Introducing: Feel Good Guru, a new vegan joint with its own green wall (and urban cultivator!)

By Karolyne Ellacott | June 28, 2012

By Karolyne Ellacott | 06/28/2012

Attention professional vegans and vegans-in-training: Feel Good Guru, a veg-friendly eatery, has just joined the well-trafficked strip across the street from Trinity Bellwoods. The shop is the brainchild of Moira Nordholt, who developed her business in her loft apartment but has since outgrown her at-home operation.

Feel Good Guru took over the Polka Dot Kids space on Queen West. The eatery kept the unit’s white walls, but they’re now adorned with wood accents and “eat healthy” mantras, and the space has its own urban cultivator (as seen on Dragons’ Den) tucked in the back. There the micro-arugula, rainbow chard and micro-komatsuna are sprouting—Nordholt says it’s “a full-on grow-op”—and some of the produce is transported to the green wall out front.

Nordholt came to be a strict vegan after an encounter with horsemeat in Paris and opened Banff’s first vegetarian resto back in ’94. She has since contributed recipes to health books, worked on spa menus and even had her food featured in a documentary. “The menu is the stuff I live on,” Nordholt says. The dishes are conceived in collaboration with manager Anushka Garnier and so far the hottest items are their take on the burrito and the kale salad. The No Bull burrito wraps spicy nutmeat, carrots, beets and sweet peppers in a red cabbage leaf, and the lot is topped with chunky guacamole, pico de gallo and doused with avolapeño sauce ($13). Dessert picks, which are just as healthy as everything else on offer, include the raw carrot cake with a walnut crust and cashew and maple icing. Park denizens should keep their eyes peeled for the upcoming faux-cuterie platters featuring aged nut cheeses and pâtés—a potential complement to a box of wine.

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