Questo post è disponibile anche in: Italiano
When it comes to talking about my favorite food style, I do not hide my love for raw vegan food: I declare it as my first passion, in my biography of presentation.
That’s why I visit with enthusiasm every restaurant that offers this cuisine, in Italy or abroad.
In Milan, in addition to my beloved Mantra, I found another place that will have my heart and my soul forever: Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan.
Not just a restaurant: a temple for nourishing body and mind and elevating the soul
As I have already stated, I see the way I nourish myself as an essential part of a process that I hope will bring me more and more in the direction of a harmonious life, for my mind, body, and soul. For me, it is important to feed my body with healthy, fresh, vital, colorful, fragrant, nutritious, tasty, balanced food.
I hope also that this food could be, as much as possible, grown, offered, prepared, cooked with love and respect for everything around us. In my opinion, the art of preparing food, both in the kitchen of our houses and in well-known restaurants, should start from an act of respect to those who receive the food (even when we are the recipients of our own preparations). In addition to taste, I research more and more these things in food and, because of that, I consider the Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan a temple dedicated to nutrition and not just a restaurant.
It is, of course, also a restaurant, despite being located in a very special place.
Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan, in fact, is housed inside the Shaolin Cultural Center of Milan, Academy of Sciences and Traditional Arts of Shaolin Culture (a nonprofit ASD), and it was created to spread the vegan, healthy and spiritual tradition of the monks of the Shaolin Temple.
The chef
The restaurant Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan, founded in September 2015, is designed, managed and creatively directed by Shi Fu Shi-Heng-Ding, who is intensively concerned with the disclosure of Shaolin Culture. She is a descendant of the 35th generation of Shaolin warrior monks and a social educator specialized in martial arts, combat sports, and Oriental disciplines. In addition, she is the President of the Academy and Cultural Center. Despite these already numerous activities, she also finds time to be a competent raw food chef, full of inventiveness and a rare sense of aesthetics.
Passionate and great expert about natural and vegetarian food, Shi Fu Shi-Heng-Ding, before founding this raw vegan restaurant, worked for years during the retreats and intensive summer courses, cooking in strict compliance with the principles of Chan Buddhism, for the students of the Shaolin Center.
It’s hard to believe that this creature – as beautiful and delicate as a swan (the grace of her body language reveals her past as a former ballerina), also able to release the personality, vitality, and charisma of a lioness – in the kitchen is a self-taught chef. Her creations, in fact, are amazing and demonstrate a masterful knowledge of raw food techniques and a skillful art of food styling, the one you learn in Haute Cuisine’s Academies.
Gourmet raw vegan Haute Cuisine
The Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan serves organic and creative vegan and raw food. They propose healthy and ethical recipes, based on the correct food combinations (both raw-vegan and fruitarian) and with specific detox effects, which are also energizing and could facilitate concentration. Everything is made by paying attention to the PH + diet, the 4 seasons, and in accordance with the holistic view of TCM (traditional Chinese medicine).
Each preparation, made in total respect of the raw food canons (do not exceed 42 °), is freshly prepared with care and creativity. The preparations, entirely plant-based, are completed with Superfoods, which have a considerable nutritional power and are full of antioxidants. Here, we can enjoy a colorful, healthy, fresh and vital food, full of intact nutritional qualities, very nourishing yet light and actually energetic.
If you are not looking for a superior natural nutrition, but are just willing to eat tasty gourmet food, you will find great satisfaction here, because it is indeed raw vegan gourmet Haute Cuisine.
The food is extraordinary and you will be also captivated by the beauty in the plate, that feed the aesthetic sense and calm the mind with its harmony.
On the palate, then, everything is amazing, fresh, and full of flavor. Desserts are incredible, delicious and, of course, strictly vegan and raw.
Protecting the beauty of your inner landscape
The pillars of Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan are:
- EAT. Pleasure and beauty of organic natural food
- LEARN. Nutritional education, energy, traditional Chinese medicine
- PROMOTING HEALTH. Culture of well-being and vitality
In my personal view, food quality and preparation are important, but we do not need only food. We should feed ourselves with beauty, energy, rest, light, calm, fresh air and natural sounds, art, culture, meditation, spirituality and gentleness, harmony and peace. This is why Shi Fu Shi-Heng Ding seems to have read my mind when she says:
“Our food is prepared without any animal products, no frozen foods, no refined or processed foods containing chemical preservatives and additives. The main part is also gluten free, so it is suitable for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. This is our choice, originated in order to respect Mother Nature and the environment, to develop and cultivate positive and sustainable energy and protect the beauty of our personal inner landscape. All the food, before being served, is offered to Buddha, so that it can be another vehicle for positive Qi, able to purify the blood and the brain tissues, allowing the thoughts to achieve greater purity and clarity. We want to honor and enanche the beauty and goodness of real fresh and natural food, for a lighter and balanced nutrition. By satisfying our palate with nourishing food, we can feel good and this help us to cultivate the vital energy that contributes to a concrete improvement in the quality of our lives as individuals and as communities. ”
I have deep respect for a similar vision of life and this feeling fills my soul with sweetness and beauty. Attending this place is like receiving a gift and I always go home with the impression that I received much more than just a meal.
