Kale brings vegan, organic and macrobiotic fare to the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood.
Conscientious eaters appreciate the healthy alternatives to the usual pub grub, and workaholics like the fast-food format, with a help-yourself stainless steel buffet and coolers of take-away items.
The light from a large window at the front bounces around the white-walled room, reaching even the dark-wood cash counter and blender area at the back.
About 25 simple olive green chairs pull up to light-wood tables. Grey slate floors give the space a modern feel and, with the help of the exposed pipe ceiling, create echoes of nearby conversations.
Oversized black-and-white photographs with colourized kale in various scenarios decorate one wall, chalkboard menus another. Kale features in the cuisine as well, in two of the six freshly squeezed juice blends and as a hot choice, steamed, from the self-serve area.
The menu changes daily, depending on what produce is available from grocers that fit the vegan and organic mandate. Today, there are 12 options — six hot and six cold — to choose from, and offerings range from baked leek pie to tomato-tofu salad to coleslaw to squash perogies.
Salads and hot dishes are sold by weight ($2.40 for 100 grams on either a dine-in plate or a takeout recyclable paper container). The small tucked-away kitchen also turns out tofu burgers, and there are a handful of prepared sandwiches in the open cooler, but, as one server points out, “most people just go for the buffet.”
Cold green bean salad boasts satisfyingly still-firm pods tossed with sesame seeds and sea salt in a judicious drizzle of 100 per cent pure olive oil. A squirt of lemon or drop or two of balsamic might have stepped things up a notch.
Better is a cold marinated salad of raw broccoli florets, diced red pepper, cauliflower pieces and celery slices. A simple dressing of parsley, balsamic vinegar, sunflower and sea salt adds oomph without overpowering the vegetables’ inherent flavours.
The wonderfully earthy aroma of portobellos is trumped by the oily consistency in warm organic brown rice with mushroom. Onion, sea salt, Cajun spice and sunflower oil add interesting complexity, but it’s hard to get past the greasiness.
Eating chopped-up tofu wieners at a restaurant seems kind of silly to me, but the sauce of straightforward tomatoes, sea salt, garlic and parsley does the protein good, and I’m surprised to find myself reconsidering the versatility of the veggie dog.
Also pleasing is a tangle of flat, white rice noodles, cooked just so, with nori and sliced shallots in a mild but sufficient sauce of tamari and 100 per cent sunflower oil. Freshly squeezed juices and smoothies, vegan and gluten-free desserts, plus certified Fair Trade coffees and teas round out the meal.
Kale Eatery 2366 Yonge St., 416-792-5253 Lunch for two, excluding tax, tip and alcohol $25