Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Loving Cafe, Pleasant Ridge

Had lunch today at a new (since March), organic, vegan restaurant called Loving Cafe. Owned and operated by a group of about a dozen metro Cincinnati foodies, it's on Montgomery Road in Pleasant Ridge.
While some of the offerings might be strange to most people--the green tea with "popcorn undertones" was a little weird even to this lifelong tea drinker--my friend and I were impressed with our lunch.
I had a panini, basically a crunchy grilled sandwich, filled with vegan versions of turkey, cheese and mayo, along with some crunchy coleslaw and banana peppers, and maybe a little too much mustard. Overall though it was a large and satisfying sandie. My friend had a vegan sloppy joe, which I didn't taste but she said was very flavorful, even though "you would not mistake it for meat."
We split a piece of "raw blueberry pie," which we both loved. The filling was fresh blueberries lightly sweetened and mashed into a kind of paste; the crust was flourless, made from crushed pine nuts, cashews and chopped dates. Really yummy!
They're open Tuesday - Saturday from 11 to 8, but closed between 2 and 4. The manager told me that they've gotten a lot of great support from the neighborhood, and that more and more people from all around Cincinnati have found them.
I'll be writing an article for the Enquirer about this resto for the "Under $25" column, probably to run on 7/17.
What might be best about this place is that it is totally sat-fat and cholesterol free, so anyone with health concerns (heart, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.) can basically eat anything on the menu. They have lots of good-looking desserts--all vegan--including several with everyone's favorite ingredient, chocolate.
Check it out, healthy foodies!

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