Do you have a go-to method for healthy dining when you travel? It probably doesn’t surprise you that I have a few tricks up my sleeve, and I use them often.
I strongly encourage you to pack your healthy habits when you pack your luggage. All too often, healthy food choices, exercise and adequate sleep get left behind when we hit the road – but guess what? Illness (like, ummm, breast cancer) NEVER takes a vacation; your body doesn’t know you’re in Hong Kong and not your hometown. So let’s start by practicing with some dining tips, shall we?
Although finding healthy fuel on the road is less challenging than in the past, it does require deliberate action to pull it off. Since I happen to be travelling (again) this week, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few restaurants I visited on my recent Arizona trip. Even if you’re not visiting AZ any time soon, these concepts and ideas can be translated to any place you happen to find yourself asking “Where should we eat?”
I love shining a spotlight on restaurants that create food and an atmosphere with your health in mind; those are the places I intentionally seek out. Here are three (and an honorable mention) we visited, plus the hotel where we happily dined each morning before heading out on our Sedona adventure du jour.
TastyBox tastybox
Following a morning visit with family while still in Phoenix, I went in search of a non-chain restaurant (tip #1!) where I could enjoy a solitary (quiet) lunch. A quick online search pulled up lots of chatter about “tastybox”, a bento-box, vegan-options-available, independent dining spot. I give kudos to Carrie, the behind-the-counter angel who patiently directed me to the “tastybox” parking lot following a struggle with my GPS (which I use so rarely I could attribute the problem to user error.) I arrived just as the owner was unloading supplies from her car for the next day’s menu; after she hauled everything inside, she began to share the story behind “tastybox” – she actually sat with me while I ate. Turns out that owner Preethy Kaibara is a practicing M.D. – as in medical doctor! She told me she was so dispirited treating people suffering from conditions directly related to diet and lifestyle (especially Type 2 diabetes), that she decided to open a health-focused restaurant to address the problem. She purchased three small homes; the first houses “Street Coffee”, the second “tastybox”, and the third is the roasting facility for the amazing coffee they sell at “Street Coffee.” I left feeling nourished, and like an underachiever (JK). I love her mission, her food, and her spirit!
Dr. Kaibara & Carrie
One of the dining areas in the “tastybox” house (they’re all different!).
“Street Coffee” house is to the left of “tastybox” house, roaster house to the right.
Las Posadas Las Posadas of Sedona
How delicious and fresh was breakfast at our hotel? So much so that I refused to skip it. And I easily could have! It’s wise to hit the AZ hiking trails early, but as breakfast wasn’t served until 8:00, I visited the gym first, breakfast second, then headed straight for the trails; well-fueled and uber nourished. So we started out a bit later than we normally would. Who cares?? That enchilada sauce and bean tortilla stack was more than worth a few extra degrees on the heat gauge. The chef arrives at 6:30 each morning to prepare a fresh, rotating entree that rounds out daily staples of fresh fruit and from-scratch granola. When making our hotel reservation I received a resounding “Yes!” to my question “Do you accommodate vegan diets?” (tip #2!). Because vegan/vegetarian dining is not at all unusual in Sedona, it wasn’t a stretch to honor my “animal-less” requests, but to be sure, it’s always smart to ask. And the chef? He 100% rocked his plant-based dining creations. Bless him.
Corn tortillas, (hidden) beans, enchilada sauce, granola + fruit, heavenly coffee.
ChocolaTree ChocolaTree
Oh. My. When we shared with our waiter at this fine establishment Pizzeria Bianco (tip #3) that we were headed to Sedona, he recommended ChocolaTree; a dining oasis of calm and all things raw and vegan so very good, we had to go back a second time. Ok, the second time was for dessert only, but still. The food was fresh, filling (I couldn’t finish my meal) and fed my soul – from scratch, plant-based, real. The chef mistakenly served us a BOWL vs the CUP of the spicy lentil soup we ordered, but we managed to polish off every bit of it. I still dream about it. And those desserts? Tiramisu and a warm chocolate chip brownie – raw, vegan; I dream about those too. The next evening we attended this film festival Illuminate Film Festival and found ChocolaTree a main sponsor and caterer! We were very sad we’d eaten dinner elsewhere, leaving us zero room for their vegan tamales. That’s it. We must go back.
Quinoa wrap, spicy lentil soup.
RAW Tiramisu (back) and chocolate chip brownie; cacao chips and chocolate drizzle on both!
Indian Gardens Indian Gardens section
This stunning spot was recommended to us by the chef at our hotel, who was totally plugged into the Sedona dining scene and a previous Indian Gardens employee. Breathtakingly nestled into the backdrop of Oak Creek Canyon, serving fresh, plant-based menu options in a cozy outdoor garden (of course!), this was the perfect late-lunch spot. We got into the habit of eating a huge breakfast (thanks, chef), a very late (3:00ish) lunch, then having a light snack or skipping dinner entirely (tip #4!). That’s what happens when you eat real, whole, plant-based foods; they’re filling, sustaining, and satisfying. Just like that Arizona trip.
Kale and butternut squash salad, curried carrot soup, falafel wrap.