Monday, August 11, 2008

Leafy Greens Café's Raw Onion Bread Sandwich

February 2, 2009 UPDATE on Location of Leafy Greens Café

Denise Becknell writes:

We are, once again, facing relocating the restaurant. This difficult task will prove to be worthwhile in the end. We have found a lovely and intimate yet conveniently located space that has amazing outdoor areas.

The challenges we faced getting the restaurant in the right place seems to have finally paid off. Our first visit felt like we had come home and I think you will agree!

There is ample parking behind the building with no parking meter issues. The lighting is ambient instead of fluorescent and the space is small and intimate. Our original goal was this type of space, but it took a lot of time and effort to find it!

We have a wonderful new landlord, who is excited to have us and willing to help us be successful rather than making demands on us that had previously caused us to struggle.

Many of our customers know the issues that we were facing at our previous locations and also know that we had just about given up on ever finding the right place for our café.

This new place has renewed our enthusiasm and has encouraged us to move forward in our effort to provide the community with the information they need to live a healthy, vibrant raw food lifestyle! It is through our own experience that we have gained the conviction and determination to introduce and support as many people as we can on the subject of raw food; its benefits, ingredients and preparation, while providing interesting lectures, hard-to-find ingredients and true friendship to those who are willing to reach out and join us on this amazing journey!

The best part of the new location is that we have an amazing meeting room available to hold cooking classes, lectures and events! This wonderful location has facilities that are shared by like-minded businesses and we are looking forward to being part of this progressive collection of individuals!

Our New Location will be:

1431 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL 33705
Our hours of operation will be changing:
Tues-Thur 11 am to 7 pm, Fri-Sat 11 am to 8 pm, Sunday 11-5


Our Review of the Café's Original Location

Raw foodists love fabulous food, and the onion bread sandwich at Leafy Greens Café in North Redington Beach, Florida is the real deal! In fact, it's called "The Real Deal" on their menu! When you go there (and I highly recommend it as a destination, should you not live in that area), also make sure to order their fabulous raw pizza. And their sprouted lentil soup. The high-ceilinged space features lots of windows and a palm-tree-and-bamboo motif, with stained-glass-and-carved-wood ceiling fans. Owner Denise Becknell says it's about much more than the food, "It's about community." They plan to hold an open house, with free food, four times a year. (The restaurant planned to open in September but is attracting so much interest that they are open now!)

Leafy Greens Café is thriving

This place is terrific. It seats 60 indoors and 60 outdoors and is right across the street from the beach--what a location! Denise, who owned Italian restaurants in New York previously, went raw in early 2007 after she was diagnosed with systemic lupus (an autoimmune disease), and was completely healed four months later. Her husband, Doug, is the chef, and has done a masterful job of switching from carnivorous to raw vegan dishes.