via Thrive

Treats at Thrive.

​A friend and I recently lunched at Thrive (1239 Alton Rd., Miami Beach). We split two entrées and a fresh juice. Our bill came to about $32. For $16, we each had half a portobello mushroom "pizza" topped with cashew nut cheese, a half portion of sweet potato and black bean stew with brown rice, a small side salad that comes with each entrée, and half a beet, carrot, and spirulina juice. Each of our meals totaled somewhere around 600 calories. That's a generous estimate. So if you do the math, that amounts to about 2.7 cents per calorie.

Compare that to a meal at Burger King (110 Fifth St., Miami Beach). A small Whopper Value Meal, consisting of the sandwich, a Coke, and fries, costs about $5.50 in Miami Beach and contains about 1,200 calories. That's .46 cents per calorie, which means that a calorie at Thrive costs about six times the price of a calorie at the Burger King seven blocks down the street.

Better deal? Maybe. But Whole Foods and many authorities on nutrition have recently looked to the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) to calculate the value of a calorie.

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Laine Doss

Govinda's gardens.

Govinda's Dining Club is painted bright corals, greens, and blues. A large porch beckons diners to relax as birds and butterflies flit among garden flowers. Soft music reminiscent of smooth jazz plays in the background. Listen closely to the words and you'll hear the familiar chants of "Hare Krishna," which makes sense since Govinda's is located inside Coconut Grove's Hare Krishna Cultural Center.

All food is cooked fresh and is 95 percent vegan (there is an option of having vegan or dairy cheese on the whole-wheat pizzas). Meals are cooked to order, and no microwaves are used. Govinda's manager, Parama, says, "Ingredients are as organic as we can find them. We buy local as often as we can. We're trying to be part of the neighborhood, not the system."

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Vegan Assassin, Alex Cuevas

​Alex Cuevas is a buff vegan, but it hasn't always been that way. Vegetarian for 24 years, vegan for the last 14, he met a guy named Nature at a raw vegan potluck in New York City in late 2009. It was then he heard the words that would change his physique and his life. "Never underestimate the power of greens," said Nature, a raw vegan with an imposing, rock solid musculature, all the while chewing on a celery stick.

Cuevas observed the muscle man with awe. At the time, despite working out like a madman, Cuevas still hung steady at a squishy 205 pounds. He slammed Red Bulls before hitting the gym and slugged down protein powders and scientifically engineered supplements by the gullet full. And here was this behemoth body builder who swore he didn't touch creatine or any other laboratory concoctions, extolling the virtues of sprouted almonds and chewing on an unadulterated piece of celery. "I couldn't believe it, no peanut butter, no anything. But I thought to myself, 'I can't just dismiss this guy, because he's strong and muscular.'"

Cuevas had always been invested in the ecological and ethical advantages of veganism. But this chance encounter with Nature was the push he needed to explore the world of super foods and shed the chemicals he'd been relying on for energy and muscle building.

"I started eating a lot of greens. I switched from all the tortillas and beans I had been eating," he says. "I would come home and eat all this crap and wouldn't be able to stop. [As I started researching], I realized it was because I wasn't getting the right nutrients."

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Laine Doss

Mercy For Animal's Phil Letten with tour truck

​Mercy for Animals, the Chicago-based animal rights organization that targets factory farming, is in South Beach today as part of its 41-city Farm to Fridge Tour.

The tour features a mobile theater equipped with LCD screens that shows a continuous loop of their film, Farm to Fridge. The documentary is narrated by actor James Cromwell, who became an animal activist after filming the movie Babe. (Really!) The graphic footage in the film was taken by undercover Mercy for Animals staff who posed as employees in slaughterhouses and farms and filmed with hidden pinhole-sized cameras.

Phil Letten, campaign coordinator for the tour, said the goal is to bring awareness to the plight of animals on factory farms. "Every day, thousands of animals have their testicles and tails cut off, their teeth pulled out and are given third degree burns, all without painkillers or anesthesia", he said. "Then they're slaughtered fully conscious. If someone did these acts to a cat or a dog, they would go to jail, but farm animals aren't protected under the same laws as pets. They virtually have no rights. You wouldn't eat your dog, so why would you eat a pig?"

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​A couple weeks back, we introduced you to Francesca Lacuesta and and Mark Jennings, proprietors of the upcoming Mac'n Vegetarian Soul Food Truck. It'll be the first totally meatless truck to hit the local mobile food scene. And with most menu items also available in vegan, and even vegan gluten-free, formulations, Mac'n is set to open its inclusive arms to a whole new set of food truck patrons. Plus, who doesn't love delicious mac n' cheese (or "cheese") or cornbread in general? Yum.

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via Miso Hungry's Facebook

Newcomer Miso Hungry offers a rotating vegan entree.

