Restaurant Review: Prana Cafe

***July 2011 update -
Restaurant has closed***

Prana Cafe is the newest
raw vegan restaurant in
the Boston area. I was ready
for a treat while eating only
raw foods, but most decent
restaurants (not to mention
raw restaurants) aren't very
kid-friendly. Not Prana Cafe!

I didn't get any photos of the
outside of the restaurant
because it was POURING rain
the sunday evening we went. There were quite a few customers despite the weather, many with one child. In we walked with four! They had to push two tables together, but other than that, the play area accommodated everyone. Yep, a play area! At a raw vegan restaurant! And they have a kids menu! And vegan wine for the grownups! Score.













There were nice toys, mostly
wooden, puzzles, chalkboard,
and bean bag chairs and kid arm-
chair in front of a flat screen tv
playing kid-friendly dvds. Yes,
I actually got to enjoy my 1/2
glass of Australian white wine!

The dark evening and chasing
after Maia resulted in poor photos of the restaurant interior as well as the food...which I never seemed to get a picture of until it was at least half eaten. We ordered a lot of food, but for 6 people $100 isn't bad for a raw vegan mostly organic meal with raw ice cream and pudding for dessert! You can take a look at the menu here...notice "The Hello Kitty: Pasta" on the kids menu!






















Each of the kids had different preferences. Ryan, who usually likes most anything, was rather particular; besides dessert, he only cared for "The Best Salad Ever", pictured above with what remained after he attacked it, LOL. He took one sheet of nori and made a wrap with the lettuce, then proceeded to pick out all of the avocado and raw croutons, leaving me with just some lettuce & nori. Thanks, kid.

The portobello "steak" was just a marinated mushroom with a nutty topping which I quite enjoyed, but my husband who usually likes mushrooms quite a bit did not. What I really loved was the parsnip mash on the side! But then I like parsnips. On the same plate was a heap of marinated broccoli, which constituted the bulk of Nate's dinner; I only got a few bites of the broccoli, but man was it good!

The other thing I really loved was the onion flatbread with olive tapenade. However there were not nearly enough pieces of "bread" (more like chips really) to consume all of the tapenade...and I was really heaping it on! So I brought it home, along with the extra parsnip mash, and ate it for breakfast with my own raw flax crackers.

Probably the least favourite among the kids oddly enough was "The Ariel Pizza-Pizza" off the kids menu. I think a lot of it had to do with expectations, because it just didn't taste anything like any of the pizzas they're used to. Maia was the one who ate the most of it.

My favourite, which only Maia also loved, was the winter squash ravioli with citrus cream sauce. The portion was again rather
small, but had a really delicate
citrus flavour. I'd have liked
more of some sort of sauce, as
there was only the smallest
dab on top of each triangle
ravioli piece.

What I failed miserably that
night to capture was the
artistry of the food and the
beautiful decor of the
restaurant. The presentation
of each dish was exquisite.
And as I always say...the
first bite is with the eye!


I definitely can't wait to
return for another meal.
The service was excellent,
the atmosphere lovely,
and there are so many
desserts (like the coconut
cream pie!!) among other
items that I'm dying to try!



Prana Cafe is located at 292 Centre Street, Newton Corner, MA
617-527-7726
They have recently expanded to offer dinner hours (hence why we made it there!).

Breakfast & Lunch every day except Tuesday: 9am - 4pm
Dinner Sun/Mon/Wed/Thurs: 5pm - 9pm
Dinner Fri/Sat: 5pm - 10pm
Closed Tuesdays

school lunches

I'm so glad I enjoy making home brought lunches for my kids. I cannot imagine making them buy lunch at school, or wasting the $3 or $4 or whatever it is for them to make themselves a pb&fluff sandwich at the sandwich bar.

Ryan's lunch: green beans; chocolate covered peanut butter ball; tofu spinach quiche; crescent roll sandwich w/lettuce, soy cheese & smoked Tofurky; a side of pretzels.

