Mr NQN’s younger brother Manu was sitting in the back of our car when he commented, not unkindly, ”Oh you have a new song!” I turned to him questioningly. It was a song on the radio but his point was not lost on me.
“Are you saying that I have really boring and repetitive music taste?” I asked him while Mr NQN grinned like a monkey and nodded.
“Ummm no…” Manu said, “I just…”
“80′s music on repeat!” Mr NQN interjected saving his younger brother from having to explain. But I know, I have some sort of OCD of music listening and sometimes a new song will creep into my playlist but for the most part, I’m not changing my music taste. However, I can occasionally change my food taste. For example, a few years ago, if you’d have asked me if I were interested in raw or vegan food, I’d have said no. But lately, I’ve been trying a bit more of it spurred on by the small increase in cafes that serve it. I didn’t grow up eating it, I was much the opposite, most Chinese food is cooked and sometimes pork or prawns still slips under the Chinese definition of “vegetarian.”
One day I was walking past Earth To Table in Bondi Junction when I noticed the distinct tree on the logo. It caught my eye as it was if my Mother in Law Tuulikki has drawn it. I poked my head in, it was busy enough and snapped a picture of the sign on my phone and vowed to come back at a later stage with at least one Elliott in tow. Whilst I’m not likely to turn raw vegan (I love butter, seafood and meat too much), I like to have the occasional meal or day eating this way.
There is a large share table in the front room facing a counter of colourful cakes and there are smaller tables further in and a outdoor area in the back. The cakes are apparently the first thing that people try. Julie Mitsios has been making raw vegan cakes through her Conscious Choice business for about six years now. All of the food is dairy, wheat and sugar free and some of the items available for sale might have you scratching your head and wondering what on earth they are.
Give me Rejuvenation $4
It was terribly hot and the best thing I could think to drink was a cool fresh Thai coconut water. This is cool, sweet and refreshing.
Give me power $7.50
I tried some of Manu’s green drink-admittedly, I’m not a huge green smoothie lover and this one has a mix of greens and seasonal fruit and I can taste banana in this one so it’s actually quite nice. Oh, and it’s fun to order this in a funny voice too 
Dolmas with tzatziki $7
The special of the day was dolmades with tzatziki, one of my favourite items to snack on. But because it is raw, there is no rice used, instead, they use zucchini and fresh dill, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. The tiny little dolmas are delicious and the filling mimics rice well but the additional herbs made this a lighter and more appealing option than the rice version. The actual vine leaves are from Julie’s parent’s garden and are fresh and not brine packed. Oh and the tzatziki? It’s a dead ringer for the real yogurt dairy dip. In fact, we started wondering whether it was actually yogurt that they used. Julie’s Greek father, a chef helped to develop the flavours for the tzatziki.
Pasta $15.95
The pasta here isn’t wheat pasta but zucchini strips served with thinly sliced raw asparagus, fresh, sweet baby green peas and a cashew nut based creamy sauce with porcini and truffle oil. The sauce is very creamy and the porcini and truffle adds that mushroomy flavour and it’s a surprisingly rich and filling dish.
Garlic Bread $7.95
Mr NQN noticed the garlic bread and wondered how they could do one if it all of the food was raw. Served with a herby chimichurri sauce it is made out of the pulp from the almond milk and it takes 24 hours to prepare. Served slightly warm and dipped in the chimichurri it’s another favourite along with the dolmas.
Stir No Fry $14.50
I don’t think we were quite as taken with the stir no fry as the other dishes. There were thinly sliced vegetables marinated in a teriyaki sauce and served with clear glassy, kelp noodles.
When the friendly waitress suggested that we have a peek at the dessert cabinet to help us choose we moved to the front communal table. There’s a range of cakes and like the savoury menu, there are nut free versions available (although Julie advises those allergic to nuts that it is best not to eat here as so many nuts are used). We take her advice and choose the chai cheesecake, a lemon meringue (the most popular) and the chocolate hazelnut bomb.
Chocolate Hazelnut Bomb $9.50 plus ice cream $4
Served with a rich chocolate ice cream made with a cashew nut and coconut base, the chocolate hazelnut bomb is eerily just like a regular chocolate truffle cake. Set with coconut oil instead of butter, it even looks like a regular chocolate truffle cake with chocolate cake layers.
Lemon Meringue Pie $9.50 plus ice cream $4
The lemon meringue pie is made using Irish moss and young coconut in both the filling and the topping. The base is a coconut base and it’s tart and it too really resembles a lemon meringue pie.
Chai cheesecake $8.50 plus ice cream $4
Everyone’s favourite was the chai cheesecake which we’re told isn’t ordered as much because it doesn’t look as fancy as the others. The texture is silky smooth and the spices of the chai are aromatic. And the cinnamon ice cream? Divine, better than many dairy based cinnamon ice creams.
