Sweat dripping down my temples, as I aimlessly walk through the PATH, AKA the world’s largest underground shopping center (during lunch hour, if I may add). I was in search of Kupfert and Kim, one of the only raw vegan cafes in the market place that holds up to 1,200 stores and services. Once I covered the 4,000,000 sq. ft. labyrinth, my head turned to the sound of raging blenders and alas! There she was, Kupfert and Kim, featuring a very long line of hungry Torontonians. I took a spot at the end of the line and looked up to the menu with star struck eyes…
As their website states, “The goal is to provide fresh, minimally processed, and flavourful sustenance to the on-the-go human in our on-the-go age.” With vegan and gluten free drinks, snacks and meals, the chaotic lunch rush was proof of how delicious their food truly is.
Industrial grown with high levels of pesticide use? Negative. Kupfert and Kim use organic, so you can be sure that you’re consuming only the best quality ingredients, at a fare that is well worth it if you ask me! “We make sure that all the foods listed on the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen list are always certified organic, though, and all organic ingredients in our foods are listed on the menus or on the price tags for the desserts.”
I tried the Oaxaca bowl: brown rice, black beans, kale, corn, beets, tortilla chips, topped with hemp seeds, cashew cream, and pico de gallo. Spiced to perfection and a great companion to a nice chilly drink. I had to get a smoothie, so I decided to take the green route: kale, pear, banana, mint, ginger, lime and hemp, the texture was juicy and frothy- hardly tasting like the green monster it seemed to be. I noted that K&K had Bunner’s Supersonic Cookies on display (immediate mouth watering and TTC nostalgia came over my body), but I decide to take a chance and go with the raw brownie. The nut frosting was just as thick as the brownie base itself, so…winner.
For Kupfert and Kim, sustainability is a key value in serving and preparing their dishes. If you bring in your own container for drinks or meals, you get 30 cents off of your entire purchase! And that may not sound like much, but when you’re helping out good ‘ol Mother Nature, those dimes start to add up. If you don’t have your own, Kupfert and Kim gladly serves all of their food in purely compostable containers – even the straws!
One of their mottos, “Fast food should not mean bad food”, (light bulbs just flicked) is a seven-word phrase that I will always remember, as Kupfert and Kim, even on the busiest of lunch days, know how to pow out raw, vegan, and tasty food to tourists, business suits, and sweaty young journalists who are all on the same PATH to health. Check out their menu here.
