Sadhana Kitchen is Sydney’s first organic, vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, wholefoods cafe. Additionally, 95 per cent of the menu is raw, meaning that the foods are not heated above 45°C. You can be sure this place is coeliac-safe and #nocrumbsplease approved. Sadhana Kitchen takes extra measures to ensure people with most food sensitivities feel comfortable eating here. Be sure to ask their friendly staff about your particular food restrictions.

Sadhana Kitchen creator Maz Valcorza says they mill their own flours from activated nuts and seeds using plant-based wholefoods. Ingredients like flax meal, almond meal, hazelnut meal, cashew meal, coconut flour, besan flour, buckwheat flour and sunflower seed meal are used to create an impressive menu of tantalising foods.

“We are only limited by our own imaginations,” Maz says. “It’s really just a happy consequence when using plant-based wholefoods that everything is much easier to digest and more nutrient dense.”

Maz did not grow up eating gluten free, vegan or raw foods. In fact, she was consuming quite the opposite. She knew from first-hand experience that if she was going to develop a loyal following, her food had to change the stigma that raw equals flavourless. Every meal she designs proves that gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free and raw do not mean missing out on decadence and indulgence. She has created a menu that is delicious and filling, without compromising on taste or the experience.

Prior to opening Sadhana Kitchen, Maz worked as a registered nurse and pharmaceutical sales representative. It comes as no surprise that Maz has always been involved in the healthcare field in both a clinical and commercial capacity. These experiences have shaped her understanding of health and wellbeing. Beyond conventional healthcare, Maz has also witnessed the importance of connecting with your inner wisdom. She has taken her conventional knowledge of health and wellness and her holistic view on the body and the planet and created a sustainable hub for her community.

“Only you can know what it really feels like to be healthy and so only you can build your own culture of health to meet your unique needs,” she says. “I practice yoga and one of the foundational philosophies of yoga is Ahimsa, which is non-violence. This resonated with me so deeply that I wanted to do the least harm possible to myself, other beings and the planet. So I became vegan.”

She began to blog about her massive lifestyle change embracing raw foods and veganism. Through this plant-based diet she found health and healing. When she began consuming a high amount of raw foods, Maz experienced increased energy levels, better muscle tone and overall improved mood. By blogging about these remarkable changes and sharing her raw food recipes, she began receiving requests to sell her raw cakes to local cafes. This was the start of Sadhana Kitchen.

Since opening in April 2012, the response to Sadhana Kitchen has been absolutely remarkable. The cafe is bustling seven days a week, which is often the biggest complaint Maz receives. Sounds like a pretty good problem to have.

“We hope to keep connecting our community with their inherent wisdom through delicious and nutritious food. We are also looking at expanding and making this kind of food more accessible to people in other communities around Australia,” says Maz.

To top it all off, Sadhana Kitchen has unique events and opportunities above and beyond the cafe. They offer a seasonal seven-course degustation menu, high tea, catering, cleanses, wholesale items and workshops to learn how to make your own raw food creations. And now, they even offer a weekday lunchbox delivery service.

Sadhana Kitchen is constantly innovating. Their chefs are about to release the spring seven-course organic, raw food degustation menu. These amazing degustations run every two weeks and let me tell you, this spring menu looks out of this world!

“Sadhana is sanskrit for conscious spiritual practice – what we do each day to make our lives as awesome as possible. I believe that what we put into our bodyies every day is part of our daily ritual, our Sadhana, so I have created a place that could help members of our community connect with their inherent wisdom through nourishing their bodies each day,” says Maz.

So follow the wise words of Hippocrates and take this rare opportunity to get back to nature in Sydney’s vibrant inner-west and enjoy a wholesome decadent meal at Sadhana Kitchen.

147 Enmore Road, Enmore, NSW 2042

www.sadhanakitchen.com

www.facebook.com/sadhanakitchen