Who Are They And What’s Their Philosophy?
Hament and Sonal, an inspired husband and wife team, took over Nature’s Harvest in 2013. In August 2014 over 5 weeks they transformed it from a health food store to the buzzing health hub that it is today. Their backgrounds as a Pharmacist and Accountant respectively are not the expected prior careers that would lead you to running a clean eating, wholefood lifestyle café. But that may be why they do it so well. Their own health journeys lead them to discover the transformational power of taking care of yourself body, mind and spirit which they live, promote and embody running Nature’s Harvest. Their food and lifestyle philosophy is to provide clean, healthy, tasty foods, which I believe they excel in. It is so wonderful to meet enthusiastic, inspired healthy-foodies who are using their reach to help others come up along with them. Taylor, Sonal and Hament have created their own Turmeric Latte Mix, which is now in over 200 outlets in Australia, in Singapore, the Maldives and recently was made an exclusive product of Wholefoods in the U.K. A percentage of every sale of their turmeric latte blend is donated to Magic Moments Youth Leadership. |
The Nature's Harvest Team. Photos by Ben Harvey.
|
Hament and Sonal met a young man who shared that he was suicidal at the age of 13 at a Tony Robbins senior leadership event. Upon hearing his story about his life changing experience through a Youth Leadership program, they were inspired to help others through this charity. They have pledged to donate $1 from every 70g pack and $3 from every 250g pack, with an aim to raise $1 million for Magic Moments in the next 12 months.
|
The Menu
|
The menu at Nature’s Harvest is about so much more than catering to food allergies and intolerances, it’s a way of life there.
As result all food allergies can be accommodated and suggestions will be made based on your requirements. The majority of menu items are gluten and dairy free, with plentiful vegan, vegetarian, raw and paleo options. Nuts, gluten-containing grains, eggs and dairy are all served in the café but every effort is made to minimise cross-contamination of allergy foods with others. Every menu item they serve is made up of nutrient-dense wholefoods that are energising. Hament explained that he views caffeine as “energy on credit- you’ll have to pay it back later” and they even considered being a coffee-free shop. Coffee lovers don’t fret they do serve coffee (a certified organic one roasted in N.S.W.)! Conscious consumerism and particular attention to the impact of their actions is very apparent at Nature’s Harvest. Many meals are cooked without oil to minimise the excessive use of olives and coconut. Hament informed me it takes 30 to 40 olives to make a single tablespoon of olive oil! |
Bowl of Life.
Nature’s Harvest ingredients are about 80% organic. They focus on purchasing organic foods based on the Dirty Dozen list and order produce from local farmers wherever possible with conscious attention to seasonal produce and availability. Allergy friendly meals are abundant. Breads are sourced from Strange Grains in Leederville and The Light hearted Bakery.
Hament and his team were extremely generous in sharing their newest and most popular dishes with us. We sampled their delicious, new gluten free waffle with Cocowhip, berries and house-made chocolate sauce and their own turmeric latte. We also munched on their Harvest breakfast as we sipped their Golden Bliss Protein Smoothie (recipe shared below). Sadly, we didn’t have room for the Bowl of Life -chock full of delicious, protein mint green smoothie, organic blueberries, spirulina and many delectable toppings- and side salad –a combination of their raw pad thai and winter harvest salads with tamari almonds, spiced pepitas and avocado mayonnaise- that they served us. But I cannot wait to return, with an empty stomach and try them all! Nature's Harvest Side Salad.
The Venue
Located on Napoleon Street Cottesloe, Nature’s Harvest is a delightful buzz of regulars and inspired health-conscious folks. Many of whom are known by name to the lovely, friendly team. Visiting Nature’s Harvest is just like catching up with your inspired, healthy-foodie mates. They share a love of health and the clean eating wholefood lifestyle. In house there is a barista area serving certified organic Sacred Grounds coffee and specialising in their own Turmeric Lattes, the café serving fresh, clean, healthy food and drinks, health food supplements and vitamins –only those which Hament and his team use themselves- for purchase, a Massage Therapist and Naturopath and Nutritionist, who is also their Head Chef, Taylor, all brought together to inspire and help customers improve their health. Hament views taking pharmaceutical medications for gut health-related issues as “painting over rust” so you won’t find any here. All supplements, vitamins and of course items on the menu are collected and created to assist the body’s natural ability to heal itself when nourished and treated correctly. |
Nature's Harvest Gluten and Dairy Free Waffle.
|
Dish To Try
With so many inspired options to choose from it’s hard to pick just one. Everything we ate was delicious! But for those who eat gluten and dairy free and wish to eat healthy waffles, I highly recommend those. This is one of their newest menu items, a recipe they’ve just cracked for a healthy, not-overly-sweet waffle. They’re even kid-approved! It’s great for anyone health-conscious and wanting to eat yummy waffles without the sugar headache and unwanted ingredients. The Cocowhip, berry and house made chocolate sauce toppings happily satisfied my sweet food cravings with no deviation from my usual healthy eating. The golden bliss protein smoothie (recipe below) was awesome too. It contains their own Turmeric Latte Mix and Terese Cutter’s Vanilla Pea Protein powder (an ex- Perth Chef and Nutritionist). A peppery, smooth and enlivening way to start the day or have anytime as a pick-me-up, it is delicious. Golden Bliss Protein Smoothie.
|
Recipe Shares: Golden Bliss Protein Smoothie and Golden Sun Bliss Ball.
Hament has very kindly offered to share two of their recipes- yum! Golden Bliss Protein Smoothie Serves 1 Ingredients: The flesh and water from a whole coconut or 300ml of coconut milk 2 frozen bananas (250g) 1 tsp of Nature’s Harvest Turmeric latte mix 2 Tbsp of Terese Cutter’s Vanilla Pea Protein powder That’s 21 grams of healthy protein per serve! Method: They've made a video featuring Taylor you can check out here. Their Famous Turmeric Latte.
Golden Sun Bliss Ball
Ingredients: 500g macadamias 250g cashews 10g turmeric latte mix 500g coconut 5g cardamon 5g cinnamon 180g dates Method: Process ingredients together in food processor, roll into balls and refrigerate before enjoying. The Delicious Salad Selection at Nature's Harvest.
Exciting News From Nature's Harvest!
Exciting news was abundant at Nature’s Harvest. With their Turmeric Latte Mix soon to be available in the U.S. as well as Australia, the U.K., Singapore and the Maldives, their pledge to raise $1 million for Magic Moments Youth Leadership in the next 12 months through it’s sales and a Nature’s Harvest recipe book on the way there is no shortage of awesome stuff going on and coming up for Hament, Sonal, Taylor and their team.
The Nature’s Harvest team will release their recipe book with all the recipes they create in house, inspiring others to live their food and lifestyle philosophy in their own homes and making it easy to create healthy, clean eating and tasty food everywhere. Love what the team here are all about! |
Hament and I at Nature's Harvest.
This is the second part in a series on Happy, Well and Fed Allergy Friendly Cafes and Restaurants in Perth. It is designed to promote food businesses who not only cater to customers with food allergies but really care about providing for these customers' needs.
If you own or manage an allergy friendly cafe or know someone who does who may be interested in being featured, please contact me with details. I’m very much looking forward to my next visit to Nature’s Harvest and enjoying more delicious meals and drinks, whilst being inspired by their vision and philosophy. Here’s to you being Happy, Well and Fed (delicious, healthy, inspiring wholefoods-Nature’s Harvest style) |