Dallas Locals...

[Blu]

Hey there! Dallas is only a few hours away from me (i'm in central OK. off I-35),

Have any of you gone to Pure yet? the new raw food restaurant?

If so, how was it? Is it jumping with business? Is the food tasty? Do you think there is enough of a community to embrace it? (I am guessing there is).

I am just curious, and would love to hear more about it. :p

B.

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edited to get the name of the place right :o

[NoGMO!]

Hey there! Dallas is only a few hours away from me (i'm in central OK. off I-35),

Have any of you gone to Fresh yet? the new raw food restaurant?

If so, how was it? Is it jumping with business? Is the food tasty? Do you think there is enough of a community to embrace it? (I am guessing there is).

I am just curious, and would love to hear more about it. :p

B.


Blu,
I have not heard of Fresh.
Do you mean Pure? http://www.purerawcafe.com/
I ask because I was under the impression that this would be the first raw rest. in Dallas.

I'm not sure if they've opened yet.

[Blu]

Ah yes my mistake... Pure it is...

I thought they opened last week.. I could be mistaken :confused:

[Dandelion Girl]

I live in central Texas and can't wait to get up to Dallas to go to Pure Cafe. I ordered her home meals before she opened her cafe. They were really good. Her Asian salad is good and the enchiladas and pizza were great. I can't wait to try her ravioli and some of her other stuff. I didn't really like the Thai burritos, but that is probably because there is some ingredient in it that I didn't like. I only got to order her meals for a couple of weeks because I ran into financial difficulties, but I definitely recommend her food. Even with sending it through the mail, it still tasted great and was presented beautifully. I would love to hear about the cafe if you make it there before I do and any suggestions of things you like. Her food is well worth the price. They did open last week. I was there the week before they opened and was wishing it was a week later so that I could check it out.

[Punky]

I have been a customer of Cynthia's for years thru her weekly food delivery
menu.
I love all her food; never had anything I didn't like. Her presentation is always
beautiful.
The thai burrito's have a lot of young coconut noodles; maybe that's what
you didn't care for?!?!?
She had an invitation only opening party last week before Thanksgiving (tuesday night) which I was invited to, but couldn't attend (kiddos sick with nasty
stomach virus). The official opening date of restuarant to the public
was this week, on Tuesday. I plan on going next week and will update
on how everything is going. I'll try to take some pics of the food.
I can't wait! I'm so excited to finally have a raw restuarant in the area!
Maybe I will run into some of you there
;)

[Punky]

P.S. I was thinking sometime after the holidays, in January,
a bunch of us from the Raw Food Talk boards can meet there for a meal...
anyone game?

[ArtGirlTX]

I went to the opening...I have been looking forward to Cynthia opening for months now (since February 2005) and unfortunately, in my opinion, the opening wasn't that great. I think she was either overwhelmed or not prepared. I live right down the street, so my boyfriend and I showed up around 7:30. The place was packed with a tent in the back and live jazz band. People were just sitting all over not knowing what to do or where to go. No one was there to direct us. We just stood around for over an hour not knowing when the food was coming out...finally a guy brought us a small glass of wine. They started passing out organic wine since the food was taking a long time. Cynthia was in the kitchen talking to friends who were there to congratulate her, so perhaps that slowed her down. So, people began to get irritated and leave. About 1 1/2 hours into the opening, a guy brought around a tiny shot glass of some soup. Everyone ate theirs in one swallow...then they gathered those up and we just all sat around and looked at each other. After another 40 minutes, we left. There was no food being served and no one seemed to know what was going on...needless to say I was highly disappointed since I have been waiting for them to open forever.

I'm assuming they just were overwhelmed? I would not give the opening any kudos and wish I had not wasted my night waiting around for a teaspoon of soup.

I will, however, give them another try after things slow down and they get into the groove of running a restaurant.

[Blu]

Wow that does sound like a let down after a build up to the opening.

I'm sure regular dining won't be as hectic, as you say, in a few weeks.

I don't get down to Dallas all that much, but it really isn't too far not to go once every few months just to see how raw dishes taste. I havn't made any myself, just a few 3 or 4 ingredient puddings & a fudge. Everything else has been mono.

Thanks for the input everyone!

B.

[rawpriestess]

In the past I've done catering gigs for hundreds of people on SAD, which is easy, you just make it the night before, or early the day of, and plop it into a warmish oven and it can stay there for hours, with raw food, we ONLY allow 20 total to eat, we just can't handle more than that.

Although we do tell people they can come, and if someone doesn't show up, we'll feed them, but that is an "IF". so, we never have any leftovers, there are always a few who come "just in case." and we never let them leave un-fed.

