Toronto's Live

Restaurant: Live
Where: Toronto, Canada
Stars: 3.5/5
Price: $$

Summary: Cafe style joint, with uber healthy options for raw and cooked vegans alike. A number of different options, flavors could be stronger.

The newest fad in vegetarianism is 'live' or 'raw' food. This is food that is not cooked. At all. In fact it's sprouted most of the time so that there is a huge amount of enzymes and nutrients in the food.
The idea is that in today's world we overcook our foods so much that all the vitamins and nutrients have depleted and we're left with 'dead food'. So many people are starting to eat Raw, in the belief that it's healthier and gives your more energy.

I've had raw food before, so I knew what I was getting myself into when I walked into Live. The great thing about live though, is that it also has cooked options, for those who don't want to venture in 'enzyme' land. It's a casual restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere.

Everything about the menu at Live is healthy. You can binge and still feel good. It has some interesting variety of dishes from sushi to brushetta to stroganoff. I ordered the raw tacos with a side of tempeh, and well it tasted like ... raw tacos. The shells were made from sprouted seads and nuts and pressed together to make a shell. It was filled with guacamole and veggies.

It was good don't get me wrong. But it was missing something. I wanted more flavor. I wanted something to jump out at me. But then maybe that's the thing with raw food. It's a different mindset altogether from sinful, oily, buttery, warm dishes. So you have to be prepared.

The funny thing about raw food is that it fills you up. There's a lot of prep work that goes into the food, and all the nuts, the sprouting, the nutrients really make you feel full, even if its just a bunch of veggies on a sead crust.

To be fair, I've only been to raw once, so I haven't had the chance to taste too many of their dishes. I did have dessert (of course) which was delicious and moist and cakey - my favorite so it made up for my so-so taco experience.

Live does seel a bunch of their own packaged foods which is cool. So...to live or not live, that is the question. I say, if you're on a health kick and want something filling but simple in flavor, definitely go.