Julie Mitsios
The cost for drinks, a meal and a dessert are just over $30 a person. The hungry boys are sated and there wasn’t a peep out of vegan Manu about not being able to find anything on a menu!
So tell me Dear Reader, have your tastes changed much over the last few years? And do you know or are you a raw, vegan eater? Do you think that there are health benefits to eating foods raw?
Earth To Table
85 Bronte Rd Bondi Junction, NSW, 2022
Tel : +61 (02) ) 9029 1755
Wed – Sun: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
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39 Comments | Add your own
What an interesting place to eat Lorraine, I’m always up for something different and this would certainly fit! As long as the food is flavourful and delicious, I have no qualms eating raw or vegan. My only pet peeve is when something is pretending to be something else (like tofurkey, it’s just plain gross). That chocolate hazelnut bomb looks absolutely mouth watering.
what an interesting array of treats!
I keep hearing about all the benefits of eating raw food. But I just can’t imagine living without an oven. I think I could eat this way in the warmer months but in winter, I’d like something warm. Amazing how they can make dolmas and garlic bread and lemon meringue pie without turning on the oven xx
Oh how my taste buds have changed. My diet used to consist of about 10 different things now I could probably only count 10 things I don’t like.
Although I wouldn’t change to a raw vegan diet any time soon I do see the benefits of eating like that occasionally and raw food, if prepared well can be just delicious!
I don’t think I’ve ever had vegan food and always thought it a little strange. However this all looks amazing and really imaginative. I love the sound of the pasta and the dolmas. The cakes look incredible too. Perhaps I should be changing my tastes. GG
Most of the food there certainly does look good, and I think you would need a very imaginative and innovative mind to create some of these dishes. Raw or veggie/vegan is probably good for giving your body a break now and then- but I definitely prefer your mention of Chinese vegetarianism with pork or prawn slipping in occasionally!
Now that was well timed! I went here on Sunday for the first time with a good friend and loved what we ate. True to form it’s the dessert that I’m thinking of days later the most, (caramel cheesecake-!!!!!) Raw sugar free are definitely things I’m exploring more and loving it…is it a healthy way to live? Everyone working there certainly looked bright eyed and healthy!
Thanks for this post. This food looks sensational.
oh, that looks good, and sounds good too: all the names: Stir no fry, etc. Cool place. I like to experience new places, but no I am not vegan I did go vegan for several months, but didn’t like the limitation it brought to my life. As of raw food, I embrace it each time I have a chance, but I prefer whole raw fruits and vegetables, not processed in some way. In other words, from garden to my plate!
This all looks very interesting
Great post!
Oooh this place looks so good! I’ve been struggling to find great restos on my gf/df diet at the moment so this looks perfect for me. Need to give those desserts a try!!
Would very much enjoy trying the savoury side of this menu! Really has that garden > plate feel! I don’t think I would come often, but did I live closer, once every few weeks for lunch would be lovely! I would not like to be entirely vegetarian or vegan, but try to have a few meals of the ilk every week: otherwise my many Eastern stirfries do contain a multitude of veggies
! And yes, I do believe raw food occasionally very good for a natural detox 
!
Oh I loved the logo too, so cute.
I do occasionally eat vegan and raw but on the whole I am a confirmed meat eater.
I love vegetarian food but I do like my mayo’s, butter, and yummy dressings to enhance the meal. I was really surprised that you couldn’t pick the difference in the Tzatziki.
Looking at all the desserts I would have never guessed vegan.. I will have to try this soon!!
The foods and the experience look great, TRUE!
I am open to trying anything once too!
I have tried various food lifestyles and they do help for a while in improving health, everything in moderation now for me!
As with my doctor’s food lifestyle guidance etc (one can read his book too)…he has helped me “crack” the secret of BEING happy that am healthy!
The chai cheesecake looks a stunner. Love the name of the place too, Earth To Table, so cool.
I couldn’t go raw or vegan entirely, either. It just precludes so many things I couldn’t live without. But I do love to experiment and try new things. I’ve had some vegan baked goods that were dead-ringers for the full-on-butter-and-cream ones they resembled. The ones at Earth to Table really look enticing, too.
My tastes have definitely changed over the last few years. My husband and I had learned of the benefits of a raw food diet, but found it impossible to adopt as we love delicious food too much! Two years ago we discovered Julie Mitsios, the owner and head chef at Earth to Table. We did lots of her raw food courses and we are now happy health raw foodies! The food at Earth to Table is divine. We go there all the time and love taking our carnivorous friends there to show them how delicious raw food can be. And as for the health benefits? My husband is 10kgs lighter, and looks around 15 years younger than his twin brother!!
