First time restaurateur Mohit Bulchandani wants to bust the myth that healthy food can’t be delicious. The meat-eater who turned vegan last year, recently launched Seeds of Life (SOL), a café offering healthier options of everything from pasta, pizza to desserts. The 27-year-old felt that the city lagged behind when it came to healthy, vegan or gluten-free options. “Also, most [of the restaurants offering healthy options] are priced on the higher side and eating healthy is a lifestyle which you need to sustain, so we consciously worked on keeping the prices low,” he tells us. What we love the most about SOL though is their absolute refusal to use refined sugar, refined flour or any processed products. Everything, including the bread, is made fresh every day.
The interiors, designed by Sumessh Menon and Associates, make for a refreshing set-up with textured white walls, and chairs and pretty botanical print upholstery. The menu offers something for everyone, there are wraps, burgers, pizzas, pasta, risotto, smoothie bowls (which Bulchandani tells us are a crowd favourite), sandwiches and breakfast options too. And nothing is deep-fried at SOL. Or you could just order a cup of organic coffee, with a vegan and gluten-free chocolate tart (₹275), decadent enough to make you ditch the usual variants.
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Bulchandani explains that he wanted to incorporate different cuisines in the menu as well, and not just have modern plates made with healthy ingredients. For example, the entrées includes the Mexican or Lebanese Bowl (₹525 each), which makes for a complete meal with portions of rice, veggies and dips like hummus and guacamole.
Vegans and gluten-intolerants are spoilt for choice with a range of pastas like the Carrot Arrabiata and Aglio Olio Zoodles (₹325 each). A single SOL wrap, with their generous portions, will fill up a huge appetite.
The herbed mock meat option called Phantom (₹325) is a popular option. We try Turn Up The Beet(₹275) a vegan wrap filled with sautéed veggies, pickled beetroot, baked falafel, and sweet potato fries with hummus and harissa.
As for SOL’s smoothies, there’s the Go Bananas with Maca (₹200), a thick and deliciously smooth drink made with banana, dates, cinnamon, and maca blended with almond milk. Our favourite pick from their menu is the Green Goddess pizza (₹450). SOL offers a base option of wholewheat or rajgira for its pizzas, and we try the latter option.
The result is a thin crisp base with loads of flavour from rajgira that works surprisingly well for a pizza base. Topped with basil pesto, avocado, asparagus, zucchini, capsicum and arugula, this dish is enough to feed two. And just in case you are craving something sweet, try the SOIL vegan ice cream like the Avocado Pistachio (₹275).
With simple yet flavour-packed innovative and healthy dishes, SOL is ideal for vegans or the calorie conscious.
Seeds of Life,Vora House, Bandra West; time: 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.; phone:9653336089
