We are visitors of Bend, OR for the first time this weekend and the weather and company couldn't be more beautiful, as long time friends get together (all of us together with our littles ) for the first time in over a decade.
So far, Bend is everything people rave about. The evenings and nights are cool, the days are warm and sky beautiful blue. Being a community of outdoor enthusiasts, I imagine there's a lot of focus on eating well here too.
So what's for lunch today? Being new to Bend, I did what most people would do. I googled it. And this vegan restaurant showed up as one of the few options. It's a vegan restaurant called "Fix & Repeat", located along this adorable quaint strip of local restaurants. There's outside seating and indoor seating. Music playing from the high industrial-like ceilings which my 14 month old music-lover had fun swaying to.
A designer clearly took great care in designing the space to make sure that the atmosphere, being clean, crisp, and in vogue, reflected its goals of offering fresh and clean-for-the-body meals. As a professional designer myself, I'm always paying attention to the details and features when a space is designed well.
Smoothies, smoothie bowls, Buddha bowls, fresh juice....it all jives with our family's choice to eat healthy. And when we can each have a smoothie plus a not-too-big main meal and walk out of there not feeling 'stuffed', I know it's the right food for my body.
As a family, we are vegan. I am actually vegan and grain-free (yes, grain free....more then just gluten free) out of necessity for my body to be well and function properly. My restricted diet causes most people to give me a second glance when I tell them, not able to fathom what I actually eat.
But alas, I find many delicious plant-based, low/no sugar, low processed food options that my children also love to eat. And that doesn't always mean that we can go to the most popular restaurant. It doesn't always mean that I want to go to the most popular restaurant, when often times the only choice for me is one that might be vegetarian, and where their specialty isn't around clean, plant-based eating.
I hope one day, that more restaurants will have plant based, vegan options (grain free is needed too for me). But for now, I've found our spot in this beautiful town of Bend where we will surely be visiting again this weekend!
See below a description of the menu options that we chose today...
"Acai" Smoothie -- they took the Acai Bowl from the menu and made just the smoothie portion of it for my son. It has Acai, Almond Milk, Berries, Banana, Peanut Butter, Coconut, and Vanilla Protein.
"Millennial" -- Avocado, Garlic, Olive Oil, Chili Flakes (less these per my son's request), and Sea Salt. Let me just add that my son usually wants the crust off, especially when it's big, chunky crust like today's was. But he didn't even mention it and ate every single bite.
"Boom Shaka Maca" Smoothie -- Almond Milk, Almond Butter, Maca, Maple, Vanilla Protein, Banana, and Sea Salt.
"Rice" -- Brown Rice (I requested a substitute of Quinoa instead of the rice), Black Beans, Sweet Potato, Spicy Chiles, Walnut Pesto, Kale, Basil, Avocado, and Cashew Cream Seeds. DE-LICIOUS.
I already have my eye on a few other smoothies and Smoothie Bowls for our next stop at Fix & Repeat! I can't wait to go back tomorrow. :)
