Where Zen Meets Passion
Written: Dec 23 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent food; clean; wonderful ambiance; great products.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: The Longevity Cafe is a wonderful place to eat healthfully in a terrific environment.
|
|
|
| jo.com's Full Review: The Longevity Cafe |
After going on a Tour of Santa Fe we ate at The Longevity Cafe‘, Emporium & Gallery.
Details about this delightful Cafe‘
The Longevity Cafe‘ is located at 112 W. San Francisco Street in Santa Fe. This is right along the Plaza however it is not a restaurant you will easily see. We were looking for a vegetarian restaurant. If you are not you may walk by the sign so take down the address. They are open Sunday through Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Alcohol is not served. There is wheelchair accessibility. MasterCard, Visa and American Express are accepted. There is some street parking and lots. This is a city so you may not be able to park right in front of the building.
The Longevity Cafe‘, Emporium & Gallery considers itself a Zen style Teahouse and Cafe‘. Their items are geared to a healthy lifestyle. It is owned by Prana LLC and operated by Yukiko Amaya and Jordan Minkin who have backgrounds in the healing arts.
The decor, service, and food:
If you are a child of the 60s, vegetarian or just like the ambiance of a healthy restaurant you will love The Longevity Cafe‘. The first feeling I had when I walked in was “Why don’t we have one of these in my town?” If you have shopped in a health food store you may have gotten the same feeling. For me it is one where I really know I will be eating a healthy meal. That feels good to me. I was struck by the shining cleanliness of the restaurant. Everything sparkled from the floors to the tables to the glass windows with terrific views. High ceilings and beautiful art are an addition to what is already a nice place to be.
In spite of the actual physical size of the restaurant (It isn’t tiny nor is it huge; there is a lot of space however.) there are not a lot of tables. There are enough. On this particular late in the afternoon day there were several tables taken. There are also stuffed chairs and coffee tables at which to relax, read a book or sip tea. I immediately wanted to look at all the beautiful items on display and for sale but my husband dragged me away and asked if we could eat first.
You’ll find a counter where you will order your food and then sit down and someone will bring it over. The day we were there the young women were very nice, personable and answered our questions about the various foods. I was especially interested in one of their products which I will mention later. I was told all about it.
There is a small display at the corner of the counter that houses small snack items such as sesame crunch bars (organic) and organic licorice.
Their entire select (small) menu can be seen at www.longevity.com. However since it is small I will list many of the items and tell you what we got and what I thought of the food.
Their soup of the day is $3.50.
You can get Organic Teriyaki Chicken Bowl with Hormone-Free Chicken, Organic Rice, Broccoli, Edamame, Carrots, Cabbage, Peas, Green Onion, Teriyaki Sauce (all mostly organic, depending on availability) for $6.50.
Or you can choose the Organic Brown Rice Tofu Bowl has Tofu, Fresh Green Peas, Carrots, Edamame, Cabbage, Ginger Sesame Soy Sauce for $ 6.50. You can also get quiches of the day served with Organic 3 Bean Salad for$4.95. They serve fresh apple juice and spiced apple cider for $2.00 for 16 ounces.
My husband got a half liter bottle of Fiji Artesian water which costs $1.50.
I had to try one of their Elixirs which I will talk about a bit more because I bought a bottle. I chose Longevity Tonic which claims to replenish jing, recharge the immune system, rebuild stamina, and lengthen life for $3.95. I got it iced (It can be made hot.) and added a protein power boost for $1.00. It was delicious but at $4.00 for a 16-ounce glass it is a bit pricey. If you can afford one of these wonderful drinks, I really recommend trying them. An Elixir is a Chinese Herbal Formula. The Longevity Cafe‘ serves them at full potency rather than watered down and adds natural fruit concentrates. It tasted juicy! You may think it sounds weird and will taste weird. It tastes different. It isn’t a Diet Coke and with the protein powder it was a bit thicker than it is without the boost.
I got the Organic Pad Thai which came with tofu, rice noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, basil, peanuts and vegetarian sauce. This dish cost $6.50. It was a decent size. It wasn’t huge but not small. I easily finished it. I would have loved a piece of rice bread (even with the noodles) so you might want to start with soup if you are really hungry. I found the tofu fresh (You can tell when it is not both by the smell and consistency, the rice noodles were cooked perfectly and the blend of the vegetables, peanuts and sauce was really very good. It was not spicy which I asked about before I ordered it. It had a bit of a tang but I wouldn’t call it spicy. It was a light sauce which, in my opinion it should be.
My husband got a few things. He got the Seaweed Cucumber Salad. This is a vegan salad made with ginger, soy and kelp dressing for $3.95. He loves trying new foods and thought this was good though I know he could have eaten more of it. I don’t like seaweed so I didn’t try it. I did eat some of his Organic Edamame (Steamed Soybeans) for $3.25. I eat these at home all the time.
