Eve’s eco-friendly feasting

 A couple of intense meetings. Two workshops. An out of town trip. A car needing new suspension. Early mornings and late candlelit nights thanks to a four day electricity fault. A pack of stray dogs massacred all my chickens leaving only a trail of feathers. Stray guineafowl ate all the vegetable seedlings.
And I spent a couple of interesting hours at the end of a busy day driving a ZESA crew on a line patrol to try and find the fault. Unsucessfully! It is a full time job managing a home. Before the week was up I needed to find a day to breathe.
The car suspension took two days to fix which allowed me a morning to try and get my home in order. It was the fourth day without power and I was examining the defrosting food in the freezer wondering whether it was worth going out to lunch or better to stay in and use up some of the  food which urgently needed cooking.
But my friend, who was also my transport, had more energy.  She was finished with her day’s work — so we headed off to Eve’s garden (phone 497888) — a refreshing spot on Hurworth Avenue, off Enterprise Road, which seemed a good place to get our breath back. It is a verdant garden setting with white bantams pecking on the green lawn matching the fresh green and white décor on the wide verandah where food is served.
Eve’s garden offers a nice range of drinks and we opted for iced tea with orange juice. It looked gorgeous, layered in a sundae glass but I put the straw straight into the orange concentrate at the bottom and sucked up a mouthful without stirring which was a bit of a strong shock. Once it was all mixed up it was pleasantly refreshing.
Eve advertises itself as eco-food, which seems to mean an emphasis on health and whole food on the menu. There is a broad selection of health juice combinations — all at US$5 and an array of health breakfasts to choose from.
Fresh fruit salad with probiotic yoghurt at a rather hefty US$6, cinnamon pancakes with honey and French toast with bacon (US$4) and a more substantial breakfast bake at a more substantial US$8. A selection of cakes and toasted sandwiches with interesting fillings range from US$3 to US$5.
I was tempted by one of the platters for two — either a ploughman’s with homemade bread, cheeses, salad and pickles or the antipasti, a selection of cheese, pickled veg and cold meats.
Looked good value at US$12 but my friend had started her day with only a green juice and wasn’t in the mood to share. She chose pickled tilapia (US$9) and I opted for the bobotie (US$10) served with brown rice and side salad.
The salad was interesting with shaved carrots and fresh sprouts and oil and vinegar was on the table to dress it. Both dishes were tasty and well-presented and were accompanied by nice homemade bread. Other mains on offer were vegetable lasagne, tagliatelle and a mustard chicken dish.
Service was smart and friendly — in keeping with the fresh, clean atmosphere.
It was a nice light lunch in pleasant surroundings and I did feel I had got my breath back — ready to collect the car, stock up on diesel for the generator, and shore up the chicken house in preparation for new chickens.
We both finished with chai latte — spicy tea with a foamy milk topping accompanied by little nuggets of preserved ginger. Lunch for two was US$29.
 – g.jeke@yahoo.com