Vegetarian Restaurant by Hakin

Linda Bladholm11/15/2011

Hakin Hill has your health at heart at his vegetarian restaurant in North Miami Beach. The eatery, which doubles as a health food store, is filled with hanging plants and shelves stocked with shea butter, seaweed snacks and supplements.

The simple space has tables in the front near glass cases. In back is an automated massage chair. Customers come for juice blends like green apple, celery, cucumber and wheat grass and pineapple-ginger as well as sandwiches made with soy and seitan “meats” on whole grain bread.

Hakin was born in the Bronx, New York, and as a baby moved to the homeland of his parents, Antigua, one of the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands. He became a vegetarian at 6. He was schooled in Miami, where he lived with his grandmother, and went on to study architecture and design at Miami Dade College and FIU. He worked for several architectural firms before opening his restaurant almost four years ago with the goal of helping people become more holistically minded.

Breakfast offers vegan muffins, whole-wheat pancakes with blueberries, tofu scramble tinted golden with turmeric and patties stuffed with a mixture of ackee (the “brain fruit” that tastes like scrambled egg), bell pepper and scallions. They sell out quickly, so go early. There’s also a Philly sandwich with soy cream cheese, good with a White Monkey smoothie made with mango, banana and soy milk. On Sunday there’s ackee with seitan “fish.”

Lunch and dinner bring the Wild Burger (a spiced tofu patty); grain-based sun burger with sunflower seeds, spinach and carrots; quinoa with dried cranberries served with split pea stew; seitan barbecue “rib” strips and garden veggie soup. Theme days are observed with vegan Latin, Indian, Asian and Italian dishes.

Reward yourself after a nutritious meal here with red velvet or chocolate carob cake.