​With the animal fat freely a-flowin' on most local food trucks, what's a meat-eschewer to do? While Miami's mobile food scene continues to grow, it's still behind other cities' in its lack of vegetarian options. The Raaga Cart showed promise during Art Basel especially, but its owners have day jobs and it hasn't been seen around much since.

On a positive note, as we reported earlier this morning, a number of trucks are unveiling new test menu items for this Saturday's weekly Wynwood roundup. Those offering new items include Sakaya Kitchen, MexZican Gourmet, Latin Burger, the Fish Box, and Jefe's. But they'll need financial encouragement to make it a regular thing, so buy some veggie tacos or sides and support.

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Photo by Lee Klein

Sakaya Kitchen's gingery brussel sprouts.

​Those averse to hot, griddled flesh and feeling left out of the food truck trend would do well to head to Wynwood this Saturday. The latest edition of this new weekly street food court, organized by Richard Hales of Sakaya Kitchen/Dim Ssam a Gogo, promises a few new meatless treats from the city's most popular food trucks.

First off, despite the pork- and duck-heavy nature of many of its main dishes, Hales' Dim Ssam a Gogo truck has long featured a diverse selection of sides for anyone who loves their greens. (Cruciferous vegetables, and no French fries proper, from a truck!) The addictive, gingery signature brussels sprouts and spicy tater tots return as usual, but the spread widens with the vegan-friendly additions of Napa kimchi, Swank Farms pole beans, and even Swank Farms cauliflower. If you do the lacto-ovo thing, there are also kimchi egg rolls.

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Paula Niño

Jennifer Garcia-Mathews (left) and Frances Llop-Noy (right)

​In terms of street food, Art Basel was like the second coming of the Fall for the Arts Festival. Everywhere I turned there were food trucks and carts, some new, some old.

One of my discoveries was Raaga Cart at the Miami Independent Thinkers Fair. Owners Jennifer Garcia-Mathews and Frances Llop-Noy decided to start the cart last summer when they grew tired of the lack of meatless street food options at Wynwood's second Saturday art walks.

Llop-Noy and Garcia-Mathews teach yoga and have been vegetarians for three years. But more than just serving vegetarian fare, they want to serve food that is good for the body and the environment. The girls are working on planting their own edible garden to supply the cart.

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Riki Altman

​Vegan restaurants in Miami are rare. For the most part, they cater to a granola-munching, Birkenstock-wearing demographic, but neglect the rest of us who just like to eat.

Maybe veganism would be more widely accepted if it struck a balance between looking appetizing and providing an environment where the masses would feel at ease. After all, there are probably many people among the millions in Miami who would happily try vegan fare if it were presented accordingly.

These are that can provide an example.

1. Escopazzo: Italian cuisine is particularly good for vegetarianism, but raw and vegan is challenging. Chef Giancarla Bodoni dishes raw, vegan fare in a fine dining setting and obliges the whims and needs of finicky eaters. Escopazzo is the only full service restaurant in Miami where vegans will never feel disciminated against or snubbed. In a couple of weeks, she will expand her raw section to include a few more items. 1311 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach; 305-674-9450

2. Sublime: Owner Nanci Alexander has been serving "clear-concience" cuisine since 1989. Lauded for its vegan fare and upbeat atmosphere, Sublime was named "Top 10 Vegetarian Restaurant" nationally by USA Today and has attracted celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Paul McCartney, Alec Baldwin, Alicia Silverstone, and Bob Barker. And 100% of the proceeds go to organizations that promote animal welfare and vegan lifestyles. 1431 N. Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale; 954-615-1431

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Jason Postal

​It might seem like some kind of miracle that an Italian restaurant is offering vegan fare. Wait...it is a miracle that any fine dining restaurant would want to do vegan cuisine.

Nevertheless, it's true, South Beach's Escopazzo has a section on its menu entirely dedicated to raw, vegan specialties. Executive Chef Giancarla Bodoni has been putting her creative energy into catering to people with special dietary needs, i.e. vegetarianism, veganism, raw diets and gluten intolerance, over the last five years. So it should come as no suprise that Miami's fore-mother of the local-sustainable-eco revolution would do the same with veggie-centric fare. PS. she's been nearly 100% organic and green for nearly a decade.

Bodoni features items like vegetable lasagnette with pinenut ricotta and pesto ($14), "fettucine alfredo" ($13) and vegan caprese with cashew cheese, tomato tartare and basil ($11) as part of her raw selection. She is set to expand her raw offerings come mid-November.

In a town where physical fitness and fake boobs go hand in, um, hand,, it is surprising that more people don't tend towards a leaner, animal-free diet. What faster way to drop a couple sizes?

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