On Oct. 1, the local chef opened a new-age juice shop on Castro Street called The Liquid Menu, which serves up fresh juice concoctions from orange-juice base drinks with fruit and nuts to green mixtures with ingredients like celery, cucumber, kale, ginger, apple.
"All of our drinks have a purpose," he said, whether it's the specific combination of apple, carrot and celery that rejuvenates the body post-workout or cold-brewed hibiscus water that is "very good for heart health and stomach balance."
Essadki has headed the Morocco's Restaurant kitchen just down the street for the past seven years (and will continue to do so along with running the new venture). Until about a year ago, he knew nothing about the juicing trend sweeping much of the nation, especially the Bay Area. (Though I would say it has yet to descend upon Mountain View.)
He said he was helping a woman clean out her garage and stumbled upon a juicer box full of tape recordings of Jay Kordich, creator of the Juiceman Juicer, also referred to as the Father of Juicing. Until then, he had never even heard of a juicer.
He started to get more interested, and learned more about the benefits of raw food and juice nutrition. He started juicing at home and lost about 10 pounds in one week, he said.
"After a seven-year experience of what I call traditional nutrition, now I'm all about new-age liquid nutrition," he said.
"This concept is the future," he added. "There's no question about it."
He's clearly passionate about nutrition and the actual science behind juicing. So when the space at 650 Castro St. opened up, he jumped at the opportunity to share that passion.
The Liquid Menu menu is divided into two sections: the "Orchard of Energy" (more fruit-based) and "The Garden of Health" (more veggie-based).
Under "Orchard of Energy," you'll find orange-juice based drinks with banana, berries, nuts, dates and acai. There are also raw-milk mixtures (with fruit, avocado, lemon, dates in various combinations) and water-based drinks with similar ingredients. The water is also highly purified, he said.
You can also spring for pear, apple, cantaloupe, orange, pineapple or watermelon ? all freshly juiced with the skin on.
Head to the "Garden of Health" for the liver clean (apple, carrot, beet, lime) or spicy green (cabbage, parsley, kale, jalapeño, ginger, apple).
You can choose from a range of superfood additions like nuts, raw cacao, tofu, seeds, sprouts, spirulina and germed wheat ($1.75 each).
Essadki is only offering two size options ? "the 8th" (16 ounces for $5.99) or "the quartz" (24 ounces for $8.99). However, he does offer gallon-size juices ("juice for your whole family," he said.)
He's also selling pastries and organic coffee because after all, "we believe in balance," he said.
The Liquid Menu
650 Castro St., Mountain View
650-933-7054
theliquidmenu.com
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 pm.; Saturdays at about 9 a.m. Closed on Sundays.
