I Ate Here: PuraVegan in St. Louis

While visiting St. Louis, I spent an evening with my friend Jill.  We went to a Yin Yoga class, had a terrific raw vegan dinner and visited the Chinese Lantern exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

I picked Jill up at her wonderfully decorated house, which is a little over a hundred years old. I’d love to cook in her kitchen, so spacious and light-filled.

 Jill and I both like tropical decor, even though we both live in landlocked areas.  Her patio made me crave a frosty drink with an umbrella!

Before dinner, we went to a Yin yoga class in the small yoga studio space adjacent to Pura Vegan.  Our teacher Allison was terrific in accommodating yogis of all skill levels and shared the sanskrit names for most of the poses.

I had looked forward to dinner all day!  I’ve been doing lots of raw food studying so seeing what folks who know what they are doing can concoct without baking is very interesting to me.

Jill had the enchiladas, which were a bit spicy.  I like spicy more than Jill, so I would eat this again.  Jill would order another dish instead.

I had the tacos and loved them.  I’m hoping to learn how to make the corn tortillas the tacos were served in.  The filling, made with walnuts, tomatoes and carrots, was very meat-like.  The side of pico de gallo was plentiful and had a great, fresh flavor.

Allison, the yoga teacher, was having dinner with another yogi and indulged me in a photo of her dinner dish, the sweet potato pasta.  I’ve seen zucchini used for raw noodles, but never sweet potatoes.  What a beautiful dish! I ordered a spiral cutter when I got home so I can make raw noodles until we get PuraVegan in Kansas City.

Jill ordered the key lime cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert.  It was much like the raw vegan cheesecake you’ll find over at 52 Sweets, only this had a great lime flavor.  The raspberry sauce was sweet with the tiniest hint of tart, it went well with the key lime cheesecake.  I had only two bites, but would have eaten the entire thing.

I ordered the chocolate banana milkshake and took it with me. While more a smoothie than a shake, the flavor was great.  My experience with non-dairy shakes is that they are never as thick as I remember dairy-filled shakes being but they always taste great. 

There was a wide variety of desserts available, including cupcakes.  I can’t wait to visit PuraVegan again so I can try more dishes.

After dinner, we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden to see the Chinese Lantern exhibit.  The exhibit was so much more than I expected. I thought there would be a few hundred typical round lanterns hanging in trees.  Instead, there are more than 25 illuminated sculptures, some made with China plates and cups, one made with recycled plastic bottles, some maybe with tiny glass medicine bottles filled with colored water, some made with traditional wire frames covered with fabric.  Well worth the $22 admission.

Love the panda lanterns nestled amongst bamboo

This sculpture is made of tiny glass medicine bottles filled with colored water

The last time I visited the garden was two years ago for a Chihuly exhibit.  One of those pieces frames a	Chinese lantern.

I am not great at taking photos at night.  I did notice beautiful photos of this same exhibit at Eat The Love.  Irvin has shared stunning photos that really capture the exhibit well.

PuraVegan is located at 307 Belt Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63112.  At the time of this post, they were closed on Sunday and Monday.  Check their website for updated hours and menu items.