This food is created by a sincere and passionate soul and it is offered with the added value of a cultural and spiritual gift. Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan represents a unique project: if we want to, let’s say it’s a restaurant, but, just to be clear, this place is so much more. It is a contribution to harmony, it is an educational project, it is a temple of nourishment not only from a nutritional point of view.
The restaurant, carried out with the free contribution of Shi Fu Shi-Heng-Ding and some members of the Association, has a chic oriental allure.
The 4 seasons at Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan
I already mentioned how the menu follows carefully the rhythm of the seasons, according to the complex and millenary principles of the holistic view in traditional Chinese medicine. In this vision, nutrition is the foundation and protection of health, and food, according to the rhythms of each season, should support our body. Particularly, food should support those organs that, at that time of year, are in need of purification and renewal, or strength and vigor. Each season thus favors a color and a specific flavor in foods, which indicate aliments suitable to support the organs in need of attention.
Here’s an overview of what you will find, according to these principles, in the 4SEASONS – Sunset menu (RawVeg Gourmet Dinner) at Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan.
AUTUMN. Color: white, organs: lung / large intestine, flavor: spicy
WINTER. Color: black, organs: kidney / urinary bladder, flavor: salty
SPRING. Color: green, organs: liver / gall bladder, flavor: sour
SUMMER. Color: red, heart organs / small intestine, flavor: bitter
There are some special creations that were inspired by this blog, The Soul Garden, after my first visit to Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan. In that occasion, I met Shi Fu Shi Heng Ding and we had a very interesting and deep conversation about our vision and our projects. After that, she decided to name one of her creation, representing a zen garden, after this blog. I’m really honored and touched. Here you can admire The Soul Garden in Autumn, Winter and Spring colors.
For lunch, The RawVeg Healthy Bistrot offers the MANDALA LUNCH TIME MediEATion, a very innovative formula that combines healthy and light food with Meditation. It is so special that I will write about it soon!
Why I love to eat here: the food is beautiful as a piece of art. It is also delicious, healthy and deeply infused with spirituality.
Why I invite you to try it: because it’s an amazingly fulfilling experience, based on very tasty food and enriched with dedication and health awareness. It’s an educational project about healthy nutrition, it’s a temple of nourishment not only from a nutritional point of view.
I love: the amazing and stunning aesthetic of the raw vegan creations. And I’m in love with the beauty of the compassionate and creative soul of chef Shi Fu Shi Heng Ding.
Who can eat here: it is a place for everyone who wants to have a great food experience in a very cozy and spiritual environment. It is suitable for everyone who wants to have quality gourmand raw food, although they are not vegan or vegetarian. Of course, it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and for those with special needs as allergies and food intolerances to dairy products, eggs, grains. It is also suitable for coeliacs and those who have to limit their sugar intake (only coconut sugar with low glycemic index is used). Please inform staff about your allergies or intolerances.
Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan 少林 歡喜 地
Via Teglio, 11, I-20158, Milan
MM3 Maciachini – Lancetti FS
Restaurant
LUNCH
The RawVeg Healthy Bistrot (new) offers MANDALA LUNCH TIME MediEATion on Thursday h.12-15
(with the possibility of attending Meditation sessions at h.13-13.20 / h.13.20-13.40 / h.13.40-4)
booking is advisable
DINNER
The RawVeg Gourmet Restaurant offers SUNSET – 4SEASONS DINNER TIME on Friday and Saturday h.20-22 (according to the holistic view of TCM / Traditional Chinese Medicine)
by reservation only
Sundays only for special events and occasions.
+393927709323
http://shaolin-state-of-harmony.thefork.rest
Photos by Shaolin State of Harmony– Raw Vegan courtesy of Shi Fu Shi Heng Ding
È magnifico. molte cose da imparare. grazie per la condivisione