Looking at the school menu, it is obvious they are trying, offering whole grain products most of the time. But what always strikes me is the lack of vegetables. Many days the only "vegetable" offered is corn or tomato...corn is a grain, and tomato is a fruit (though for trade purposes was long ago classified as a vegetable). The tomato is otherwise still considered a fruit when not dealing specifically with United States tariffs. Very sad!

Now, to be fair, I have not witnessed what is actually served at the school cafeteria. But when "tossed salad" is on the menu, I cannot help but envision iceberg lettuce, unripe tomato wedges, and possibly a bit of shredded carrot before the inevitable avalanche of creamy dressing. Maybe that's not the case, but if not, I cannot imagine many kids choosing the salad, which would negate the purpose of offering it, right?

Oh, and potatoes. The starchy vegetable that unfortunately still counts as a vegetable serving, be they baked, or battered & deep-fried & served with sweetened ketchup or butter. Thankfully they are usually baked or roasted wedges, so another plus for our local school at least.

And "savory carrots"? Does that mean cooked with butter & sugar? I dunno. But really, how many times can you get away with serving carrots in a month? How about some variety, like squash or sweet potatoes (without the marshmallows, please!).

I still have scary daydreams about passing by the brownish "green peas" and "green beans" in the lunch line as a child (I only bought lunch on pizza days, but I liked buying the 15 cent ice pops). I wonder if they still look like that?

Is it really that helpful if you serve a whole wheat roll with the bacon cheese burger? (Yes, that's really on the school menu this week.) Or crispy fish & cheese? Ack. And American chop suey sounds so exotic, until the time I learned (when someone brought it to my mother after my father died, after asking if she liked Chinese food) that it's macaroni with ground beef, peppers and soy sauce?!

So what I'm saying is, at a glance, the menu actually looks "okay" in comparison to what my public school served when I was a kid. But I think the real issue lies not with what is being served at school, but what is being offered at home. Schools are ultimately faced with the challenge of working within government guidelines (as heavily weighted towards the dairy and beef industry lobbies as they are), while providing a meal that kids might actually eat. If suddenly offered healthier fare at school, I bet many kids would simply go home hungry, or start packing their own pb&fluff and Capri-Suns from home. In my opinion--because I know that's all it is--parents need to refuse to purchase excess processed, packaged & junk foods in the first place. But then, they may as well pack their kid a lunch...

Can they at least ditch the sweetened strawberry & chocolate milks?! That'd be a good start. Goodness forbid a child not drink their friggin' milk. Zoiks.
FYI, all this info is available to the general public on our school's website...I'm definitely not making it up!

Restaurant Review: Big Fresh

Big Fresh Cafe - Framingham, MA

It may not look like
much on the outside,
but in my opinion this
is the best restaurant
in our town. What
better way to kick off
what I hope will be some
mouth watering restaurant
reviews.

Located in a strip mall, across the street from McDonald's and Bugaboo Creek steakhouse, near Walmart and route 9, is this fabulous restaurant that strives to bring wholesome local New England grown foods to its customers.

The menu is delicious, with falafel wraps, asian curry dishes and stir-fries, salads and sides of locally grown vegetables. In the foyer is a bulletin board that often changes, highlighting different local farms. And in addition to daily specials, there is a blackboard telling what local ingredients are available and which farm they came from.

The New England growing
season isn't as long as in
other areas of the country,
but last week in May the
first local produce had
arrived--spring asparagus!
Later in the season this
board will be crammed with
a list of local food items.

Another thing I love about this restaurant is the open kitchen--you can watch your food being prepared, and during slower hours socialize with the staff. However, at 1pm on a tuesday, the place was packed with a line of people waiting to place lunch orders.

I was craving a falafel
hummus wrap, my usual.
My husband often orders
something different, but
ends up stealing some of
mine for a few tastes, so
this visit we ordered
the same thing. Delish!

Check out the Big Fresh website for their menu, catering menu, or to learn about the restaurant's various community connections.
Or stop in for a healthy lunch or dinner before heading out with your date to the Framingham 16 cinema, Shopper's World, or Natick Collection mall.