Veggiejuana: healthy trumps hip

On the far end of the spectrum from modern grub-hubs such as Food Garden and Colective 9 lies Flor de la Vida — a classic Tijuana veggie kitchen, bakery, and health food store that stocks everything from Braggs Liquid Aminos to agave and stevia sugar substitutes to fresh stacks of tortillas de nopal.

In lieu of “hip,” this place appeals to “healthy.”

Serene, New Age pan flute music plays from overhead while a couple and their baby eat in the cozy dining room.

The menu is a rotating special of soup, salad, side, main dish, drink, and dessert at 75 pesos, or about $5.50, served from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Today’s fare includes a cream of carrot soup, brown rice, tortitas de quinoa horneadas, a cup of unsweetened horchata, and flan to finish it off.

The main dish of oven-baked quinoa patties are hand-pressed with shredded carrot, cilantro, and topped in mild tomato sauce. Eat ‘em quick, as the baked shell hardens rapidly, giving a chewy crunch to the otherwise pleasant, falafel-like discs.

Other daily meals include meatballs made of pepitas, sunflower seeds, and a cereal blend; mock shrimp burritos; veggie sushi with miso; mock orange chicken; chesse stuffed cactus paddles topped with avocado; baked eggplant and tofu milanesa; and veggie chili with soy and gluten meat substitutes made by Alternativa Vegetariana, an Ensenada producer of mock carnitas, adobada, chicharrón, and other Mexican mainstays (available at Flor de la Vida for 89 pesos/half kilo).

Located just west of the scissors monument (aka Monumento a Las Dos Culturas), Flor de la Vida seats about 20 and, replete with small considerations such as vegetable salt at the table and high-grade olive oil for dressing, offers a tasteful reprieve from the city’s omnipresent street meats.

Flor de la Vida, Blvd. Independencia #1721 local C, Zona Rio. Phone: 01 664 112 3092.