Joni Williams

​Well, actually it's the other way around: the dog went to the Metro Organic Bistro. And this, ladies and gentleman, marked a first in his just-past-the-puppy-stage life.

Heretofore, the only restaurants where my darling dining doggie has accompanied me have been in the vain of sit-down, fast food variety. Woofing a Big Mac down in the car with a slobbering, hungry-eyed pooch in the passenger seat is no fun.

So, when I found out the Metro was not a chain and not fast food, but was Fido-friendly, I just had to check it out. And, natch, I took the little rascal with me. I'd tell you his name but we were both incognito so as to do a true review.

As we first stepped foot-- and paw-- into the covered patio area, the beeping horns and grinding gears of the street seemed to instantly melt away. Can you say, "Ahhhh"? The decor, all vanilla's and chrome against a backdrop of green foliage, was simple and elegant. Likewise, the white, cloth-covered outdoor tables sported real glass dishware and silverware. Uh oh. Toto, we're not in McDonald's anymore.

Our server appeared quickly Two thumbs up for both him and the menu, which proved quite extensive. If your idea of organic is granola and yogurt, or lettuce and sprouts done a dozen different ways, you'll be pleasantly surprised by Metro Organic Bistro's offerings. There's seared ahi, a garlicky pork T-bone, and steak -- grass fed, of course.
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Photo by Sami Keinänen/Wikimedia Commons

The picture of a healthful, colorful meal?

​If you like lots of dining options, Miami is your kinda place. Whether you crave International deliciousness or  vegan, low-fat or sugar-free fare, it's all right here. Or so it would seem. Because there's one option noticeably missing from this metro melting pot: gluten-free.

Even so, there are a growing number of eateries diversifying their menus with "gluten-free friendly" options-- foods deemed gluten-free, but prepared in the same environment as those containing the grain protein.

While the difference may seem negligible, it's anything but to someone diagnosed with celiac disease, a serious medical condition that mandates total gluten elimination. Diagnosed two years ago, Jen Diaz, a Miami customs and patent attorney who also blogs at glutenfreebeat.com, says that all-too-often while dining out she has experienced the side effects of "cross-contamination"-- unwittingly ingesting gluten.

"I felt like my stomach was going to explode," she groaned, before ticking off a number of distressing gastrointestinal symptoms that follow cross-contamination. In one instance, her reaction was so severe, she wound up in a car accident after leaving the offending restaurant. "I was so sick, I was running red lights trying to get home as fast as I could," she confessed.
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Wiki

Spirulina tablets

​If you go into any juice bar worth its wheatgrass, you're bound to find spirulina on the list of available "power-ups" you can choose to boost the nutritional value of your smoothie.

It sounds so weird that it must be good for you. But what exactly is this superfood, and where does it come from?

It's a microscopic nutrient powerhouse, that also happens to pack a more powerful protein punch than red meat.

Although it's commonly called "blue-green algae," it's actually not an alga. It's a cyanobacterium, an ancient bacterium that photosynthesizes and probably played a large role in steering biodiversity as we know it today.
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Camille Lamb

Feel like eating lots of high-quality produce is giving your wallet a colonic?

​Teena's Pride, a local community supported agriculture (CSA) program, offers fresh-from-the-earth packs of vegetables and herbs, delivered weekly to a drop-off point near you, for reasonable prices. The farm is located in the Redland.

The company offers different size options, depending on how many mouths you have to feed. The biggest option feeds four to five people. It costs about $40 per week if you pay for the season. Featured above is the "Gourmet Single," specifically designed for one person. A subscription for 24 weeks breaks down to $17 per week for this option. In the service's fourth season, the company delivers to between 250 and 300 people from Aventura to Homestead.
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Camille Lamb

Carlos, owner of Beehive Natural Foods' juice and health food bar

​Finding the juice and vegan food bar at the back of Beehive Natural Foods is like discovering Narnia in your closet. You push through tight spaces and cluttered shelves to enter a world of adventures you never expected -- without the white witch. More >>

Photo by Camille Lamb

Dorothy Glauser has been selling health for 41 years

​You can find almost any health food item your tree hugging heart desires at Life Natural Foods --- in theory, at least. You may have to dig deep through stacks of bagged herbs, protein powders, bee pollen, detox teas, powdered goat milk, organic juices, and probiotic supplements, but somewhere in this dense den of herbal remedies lies your healthy holy grail.

Owner Dorothy Glauser, 74, has been selling health for 41 years, making her shop unofficially the oldest health food store in Miami. It's been at its current address for 27 years; prior to that, she and her husband peddled their healthy wares from a store called The Health Hut on 71st Street and Collins Avenue in North Beach. They closed the Hut down in 1984.

"My husband was a bodybuilder," says Glauser in a low gentle voice, explaining how she came into the business. "We wanted to do something we believed in. We didn't want to open a bar or anything. And I enjoy it, most of the time. I like to help people."
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​If Bacardi 151 is the most outrageous thing you've ever drunk, you have a lot to learn about drinking.

Alcohol is so passé. Take these new-age libations to a vegan potluck, and we guarantee you'll get laid just as easily as you would if Captain Morgan were facilitating.

Bonus: You'll remember the whole thing and probably perform better in the sack thanks to increased blood flow to your sacral chakra. Namaste!
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Camille Lamb

Graham Garnos, seen through a murky glass of silver colloid, drinks and serves about 50 times the recommended dose.

​We're standing in the kitchen, watching ghostly trails ooze off sticks of silver in a jam jar filled with distilled water. The kitchen, the jar, the silver, and the machine sending an electronic charge through the metal all belong to Graham Garnos, an agricultural business owner and an alternative healing enthusiast.

Garnos, a downtown Miami resident originally from Presho, South Dakota, is brewing some homemade silver colloid, a substance that's been used since the 1800s as a disinfectant and a healing agent. It can be applied topically --- people put drops in their eyes to treat sties or conjunctivitis, or on their skin to fight acne or psoriasis --- or orally.

"It kills like 700 anaerobic bacteria within about 30 seconds. And they've known this for 150 years," Garnos says. "Penicillin kills [at most] four, five, six, or seven different bacteria. They had colloidal silver. They knew colloidal silver killed hundreds of anaerobic bacteria. What did they popularize? They popularized penicillin. Why? Because it was patentable. Why? Because it was profitable."
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All photos by Anais Alexandre

So many tasty picks to choose from

​Down by Homestead, off the beaten road, you'll find the beginnings of an "All-Green" community called Verdes Gardens. Amidst this blossoming development stands a gigantic open-air building, with locals and travelers shopping for farm fresh eggs, as well as freshly picked produce. This is the Homestead Harvest Farmers Market, open every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m.

This brand new farmer's market was created with the help of the Urban Oasis Project, a group of sustainably motivated individuals who help create local farmer's markets (among other projects) in communities all over Miami.

We found an array of quality farm-picked vegetables, plants, herbs, fruit, honey, eggs, and even a Guarapo (Sugar Cane) juice bar! We tried the ice cold guarapo, and it was refreshing and sweet.
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Muriel Olivares, founder and farmer at the Little River Market Garden.

​A wise sage once told her young grasshopper, "If you plant something every day, you'll have something every day."

Actually, it was more like Muriel Olivares, founder and farmer of the Little River Market Garden, telling us her personal philosophy over the phone. But we'll take it as good advice nonetheless.

This Saturday at 4 p.m., Olivares is sharing her wisdom with community members at Wynwood coffee shop Lester's.

"She's local and the way she sells or provides people with her product is local as well. So it's a double local thing going there," says Dan Milewski, who opened Lester's in order to provide the community with a space for sharing ideas.

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