Everyone needs to visit the Leafy Greens Cafe in the St. Petersburg, Florida area. It's a great place to take your cooked food friends as well as the seasoned raw foodist. I went with a friend of mine who hasn't tried any kind of gourmet raw foods and she loved every dish!

 

The ambiance was very soothing and the music that was playing was relaxing. The cafe has a small raw food pantry section where you can purchase products like nut butters, cacao powder, and some handy kitchen tools. The inside seating of the cafe is small but cozy. The tables were covered with fine white table clothes and fresh flowers.
 

I wanted to order everything on the menu because it all looked so good but we settled on a some of the most popular items. We started off with a chocolate smoothie drink and a mango sunburst iced tea. The chocolate drink reminded me of a pudding and the iced tea had a hint of mango taste and was very refreshing.

 

We moved onto the Asian Salad which consisted of a variety of crispy and juicy veggies including cabbage, bok choy, celery, snow peas and topped off with mung bean sprouts. It was served with a spicy ginger-tahini dressing that was incredibly tasty. The only thing that would make the salad have a little more Asian flair is something like spicy crushed Cashews or wild jungle peanuts. It had black sesame seeds on it though which I guess is good enough. All in all the salad had a perfect balance of textures and flavors and the half portion was easily enough for 2-3 people.

 

 

The Mediterranean Pizza was outstanding. The crust was made out of walnuts, hemp seeds and seasonings which was then layered with a creamy cashew hummus, olive tapenade, shredded fennel, cubes of cucumbers, ripe grape tomatoes and sliced green olives. It tasted more like a rye open faced sandwich than a pizza and the simple corn salsa that was served on the side was bursting with delicious flavors and creaminess from the diced avocados.

 

We ordered a dish off Leafy Greens daily specials. It was the Zucchini Pesto. The pesto sauce made the dish. Most likely a blend of olive oil, walnuts/pine nuts, basil, lemon juice, salt and oregano. We basically drowned the zucchini "pasta" with the yummy sauce. It tasted better than cooked pasta and just as filling. The pasta was topped with some cheesy crumbles, cherry tomato halves, sliced olives and a fresh basil leaf.

 

At this point we were pretty much stuffed from all the delicious food but couldn't resist getting the Real Deal sandwich. The name says it all and it really was the real deal. This sandwich was adopted by the Sabrina sandwich from the Grass Root Organic Restaurant in Tampa. The Real Deal was filled to the top with a raw cashew hummus, chopped romaine lettuce, sprouts, halved grape tomatoes and every raw foodies favorite... guacamole! All of this was then wrapped in a crepe like dehydrated onion bread. The onion bread was made out of sweet yellow and red onions, sunflower seeds and nama shoyu (unpasteurized soy sauce).  The onion bread tasted like caramelized onions and the cashew hummus made everything complete. The sandwich was over-sized and messy to handle but we finished it fairly quick. This was one of our top savory picks from the dishes we tried.

At every raw food restaurant/cafe the best dishes are usually the desserts. I always save room for dessert or take it to go if I'm overly stuffed and then eat it in the car. hehe

 

The chocolate coconut macaroons were really out of this world. I am putting this dessert as one of my most favorite raw food desserts that I have tried over the years. It was served right out of the dehydrator and was still warm in the middle. The dense middle reminded me of a warm chocolate souffle cake and the outer part was crunchy from the coconut flakes. The chocolate drizzle was divine and the raspberries added a nice sweet fruity flavor to the rich chocolate dessert. I highly recommend you order this!

 

The cobbler was also nice. The filling was made from fresh blended mangoes on a bed of chewy crumbles which was made from nuts, dates and spices. It was rather simple but hit the sweet spot. It was presented in a bold black bowl and topped with a fresh raspberry and a fresh mint leaf.

 

We even got one of their famous ice creams. They have chocolate, chocolate-peanut butter, pineapple, vanilla, raspberry, coconut, strawberry and mango. We chose the strawberry one. It was ultra creamy with a bursting strawberry flavor. The base of the ice cream was banana and nut milk. It's really like eating strawberry soft serve ice cream. The ice cream was garnished with a sliced strawberry and a mint leaf which added another depth of flavor and texture.

 

Thank you to owner Denise Becknell and her wonderful staff at Leafy Greens for preparing such a lovely meal and the friendly hospitality. We'll be back!

 Pros: Reasonable Prices
            Great Service
            Delicious Food
            Beautiful Presentation

Cons: If you don't live in Florida then you cant savor the yumminess. :)

 

Leafy Greens Cafe
1431 Central Avenue
St. Petersburg, FL. 33705

Phone: 727-289-7087

Hours of Operation:
Tu-Th 11am to 7pm, Fri-Sat 11am to 8pm, Sunday 11-5

 

Photos taken by Alex Malinsky & Katie Galloway