Bill Hadikin’s raw food eatery offers fast food service, but that doesn’t mean your meal’s been slapped together in a rush.
Take the Rawthentic wraps, for example.
At Rawthentic nothing comes out of a package and everything’s made from scratch. Take the wrap for example. First they grate zucchini, carrot, apple, lemon and flaxseed, and dehydrate it at a temperature of no more than 44 degrees Celsius. That’s warm enough to remove moisture, but cool enough to preserve healthy enzymes and nutrients. That initial dehydration takes eight hours and then they flip it over and dehydrate it for another six, before taking other steps to soften it.
The whole process takes about three days, which is why foodies love popping into Rawthentic to enjoy the end-product in just a few minutes.
“Dehydrating is a long process, and most people don’t have the time. When I first got into vegan raw food I’d have to sacrifice my Sunday to dehydrate my food for the week,” Hadikin says. “That’s why the restaurant is so great, because all of our ingredients are fresh, made from scratch, and ready for the customer when they walk through the door.”
From steakhouse to raw vegan
Hadikin wasn’t always a vegan raw foodie. He used to work at a steakhouse and believed exercise was the key to health. The former athlete struggled with sports that used to be easy, and chalked it up to aging. Then he tried a raw nutrition plan and got his body back.
“I was skeptical at first and wanted to prove I could get the same health through exercise only, but the results were undeniable,” he says.
Not everyone is ready to embrace raw vegan meals seven days a week, but if you’re interested in a quick, convenient boost to your overall nutrition you can’t go wrong with Rawthentic.
“Everything we make is densely packed with nutrition. Our almond milk is made fresh almost every day with almonds soaked overnight to release an enzyme inhibitor. The sauces are made in house, we make our chic’un patty from a cashew and sunflower seed base. All our desserts a packed with nutrition and made from scratch,” Hadikin says. “People come in and ask what’s OK for a gluten-free or vegan diet and I get to say ‘just close your eyes and point.’”
Once you’re hooked on Rawthentic you can sign up for a Cleanse Program to explore the full menu and feel the full effects of raw vegan nutrition (25 per cent off for a limited time only!), or just keep the restaurant in mind the next time you’re in a hurry and want to avoid the drive-through.
Find Rawthentic at 108-4440 West Saanich Rd in Royal Oak as well as up Island in Courtenay, and explore the full menu at rawthenticeatery.com.
