Vraja’s Kitchen feeding both body and soul
By Susan Stewart
Vraja’s International Vegetarian Vegan Kitchen has completely transformed the long narrow space on Chorro Street between Monterey and Higuera, the former longtime home of Cowboy Cookies. Colorful Indian silks and pillows, plus an ad hoc mix of table lights, mirrors, hand-drawn menus, tacked up photos and a scatter of thought-provoking books lend the place a casual, inviting feel.
But what pulls people in off the busy downtown street – whether loyal fan or casual passerby – are the enticing and exotic aromas of ginger, cardamom, fennel and cumin that fill the air and flavor the dishes that make Vraja’s vegan cooking anything but ordinary. Vraja has been selling her popular dishes, like rich and tangy eggplant ratatouille, flaky samosas filled with spinach, almonds and chickpeas; ginger curry, mung dall soup, phyllo pastries filled with spicy tofu and spinach; cabbage, carrot and green olive stromboli, artichoke-heart calzones, and chewy falafel with white almond sauce – at Farmers’ Markets for the past three years. The restaurant has been a dream-in-the-making for a decade and had its debut in Tallahassee, Florida, as a wholesale bakery. Vraja, a Brazilian-born beauty who grew up with six siblings on a small family farm, left home in her twenties to join a Brazilian monastery where vegetarianism was a guiding principle. She and a dozen fellow monks traveled to India where they spent time living in different ashrams. “Devotional service was an expected part of each day,” she explained. “I loved to sneak into the kitchens to do mine. There were giant pots and so many spices, and everything was so clean!”
A second trip to India and Europe further influenced Vraja’s eclectic cooking style. After seven successful years in Florida, she was tired of the muggy weather and ubiquitous bugs. So she selected the Central Coast for its similarity to her native southern Brazil. She arrived here in 2005 with her son, 8-year-old Gopala, and a desire to start Vraja’s Kitchen and over time, to participate in building an eco-village that strives for self-sufficiency. “I want to inspire people to have their own gardens, grow their own food and share with each other,” she said. Her transformation first to vegetarianism and then to veganism (the absence of dairy as well as meat) happened gradually as she became aware of the inhumane ways animals are raised for consumption, and the use of chemicals and hormones in dairy products.
Today, Vraja is passionately committed to respecting the long journey our food makes to get from farm to table. On any given day, one can find her engaged in lively conversation with prospective vendors, growers and other suppliers who share her goal of using fresh, whole, locally grown ingredients wherever possible. She has even connected with a local grain grower who will be supplying her with organic flours for housemade European-style breads.
Serving lunch from Tuesdays to Saturdays 12 to 3; dinner from Wednesdays to Fridays 5 to 9; and brunch on Sundays 12 to 4, Vraja’s Kitchen offers a “surprise plate” featuring small portions of five different dishes. At just $10 for lunch and $12 for dinner, these generous plates are a wonderful way to sample the simple, homey fare she ate from her mother’s kitchen at home on the farm. Don’t miss Vraja’s chutney, a spirited condiment for most all of her dishes. And do sample her rich and unusual desserts that include pistachio-almond-walnut baklava, gluten-free banana bread, Bom Dia apple pie and “Cinnamon Stump,” dense with almonds, dates, and coconut.
A quotation written on one of the menu boards sums up Vraja’s vision for a more peaceful world. “We make the world a better place every time we sit down to eat. By choosing vegan food, we take a stand for compassionate living.”
To find out more, call 704-9110.
