NN: “Would you like to share a side of bacon, or would you like your own bacon?”

MC: (Raises eyebrow) “Use your intuition, what do you think my answer to that ‘question’ is likely to be?”

And so, breakfast ensued…

A cafe and a supermarket sounds like something you might find in a remote country town. More a ‘tearooms and supplies’, but About Life is your one stop shop for meals, snacks supplies, essentials and more importantly- nutrition.

Nutrition- 10
Taste- 8
Service- 5
Ambience- 6
Extra mile- 10
Budget – Medium

*Scores are out of 10

About Life: Overall rating – 39/50 on a medium budget

Mike

So I’ll admit right off the bat- we’ve been here two weekends in a row now- It’s awesome.

Here in Sydney there are 3 About Life’s, and they have hit the nail on the head with their all encompassing cafe and market.

The food at the cafe is awesome- full of flavour and nutrition.

I hear you saying- “You guys always go to healthy breakfast places, try something different already!”

The reason for this is… mother of all obvious drum rolls please… we like to eat healthy.

Not rocket surgery… searching out eateries like this is worth it- they place a priority on good health and nutrition and it’s worth the effort to find them.

About life specifically, has supermarket aisles that I’ll actually walk down and grab things from. I say that because most supermarket aisles are rubbish! Only containing packaged and processed crap- in normal supermarkets you should basically just stick to the outsides; meat, veggies, fruits, household items.

It’s a one stop shop for a healthy feed, nutritious and quality produce as well as stocking a great variety of other products such as this heavenly coconut butter and various vitamins and supplements.

In the end though, we were there for breakfast. I can usually find a few things I’ll enjoy on any menu, but places like this do generally make it easier. Still, eggs and bacon, or some form of, is a pretty tempting standard. This time I chose to buck the urge and get something different.

I say that, however, it was Organic quinoa scrambled eggs with kale and pesto, and I did sneak in a side order of bacon. Now, I don’t want to tell someone how to run their own joint, but as much as the original was quite delightful- the bacon made this dish outrageously good.

Yeah, I loved it.

I also paired it with a berry and protein powder smoothie, mixed with water. This meal was amazingly dense in taste and nutrition. Containing quality fats, proteins and packed with greens as well as some anti-oxidant rich berries.

One thing I will add is that my dish was reasonably full of red onion- something I generally hate. Normally I’d just ask for no onions, however, it wasn’t stated on the menu that it had onions in it; this pisses me off!

Anyway, I digress… The coffee wasn’t bad either; completely organic and About Life take a staunch stand on takeaway cups, sourcing biocups made from paper and a renewable source of bioplastic made from plants.

A healthy, nutritious and tasty cafe and store that allows me to fill up both my stomach and shopping trolley, with an ethical and conscious stand is a place I would love to see more of and the world needs to see more of.

That’s just one man’s thoughts, however. Let’s see what NN has to say…

Note the bread remains…

Nards

If you are one of those people who like to linger in shops looking at all the different products and things, then you are going to LOVE About Life. It is a store designed to enhance the customer experience. Free samples of food are everywhere (who cant resist taste testing all the cheeses and dips?), and their organic skincare section burst with delicious smells and scents (yep, I got suckered into purchasing the Lavender Epsom Salts).

One just feels healthy walking through it!

So it came as no surprise to either of us that we ended up there again, even though we had been the previous week. We knew what we were going to get; wholesome and tasty food and coffee.

It does come with a bit of a price tag – the food is slightly more expensive than standard cafes, and certainly the organic groceries are more expensive than their supermarket counterparts; however, this should not be a deterring factor.

It is obvious that the cost goes into sourcing and making the vast array of unique and delicious dishes that they have on their menu and cabinet. One of the risks with visiting ‘organic’ cafes is that their ‘sugar free, gluten free, egg free, blah blah blah’, meals can also be ‘fun free, and taste free’. This is certainly not the case with About Life – they have managed to create dishes that pack a punch in flavour. It also comes without the typical ‘airy fairy’, ‘connect to mother earth’ vibe that a lot those alternative/organic/health stores have.

It is handy to be able to enjoy a breakfast in the sun, and then do your groceries in the same shop. Whilst we ended up spending more on our groceries than normal, the question that I keep asking myself is ‘can I really put a price on health?’, and for me, us, the answer is a resounding- no.

Why? Because we greatly value our health, and the freedom that comes with having a healthy mind, body and spirit.

This same point was brought up with a client of mine today. I purchased him his very first jar of coconut oil, and on my recommendation also bought himself a jar of nut butter. We were discussing the price of both items, to which he commented ‘it cost him his newborn child’ (or something along those lines – he was being rather dramatic). This is a very natural and common response, but doesn’t it make sense that if there is any one thing that we should invest money into, then it should be in what goes into our bodies? After all, we are a direct product of ‘we are what we eat’, or more aptly ‘we are what we absorb’.

By now you will be familiar with our philosophies around health and fitness, and that our overall wellbeing comes down to the quality of food, drink, people, environment and training that we have in our worlds. Never let price be an objection or a barrier to your health. Of course, be realistic; this isn’t a green light to go and purchase a $3500 pair of Louboutins so you can wear quality shoes on your feet, nor is only drinking $500 bottles of ‘quality’ red wine (although if you do, can you please invite us over for a glass?), rather, allow yourself to buy the more expensive quality items that you know are beneficial to your health in the long term.

As a starting suggestion, invest in your eating happiness by visiting an About Life!

And remember: you can pay now, or you can pay later……

NN and MC