I’ve always been and adventurous eater with eclectic and varied tastes. I also love butter, meat and seafood too much to be vegetarian, but my husband and now my son are, but not vegan, which is easier. Raw? I several people on raw diets. Some raw is great, but a whole diet of it? I don’t think so
Great post! I admire vegans as the discipline to acquire all of your nutritional requirements sans meat, is purely amazing. What healthy looking food in a great location!
I like the name of their drinks! Cute and clever. I never venture out Bondi Junction way… if I ever go that far, I go all the way to Bondi beach and eat at Bondi Massive
But it’s good to know there are some places around…
My friend Gail has taken up a raw food diet and she really glows. I’m not sure I could do it but am keen to dabble…
Wow the cakes look awesome! I think eating raw foods in its most natural state is a great idea – the less processed things we put into our bodies, the better!
I would love to eat at this place- I love healthy food, so a raw/vegan cafe would be a delight.
I have known Julie for around twenty years now and remember her love of food even back at school!
I have to say that my taste in foods has changed to a degree – I most definitely eat more fruit and vegetables now than I did even 5 years ago, and I’m generally more adventurous in all the foods I eat.
Veg*nism is a great idea, and even if you can’t eat that way all the time (I myself crave meat, and often) it is an excellent change at least once a week
It all looks good, especially the desserts. I admire people who can make food that is “free” but looks snd tastes like the original.
I have tried going raw many times.. I even have a food dehydrator …. LOL
But somehow I just cannot live without the heat…LOL
But I am happy to say after trying n trying I am almost 50% raw, I mostly dont eat anything cooked till lunch…
Everything looks so good here… I am loving the dolmas..YUM!
I have to say that my tastes have definitely changed over the years and although I am aiming to eat more salads these days and cut down on my sugar, having many meat-less days is not difficult,but I could never follow a vegan diet. For me, the saying ‘everything in moderation, including moderation’,works well. There are days I long for a thick juicy medium rare steak, and a bowl of pasta is comfort food and I cannot go too long without it, so all in all a little but of everything and not too much of anything.
How intriguing is this menu? I’definitely give it a go!
I love 80′s music and will listen to the same playlist again and again…in fact I’m not really in with current music at all! The food here looks quite good, if I’m in the area I would definitely give it a go.
I have tried to be a lacto ova vegeterian and it only lasted a month. I love red meat too much to give it up.
I do not frown going to a vegan/vegeterian restaurant though since every single one of them I have been to provided great food.
As for raw, it is not my thing. I love bread, rice and noodles/pasta/dumplings too much. I always feel hungry after raw even when my stomach is physically full.
wow
raw and vegan food ~ I don’t think anything I eat fits that criteria hehe but like you I am slowly warming up to the idea of trying these food and I follow a blogger called Veggie Head and her vegan dishes look delish as well!
That chocolate hazelnut bomb looks so amazing!
I couldn’t become a vegan because I really like butter etc. We are omnivores and I don’t really see any benefit to being a vegan, or just eating raw food. I especially dislike the food made to look as if it has regular ingredients and some of the over processed stuff. Eat fresh, in season and local…that’s enough for me.
Waaaant! Even though I now live in Toronto with raw and vegan places aplenty, I still get envious reading these posts because I know Canberra has none of this. Though I’m excited that Irish moss and kelp noodles have reached Aus!
Dear Lorraine,
That green smoothie looks like it’s packed with energy but I didn’t realise you are related to Manu Feildel, how awesome to have a celebrity chef and Australia’s top food blogger in the same family!
Hi Chopin! No I’m not related to him at all! My brother in law just happens to be called Manu
I never thought a vegan diet would interest me but now that I have developed a severe lactose intolerance it is my go to cuisine for delicious sweet treats. I don’t think I am ready to give up bacon though! I will definitely keep this restaurant in mind for my next Sydney trip though. It looks amazing.
What a lovely place, the food looks beautiful! I can’t wait to try this place out with vegetarian hubby
I have been vegan for a long time but it’s only been over the last 12 months or so that I’ve started to incorporate more raw foods into my eating. I have done a couple of raw vegan classes (including an amazing one on chocolate desserts run by Julie) and the innovation and imagination opened up a whole new world of flavours and textures I had never known existed. To the people who say that veganism is limiting or requires discipline – I would say reconsider. The world of fruits and vegetables is limitless and it introduced me to ingredients and dishes I would not have come across otherwise.
Hi there,
Can you please change the listed opening times? E2T are definitely NOT open till 9pm everyday (as i found out after arriving there about 6:30pm for dinner yesterday)…Woops!
(closed mon tues, open till 6 every other day)…..
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