So, it can be very difficult to plan and feed alot of raw folks if you are doing recipes, my guess would be that she either

1. didn't plan on that many coming

2. people didn't rsvp (if she asked)

3. she didn't have enough help or food or both

4. she should have provided something, anything even fresh strawberries, to the people waiting

5. A true restauranture, will find a way to allow everyone to eat, even if it was just a bite of this OR that

6. There is NO excuse for non-communication

But, I wasn't there, and I don't know her, and that is all I can say.

[Revvell]

Has anybody thought to contact her and ask? Seems everyone here is judging w/out the facts. Maybe something happened no one knows about ~ such as a death in the family. Everyone seems so full of woulda/couldas. It sounds to me as though it would have been better if she'd have canceled yet, not knowing the facts of what's going on in her life ~ *shrugs* ~ what to say?

R.

[rawpriestess]

I say again:

6. There is NO excuse for non-communication

I am speaking from a professional's point of view, if SHE organized something it is HER responsibility to communicate with her clients and customers.

Plain and simple.

Either she is a professional and wishes to be taken seriously, or she isn't.

[happyyummymom]

We were also at the opening and although it seemed a mess her tuscan pizza-the only food we received for being there over an hour-was phenomenal!!!!!! The girl serving it said the crust was almonds and dates or something like that. Does anyone know what her pizza crust is made of exactly?????

[Sharon in Colorado]

She definately needs FEEDBACK. If people don't tell her she's either not going to know, or pretend not to know.

I just sent a note to a company that sent me an inferior product. They need to KNOW this because I spent a lot of money and time with their product.

Please, send her feedback! Tell her exactly what happened, and why you were dissapointed and some suggestions on how she could improve.

[NoGMO!]

hmmm - too bad about all this. still, I am looking forward to trying some of her food creations... eventually!

[Leiloshka]

So, has anyone heard any more about Pure? I'd like to go once the kinks are worked out.

I had a GREAT meal at PF Changs last night in Ft. Worth. I asked about something raw and the waitress didn't get it. She said the way the chefs are if you tell them not to cook it they will just say "get a salad."

Well, we looked over the menu some more and I ordered the Buddha feast which was just veggies and it said steamed or stir fried as the option. I asked again to please tell the chef I would just like them raw, not boiled (she said all the veggies were boiled then put on ice and were then steamed or stir-fry when needed), or cooked at all. She didn't seem too pleased with me and really didn't have much eye contact with me the rest of the meal, however she DID bring me the veggies RAW!! I was so thrilled, especially since I had eaten some non-raw soup at lunch and my stomach was aching. I HAD to eat raw that night.

Anyway, if any go there, maybe you can order this too. I noticed there was a vegetarian section on the menu but everything was cooked. I thought, you know, several years ago the vegetarians were trying to get a vegetarian meal at places like this and now they have their own sections. Ahhh, maybe someday I'll go there and they will have a dish or two under a Raw section. :D

[Punky]

So, has anyone heard any more about Pure? I'd like to go once the kinks are worked out.

I had a GREAT meal at PF Changs last night in Ft. Worth. I asked about something raw and the waitress didn't get it. She said the way the chefs are if you tell them not to cook it they will just say "get a salad."

Well, we looked over the menu some more and I ordered the Buddha feast which was just veggies and it said steamed or stir fried as the option. I asked again to please tell the chef I would just like them raw, not boiled (she said all the veggies were boiled then put on ice and were then steamed or stir-fry when needed), or cooked at all. She didn't seem too pleased with me and really didn't have much eye contact with me the rest of the meal, however she DID bring me the veggies RAW!! I was so thrilled, especially since I had eaten some non-raw soup at lunch and my stomach was aching. I HAD to eat raw that night.

Anyway, if any go there, maybe you can order this too. I noticed there was a vegetarian section on the menu but everything was cooked. I thought, you know, several years ago the vegetarians were trying to get a vegetarian meal at places like this and now they have their own sections. Ahhh, maybe someday I'll go there and they will have a dish or two under a Raw section. :D

Glad they finally interpreted what raw veggies were! LOL
I think it's mainly the waitress there! Actually that's what I always ordered
my son to eat there and he loves it (he gets it steamed though).
The waiter suggested it to me when I was trying to order stuff no-sauce
for his food allergies (gluten-wheat, dairy).

I am meeting a friend at PURE this thursday for sure for lunch!
Will report back. I'll try to remember to bring my camara.
We actually stopped by there last Monday when in the area,
but alas they are closed on mondays.