Santa Fe is home to some of the cleanest air in the country, but at 7,200 feet elevation, the rarefied atmosphere can leave some feeling lightheaded, which makes this the perfect city for a business such as Santa Fe Oxygen and Healing Bar. And while those of us used to the altitude don’t necessarily seek out oxygen cocktails (and can’t always take time for spa treatments), the recently expanded oxygen bar has offerings that include matter in every state.
Santa Fe Oxygen and Healing Bar is more of an oxygen and healing empire, a spa/restaurant/lounge sprawling across San Francisco Street. The concept is the creation of healer/entrepreneur Kadimah Levanah and now has three levels, each serving a different part of your being. The original space, the upstairs lofty center of healing/spa called the Sanctuary, is where you receive healing treatments combined with massage, essential oils and herbal tinctures. The middle level, in the space that formerly housed Matí Jewelry, is called the Apothecary, which is where your more basal human needs (i.e. sustenance) are catered to.
At the Apothecary, you will not have to live on air. Liquids are represented by a truly encyclopedic menu of libations, all of which are nonalcoholic and contain herbal tinctures, flower essences, medicinal mushrooms, healing spices, etc. A fleet of herbal-infused cocktails, for example, includes the Kuthumi Ginger Zing made with papaya, ginger, lime and fennel tincture to aid in digestion. The Mushroom Madre Mary is a virgin bloody mary made with tomato juice, olives, mushroom powder and red chile. For tourists, the pineapple, lime and mint O2 Mojito Boost contains a shot of chlorophyll to help with that pesky altitude sickness. There also are warm elixirs, like Kadimah’s buttered chai (a thick, creamy, spicy mug of what tastes like hot ice cream and feels like medicine), golden milk made with vanilla and ghee, and even a chicory dandelion root latte meant to cleanse the liver.
The Apothecary has a kava bar component, one of the first in the city. Kava is a Polynesian root that produces a sense of euphoria and relaxation, and is swiftly growing in popularity stateside as an alternative to alcohol or ma*****na, with its clear-eyed “high” and supposed anxiety-reducing properties. It also tastes like chewing on sticks, so the Oxygen and Healing Bar has concocted kava cocktails where the earthy, slightly acerbic taste of the kava is masterfully hidden in fruit juices or with herbal tinctures and spices. But don’t worry, purists, you can still get your kava straight as a fresh Hawaiian kava bowl for $6.
And then there is matter in its solid state, food. Before running a spa, Levanah was a restaurateur.
“I had a restaurant in Madison, Wis.,” she says. “It was called the Art House Cafe. It was all farm-to-table and all reasonably priced. That was my whole idea, to make farm-to-table reasonably priced.”
The Apothecary’s menu reflects that idea — most of the drinks are $5 to $10 and food ranges from about $9 to $19, depending on ingredients (most items hover around $12, unless you order the ceviche). It’s light on meat but not completely vegetarian; you can, for example, have salmon on a Caesar salad, or add salmon or shrimp to a bowl of house pho of the day made from sweet potato noodles, a daily broth (be it vegan broth or bone broth) and seasonal vegetables with fresh herbs.
While the food is by its nature healthy, it does not come off like “health food.” Everything is decadently tasty, belying the nutrient-dense, low-glycemic ingredients. They Apothecary even offers a downright therapeutic version of chile cheese home fries made from red potatoes, yucca root, organic cheese and a vegan red chile sauce, topped with cannabinoid oil, or CBD. The menu also features a suite of acai bowls (trendy, smoothie-like bowls of blended acai berries topped with fruit and Levanah’s house-made seed-and-oat granola that are all the rage in California but have barely emerged here) and a blue corn atole waffle topped with coconut cream and given crunch by chocolate-covered h**p seeds. Because it’s Santa Fe, there’s even a Frito pie, albeit one made from Anasazi beans and calabacitas served over a healthier “Frito” or rice, with jackfruit, the oh-so-trendy vegan meat alternative, instead of beef. The (Magic) Mushroom Coconut Curry is made with maitake and king oyster mushrooms (magic in their own way) and the Om-Mani Phad Thai is made with tamarind almond teriyaki sauce and mung bean noodles.
“The pad thai I made with mung bean noodles so you don’t get that carbohydrate load,” Levanah says. “Not that I’m against carbohydrates, but they do tend to make us feel heavy. I wanted to make food that was really tasty but also really good for you.”
And she did. That includes pizza, available with a variety of toppings (there’s the Caprese with pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil; the Mediterranean with feta, olives and artichoke hearts; and even a (turkey or vegan) Pepperoni with mushrooms, black olives and cheddar) on a gluten-free crust made of yucca and quinoa. This pizza is a revelation — while the crust is pretty loose and won’t actually hold up the slices, it has a nutty, dense, savory quality to it, with just enough crunch and a toothsome bite that is reminiscent of baked Parmesan. And after you eat it, you feel downright virtuous.
“The pizza [crust] comes from yucca, which is good for stabilizing your blood sugar, and quinoa,” says Levanah. “As one of my staff says, after you eat this pizza you feel like you’ve eaten a smoothie rather than that heavy carbohydrate lull after you have a pizza.”
Levanah is obsessed with sourcing and purity — her kava and acai come from Hawaii, her cacao from Belize, and all the herbal teas are blended in-house.
“This is a pure kitchen,” Levanah says. “We don’t use any ingredients that are adulterated. I focus on super-dense nutrition without feeling heavy.”
The kitchen also is entirely gluten-free and will accommodate food allergies, restrictions and requests as much as possible. Every dish on the menu can be made vegan. CBD can be added to any dish as well, and there is also an ever-changing CBD special dish of the day. Food is available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday & Saturday (business hours updated Sept. 2, 2018), so if you want to go out but don’t want to drink, you can have late-night food and a kava cocktail at the Apothecary instead.
But wait, I said there were three levels. Soon, the Oxygen and Healing Bar will officially open the Kaverns, a cool, subterranean space one door away that feels like a spy hideaway in Morocco, which will have a plant medicine bar where kava drinks, cacao drinks,and matcha drinks will be on offer, as well as events and live music. There, after a day of spiritual rejuvenation and physical revitalization, you can indulge your more limbic, chthonic needs as well.
IF YOU GO
What: Santa Fe Oxygen & Healing Bar
Where and when:
Sanctuary, 102 W. San Francisco St. Suite 14, upstairs; open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Apothecary, 133 W. San Francisco St., street level; 10a.m. - 8p.m. (Sunday - Thursday); 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Friday & Saturday)
Kaverns, 137 W. San Francisco St., downstairs, currently open only for events
More information: Call 505-660-9199 (Sanctuary), 505-986-5037 (Apothecary and Kaverns) or visit santafeoxygenbar.com
Original article: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/life/taste/downtown-oxygen-bar-s-offerings-extend-far-beyond-air/article_ad50bf67-b747-5f06-bc89-fbc076949e36.html
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