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Melbourne superfood trends: Healthy and hot

Forget junk food. This year health is the rising star. Here are eight top super-foodie superheroes.

Simone Egger

Vegetarian restaurant of the year Yong Green Food, Fitzroy.
1 / 31Vegetarian restaurant of the year Yong Green Food, Fitzroy.Eddie Jim
Vegan raw curry noodle soup from Yong Green Food.
2 / 31Vegan raw curry noodle soup from Yong Green Food. Eddie Jim
Vegan Cauliflower, quinoa and goji berry and pumpkin hummus salad at The Grain Store.
3 / 31Vegan Cauliflower, quinoa and goji berry and pumpkin hummus salad at The Grain Store.Michael Clayton-Jones
ToWoo Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, Surrey Hills.
4 / 31ToWoo Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, Surrey Hills.Wayne Taylor
Touchwood's breakfast menu features a light and bright grain salad, just like its sunny interior
5 / 31Touchwood's breakfast menu features a light and bright grain salad, just like its sunny interiorSimon Schluter
The Grain Store, city.
6 / 31The Grain Store, city. Michael Clayton-Jones
The Burger Lounge, Eltham.
7 / 31The Burger Lounge, Eltham. Eddie Jim
Tequila bar Mesa Verde, city.
8 / 31Tequila bar Mesa Verde, city.Eddie Jim
Avo-gate has exposed a chasm between the generations.
9 / 31Avo-gate has exposed a chasm between the generations.Eddie Jim
Shokuiku, Northcote.
10 / 31Shokuiku, Northcote.Eddie Jim
Raw pancakes at Shokuiku.
11 / 31Raw pancakes at Shokuiku.Eddie Jim
Paleo-friendly Meatmother, Richmond.
12 / 31Paleo-friendly Meatmother, Richmond.Daniel Mahon
Paleo Patties at the Burger Lounge are made from grass-fed, free-range beef. Pictured is the Grande burger
13 / 31Paleo Patties at the Burger Lounge are made from grass-fed, free-range beef. Pictured is the Grande burgerEddie Jim
Paleo Meatmother's short rib slicked with Kansas-style sauce.
14 / 31Paleo Meatmother's short rib slicked with Kansas-style sauce.Daniel Mahon
Neapoli cold-press organically grown carrots and ginger for their juices
15 / 31Neapoli cold-press organically grown carrots and ginger for their juices Eddie Jim
Monk Bhodi Dharma's sister cafe, Admiral Cheng Ho Specialty Coffee, Abbotsford
16 / 31Monk Bhodi Dharma's sister cafe, Admiral Cheng Ho Specialty Coffee, Abbotsford Anu Kumar
La Tortilleria, Kensington.
17 / 31La Tortilleria, Kensington. Mal Fairclough
Gluten-free La Tortilleria make their own 100 per cent stone-ground corn tortillas
18 / 31Gluten-free La Tortilleria make their own 100 per cent stone-ground corn tortillasMal Fairclough
Gluten-free An Amigos platter at La Tortilleria.
19 / 31Gluten-free An Amigos platter at La Tortilleria. Luis Enrique Ascui
Gen-Y stable Little Big Sugar Salt's menu includes a bowl of pulped acai berries.
20 / 31Gen-Y stable Little Big Sugar Salt's menu includes a bowl of pulped acai berries.Eddie Jim
Fresh Mesa Verde's watermelon salad. Or try their ceviche with pickled peaches.
21 / 31Fresh Mesa Verde's watermelon salad. Or try their ceviche with pickled peaches.Eddie Jim
Fermenting Modern Thai diner Bang Pop's menu features a tangy fermented fish broth.
22 / 31Fermenting Modern Thai diner Bang Pop's menu features a tangy fermented fish broth.Ken Irwin
Fermenting Mixed pickles including kimchi (left) are served at ToWoo Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant.
23 / 31Fermenting Mixed pickles including kimchi (left) are served at ToWoo Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant.Wayne Taylor
Etto pasta bar, South Melbourne.
24 / 31Etto pasta bar, South Melbourne. Eddie Jim
Etto offers gluten-free pasta made from quinoa and amaranth
25 / 31Etto offers gluten-free pasta made from quinoa and amaranthEddie Jim
Coconut sago pudding at Barry.
26 / 31Coconut sago pudding at Barry. Ken Irwin
The National Hotel in Richmond has environmental cred (worm farm, solar panels, recycled materials) and offers a vegan curry.
27 / 31The National Hotel in Richmond has environmental cred (worm farm, solar panels, recycled materials) and offers a vegan curry. Michael Clayton-Jones
Hardcore health in a glass Shokuiku's 'ultimate' smoothie has some 17 ingredients including marine phytoplankton, hemp, goji berry and 'mega hydrate'.
28 / 31Hardcore health in a glass Shokuiku's 'ultimate' smoothie has some 17 ingredients including marine phytoplankton, hemp, goji berry and 'mega hydrate'. Supplied
The menu at Barry in Northcote bursts with on-trend ingredients including coconut water, freekeh and tri-coloured quinoa, gluten-free granola, activated almonds and kale.
29 / 31The menu at Barry in Northcote bursts with on-trend ingredients including coconut water, freekeh and tri-coloured quinoa, gluten-free granola, activated almonds and kale. Ken Irwin
Balaclava cafe Monk Bodhi Dharma specialises in sugar-free dishes and wholefoods
30 / 31Balaclava cafe Monk Bodhi Dharma specialises in sugar-free dishes and wholefoodsEddie Jim
Admiral Cheng Ho's quinoa pancakes
31 / 31Admiral Cheng Ho's quinoa pancakesAnu Kumar

When did we get so cosy with kale, quinoa and gluten-free foods? Last year it was all junk food this, deep-fried that. Now we're thinking almost clinically about food's worth: wondering whether it'll nurture bacteria in our gut, questioning its protein and mineral contents, and its alkalinity. Maybe it's no coincidence that our new-found fandom for nutrition comes on the back of a proliferation of pork belly, buttermilk fried chicken and pudgy brioche-bun burgers.

Focusing on nutrition is not niche. Show us a cafe with even a whiff of a retro/industrial/Scandi aesthetic and we'll show you a drinks menu offering a green smoothie or juice made with coconut water and kale, or a lunch of ''ancient grain'' salad and a sandwich with spelt sourdough. That's not to say there won't be waffles with peanut butter and jelly, but, they might be wholemeal waffles, and the schnitzel may be labelled ''gluten free'' and come with a farro salad. Far from ascetic, there's flavour and even fat in these healthier pitched dishes.

Our preference for foods produced the old-fashioned way, with as little intervention from additives and processing as possible, has led us to understand the physiological effects of food and, perhaps, become more sensitive to our body's intolerances, allergies or preferences. The new breed of eatery highlights health-related choices and has a dish to suit most diets: from Paleo to vego.

Shokuiku's raw pancakes, 'ultimate' smoothie (top left), and almond milk elixir.
Shokuiku's raw pancakes, 'ultimate' smoothie (top left), and almond milk elixir.Eddie Jim
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1. LIQUID FOOD

Have your vitamins and minerals delivered in the fast, efficient format of a juice or smoothie - almost as ubiquitous a beverage as coffee these days.

Most cafes juice to order, but some, like Neapoli (30 Russell Place, city, 9650 5020), also cold-press their organically grown carrots and ginger. The cold-press process retains more enzymes and nutrients than centrifugal juicers, apparently. For some serious smoothie action, Shokuiku (120 High Street, Northcote) has the $25 Ultimate, with 17 ingredients including marine phytoplankton, hemp, goji berry and ''mega hydrate''.

