don't knock it till you try it: dinner at ecopolitan

I recently visited the Ecopolitan restaurant on Lyndale for the first time. I went there with my very healthy friend, "Ellen," who I hadn't seen in weeks.

The Ecopolitan is an all raw, all vegan establishment. And although I've been interesting in checking it out for awhile, I was a bit dismayed, because the night we had chosen was cold and damp. Raw, vegan food generally sounds more appealing to me in the excessive heat of summer. But I didn't dare suggest that we relocate our date to Jakeeno's Pizza.

So we arrived, and were seated at a cute little table in the corner of the dining room. I asked Ellen what she liked (she's a bit of regular), and she gave me a couple suggestions. I decided on the flaxseed tostadas, and Ellen got the taco salad.

The tostadas arrived, and I was pleasantly surprised. They were substantial! And served with generous portions of salsa and guacamole. I guess I assumed that anything vegan would by tiny.

And they were much tastier than I'd suspected. I had been skeptical about the raw factor--how could anything quasi-Mexican even be edible without cooked beans or proper tortillas? But I was wrong. I mean, okay--they did taste "healthy", but in a good way!

And since we didn't swill a bunch of organic wine (just some beet juice), the bill seemed really cheap, too.

Verdict: Hey, it was good! I would definitely go back. I don't think they're going to convert me to their all-raw lifestyle--it clashes with my Chinese medicine diet of "lightly cooked vegatables." I've already chosen my particular food cult. However, I will definitely go back to sit in the infrared sauna.