Recently I stopped by O2 2 Living in Yello

ow Monkey Village to take a yoga

y class but, once I caught a glimpse of th he
pretty little café attached to the studio, I decided to see
e what the fare
e would be like at this holistic wellness cente
er. I
hoped it wo ould compleme ent post-yoga zen-like
z state.

I was not disappointed.

d

The Live Food Cafe is a vegan

v restauraant (no animal products
p used
whatsoeve er) that promote
es healthy livingg through a pla
ant-based diet.
The man behind
b the mea
als is Tom Donn nelly. He's a se
elf-described
"traditional chef" who hass retrained his cooking
c prowesss to include only
organic, veegan ingredientts. Not only doe es he prepare delicious meals
and juices, he is also a walking
w advertissement for howw changing yourr
diet can chhange your life.

"Eight monnths ago, I was 50 pounds hea avier," says Do

onnelly. "When I
started worrking here I had
d to learn all ab
bout macro-bio otic and whole life
diets and I thought wow, there's someth hing to this."

Donnelly says he eats thee foods he now w cooks and driinks lots of green juices; composed of cucum mber, fennel, celery,
c
kale, parsle
ey and lemon, he calls them "liquid
" salad." In eight monthss, not only has he lost weight,, he's lowered his
cholesteroll and no longerr takes daily meedication.

"I feel amazing. My life ha

as totally turned
d around," Don
nnelly said.

O2 Living and
a the Live Foood Café are th he brainchild off Rosemary Deevlin, a 17-yearr-resident of Irvvington and the
e
mother of five
f boys. One of Devlin's son ns suffers from chronic asthm
ma. As Devlin reesearched treattments for asth hma,
she discovvered the beneffits of yoga, bre
eathing and a vegan
v diet.

"Everything g we do to our bodies each da ay, including all of the food we

w eat, plays a large role in de
etermining howw we
will function
n for the rest of our lives. I ho
ope with the yogga studio, new w spa and vegan life food cafee, O2 Living vissitors
will learn what
w treating yo
our body well means
m and becoome inspired to o do so every day,"
d said Devlin.

I couldn't choose
c just one
e dish, so I decided to taste-te
est some of thee café's most popular dishes anda daily speciials. I
tried Donne elly's vegetable
e sushi, marinaated tempeh wrraps (soybeanss fermented intto a cake-like fo orm – it tastes much
better thann it sounds), and a chickpea salad with apple es, celery, carrrot and a local cider
c vinegar – delicious!

There's no oven to be fou

und at this café
é, just a dehydrrator, a blenderr and a food pro
ocessor. "It's all
a knife skills," says
s
Donnelly.

There's alsso an assortmeent of breakfastt breads, teas, and fresh fruitss and parfaits. Diners may ind
dulge a sweet tooth
t
with the raww, organic cookies.

I have to sa
ay I felt so goo
od after my mea
al. It's amazing
g how terrific a diet full of vegg
gies and wholee grains can ma
ake
you feel. My
M my guilt-free e meal also made a small imp print on the envvironment: the cafe
c recycles, composts
c and uses
only eco-friendly products s.

You don't have

h to take a yoga class or a spa treamentt to enjoy the cuisine at the Liive Food Café. It's open daily to the
public, on Monday,
M Wednnesday and Fridday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thurrsday, 8:30 a.m m. to 6:30 p.m.; and
Saturday and
a Sunday, 8:3 30 a.m. to 4:30
0 p.m. For more
e information call
c (914) 763-6 6320 or visit the
eir website.