by Denise Christen
Healthy Planet Lifestyles Editor
Locally-owned nadoz Bakery + Cafe serves fresh, healthy and imaginative fast, casual food. Conveniently located at The Boulevard across from The Galleria next to Crate and Barrel, it was easy to park in the attached garage and has a welcoming, modern European atmosphere. Unique to nadoz, they offer a raw juice bar, which is a concept still fairly new to St. Louis, and offers all fresh fruits and seasonal vegetables juiced and made to order. I watched as the fresh ingredients were inserted whole into the juicer and the natural juice full of vitamins and goodness poured out. The balance of the fruit and vegetables complemented each other and I would not have guessed that I was drinking vegetables. This tasty disguise allows you to try different fruit and vegetable combinations than you may not normally eat, which will then fill you with a variety of different vitamins. Juicing helps your digestive system rest so that you can absorb a greater amount of nutrients from the vegetables, and allows you to consume the benefits of vegetables in a delicious way. nadoz has 8 different raw juice choices on their daily menu plus a special juice of the month. Their top seller is the “Mean Green” which combines kale, celery, apple and parsley. February’s juice of the month, called “beating heart-beet,” is red in honor of Valentine’s Day and contains – you guessed it! – fresh beets. Add some whey protein for that extra protein boost. Or choose to add it to a Fresh Fruit Smoothie which blends fresh fruit with milk or yogurt, combined with veggies and/or other natural ingredients.
The protein scramble is served in a small cast iron skillet and is very appealing not only to the eye but also to the palate. The egg whites in the dish keep it light, yet it is also very satisfying. The bread was hearty and full of seeds. Also noteworthy is their house made flax seed muffin and I look forward to trying the house made granola. I must admit, just about everything on the menu looked good to me and I delighted in planning my order upon my return. I was happy to see that my gluten free husband and daughter have many food choices including gluten free Savory Buckwheat Crepes and southwest quinoa salad.
Private event space for meetings, bridal and baby showers, and social parties is available at both The Boulevard and the original location in the historic Coronado hotel in Midtown. A third location is opening soon at Taubman Prestige Outlets in West County. www.nadozcafe.com.