If you have never tried them you must! You will find them frozen in the health food section of your grocery store (If you have a Wild Harvest Section as we do; or if you actually have a healthy food store like Trader Joe’s, which we don’t). Just steam them and add salt. You’ll take the soybeans out of the shell. The Longevity Cafe‘ made them just the way I like them. They weren’t too steamed (I often eat them frozen from the bag!) or droopy and they were lightly salted. We ended up ordering another dish of them for dessert!
Since he was really just getting a salad and soybeans he decided to go with a Luncheon Croissant which came with spinach feta, green chile and cheese, tomato, black olive and onion for $3.95. This is a hand rolled sandwich. Again this wasn’t a huge sandwich but the combination of his three got him full! I hate olives but I did take a small piece and pulled out the olives and thought it delicious. I love feta, green chile (not hot) and onion so without the olives it was excellent. The croissant was flakey and I am sure freshly baked or baked and frozen. It was good!
Their pies are made with organic flour, enriched with herbs, sweetened with honey or raw can crystals. You can add ice cream or rice dream for $1.00. Their Magic Blackberry, Apple Cranberry Palmetto and Radical Blueberry Blaster cost $3.95. You can also get vegan muffins for $2.25.
Their Events and Products:
The Longevity Cafe‘ has special events such as "Sacred Geometry - Labryinths and Mandalas" by local artists Carlos Smith and Cara Lee as well as galleries and art shows.
I could now look around. There is a separate room next to the Cafe‘ where you will find jewelry, clothes and accessories but I first looked at the wonderful variety of tea, kettles, oils (not to eat) and books. They sell vitamins, New Zealand Manuka honey, Elixirs (as I mentioned) and Tonics.
All their tonics, elixirs, and herbal formulations are thoroughly researched, hand-selected, personally tested and found to be simply the best products available. (According to the menu and website.)
I bought a bottle of one of the Elixirs. It is very expensive but concentrated. One bottle costs $21.00 for 12 ounces but I only used one ounce per 8-ounce glass either in hot or iced water. It was hard for me to decide which one to buy. I have finished my bottle and now that I am reviewing the cafe‘ may just order another bottle. I’ll try another type though I liked what I got which was the Power Plant “for a quick healthy charge and an extra shot of instant energy.”
Others include: (from the website)
Mighty Joe Yang™ - Feel the blood flow with this classic Men’s Virility Tonic - $ 3.45.
Depth Recharger™ - A tonic to renew and replenish the deep substance of life (jing/essence) - $ 2.95
Virtual Buddha™ - Elation by the glass. Opens the heart to relax and energize at the same time. - $ 2.95
Blues Buster™ - Banish the Blues, allow the light to open the heart. - $ 3.45
The Silk Thread™ - Release tension and find balance during times of hormonal inequities. - $ 3.45
Mind over Muddle™ - Clear the mind with this formula for clarity, memory and concentration. - $ 2.95
Ginseng Zinger™ - Get primed for the fight, add zip to your step with extra energy and clarity. - $ 3.45
Yin From The Cold™ - Redouble the body’s natural defenses with this great cold and flu killer. - $ 2.95
There are many more. I just wanted to give you a sample. If you are interested in buying any of these (I do not own any part of this store.) the ingredients and a general description are on the website.
I did not buy anything else (except a sesame crunch energy bar) but you can buy various necklaces from $12 to $44; various types of soaps and other unusual items that you might not see elsewhere.
Jo’s Final Thoughts
Well if you can’t figure out that I loved The Longevity Cafe‘ I will tell you that I loved it here. I loved eating here; I loved the food; the people; the ambiance; the products and the cleanliness.
Unless the food sounds horrible to you and you don’t want to experiment, then stay away but otherwise, give it a try. It is children friendly, though you will have to watch little ones since there are breakable items around. Enjoy!
I am keeping track of the reviews I am writing chronicling our 3-month cross country trip. Please feel free to leave a question or comment about this review, any below or traveling cross country. jo
Applebee's in Ohio
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky
Bella NotteThis is a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky
Buckstaff Bathhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas
Bicentennial Mall State Park in Nashville, TN
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN
Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN
National Civil Right Museum in Memphis, TN
Graceland in Memphis, TN
Rum Boogie Cafe in Memphis, TN
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma
Oklahoma City National Memorial
ABout About Tour in Santa Fe, NM
Souper Salad in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Petroglyph National Monumentin Albuquerque, New Mexico
Petrified Forest National Forestin Arizona
Slide Rock State Park in Arizona
Taste of Thai a San Diego restaurant
Handlery Hotel in San Diego, CA
Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, CA
Kan Zam restaurant in San Francisco, CA
Polker Gourmet Burgers in San Francisco
Holiday Inn Express in San Francisco, CA
Las Margaritas in San Francisco, CA
Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma, CA
Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley, CA
The Coffee Gardenin Sonoma, CA
Antelope Island State Park in Salt Lake City, Utah
Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota
Badlands in South Dakota
Montreal Holcaust Museum in Canada
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jo.com
|
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 - Top 10 |
|
Member: Jo
Location: On a bluff overlooking the ocean.
Reviews written: 1660
Trusted by: 1169 members
About Me:
Spent one glorious day on the beach. The sun came out!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.