Flora Flourishes With Healthy Eating Trend

The fried food custom engulfs the culinary culture here, quite the opposite from what they prepare at Flora.

The Laureles restaurant is my favorite among its peers, dining establishments trying to set a trend for healthy eating.

It’s in a great location, a few steps and a stumble from the Primer Parque Laureles if you’re heading south toward Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

This is becoming yet another popular part of the neighborhood, a place where new cafes and restaurants are opening and drawing new customers, an alternative to the already-popular stretch of eateries along the northwest end of Avenida Jardín.

Flora opened one year ago and the organic and veggie-heavy dishes have become some of my favorite in the city.

The first time I went, I tried the bruschetta and the carpaccio, both of them amazing.  My friend Megan got skewers with shrimp and zucchini, also great.

The appetizers range from 5,000 to 8,500 pesos (about $2.60 to $4.75).

I like the atmosphere too, very relaxed with all the trees along the sidewalks outside, and I would recommend sitting on the patio along Circular 4, what might be the prettiest street in the city with its tunnel of greenery along the way.

I knew then I would be back.

I wanted to try an entrée too. I wanted to see how it compared to the food at Salud Pan and Verdeo, the healthy options most people already know.

I was very partial to Salud Pan, a place I included in my post on best hidden restaurants, and I felt it would be hard for Flora to top it, but it did, it definitely did.

I’ve had a couple of things at Salud Pan that didn’t impress me. No such item is part of the menu at Flora. It has proved to be better.

I loved the pasta de espinaca, or spinach pasta. I later saw how they make it, with spinach and flour, and then it’s cut into linguini in a machine in the kitchen.

The menu gives you quite the options for sauces and toppings.

I like the four-cheese sauce with my spinach pasta, which I garnish with eggplant, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and zucchini. There are many other options, such as cherry tomatoes and onions, and you can pick four.

The pastas range from 14,000 pesos (about $7.25) to 17,000 pesos (about $9), and don’t miss the sandwiches either. They’re about the same price, big and filling but satisfying in a different way because you know you’re eating something that’s good for you.

This is the only difficult part about eating there, trying to choose among the great ingredients in their tasty dishes.

I asked the owners what they think about this new inclination in his city for healthier food.

People recognize the need to eat healthier, they said. They understand that it’s important.

They are now a part of the solution.