Right now I am munching away on a lovely “not tuna” sandwich and salad with a side of Dijon mustard. I’ve consumed my share of nut tuna sandwiches and all of them end up tasting plain, too watery, and leave me feeling hungry.

This sandwich has so much flavor, it is on homemade raw onion caraway flax bread (possibly cinnamon in there too) that somehow has managed to not be soggy or tough to chew on. There is a nice fresh piece of green leaf lettuce, “not tuna” which has an amazing cashew creamy texture, chopped red onion, some sort of spicy and sweet Dijon sauce already inside, a nice steak-like slice of tomato and sprouts!

The salad is mostly a spring mix (radicchio, arugula, red leaf lettuce, baby spinach) with a few cherry tomatoes, julienned carrots and red cabbage. I can’t believe how impressed I am with this meal. I typically dislike getting nut based raw dishes because they all end up tasting the same, nothing new is ever brought to it. But the combination of how well the flavors go together, the veggies, the creaminess of the tuna, the spices, it made my mouth go into hyper salvia production mode.

It was $8.95 for my “not tuna” sandwich and salad. I actually struggled for once to finish something because it was that filling. For how fresh everything tastes, looks and the ingredients that are used the price seems fair.

There are juices, wheatgrass shots, soups, smoothies and dessert at the cafe also but they seemed a bit pricey to me. The salad bar looked like it was hit pretty bad, I did go around 1pm, but what remained looked fantastic and the price is reasonable ($8.99/lb).

What the cafe charges for a medium is the price I am use to paying for a small which surprised me because the Mendocino area is mostly known for farming. I thought local produce would help make the juices more affordable for consumers.

I did treat myself to one dessert item, Milan Muffins for breakfast tomorrow 😉 I’ll be doing lots of driving tomorrow and want to make sure I am prepared.

There are two muffins in a box, $5. They are made with Mila (brand of chia seeds), banana, cinnamon, walnut, fruit and so on. It tastes like a dried fruit (apples and figs) banana muffin. All of the desserts are presented to beautifully in a tall and slender case. But I had already spent around $14 on the salad and muffins.

Plus I hit up the Living Light gift shop and picked up a book titled “Living Foods for Optimum Health” by Brian R. Clement, Hurraw! Grapefruit and Coconut lip balm, and a tray to make a chocolate bar. The gift shop has juicers, blenders, glass straws, nuts, supplements, cooking utensils, spreads, seeds and of course aprons, shirts, hats, bags and water bottles with the institutes logo.

The workers I spoke to in both shops were very pleasant, helpful and genuinely appeared to love the work they do. They greeted me when I entered the shops but with a speed that showed “I am not here to attack or both you, but I am here if you have a question or want to talk.” It wasn’t a forced greeting, it wasn’t hasty, giving me personally the impression that the worker is annoyed, doesn’t want me in there or thinks I am going to steal something.

Later on I ended up buying a Taco Salad.

The salad is made of Romaine lettuce, olives, nut cream cheese, red bell pepper, nutty nacho cheese, two “beans” made of veggies, almonds, sunflower seeds and spices with salsa (tomato, scallions and cilantro) and guacamole.

This is another super filling dish packed with loads of flavor. The only set back for me was I wish there was some raw nacho chip strips in the salad. When I use to eat cooked taco salad my favorite part was getting little pieces of purple/blue and red chips. It adds a great texture to the meal plus a little saltiness.

The Living Light Culinary Institute is located just above the cafe and gift shop. There is a coffee shop, clothing stores, bike shop, a spa, and a yoga studio in the plaza. So essentially someone like myself may be tempted to linger around for a while. 😉

The address is 301 North Main Street Fort Bragg, California. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend coming to The Living Light Cafe and come hungry! Part Two of my article on Living Light is all on desserts! Yummmy 😀 Don’t hate me if you end up drooling on yourself or become hungry, hehe.

P.S: Here is a quick and dirty version of my review on Yelp!

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