Mixt Greens breathes new life into your same old salad
Mixt Greens breathes new life into your same old salad
Here at the offices of Common Ground magazine, we always eat a well-balanced, socially-, environmentally- and nutritionally-responsible lunch. We never elect to skip this crucial meal of the day because we’re way too busy, or make do with a few almonds, microwaved cheese on bread and some suspicious hummus from the back of the office mini-fridge, and we absolutely never, under any circumstances, drip a no-name burrito on our keyboards while hustling to get a story in under deadline.
Luckily for us, our office is on the corner of 2nd and Mission in downtown, a neighborhood where you can’t walk out of lunchtime yoga and swing your mat without hitting a café dishing up fresh, tasty, ethically-correct treats. Because we’ve tried them all, we decided to compile the definitive guide to healthy eating downtown. And when we say definitive, we mean, like, the five places we love to walk to from our office.
Without further ado, may we present: The M-F Lunch Rotation At Common Ground. Stop in one day and say hello!
Monday: Powersource Café
We used to pile in the car and head over to Café Gratitude in the Mission every time we got a hankering for heirloom-varietal grains, freshest-of-the fresh steamed veggies and nutrient-packed raw fruit and vegetable juices. That is until, under the influence of an office-wide dietary cleanse, we happily stumbled across Powersource on Fremont Street a mere few blocks away from our office — and now it’s our Cheers. This hole-in-the-wall organic vegan paradise could not be more mom and pop; owner Angela often has one or more of her little ones on her hip as she services the lunch rush. Her dedication to uber-eco principles is inspiring — the café runs on renewable power, utilizes biodegradable to-go ware and offers a discount for bringing your own reusables — and she’s continually turning us on to new flavor combinations and tasty, organically-correct products (mineral spray salt, anyone?). Start the week off right with quinoa and sun-dried mangoes in the morning or kasha and kale with citrus-ginger miso in the afternoon. Powersource is the perfect (and affordably-priced!) spot to power us through our workweek.
81 Fremont Street, 415.896.1312; powersourcecafe.com
Tuesday: Mixt Greens
We were more than ready for Mixt Greens to open its newest order-at-the-counter eco-gourmet salad and sandwich shop across the street from our offices in soma; the cg staff had already been crossing Market to walk the couple of extra blocks to their other two locations at least twice a week. The adorable Mixt Greens employees seem perpetually cheery and flirty as they concoct tempting salads to our exact specifications, using a plethora of organic, local and seasonal ingredients (as well as free range, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats and wild-caught fish). Can’t take the pressure of designing your own salad? Try one of their innovative preconceived mixes like the “berry/nutty” with strawberries, blueberries, goat cheese, candied walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette — or a sandwich or yummy lahvash-bread wrap if you’re looking for heartier fare. When we’re on deadline and simply must rush back to the office, we don’t feel so bad carrying out take-away packaging made from corn — not petroleum — filled with healthy, delicious fixings.
Three locations: 560 Mission Street; 475 Sansome Street; 120 Sansome Street
mixtgreens.com
Wednesday: Samovar
When we’re in the mood for the luxury spa-oasis treatment, we walk down Mission Street to the gorgeous Yerba Buena Gardens and surmount the stone steps to Samovar Tea Lounge. Situated on the upper terrace over the Yerba Buena waterfall with a dramatic Gotham City-style view of downtown, Samovar makes us feel like we’re lunching in a Fellini film. Its menu is pretty fab too; try the squash dumplings, polenta ginger waffle or Indian tofu curry with basmati rice and a (perfectly spicy, not too sweet!) chai. The tea lounge’s exquisite attention to detail invites us to relax and take it easy — the ideal antidote to smooth over a hectic humpday. When the sun is shining on the terrace with a gentle breeze… we’re hard-pressed to convince ourselves to head back to the office.
730 Howard Street, 415.227.9400;
samovartea.com
Thursday: Sellers Markets
Sellers built its business on a commitment to locally-sourced artisan ingredients (think Boulangerie Bay Breads, Niman Ranch, Cowgirl Creamery, greens from Earthbound Farms), and the locals are thanking them right back by keeping the place hopping, with lunchtime lines out the door. When we’ve got a jones for comfort food like creamy tomato soup, arugula, fig and pancetta pizza, or the sustainable girl’s alternative to an Egg McMuffin (Laura Chenel goat cheese, spinach and mushroom on an artisan English muffin — yum!), we toddle down the block to Sellers, and kick back on the sunny patio with an organic Arnold Palmer on ice. On our evening walk to bart, we’ve noticed the after-work crowd is starting to bump too; drawn by the Thursday night $2 Liberty Ale and Pyramid Hefeweizen happy hour, perchance?
595 Market Street, 415.227.9850;
sellersmarkets.com
Friday: Medicine
The name says it all: Medicine is consistently our staff’s lunchtime panacea of choice. Featuring an eclectic shojin-style (Japanese Zen Buddhist) menu in a slickly modern café bustling with Financial District beautiful people, Medicine is much, much better than its slightly bizarre Crocker Galleria food court location would suggest. We even ate there during aforementioned cleanse, and the girl behind the counter didn’t roll her eyes when we all ordered brown rice and steamed veggies — hold the oil, sauce and nightshade vegetables, please! Sure, you’re paying $12-$15 for lunch, but the ingredients are ethically impeccable, and the bento box presentations are little works of art. Plus any lunch hour that involves mochi is okay by us. (Hot Tip: Take your bento to the serene, decidedly un-mall-like rooftop patio, and enjoy your medicine al fresco).
161 Sutter Street, #61 Crocker Galleria, Third Floor, 415.677.4405;
medicinerestaurant.com