Category — Restaurant

After kayaking in Point Reyes’ Drake’s Estero, an awesome bay full of hundreds of birds, wildlife, seals and more, my boyfriend and I tried some cool organic places on our way home from Marin.

Our first stop was at Point Reyes Station, a tiny cute village at the southern end of Tomales Bay, next to Point Reyes national seashore. We found a wonderful store called Toby’s Feed Barn, and inside were local and organic produce, honeys, grains, and even organic animal feed for ranchers in the area. Next to the barn was an organic coffee and tea shop and a yoga center. On Saturdays, this barn hosts the only all local, all certified organic produce market in the Bay Area sponsored by Marin Organic. Toby’s is located on Main Street in Point Reyes Station.

Our next stop going home was in Fairfax, another lovely town in Marin County, but much bigger than Point Reyes Station. We stopped downtown and passed a slew of yoga, alternative medicine, and funky clothing shops. But the best thing we found was Lydia’s Lovin Foods, an organic vegetarian restaurant with live and cooked foods. The decor was warm, the waitress very friendly and food was fast. We tried the Ocean Friendly Nori Roll, filled with sprouted almont pate, avocado, cucumber, lettuce wrapped in nori. Vivek got a detoxing special soup made out of cucumber, celery, and more. He also got a side of very Green Salad–this is the way a salad should be, not like the one in Flea Street Cafe. This salad was fresh, tasty, and had a great flavor (We tried the tahini ginger dressing). The cucumber soup and Nori roll really hit the spot. I’d definitely recommend this place; apparently other people have already, it’s won awards last year for best vegetarian and vegan cuisine and best caterer.

You’ve also probably seen Lydia’s sold at Whole Foods, Rainbow Grocery and other health food stores. They’re known for their raw and sprouted cookies and crackers. I definitely think this is worth trying. Lydia’s is in Fairfax, located at 31 Bolinas Road.

I always wanted to try Flea Street Cafe in Menlo Park. The owner, JZ Cool, had built a series of restaurants, including the Cool Cafe at one of my favorite museums in the Bay Area, the Cantor Center at Stanford with a beautiful outdoor Rodin sculpture garden, and JZCoolEatery in downtown Menlo Park.

With my boyfriend last Friday night, we decided to go to Flea Street. Once we stepped inside, the decor felt quite homey, and service quite fast and good. We were excited to see a variety of local and organic food, and Vivek ordered a heirloom tomato fettucine (see picture) while I tried the corn seasonal soup, baby lettuce salad, and red beat harley farms goat cheese ravioli.

Out of all of these, my red beat harley farms ravioli was the most original, beautifully presented and tasty. Unfortunately, the local baby lettuce salad was quite horrible. I definitely could have made a better salad at home. Inside the salad were leaves that reminded me of weeds, the least tasty and dry lettuce leaves I have tasted in awhile. In fact, it tasted like it came out of bag. Vivek’s fettucine was so-so, but felt like it wasn’t worth the price at $19. I also felt like they did not have a lot of vegetarian entree options, which made me opt for a series of appetizers.

I think I’d go back for lunch or brunch, but not back for dinner. Of note are special farmer dinner series where you can meet the local farm workers and eat their fresh produce. Otherwise, it was a mixed review–Greens Restaurant in SF makes salads that are definitely better than this. Located on 3607 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park.

Last Thursday I went back to an organic restaurant called Sirayvah Organic Thai in San Carlos. The food presentation and organic selection was not bad. Note not everything is organic, but they used organic tofu, rice, vegetables and had a good assortment of teas and wines. Since I’m vegetarian, I tried a veggie Pad See Ew and Penang Curry with a friend Amanda, who is trying to open healthy lifestyle restaurant herself. The food came out fast, the flavor good and service very nice. The only thing I have to complain about is the prices–definitely more expensive than the usual Thai. But if you’re willing to spend a little more, I’d say give this place a try. Located on 366 El Camino Real, San Carlos.

As a long time vegetarian, there are few places like Greens. The view of the Golden Gate bridge, a cool funky converted Fort Mason building, and organic food mainly from Marin’s Green Gulch Farm.

You can also take a nice hike in the Marin Headlands and walk through the farm, Green Gulch, where the organic produce from Greens comes from. There is a zen monastery, and a walk to the coastline, and a forest. Walking on the Green Gulch trail to the ocean and through a loop in Marin is one of the best in the area.

Pro: Great view, fresh local organic food, cool room, easy free parking lot in Fort Mason

Con: Not good for meat eaters, too pricey for dinner (brunch is reasonable)