Took a pseudo train ride up North in to Vancouver. By “pseudo” I mean I bought a ticket to board a train but due to a problem with the railway I was ushered on to a bus instead…bummer, so much for the romance of riding the rails. Not so happy about that but I resigned myself to the journey. The weather was shitty upon arrival…I mean real shitty. My thinking, it seems, betrayed logic-I was looking forward to something different than the gray of Seattle. I wanted warm breezes, sunny skies…the reality was that Vancouver was colder & wetter than back home. The beginning of this little adventure was off to a rough start.

I took the trip up to meet up with my pal Katie. We became friends in Hawaii where we were paired as roommates for the hell that is Bikram Yoga Teacher Training. As fate would have it we discovered that we were both vegan which made sharing a kitchen a really pleasant and easy experience. Back to Vancouver… I arrived and was picked up at the station, from there we headed for food. I’ve shied away from raw vegan for years. Not sure why…I suppose I figured I wouldn’t like it and I wasn’t sure what the hoopla was about. Whats wrong with heat? Jesus…I mean, I feel as though I’ve already placed plenty of restriction on my diet just being vegan…but now no fire? no baked goods? no simmering sauces or cooked grains? Obviously my opposition ran deep. Downtown on a busy street, Katie took me down a short flight of stairs that brought us into the nook that is Gorilla Food. It feels as though I’ve descended into a rabbit hole of sorts. Its a tiny restaurant- painted with swirly designs, the counter rounded out towards the room, the kitchen open to view behind. There’s three or four folks working…busy chopping and grinding, shaping and sculpting together food on plates. The owner, Aaron, is busy putting together a “burger”- it looked really good and my skepticism on the raw vegan thing began to wane a bit. Word on the street is that Aaron’s former gig was a chef to the stars- The Beastie Boys, Andre 3000 from Outkast… don’t know for sure but that’s the rumor.

I let Katie do the ordering since she seems to be so familiar with the menu. We get a slice of the “Maui Waui” pizza (tomato & herb sauce topped with tenderized kale & seasonal greens w/ fresh pineapple bits and crumbled walnut), the “burger” (2 seed burger patties on a lettuce leaf bun w/guacamole, ginger tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers & shredded seasonal veggies) and “Cashew Alfredo Zucchini Linguine”(shredded zucchini smothered in a rich, white cashew cream). It all sounded interesting but I had no idea what I was in for. When our food was brought out by the gorgeous dread-locked girl that we placed our order with- it was beyond my expectations. It was all beautiful and colorful and it looked far more complicated than I had imagined. The “pizza” was crumbly and best eaten with a fork…I used my fingers since I figured I would be handling the “burger” next. The pineapple was sweet and it went perfectly with savory kale- the walnut gave it a real nice density…so good. The “burger”…stacked so artistically it seemed a shame to disturb it- the patties were rich and appropriately nutty, the guacamole lent a lovely creaminess, the ginger tomato sauce added tang and the abundance of veggies rounded it out well. The “Alfredo” was my least favorite…it was okay- the creamy white sauce had a really distinct flavor to it but the zucchini “noodles” didn’t really do anything for me- too crunchy..flavorless. We shared everything but I’m pretty sure I ate the majority of the “pizza”- my favorite of all three entrees.

Never thought I would actually enjoy raw vegan food but so it goes. Everything was satisfying and when I make the trip up to Vancouver again I will surely stop in for another meal at Gorilla Food. I hear that there’s some pretty delicious raw vegan restaurants in Seattle- Katie recommended Chaco Canyon Cafe so Ill probably give that one a shot in the future. I do love a baked lasagna or a hot pot of curry and I would probably pick cooked food over raw. This meal, however, made me see that I was a bit quick on the draw in my judgment of raw vegan cuisine. It turned out much better than I had expected…not bad at all. I would go so far as to admit that I enjoyed it quite a bit.