Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda Kroetsch, owner of the Living Cafe in Steveston.
Kroetsch, an Ontario native, recalls being sick for her entire childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. She suffered from abdominal pain, bloating, and discomfort, and found that if she ate anything within five hours of retiring at night, she would have such severe heartburn that the only way to sleep was propped up with pillows in a sitting position.
After consulting with numerous specialists, she was misdiagnosed with anemia, Chrohn's disease, acid reflux disease, and irritable bowel syndrome, and following the advice of the various medical professionals she saw proved unsuccessful.
Kroetsch has a petite frame, but about five years ago, her weight fell to a dangerous 80 pounds. She began suffering from severe anxiety and panic attacks with no apparent triggers. Upon the advice of her holistically minded chiropractor, she sought the help of
a naturopath and discovered that she was actually suffering from celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed individuals.
When a celiac ingests gluten; a protein found in wheat, barley and rye; it triggers an immune response in the small intestine, resulting in symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, headaches, fatigue, acid reflux, and heartburn. Over time, the reaction produces inflammation that damages the small intestine's lining, preventing nutrient absorption.
The celiac disease diagnosis signaled a new beginning for Kroetsch. She discovered that her digestive system was so out of balance that she needed to go on a full elimination diet to determine which foods she could and could not eat. She subsisted on puréed cooked vegetables (what she refers to as baby food), bone broth that was simmered for a full two days before drinking, and slowly reintroduced foods to test what she could tolerate.
As a celiac, Kroetsch found it challenging to find restaurants that could accommodate her critical dietary requirements.
Eating in Vancouver was a little easier, but the options in Richmond were next to none; therefore, the natural thing to do was to open a gluten and peanut-free restaurant close to her home. Her father had owned a vegetarian
restaurant in Ontario, so with his help, they started the Living Cafe in August of 2013. The Living Cafe began as a quick-serve eatery, offering sandwiches, salads, smoothies and fresh juices.
However, as word spread, things quickly evolved and Kroetsch's vision blossomed.
"As a celiac, I know that dining out with friends and family can be a potentially dangerous hit-and-miss experience, much like walking through a field of hidden land mines.
"I wanted to create a place where dining isn't complicated and where food can bring people together like it is supposed to, not segregate them. I started wondering how can we create a menu that genuinely accommodates as many people as possible?" What Kroetsch has come up with is a menu that features organically-inspired gluten and peanut-free foods with raw, vegan, vegetarian, and Paleo-Friendly (e.g. Caveman: higher protein, lower carbohydrate, grain-free) options.
After chatting for a while, Kroetsch brought me a menu and showed me the range of items that the restaurant offers. I started off with a cold infused iced coffee, featuring sustainably grown, fairly traded, and locally roasted Mogiana coffee from a farm in Brazil; house made almond milk; and coconut sugar water (the Living Cafe does not use any refined sugars).
As we continued chatting, we nibbled on perfectly seasoned kale chips with glutenfree tamari and dulse flakes. I ordered the Butternut Squash "Spaghetti": sauteed
butternut squash spirals, sweet peppers, spinach, carrots and a mild coconut curry sauce, and supplemented it with an order of grilled free-range, organic chicken breast. Kroetsch, who for so many years could not enjoy traditional breakfast fare in restaurants, ordered the Living Cafe's version of a traditional breakfast: two eggs with turkey bacon, sweet browns (hash browns made with sweet potatoes and yams) and toast, gluten-free of course.
As we ate and continued chatting, she shared the importance of creating a sustainable restaurant that strives to source locally. For example, organic, hormoneand antibiotic-free, grass-fed beef is from Blue Goose Cattle Company, whose ranch is in the South Caribou; free-run organic eggs are from Rabbit River Farms located in Richmond; hormone-and antibiotic-free specialty chicken is from Farmcrest Foods in Salmon Arm; wild fish is from Hillis Brothers Fishing, a local family-owned and operated fishing vessel that can be found at the Steveston Fisherman's Wharf; and organic produce is supplied by Richmond's own Cherry Lane Farms and Urban Edibles, or sourced from Discovery Organics.
The Living Cafe also grows some of its own herbs and vegetables in its window boxes and tower gardens.
The Living Cafe's one year anniversary
is soon approaching and Kroetsch is thrilled with the great reception the cafe has received so far. As we were wrapping up, she shared with me the greatest misconception about the cafe that she would like to correct.
The Living Cafe serves a variety of delicious organic juices, but it is not just a juice bar. I t is a full-service restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It hosts inspiring events, offers event space rental, provides gluten-free catering and event planning, offers cooking and food preparation classes, retails popular glutenfree items, and provides gallery space for local artists to display and sell their work.
Furthermore, the cafe has applied for and is awaiting its liquor licence, and Kroetsch's next goal is "to open a co-op to give customers the opportunity to order ingredients when the cafe does. This will not only increase the cafe's purchasing power, but allow customers access to desired products at a reasonable price...a win-win situation."
The Living Cafe is located in Steveston Village: 240-12240 Second Ave., (2nd floor above the Beat Merchant and Outpost Mini Donuts).
Here is the Living Cafe's recipe for gluten-free spaghetti:
