David Dowd at his 24-hour Liquefy cafe in Mt Gravatt. Photo: Glenn Hunt
A new venue in Brisbane is believed to be the country’s first 24-hour health food cafe.
Liquefy opened in Mt Gravatt, on the south side of Brisbane, earlier this month. The 24/7 cafe serves cold-pressed bottled juices, single-origin coffee roasted in Burleigh Heads, raw fare and salads. Menu items include cauliflower and quinoa sushi, coconut ceviche salad, chia puddings, dried and activated nuts and chips, and raw pies and slices.
The coffee is the brainchild of lawyer and health enthusiast David Dowd.
Raw raspberry tarts. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Dowd said the response had been “overwhelming”, with people coming from as far away as the Gold Coast, and business had been brisk until 1am.
“It went a bit viral. I had to go to the market to triple the workforce to keep up with the numbers,” he said.
The menu is 100% organic or biodynamic and no sugar is used. Everything except the bread (which comes from Uncle Bobs baker Brett Noy in Belmont) is made on site.
Cold-pressed juices at Liquefy. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Dowd enlisted a nutritionist to analyze the nutritional content of cold-pressed juices, of which there are a dozen including the signature juice, “Green as it gets”, made with kale, silver beet, cucumber, root tea dandelion, lemon, parsley, ginger, and E3Live, a wild-harvested blue-green algae touted as a superfood.
The juices are cold-pressed rather than the usual extraction method, which Dowd says heats the juice, kills the good enzymes and starts the oxidation process. Instead, Liquefy uses a hydraulic press that exerts three tons of pressure and extracts everything, including essential oils, from the skin. About one and a half to two kilograms of fruits and vegetables are used per bottle.
Dowd is convinced that the current obsessions with superfoods and whole foods are not a flash in the pan.
“Do I think people are going to give up on being healthy?
“They are concerned about what they are putting into their bodies. We provide the opportunity to eat healthy and clean, to have a calm and unpretentious dining experience, with food that tastes really good.”
Dowd has leased five other sites around Brisbane and one on the Gold Coast, but says Mt Gravatt will remain Liquefy’s only 24-hour outpost.
Liquefy Juice Co. 22-24 Carrara Street, Mt Gravatt, see liquefyjuiceco.com.au for other locations.
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