Bondi Wholefoods- a new organic store now open

This morning I checked out Bondi Wholefoods on the corner of Hastings and Wairoa Ave in North Bondi. It's been opened a mere 2 weeks. I had a lovely chat with Suzanne, the owner, a glowing 35 year old who is pursuing her passion in "health and longevity" (alongside her property business). She's done a great job with the fit out (slick and simple in black and white), had the foresight to include a child-friendly courtyard where kids can play, read and draw while parents shop in peace (a much needed first in the Eastern suburbs), has a counter bench and indoor and outside tables for eat-in dining and has stocked her little store with reputable high quality brands including:

* Feather and Bone pastured meats (including Burrawong chicken) * Pasture Perfect bacon * Cleopatra bath milk and cream * Ovvio teas and spices * Canadian Way raw wild salmon

The produce (fruit and veg) is all certified organic but stocks were very low this morning as the delivery had not arrived. Her idea is to have a high turnover of produce to keep it fresh. The prices for the produce seemed very reasonable (eg potatoes for $1.50/kg!). I gather her philosophy is to keep the produce prices as low as possible and charge a little more for dairy which seemed at the high end (e.g. $9.95 for a bottle of Cleos. I pay $7.95 online at www.abundantorgnaics.com.au with a further discount on top if I spend over $100).

There is a lovely selection of imported cheeses. There were no 1kg sizes of the Alpine goats yogurt or the Meredith Sheeps milk yogurt but Suzanne tells me this is just a "supply issue." The larger sizes are far more economical. And of course there's all of the usual brands and  food items you would expect to find in organic stores- most of which I do not buy as they are too processed (certification means very little to me if the thing is still processed or toxic!), or I make them myself (eg activated nuts, chocolate, stock etc) or I buy in bulk at much cheaper prices (oils, vinegars, cheeses, spices, salmon etc).

The eat-in options are very grain-heavy (eg muesli, sandwiches, quiches) but there's a couple of salads and yogurt with berries.

The staff seemed friendly but apart from the owner I spared them from any tricky questions. Parking is often an issue on Wairoa street (but no more so than elsewhere around this neck of the woods- it's my one bug bear about the Eastern Suburbs!). Bondi Wholefoods has very long trading hours- open 7 days 7am-8pm.

I personally can't see myself being a frequent shopper at this store because its not geographically convenient for me - there's loads more organic stores that are more direct to where I live or drive to/from (eg Organic Paradise on Oxford Street, Bondi Health Emporium in South Bondi, Dr Earth in Oxford st mall, David Jones for pastured meat, online shopping etc). However if I lived close by I wouldn't hesitate to pop in especially for the produce or to have a coffee and read the paper.

So with Bondi Health Emporium in South Bondi, Earth Foods in central Bondi (on Gould Street) and Bondi Wholefoods in North Bondi, it seems that Australia's iconic beach suburb has got organics covered.

Have you been to Bondi Wholefoods yet? If so, what did you think??

Thrive! A new wholefoods eatery in the Sydney CBD

Today I had lunch at Thrive- a new take-away eatery in the MLC Centre  food court. It opened up a mere 1 week ago. And not a moment too soon. I have been lamenting the distinct absence of any type of remotely traditional wholefoods take-away eatery in the city for over a decade, thinking that this is an obvious gaping whole in the market and a cash cow for anyone who does it right. Sure, there are some great restaurants in the city that serve up fabulous traditional wholefoods fare (eg Felix French bistro and Rockpool are 2 of my favourites) but few of us could afford the time and money to eat at such places every week day. What is needed for city workers is a take-away establishment where you can have a quick affordable meal under $15 of the type that you and I would cook at home eg scrambled eggs for breakfast, and meat and vegetables or soups for lunch.

Enter Thrive.

I had the opportunity to speak to the owner, Josh, about his background and food philosophy. Josh has been eating a primal style diet for over a decade- well before most of us even know what that term meant. While Josh himself is grain free (like me) he tries to appeal to a broader market and offers some grains and legumes like brown rice, Brasserie sourdough bread, quinoa, chickpeas and cannellini beans.

Josh’s background is in high end designer retail brands so he brings much marketing and commercial experience to his new venture. If it takes off (and I think it will given that this place had the longest cue of all take-away eateries at the MLC today) then I won’t be surprised if Thrive turns into a franchise.

