As you might have ascertained from my Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest pages, I am a vegan and gluten-free eater. Now, a HUGE DISCLAIMER: this does not mean that I promote or encourage my patients/clients to be vegan or – especially – gluten-free unless there is a medical need for it (e.g. food allergy, food intolerance, health side effects, etc.). If someone is looking to be vegan or gluten-free just because that means they have an excuse to avoid eating those cookies (for example) they so much enjoy, I would say to take a serious look at the reasons and motivations behind it.
Being vegan and/or gluten-free does not work for everyone. But it works for me, and yes – I do have medical needs for both. It has created great challenges when I eat out, and I do miss certain foods (most notably, cheese!), but my body is so much happier.
But people often ask me: “What do you eat? There’s nothing for you to eat!”
My answer: “I eat food.” Tons of food is naturally both vegan and gluten-free – in particularly fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts, beans, etc. There is an endless variety of food that is entirely plant-based. Yes, I occasionally miss a few specific things like cheese (I used to be borderline obsessed with cheese), but honestly, I don’t miss everything else and I actually feel like I will never be able to eat all the vegan and gluten-free food that is out there.
Case in point: ChocolaTree in Sedona, Arizona. Sedona very quickly became one of my favorite places to travel to when I need to get away from the concrete jungle that is New York City. The immense and mysterious rock formations and endless hiking trails in and surrounding Sedona make this little town a destination I cannot wait to return to – and I literally just got back from a trip there a couple of weeks ago!
And while I was there, I visited ChocolaTree, an “organic vegetarian marketplace garden & eatery” as they call themselves. Located on the relatively busy main road that runs through downtown Sedona, ChocolaTree offers a menu that is entirely grain-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, and has both vegetarian and vegan options. There is a very zen feel to dining there, sitting in the indoor dining area but especially in the outdoor garden area, and the food just seems to connect you with the earth even more than the ambiance does.
I love that they can provide half-portion orders for most of their entrées so that you can either have a smaller meal for your visit or, as I did, order more items! Not knowing if I was going to have time to come back for another dinner, I got two half-size entrées and a side.
I have become a sucker for anything and just about everything made out of corn. So when I saw that there was the Elote Bliss Corn Chowder on the menu, I knew I needed to get that. The Three-Bean Chili also called my name rather strongly, so I got half orders of both. The Nori Chips sounded like an excellent accompaniment to my two soup/stew entrées, and they absolutely were. Topped with vegan cheese and dehydrated, they made for a super crunchy, lightly salty chip that was satisfying to bite into.
The Elote Bliss was slightly sweet from the fresh sweet corn creamy, and very creamy, such that it might make you question if it was truly vegan. I was assured that it was. There were also finely chopped pieces of Yukon gold potatoes about the same sizes as the kernels of corn that made for an even consistency. As for the Three-Bean Chili, the mix of vegetables, herbs, and spices was accentuated by the dollop of guacamole, making it a delicious combination of complementary flavors. (I ended up taking half of the chili to go because I couldn’t finish it all, and when I reheated it the next day for a snack, my hotel room smelled SO GOOD for quite some time.)
A couple of days later, I decided to come back to ChocolaTree to have something from their breakfast offerings. I went with their Classic Waffle – something simple and uncomplicated. It came with a dollop of macadamia nut butter, which was super creamy and almost dairy-like in flavor and texture, and some maple syrup. Yes, I probably should have gotten something with more protein than just the buckwheat-based waffle, but it actually was so filling on its own that I ate three-fourths of it and had to take the rest of it to go. Yum yum yum.
Seriously, this is going to be one of the first places I make sure to go to the next time I am in Sedona (which hopefully will be next spring).