My lovely friend, Tatjana Lazar, lives in Toronto and sent me a text immediately after finding the ultimate gluten-free pancake atFreshrestaurant. She has a killer palate so I always trust her judgement when it comes to food and since I can’t be there to enjoy the ‘cakes for myself, I had her write me a piece on the place post-haste (alliteration!!). Enjoy the read and a big thanks to Tal-Tal.

Okay, it’s not a myth. Gluten-free can be just as tasty, and sometimes even better than regular flour-based foods.

If you happen to be in Toronto, and are looking for some super healthy, vegan, gluten-free cuisine, it would be almost criminal for you not to check one of the three Fresh restaurants, at any of the Crawford, Bloor, or Spadina locations.  

When I moved to Toronto a few months ago, I went on the hunt for all the best places in the city to get my health-food mania on. The name Fresh kept popping up, but I didn’t have the chance to stop by until the Canada Day weekend, when my friend from Montreal came to visit. We wanted to load up on some delicious and energizing food before hitting the pool on this sweltering summer day, so we stopped in at Fresh, and boy-oh-boy were we glad we did.

We started by ordering a couple of smoothies. I had the Fruity Green, a tropical tasting green smoothie bursting with mango, banana, orange, pineapple, broccoli, spinach, and greens+. And my buddy had the Lucky Charm: raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, and mango. Both smoothies were sweet, tangy, and delicious, but I prefer my smoothies made with frozen fruits, since it makes them thicker and colder. These were good, but not life changing. What was life changing however, were the blueberry almond pancakes. Fresh only serves these as part of the brunch menu on weekends and holidays from 10-3, which is a shame, cause I would literally eat them at every meal for the rest of my life. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but they were hella-good. Thick, and super filling, with crunchy almond slivers on

top and loaded with sweet blueberries, but still light and fluffy on the inside, and served with pure, unprocessed, dark maple syrup. Seriously, best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. Oh, and did I mention gluten-free?!  

If you’re not a fan of pancakes (and shame on you if you aren’t!), have no fear! The menu at Fresh is pretty extensive, with everything from soups and salads, to veggie-burgers, quinoa battered onion rings, and carrot cake. Everything is made with wholesome, Fresh (hem-hem) ingredients, and there are tons of gluten-free and vegan options. Trust me, it’s worth a visit.