2. SUPERFOODS

The definition of a superfood is any nutrient-rich food that's beneficial to health and wellbeing - the more exotic, the better. Acai berries are blueish and high in antioxidants. The fresh and energetic Gen-Y stable, Little, Big, Sugar, Salt (385 Victoria Street, Abbotsford, 9427 8818) has a bowl of acai pulp scattered with granola, chopped fruit and flower petals: pretty and perky. Lunch at ever-popular Barry (85 High Street, Northcote, 9481 7623) could be a whole salad of superfoods including quinoa and kale.

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3. PALEO

Also known as the caveman diet, Paleo dieters eat the food groups that our hunter-gatherer ancestors did back in the stone age. That's grass-fed meat and organic fruit, veg and nuts. The diet prescribes very little to no intake of processed foods, such as grains (flour), dairy and sugar.

Sink your teeth into a Gippsland grass-fed spiced short rib with Kansas-style sauce at Meatmother (167 Swan Street, Richmond, 9041 5393). The beef patties at the Burger Lounge (902 Main Road, Eltham, 9431 4500) have grunt, too: grass-fed, free-range and free from antibiotics and chemicals.

4. WHOLE GRAINS

Brown is the new black; we want brown rice, wholemeal ingredients and ''ancient grains'' (pre-GM). Get a load at breakfast at light, bright Touchwood (480 Bridge Road, Richmond, 0429 9347): quinoa, freekeh, wild rice, rocket, toasted almond, chai-soaked raisins, cumin yoghurt and a poached egg. And, Bentleigh's latest stylemeister, Merchant's Guild (680 Centre Road, Bentleigh East, 9579 0734), has wild rice, quinoa, sweet potato, beetroot, broccoli, nuts, seeds and tahini yoghurt for lunch.

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5. GLUTEN-FREE

The majority of Australians choose to limit their gluten intake for health rather than medical reasons (with just 0.25 per cent of Australians diagnosed coeliacs).

More than 277 eateries in this year's Good Food Under $30 are listed as having gluten-free options. They range from dishes that are inherently gluten free but flagged anyway, like rice noodle soups, and the 100 per cent stone-ground corn tortillas at La Tortilleria (72 Stubbs Street, Kensington, 9376 5577), through gluten-free pastas such as quinoa and amaranth at Etto (shop 610, 261 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne, 9696 3886) and pizza at Pizza Farro (608 High Street, Thornbury, 9484 2040).

6. FERMENTING

Oh how our eyes, hearts and minds have opened to the invisible world of bacteria and microbes - those tiny critters that keep our guts healthy. From kimchi that's ubiquitous at the burgeoning number of Korean restaurants, through the flavour balance that pickled peaches provide market fish ceviche at Mesa Verde (level 6, Curtin House, 252 Swanston Street, city, 9654 4417) through to the tang of fermented fish broth with noodles at Thai diner Bangpop (35 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf, 9245 9800).

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7. SUGAR-FREE

Everybody from the National Health and Medical Research Council through to Robert Lustig is warning people to limit their sugar intake. Many of the mostly vegan, wholefood dishes at Admiral Cheng Ho (325 Johnston Street, Abbotsford, 9417 1887) and its southern sister Monk Bodhi Dharma (Rear, 202 Carlisle Street, Balaclava, 9534 7250) are sugar-free (and gluten-free). And Red Robyn (393 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, 9077 3763) has a great menu that's sensitive to all sensitivities.

8. VEGETARIAN

It's not hard to get a good vegetarian meal in this town. At the Grain Store (517 Flinders Lane, city, 9972 6993) a vegan cauliflower, quinoa, goji berry, pumpkin hummus and nigella seed brunch dish sits among a sparkling menu that is not averse to meat or fish. Even the local pub does vegan these days. The National Hotel (344 Victoria Street, Richmond, 9429 8811), a revamped boozer with environmental cred (worm farm, solar panels, recycled materials), offers a vegan Thai curry and a veg burger with apple and relish.

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