About Shakti Life Kitchen

Shakti Life Kitchen is an organic live food haven. Shakti was named after the Hindu goddess of light and power and its intention is to give our community the healthiest possible option in food service. It was founded as a result of the "natural awakening" I had after eating a live food diet for seven months. The "awakening" has been quite a journey. One filled with a conscious raising that I had never dreamed of. So profound was this knowing that I felt like it was my purpose to open Shakti Life Kitchen.

My journey started  two years ago when I first heard the term raw food diet. For someone who loved pizza and ice cream, this did not sound like a diet I would be fond of, much less stick to for very long. It was my friend, Heather Blanton who told me about it. It did not have much of an appeal to me at first, but something clicked in me a couple of days after Easter 2007.  I had spent the holiday feasting on many of my mom's buttery delights and then moved on to my in-law's to do the same there. The day's meals were finished off with an ice cream cake that my husband and I decided to bring home the rest of. I spent the next two days eating the cake and feeling wretched about it with each bite. I continued to eat it though, never feeling satisfied by its white sugary creamy texture. I recall waking the morning of April 10th, thinking today will be different. So I went out to Starbucks and ordered a "healthy" coffee.  So there I was drinking my Starbucks decaf sugar free vanilla soy latte, and I decided this is ridiculous, this isn't healthy, quit fooling yourself. Then I suppose what happened next was that that the "raw food seed" that had been planted, finally sprouted. So, I poured out my coffee and went out to buy a bag of organic apples. I said, "Today I will start eating raw food only". And I did. My plan at the time was to try it for a week. I felt so great, I went for 10 days, then for 30 days, then for seven months.

The first time I heard raw foods I was like most of our society thinking it was just salads and apples. Let me just say at this point, thank goodness for The Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine. There I learned that raw foods included chocolate cake, ice creams, alfredo noodles, lasagna, and burgers. It was such a relief to know that I could still eat many of my comfort foods. These foods differed from the "normal" heavy foods I was acustomed to indulging in. The raw food dishes were satisfying and made me feel more energetic rather than sluggish and depressed.

Up to that point in my life when I first started eating raw, Depression was a common emotion of mine. One I thought I had inherited from my Father and could only be solved with a pill. After eating raw for a couple months I realized that it was the food that I had been eating that caused the depression. What a profound realization that was. That the food I was eating was the culprit of my on again off again sadness that I had experienced since adolescence.

This is about the time that I got pretty angry with society and our "food industry". I felt like I had been tricked and lied to my entire life. I thought how can this be? How come I am just now learning about how food can heal our bodies and how come our society continues to subsist on food that makes us ill. It really didn't and still does not make sense to me. So, after months of scribbling in my journal about how I wanted to do something about the injustice in our society. How, I wanted to help others, show them that if given the opportunity our bodies can heal themselves through eating the raw foods of nature. Being raised in a family restaurant, the only thing I could think of to share the knowledge that I had learned was to open a raw food kitchen.

So here we are with Shakti Life Kitchen..

It is hard to believe the vision is starting to be realized. With tremendous help of Shakti's dedicated staff we have been open for six months. The unbelievable staff has created an environment at Shakti that is hard to resist. You will feel the energy the second you step into Shakti. Then once you try the food your spirit will lift. Menu choices include portabello burritos, sun burgers, falafel sandwiches, ice creams, cheeesecakes, and countless fresh juices and smoothie options; all of which are organic, are vegan, and are raw. One Shakti's loyal customers, Gabriele Polytinsky said, " This place is perfection. Everything is done and conceived in attention and consciousness. Often, I have tingles and waves ripple through my body when I am dining on this divine food."

Creating and serving the delicacises is just the beginning of the vision of Shakti. In all hopes and aspirations, Shakti will be able to inspire  and educate others about the raw food lifestyle. Shakti will be able to reach out to our community and explain that we need to change our food culture. That much of what we are serving and teaching our children should be altered. We should all be learning to eat as close to nature as possible and really stress the importance of "you are what you eat". Eating food is the most basic of life's functions and controls EVERYTHING. We need to get this right. Healthy bodies. Healthy minds. Healthy people. Healthy planet. It all happens together and we need each other to make the shift in knowing and living the truth. In all hopes the more people that eat raw, the more conscious raising we will be collectively, and together we can create an environment that will allow us all to thrive for many years to come. We are at acrossroads in our lives right now. Everyday many untruths are being realized. Much of what our society eats is one of them and in this dark place there is a light, it is Shakti Life Kitchen.