Guilt-free and Conscientised Dining at Earth Kitchen

After half a day of conducting Psychological First Aid among Yolanda survivors who have temporarily relocated to Luzon and a quarter of the day of clinic-ing and debriefing ourselves, a friend and I decided to spend the rest of Saturday catching up with each other.  It had been ages since the last time we got together.  As proof of that, her young niece who was just ending her adolescence when we last met has now given her three "apos" who fondly call her Granny Goose. Part of the catching up happened in her car and the rest in a nice restaurant I had been wanting to go to since its soft opening in July.  

Watermelon and rocket salad (everything is edible, including the flower petals)

Healthy. Local. Sustainable.  That is Earth Kitchen's tagline.  It is not a pure vegetarian restaurant but most, if not all, of what they serve is organically grown or free range.  Another thing that draws me to Earth Kitchen is that they source their ingredients from small groups of organic farmers, thus, helping promote and support sustainable farming.  And as if this isn't enough, much of what they serve is made from scratch or by hand.  Fresh pasta noodles, homemade ice cream, house salad dressings.  What a delight.  

Once again, I found myself experiencing a crisis of choice.  So many items I wanted to try with just the two of us to share the meal between us.  We ended up going home with brown bags. 

For starters, we had watermelon and rocket salad which had honey-glazed pili nuts, local feta cheese, edible flowers on top of the arugula and watermelon, and lightly dressed with balsamic vinegar. Still for starters, we ordered fresh spring rolls, very similar to fresh Vietnamese spring rolls but made tastier with shitake mushrooms. Truth be told, I was full by the time our pasta came, but there was no saying no to the mushroom ravioli with different kinds of mushrooms and the four-mushroom fetuccini pasta.  Both our pasta dishes were cream based but we didn't have this bloated and "umay" feeling after the meal.  

Mushroom ravioli lathered with parmesan cheese

Earth Kitchen though provides a feast not only for the mouth and tummy but also for one's eyes.  The rustic ambiance, artworks created by local artists, and beautiful but earthy table settings made our dining experience a remarkable one and left me looking forward to my next visit. 

To die for: goat's cheese ice cream