In 2004, Jan Paul Kahlan, known in Nosara as JP, started to manage Soda Para Todos in San Juanillo. Since then, he’s been polishing his skills in the kitchen, specializing in good, healthy, creative and live foods.
“Live” or “Raw” food hasn’t been processed or cooked, maintaining its vitamins and nutritive qualities. Kahlan’s menu is based on raw food, though it does also have cooked options.
This season, his new home is The Living Hotel, across from Mini Super Delicias del Mundo in Guiones. Kahlan is trying to use 100% organic products in his dishes, or “clean food,” as he calls it. The products he offers are fresh and Kahlan guarantees he knows where they come from. His primary supplier is “Finca La Bonita,” in La Esperanza de Nicoya, where produce is grown and cultivated without chemicals. That ensures that the produce is clean and saves money on transportation.
“Our struggle is competing with prices. In order to be healthier we have to eat better. There’s a lot in processed foods that is bad for the body; they are also cheaper and are purchased because there aren’t other options or because organics are expensive. We want to change that, to teach people that you can eat simple, organic food and that you don’t have to spend so much,” said Kahlan.
The majority of Living Cafe’s menu is vegan, with the exception of some cheeses. During the morning they offer a typical breakfast with pinto (rice and beans), tortilla and ripe plantain. They also have gluten-free vegan waffles, with vanilla cream and cashews, and chocolate mousse accompanied by tropical fruit. This dish is the chef’s recommendation. “That’s the dish that I tell everyone they have to try at any time of the day. It has ingredients that we’ve planted with our own hands and processed in very simple ways,” said Kahlan.
For lunch they offer the typical casado with the choice of pâté or a vegetarian hamburger, a vegan crab cake, raw tortilla wraps, vegan sushi, salads with marinated vegetables, dehydrated cookies, and a vegan wrap made from linseed with ripe plantain, bell pepper and eggplant, among others.
For now, they’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. In mid-December, they will open at night and will have a bar with appetizers and snacks, artisan ginger beer that is locally-brewed, healthy cocktails, micro brews and traditional drinks such as chicha and wines made from coyol and mango.
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