JustBe Cafe – Eat, Meditate & Satiate in a holistic zone

If you are invited for a treat to a place where the food is cooked Oil free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Color free – chances are that 99 of 100 people would make a polite excuse and wriggle out. I guess I was the odd one out when by chance I discovered JustBe. Its not just a restaurant but a lot more – with many unique zones that includes the one and only Sound Healing Therapy room outside of Auroville. Do plan a visit to JustBe at Sadashivnagar, but before that read on about this place and the passion of Nidhi who conceptualised and developed this place.

JustBe is a classy boutique restaurant – Its unique and it serves amazing fresh food. Tasty, nutritious and aesthetically very appealing.

The Spinach Quesadilla, Crunchy Nachos, Hotpress Batata Sandwich, Asian Curry, Garden Pizza, Pink Lemonade, a variety of smoothies and many more interesting dishes will keep your taste buds captivated. The servings are large – and thats the 1st philosophy at the restaurant – Eat sufficient quantities of one item and don’t mix and match too many dishes in your meal.

JustBe is not just a unique restaurant it is a holistic Zone of peace and tranquility. A zone of positive energy where you can Eat, Meditate and be Satiated to the full. You can let go of the stress and JustBe in touch with your inner self.

Every Sunday 9 AM a group Vipassana session is conducted for old students. You can use the facility to come and meditate whenever you are in the mood for some Soulitude.

They also have a library and a Yoga Hall where Yoga, Tai Chi, Qui Gong and many other classes are regularly held here.

What I feel in love with was Svaram – the Sound healing room. The only such facility outside of Auriville Pondicherry. Its a unique experience and its just getting started. Here is a brief Video about Svaram and the therapy room.

JustBe also hosts a Sunday farmers market that sells a wide variety of fresh organic produce and a shop that sells handcrafted clothes, Jewellery and more.

It requires a passionate, creative person with an eye for detail to run a place like this – And that person is Nidhi. A housewife tending to her family and teenaged children her life transformed after attending a 21 day retreat at Swaswara (An Eco Retreat near Goa) organised by Sharan in 2016. (This organisation was started by Dr Nandita Shah in 2005 to prevent and reverse lifestyle diseases by identifying the cause of the disease and using food as a medicine – https://sharan-india.org/about-us/)

While attending the program Nidhi was ailing from high Cholesterol, Skin Allergy and Migraines. She had heard from friends how this 21 day program not only transformed you but also taught you the techniques to lead a healthy life.

JustBe was born thanks to the learnings from this 21 day program. Nidhi’s eyes light up as she talks about this program and how it has changed her life. The only medicine we were served during this program was FOOD – she says. Food is the core element of our being and the right food, cooked correctly can solve all your health problems. The body needs proteins , minerals, calcium etc – the body gets stressed when it has to hunt for this amongst fried, unhealthy food. Yes they are tasty and addictive – but not healthy.

During the 21 day session they were served a wide variety of global cuisines – but the one common theme across all of them was Vegan Food cooked with no oil, no diary products, no preservatives. Add to this no refined food was used – so No maida and sugar. Inspite of this the food was tasty and delicious. And they were taught how to cook with these principles.

Over 21 days Nidhi was convinced that this was the solution for a healthy body and mind. Her Jain traditions further helped her to imbibe the concepts deep within her and she practised it with heart and soul at home. The transformation at home was also magical – and health bloomed at home.

This then took her to the next step of wanting to share the benefits of this learning with a wider audience through JustBe. And she practises what she has learnt to the minutest detail. No food is cooked in Aluminium dishes, No microwave is used and no Bone China Crockery is used in her kitchen. She was lucky in finding the right cook – a trained Chef Prem Darshan who after years of serving in high end restaurants and hotels in India and abroad joined her and is now running the kitchen with the same zeal and enthusiasm. They jointly developed the menu keeping in the mind the younger generation and hence most of dishes were continental.

I tried having a debate with Nidhi on the positives of milk and honey trying to understand why they were eliminated. I have grown up knowing that a glass of hot milk in the morning and a spoon of pure honey is as good as nectar. Nidhi demolished this notion by explaining that nature has given us enough food. The human baby needs milk for a few years just like other mammals and then graduates to other food. Any food taken from animals is developing cruelty towards animals and the ethos associated with that food is negative.

I failed in the debate – I was up against a woman who has many a certificate in NLP, TA , Counselling etc – and was no match for her strong conviction and rationale argument.

By now we had spent over an hour chatting and it was time for my evening cup of tea – but felt a little conscious asking for masala tea after this educative session. Sensing my predicament Nidhi got me a Smoothie – made of Spinach, Mint, Banana and Pineapple. It tasted divine. Thats the beauty at JustBe – I would never have drunk a smoothie of these ingredients at home.

And as I drove back I kept wondering – can I really make a shift to a diet that is devoid of Milk, Sugar and Oil. That would mean no Coffee, Tea, Chocolates, Sweets…. all of which I love. I am not sure. Maybe I should ask my wife to attend the 21 day program at Sharan.

This is a unique restaurant in Bangalore and probably India. Its a must visit so the next time you happen to be in Sadashivnagar do visit JustBe