A deep love for animals and a serious illness finally convinced Lucy Walters that she should open a Vegan and raw food cafe. Lucy and her partner Gary have moved into a prime Maple Street location next to the pharmacy in Maleny and have opened the doors to their Kind Living Cafe. On opening eve, Lucy told HT how her dream became reality.
“I have always been Vegan,” says Lucy, “but about six years ago I was diagnosed with MS and so we decided on a tree change to find a place where we could adapt for a future wheelchair. Then someone introduced me to raw food. I tried it and over time eventually got rid of all my symptoms of MS. So, I am a very strong devotee of raw food.”
Lucy explains that all raw food is Vegan. “It’s a different way of preparing food,” she says, “where you can have raw pizzas, raw linguini, raw crackers. It’s a different way of eating and it keeps all the digestive enzymes and vitamins in the food. Because as soon as you cook food you kill the enzymes and a lot of the vitamins. It is nutrient dense food so you need less of it.”
Lucy is a passionate advocate for the Vegan message of no animal products, no meat, dairy or eggs.
“There is a large health debate that says we don’t need cow’s milk. Calves need cow’s milk and it’s no good for our bodies anyway. It produces mucus and all sorts of things. Then there is the other side which is the compassionate eating side. Particularly in this day and age when we are more affluent than we have ever been, we treat our food animals more inhumanely than we ever have.
Because we can afford to eat meat and dairy more often, we’re mass producing those animals , and mass slaughtering them, often inhumanely. “
Lucy believes that these days there are many people, from alternative lifestylers to commuting professionals who are choosing Vegan and raw food lifestyles.
“We certainly think the clients we’re looking for live on the Range. They are health conscious, baby-boomers and those who have come up here for an alternative lifestyle because they want the clean air, clean water and healthy foods. There’s great interest in Vegan and raw food in Maleny. Most people think it’s an apple or a salad, so it will be an educational process.”
Lucy says raw food can be heated to 46 degrees and still maintain its enzymes and vitamins. This means the food is nutrient dense and doesn’t make you sleepy or sluggish after a meal. Raw foods include the
obvious fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, but also includes, breads, soups, nut cheeses, cakes and other amazing deserts. There is definitely no deprivation on a raw diet.
“A raw food diet is full of interesting flavours, textures and experiences,” she says. “Mexican, Indian and Japanese for example, so we never have to miss out on any flavours at all.”
Lucy Walters (standing) welcomes friends on opening day of her Kind Living Cafe. She is hoping to satisfy the growing interest in Vegan and raw food .
Even desserts may be a surprise to those unfamiliar with the raw food concept – raw cheesecakes that are so healthy you can have them as a meal, chocolate mousse, banana cream pie, and the list goes on. The cafe is also offering health enhancing juices using only cold press juicers, green smoothies and a variety of drinks from organic fair trade coffee to raw cacao mocha and a full range of teas.
Lucy has trained in raw food preparation in the US but has Vegan and raw food chefs in the kitchen. She says all meals are organic and sourced locally whenever possible. The Cafe is now open at 9am for breakfast, then morning tea and lunch. It is open seven days a week until 3pm. Eventually, they hope to have a BYO licence and then open for evening meals.
If passion and commitment are anything to go by then Lucy’s Kind Living Cafe looks set for success. “What we are offering people is a lovely, live fresh alternative that’s going to make you feel good, look younger, feel younger. It’s going to help you overcome disease.
And more and more people are embracing that,” she adds with a convincing smile.
August 25th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Hi Lucy, Congratulations on the opening of your Kind Living Cafe. I heard about it yesterday from a beautiful lady by the name of Anne-Marie Dineen who recommended it to me after I told her of my dream to create an organic, raw food cafe here in Gympie. Hope to come and meet you one day in the next week or two. You are an inspiration.
Warmest Regards
Kerri-Anne
Healthilicious
October 20th, 2011 at 11:39 am
Hi, this sounds all very yummy!
I’m doing a day trip tomorrow up in Maleny
just to have a lunch at your cafe.
I am so looking forward to eating a raw creation
and hopefully learning something I can reproduce
at home:)
October 22nd, 2011 at 9:01 am
You could definitely see your expertise in the paintings you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
We visited “Kind Living Cafe” today for lunch, the food was pretty good but I warn true Raw Vegans to be careful and choose well, I don’t think this cafe really is committed to the Idea of Raw diet.
There is a variety of dishes some included Breads and some were including grains etc. Coffee was being served complete with cow’s milk.
It’s hard to tell if this broad variety is a good thing given that you have to check nearly down to the ingredients if you are RAW before you eat. The sauce that came with our Nori Rolls was definitely made using heat processed sesame oil, I could smell it a mile away.
When I asked for Shoyu as an alternative I was told ”it’s okay we have Tamari in our sauce mix”. I wanted pure Shoyu not some oily dipping sauce which in our opinion was not really well matched to the Nori dish which was beautifully presented by the way.
I had the cofa dish, very nice, tasty authentic flavour, my wife had pickings of the Kale Slalad and the nori and the Asian Zuchini Noodles. We spent about $80 on lunch for 2 adults and 2 kids. Deserts were nice, not outstanding. Presentation was obviously done by a professional and there were no preparation issues like bits of ingredient from other dishes and no non uniform prep. From this point of view a strong positive for “Kind Living Cafe” obviously a professional Kitchen team at work.
Unfortunately even though we arrived by 1:30 the first two dishes we ordered were not available on the day. We weren’t told this when we were given our table because we were not seated and not given menus. I’d have to say that the servers seemed inexperienced and not really committed to our needs. We noticed other patrons having to tidy their own tables as they were left to sit and dine.
We arrived to our reserved table which was not cleaned, we found the menus because we were not offered any and when the table was cleared we were not welcomed to it. It all seemed a little too hard for staff to get the idea that we were there to dine , enjoy and spend hard earned money. I can nearly say that other than we had to pay (when ordering at counter) and that the staff of few words brought the food to us, we left feeling like they really didn’t even know we were there.
Would we go back ? .. Considering the professional quality of the food and the kitchen teams obvious talent and presentation I’d say yes. Will I enjoy it when I do ?.. Well I‘d like to believe that the front of house team will learn and start to fix those little bugs, learn to help busy mums with kids to sit and order and to have tables cleared and at least welcome people to sit and enjoy.. If they do then yes I think an enjoyable time can be had by all.
If I was asked I’d have to break it down like this. Food 7/10. Service and systems 4/10. Having said that I wish all at KLC a prosperous and fulfilling future and all the encouragement in the world.
Thanks for a Yummy lunch guys
December 19th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Fantastic cafe – very impressed with the menu. I was the only vegetarian in our small group of four for lunch. The three non-veg were very surprised that you could enjoy a meal without meat. The cafe was to full capacity and the service was excellent. Thank you for the experience.
Judy Mynott