What I liked:

• Even though not all of the ingredients are “certified organic” (Josh explained that the meals would be unaffordable as take-away meals if he only used certified organic ingredients) Josh pursues clean unprocessed ingredients as much as possible eg free range eggs and chickens, free range bacon, sourdough breads, and the menu is low on grains. The focus is on meat, eggs and vegetables taking centre stage. Finally. (If there was some broth, organ meats and lacto-fermented veggies in there too, we’d really be talking).
• Coconut oil is used for cooking
• No industrial seed oils (eg vegetable oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, margarine  etc) are used
• Free filtered water is offered
• Sea salt is used in the cooking instead of table salt (but the small sachets on the counter are table salt so avoid those).
• The steak is pasture fed (grass is the ONLY things cows are biologically designed to eat).
• The only oil used in the salads is olive oil
• It’s affordable ($8.50 for scrambled egg breakfast with sides of wilted spinach, roasted tomato or brown rice. Other sides -  eg free range bacon, salmon, avocado, roasted veggies-  are additionally priced. I liked the fact that the eggs don’t automatically come with toast. You can ordered sourdough bread if you want to. The lunch bowl is $12.50 consisting of a choice of chicken, minute steak, salmon, roast veggies, eggs and fetta. All of the lunch bowls are served with either salad or brown rice)
• The steak and minute salad with onion jam that I ordered only took 5 minutes to prepare as it is cooked fresh and not pre-prepared

What I didn’t like or needs work:

• Macadamia nut oil and avocado oil are also used in the cooking. So the cooked foods are done with a blend of one or more of coconut oil, macadamia nut oil and avocado oil. You don’t have a choice as to what the food is cooked in.  I personally do not use macadamia nut oil and avocado oil and while I would venture to say that these oils are no where near as processed and toxic as the industrialized seeds oils I mention above, they would be much higher in mono and poly-unsaturated fats than the more desirable healthy saturated fats found in coconut oil and butter. As a result I don’t think that the oils in macadamia nut oil and avocado oil are as heat stable as coconut oil, butter and beef tallow. However on this occasion that didn’t stop me from ordering the salad with minute steak which is cooked in a combination of coconut oil and macadamia nut oil. What would be great is if people could ask for their meal to be cooked with a certain oil (eg coconut oil only) but I appreciate that with a fast food eatery the more streamlined processes are, the more efficient.
• Quality control needs a bit of work as a piece of salmon found its way into my friends minute steal and salad bowl.
• The grains, legumes and nuts are not properly prepared by long soaking to remove the phytates and other anti-nutrients found in all grains, legumes, seeds and nuts, so I would avoid these especially if you have any digestive issue. The exception to this is the bread which is sourdough (hence properly prepared through leavening).
• The menu is touted as “high protein, low carb”. Technically it’s not a high protein diet that we are biologically designed to eat. In fact high protein diets have their problems including digestive issues and weight gain. Calorie for calorie it’s actually high saturated fat from natural sources with moderate protein and low carb (carbs generally take up more volume on your plate though than protein and fats as the latter 2 are more calorically dense). However I think the world – at least the MLC Food Court- is not quite ready for “high saturated fat” signage just yet….regrettably
• Like any menu, you still need to pick and choose as there are things on there that I wouldn’t eat. For example:
  • grains/legumes – especially if not properly prepared;
  •  farmed salmon- toxic feed is fed to them;
  •  juices – not a wholefood and too high in fructose;
  •  smoothies made from pasturised milk or raw nut milks;
  • superfoods esp those containing protein powders- too processed and not a wholefood;
  •  sweeteners like agave syrup- too high in fructose.

Given the dearth of take-away places in the city that I would eat at I would certainly recommend this one and would happily eat there again. As I took my meal to venture outside to find a place in the sunshine to eat, my gaze fell upon IKU Wholefoods – the grain based vegetarian eatery- where I ate almost daily for 5 years when I worked as a corporate lawyer in the city. And at the time I thought that that food was healthy and that I was healthy. Boy, was I in slumberland. I glanced down at my pastured-fed minute steak and salad… and didn’t look back.

Have you been to Thrive yet? If so what did you think?? I’d love to hear from you.

Is your diet helping you to rise to the Challenge?

While I was out indulging in cheese purchasing at the markets, 8000 participants braved the wind and rain on Wednesday to compete in the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge - a 5.6km race around Centennial Park.

I would like to pay tribute to 2 runners who finished this event with awesome results. A friend Mike Conway, and my husband Grant Chamberlain, both 41 and both have super-intense long-hour jobs in stockbroking and investment banking respectively. They both eat a largely unprocessed traditional wholefoods diet and shun conventional sports "foods".

Mike finished the race in 19 minutes- his personal best- coming 32 out of 8000! Mike leads a running group in the city during lunch hours a few days a week.

Grant typically competes in longer-distance events (eg iron man). Nonetheless he finished at 23.42 minutes. As he said his result is nothing to rave home about compared to Mike's effort BUT what I think is important is that Grant was able to maintain the exact time he last ran that race 5 years ago, give or take a few seconds AND he only maanged to squeeze in a few training runs for this event AND he blew the doors off the much younger members of his work team who also competed.

This shows yet again that an unprocessed traditional wholefoods diet allows you to achieve stellar athletic results well past your 20s, into your 40s and be able to maintain your fitness without the need to pound the pavement on a daily basis.

I think both these men would agree that there is no way that they could have achieved these results and maintain their level of fitness on a conventional diet. Of course getting plenty of sleep and rest, managing stress, engaging in pleasurable activities, soaking up sunshine and breathing well also lay the foundation to our health and fitness. But a wholefoods diet is a "critical enabler" as Grant eloquently put it last night. Nail the diet and you'll be miles ahead of pack.

Well done guys!

For related blogs regarding diet and athletic performance click here, here and here.