Page 46 - Expert Issue 2015 (2)

Restaurant Review

True Food

…San Diego… Mission Valley… Fashion Valley

By Cynthia DiMattteo
You had me at the basil, rosemary and sage in the bathtub planters at the entrance…
and it just continued to get better as I entered the front door!
The thing that hit me next was how the space of True Food is so open, relaxed and
buzzing with a clean and exciting ambiance. It’s so green and clean and you can
smell the cucumber, grapefruit and fresh vegetable and fruit juices being squeezed
and served. This place has everything going on at once. The bar, as you walk in, is
crowded with health minded and culinary foodies like me that crave the “garden and
fruit tree to the table experience”.
They expect their juice and fresh squeezed cocktails to be plucked from the tree or
scooped from the garden, juiced and ready to drink within minutes! No concentrate or
reconstituted juice is EVER seen here! Thank you God!
Ok…ok, we need to get past the bar for heaven sakes - I need to taste that Cucumber
Estate Planning ▪ Probate ▪ Adoptions Martini I have been hearing about. We were seated and within seconds I had that
in front of me. Fresh
beauty sitting right
squeezed cucumber, pineapple, a splash of
St. Germain (a Ger- man Elderflower Liquor)
Trust Administration ▪ Trust Litigation and vodka and I was in mixology nirvana!
Seriously that cock- tail alone was one of the

Bolander Law Group provides exemplary legal services by best fusions I have ever had…and I have
primarily focusing on Trusts, Estate Planning, and Probate had quite a few - but we’re not counting here
cumber martini could be
are we? This cu-
Law. In addition, Bolander Law Group offers quality legal a match up to those sweet rosemary lemon
representation when dealing with Estate and Trust drops I made at my mother’s house over the
Administration, and Adoption. The practice's unique, personal holidays!
and attentive service gives clients peace of mind, a sense of My husband Bryan didn’t have a chance
menu before I had that
to even pick up his
safety and security, and safeguards families and assets. cocktail in my hand. Sorry, you just need to
know how to move around in these parts.
The attorneys and staff at Bolander Law Group are Ok… ok back to the menu… Bryan did get to
concoction. He chose
order his fresh juice
recognized for their compassionate, knowledgeable and the Bright Eyes (one of the most popular)
46 award-winning service. Pictured above are Bolander Law made with pear, ginger, beet, pineapple
Group’s attorneys, Lori Bolander and Rebecca Briskin.
and turmeric.
And tried the Chicken
Sausage Pizza with tomato, fennel and creamy fontina cheese. My daughter Alexa
had the Weekend Warrior (sounds like her) with apple juice, almond butter, flax, and
Bolander Law Group | 619.696.0667 | 619.330.1930 | low fat yogurt. She and I split the caramelized onion tart with smoked garlic, black fig
www.BolanderLawGroup.com and gorgonzola. Ok, so we couldn’t help it and had to order the edamame dumplings
served with daikon radish and white truffle oil and the shitake and tofu lettuce cups for
the table perfumed with fresh ginger and soy and the cashews for some crunch.
Oh and by the way all the food and drinks are categorized as gluten free (gf) vegetar-
ian (veg) or vegan (v) for ease of ordering and to fit every dietary palate. So it was
easy for my brother Charles, who is known as the Angry Vegan, to order. He started
with the Root & Remedy: beet, carrot, ginger, turmeric and lemonade. His food choice
was one I had guessed he would love - and he did. He ordered Andy’s favorite “TLT”:
tempeh, lettuce, tomato, avocado, veganaise and whole grain bread. He said it was
delicious (and he is hard to please). The smoky taste of the tempeh with the creami-
ness of the avocado and crunchiness of the crisp lettuce, and the juicy tomato made it
incomparably delicious!
I had my usual favorite, Mediterranean chopped salad: kale, cucumber, olive, feta,
red quinoa, baby cherry tomatoes, sprouted almonds served with lemon oregano
vinaigrette... Ok I’ll have to confess, I don’t always play by the rules so I ordered my
salad and the creamy horseradish vinaigrette on the side. It has to be one of the best
dressings I’ve had outside of my own culinary lab!!
I know, I know, you have been holding your breath for your favorite part of any meal…
the dessert - right? Well, I thought it weird but when I asked for the dessert menu
Danielle said they don’t serve dessert. What?? And she said, “Just kidding!!” Oh my,
the look on everyone’s faces was priceless! So there is definitely entertainment (a
must for this crowd!) ha-ha!
So drum roll and… dessert is on its way!! I can’t really help myself - I’m sure I speak
for the majority of you foodies out there...I went straight for the chocolate: Flourless
chocolate with 72% cocoa, (meaning its real chocolate no fillers!).Vanilla ice cream
made in house, almond butter and luscious caramel! I am NOT sharing! Let’s be
honest here, we just went down the list and ordered one of everything. So here’s the
line-up and I’ll tell you my favorites and recommendations. Super berry tart with sea
buckthorn, coconut whipped cream and pomegranate, Chia seed pudding with banana
and coconut, Pear date cake with walnut crumble, frozen Greek yogurt, Lemon ginger
low-fat frozen yogurt, ice cream & sorbet dairy-free vegan and seasonal flavors avail-
able. The flavors were Vanilla salted caramel and Chai chocolate with fresh pomegran-
ate seed sprinkle.
Yes of course I hate to sound so “expected” but yes, the chocolate cake and the fresh
sorbet were my favorites and I recommend them to anyone with a developed or under-
developed sweet tooth!
That’s it for now! Ciao!! Cinzia