SORT-OF FREE LUNCH
EVERYTHING IS FRESHLY MADE. I DON’T USE TINS AND I DON’T OWN A MICROWAVE
You do have to pay for the food, which is free of almost everything but flavour and goodness, writes Shanthini Naidoo
The Free Food* sign outside Ariel Cohen’s restaurant begs for a quirky comment. But it does get curious customers into the vegan eatery and deli off Corlett Drive in Birnam, Joburg.
The asterisk, which can also be found on Cohen’s beanie, refers to the fine print — dairy-free, sugarfree, gluten-free. Welcoming me with homemade chai, he says the restaurant was a natural progression from the popular frozenfood business he started seven years.
“I know, when you mention vegan food, it is an instant appetite suppressant. But all my recipes are tried and tested to be tasty, otherwise I would not share them,” he says.
The chai (R25) is delicious and warming, made from almond milk and rooibos tea infused with cardamom and ginger, sweetened with dates.
“I have been a vegetarian since 1987. In 2000, I got really ill. I decided to heal myself with nutrition and tweaked my diet, excluding dairy,” says Cohen. The plant-based diet meant trying interesting combinations of ingredients. Cohen came up with several dishes and sauces, including the addictive hot coriander salsa (chilli, lemon juice, olive oil, Kalahari salt and coriander) for R30. It goes well with his baked, not fried, falafels, as does the hazelnut mustard, which packs a savoury punch.
“Everything is freshly made. I don’t use tins and I don’t own a microwave. The ingredients are a bit more expensive but I live free food, so everything must work with my ethical views. People don’t mind paying for that.” Still, it is reasonably priced; most mains are under R70.
The restaurant is trendy, concrete and minimalist, and is home to an extended family of wooden rabbits made by a local artist. The small menu changes weekly and is updated on the Facebook page and Cohen’s chalkboard wall.
Some dishes are staple, like a glutenfree falafel wrap with dairy-free cheese (R52). Grilled quinoa and tofu triangles are tasty in a Thai curry stir-fry with homemade coconut milk, served with ginger jelly and red jasmine rice (R69), or in a shiitake salad (R70).
His best-quality vegan burgers are a winner, made from organic quinoa and borlotti beans, shiitake mushrooms, almonds and butternut, spiced with coriander seed, parsley and red onion.
For R52, they are served on a herbed, gluten-free bun with pan-grilled sweet potato fries and a dipping sauce.
Or buy a pack of four to take home (R51), along with the coriander salsa or hummus and tahini. The deli fridges have frozen ready meals, gluten-free pizza bases and wraps and a range of dips and sauces.
Desserts are around R30 and there are several — a dark and moist chocolate cake made with rice flour, organic banana pie, or a tofu-based cheesecake.
Or try the f**k ice cream. I was intrigued, although not converted by the banana, mint, dark chocolate concoction sweetened with agave, a cactus sugar. Cohen explained that the name is derived from the reaction it elicits from customers when they learn it is dairy-free. Free Food*, 5b Reithmere, corner Corlett Drive and Delta streets, Birnam. Open Monday to Thursday until 5pm, Fridays until 9pm and Saturday till 3.30pm. www.facebook.com/freefoodjhb