Restaurant Review: Greenhouse Juice Co.

GREENHOUSE JUICE CO.

5 Macpherson Avenue ~ greenhousejuice.com Instagram: @greenhousejuice ~ Twitter: @GHJuiceCo Co-Diner: Tim Golem

You've probably caught wind of the fact that cold-pressed juice is a thing. Some people are all about it (me) and other people are a bit more hesitant to buy into the hype (my husband). I learned about Greenhouse Juice when I saw them featured in the amazing Day of Gluttony: 24 Toronto Restaurants in 24 Hours video and when NOW Toronto voted them as the #1 Best Juice Bar 2019. I was pretty excited to visit their flagship location (open since 2014) in Summerhill on a Saturday morning, fully intending to have breakfast. The little white house is extremely adorable. You can clearly see how their logo was derived from the house itself and I love this level of continuity (they've even got light fixtures in the same shape!). Inside, you find a bright and friendly space, full of white subway tiles and tons of plants all over the place. It feels cute, fresh and current. Of course there's a large fridge housing all of the bottled cold-pressed juices, lemonades, kombuchas, plantmilks, shakes, and boosters. But they also offer food items as well. There isn't a whole lot available for seating, save for some counters with a few stools, but you don't really need much more than that. The people behind the counter were very warm and helpful, happy to offer tons of information and to guide me through the options. I would be amiss not to mention how greatly the shop has expanded. From the first little shop to now 13 locations in Toronto! And it doesn't stop there. Greenhouse Juice's products are available in practically all of the grocery stores, all across Canada. Including my local Loblaws. You can find their bottled juices everywhere from Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, and Montreal (plus everywhere else in between). I think that it's safe to say that they've "done it." I decided to start with a Superfood Smoothie because I liked the idea of trying something that gets made-to-order, which you can't get at the grocery store. Of the six choices, I liked the sound of Undercover Greens ($9.95 for 16oz) the best.

House almond milk, banana, spinach, kale, vanilla, peanut butter, protein powder, ceylon cinnamon.

I was surely drawn to this one because of the use of peanut butter as an ingredient. After a short wait my smoothie was ready and I loved the creamy texture and delicious flavours. I enjoyed that it really did taste like a rich and decadent nutty situation, yet still packed plenty of green vegetable punch. My only complaint is that I found some of the sips (especially near the bottom) to be quite gritty. I have to wonder if maybe the spinach or kale wasn't washed properly? It really was that type of grittiness. Apart from that, I liked the health-giving, energy-boosting flavour a lot. I was also quite interested in trying some of their plant-based bites, which not all of their locations offer. They serve things like smoothie bowls, panini, and chia puddings. There were two types of panini available and I went for the Roasted Veggie + Pesto Panino.

Bianca bread, sweet potato, red pepper, broccoli, eggplant, roasted sunflower seeds, olive oil, red onion, garlic, arugula, basil, parsley, lemon juice, black pepper, kosher salt, dried oregano, chili flakes.

I was asked if I wanted the sandwich warmed up and cut in half, which I did. I enjoyed the fact that so many vegetables were packed in between two pieces of bread. The sweet potato was especially nice, with it's large tender chunks. The sandwich was herby, warm and savoury. I found this panino to be plenty fresh and delightful. (Hot Tip: panino = singular, panini = plural.) Next, I grabbed something a bit more snack or dessert-like. The Almond Butter Chia Pudding. They had two chia puddings available but the almond butter was really speaking my language. What? I just really like nut butters!

Coconut milk, chia seeds, almond butter, maple syrup, hemp hearts, vanilla extract, cinnamon.

OBSESSED. This was my favourite thing that I had at Greenhouse Juice. This chia pudding was SO GOOD. The layer of creamy, rich, nutty almond butter on top tasted deliciously nutty... But then you get to the actual chia pudding underneath which was even creamier, sweet, coconutty magic. Maybe I was just in the right mood, but I couldn't get over how much I loved this. It was everything that I wanted! Can I get this at the grocery store by my house?? Because I want my fridge to be stocked with them at all times. Okay. Now let's talk about the big show. What's the deal with cold-pressed juice? (Or as my husband calls it, "$10 juice.") What's up with buzz phrases such as plant-based nutrition? Why should you want raw, organic juice? Greenhouse Juice uses hydraulic pressure to extract juice from their ingredients while minimizing heat and oxygen, for a nutrient-dense product with enzymatic activity intact. They press all of their juices in small batches right here in Toronto. They don't use preservatives, additives, pasteurization, or HPP (high pressure processing). They make their juice from organic ingredients which are GMO-free and grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. They source their produce from local farms during the Ontario growing season, prioritizing "seconds," or the often less-loved, misshapen vegetables and fruits. And then they send the fibre back to the farms to be used as compost to help new crops grow. It's a very big and very serious process that Greenhouse Juice is taking extremely seriously. It is their main product, after all. Of the 12 cold-pressed juices that they are currently offering, I wanted to try a really standard, original, no-messing-around blend. The Good ($7.00).

Cucumber, spinach, romaine, celery, lemon, fermented lemongrass, Himalayan salt.

This juice is crisp and savoury, with no additives and no nonsense. It's certified organic, raw, and made with light filtration to protect nutrients. Extremely verdant, you can't really go wrong with a really great green juice. If anything, I could use even bigger green flavours, but this juice does a great job of creating a bit of a gateway into the world of green juices. When you drink this you feel like you're giving yourself life. It really is the next closest thing to eating a whole plate of vegetables. Greenhouse Juice Co. is certainly Toronto's top name in cold-pressed juice. There are others but this is the one that you see everywhere. I appreciate their wide variety of products and even wider reach of where you can find them. It's not the cheapest habit to get yourself hooked on but once in a while when you just need a bottle of health in your hand, this is truly what you are looking for.