its choice for Best Organic.
Steph: This was one of my favorite places to date simply because I love the people and the philosophy behind it — not only are they about eating whole clean organic food they also believe in supporting local produce and local communities.
You can eat something that tastes good but also literally does good.
Spanx: Steph proved me wrong. Now I realize and accept that eating healthy is not necessarily about rabbit food or eating blandly but it’s more about eating clean and nutritious. I think her next devious step would be to prove that there could be life without meat! Devious, I tell you!!!
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Let’s Eat airs on the Lifestyle Network every Wednesday at 8PM with a replay every Thursday at 11: 30AM. The show is presented by The Philippine STAR and is hosted by Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi and Spanky Enriquez.