When I got the invite to a preview dinner at Snap Kitchen, I was kinda curious. First off, a to-go type places don't usually do a sit down preview dinner, and second, they flash the words Gluten Free & Paleo, that had peaked David's interests.
This is their regional manager, showing off their home made crackers (made with coconut flour, olive oil, nuts, and cauliflower) with their Smoked Salmon. Which by the way, they are smoked in-house, and you can get that in a small portion in the snack area.
This is their version of Devily Eggs, there is no egg yolks in this. Instead, they replaced it with hummus and other ingredients. Doesn't taste any less eggy, as a matter of fact, it's a favorite of the other guests there.
Veggie trays with their hummus. It is black bean hummus and it's not bad, it's light and you don't feel like it weighs you down.
Of course, their version of the juice cleanse. I used to go to these when I was too lazy to order my juice from other city that had to ship overnight to me, which has an added cost. This way, you can go to any local Snap Kitchen and grab your juice. You don't have to drink it for cleanse. As a matter of fact, my favorite is the Cashew Milk, and it's so filling that there are times I grab one of those to hold my hunger over between meals. They started with six at the beginning, and now expanded to eight different flavors, definitely a must try. If not, as a juice cleanse program, just as a alternative to soda.
Their open kitchen, which you can order your salad your way. And during lunch time, if you don't have time to stand in line, they do have premade salad ready for pick up in the coolers.
Here's our menu for the evening... very thoughtful of them to point out the qualifiers such as gluten free, paleo, vegetarian...etc. But what's super helpful is the calorie counts for those who are conscious.
Here's Snap's Dietitian introducing the new Spring menu and the philosophy behind it.
For our dinner, this is their Provencal Flatbread, which is very much like a pizza. Wish they sell this as a whole pie. The flatbread is made with cauliflower, egg, cheese, and zucchini puree. It's topped with dried tomato and parsley. While the flatbread itself is structurally soft, I totally overlook that because it more than made up by taste. Like I said, they need to make that into a real pizza pie style. I'd come and order it at least once a week.
This is their Kale Caesar Salad. At first, I was very curious about that. Kale??? But you know, the chef is brilliant, because if you eat this with your eyes closed, all you can taste is the Caesar-goodness. Of course, to 'beef it up' they added picked raisin and parmesan cheese. Like I said, all you associate is not the Kale, it's the Caesar salad itself.
Here we have their version of Chicken Enchilada. First of all, the tortilla is made with coconut flour, almond meal, eggs, and that's all made in-house. The top green sauce is a poblano sauce. When you first take a bit, sauce-tortilla-filling combine, you really get a good mouth full of yummy goodness.
And David know about my contention on this, and that is, Snap's tortilla is way better than
Corner Table's by leaps and bounds. Granted, CT had been doing it for a while, and while their sauce is good, their tortilla is too obvious that it's made with coconut flour. Versus, Snap's taste like a normal tortilla. You know by texture that it is not, but by taste, it's pretty darn close. I wouldn't mind if they sell those by itself.
Here's their chef talking about the ingredients and being conscientious to clients needs and demands to be more pro-paleo friendly.
He even let us try out something he's working on. This is their Malaysian Curry, it is also made in house. Does it taste like anything Malaysian I've tried? No, but it is a very good curry with the rice. Whatever they have as a protein mix very well with the dish. I wouldn't mind having that for lunch.
For our dessert, this is a spoonful of cheese cake, which the bottom's 'crust' is made with nuts, so it's flour-free. The middle is goat cheese and the top is strawberry fruit compote. That is definitely a very creative dish. The sharpness of the goat cheese was brought out by the sweetness of the compote, it's definitely richer than your landlord rich. So, a spoonful is just right. And just good enough to top off the evening.
I've already been going to Snap on and off for my to-go needs. But to have a chance to preview their summer menu was very fun. I like to see that they are slowly making all their menu items to be gluten free and paleo friendly. There's not alot of those in the city that focus on that. Hate to call it a new trend, but more like a new wave of people discover that they have sensitivity and it's nice to have another place to go that has already done the homework for you.
I also appreciate that they highlighted the nutrition style for easy pick-up. They understand that you're busy, so they just identified if it is vegetarian/vegan, gluten free, non-dairy, sodium conscious, carb conscious...etc. It's nice. This way, you see your symbol and you can choose from those listed. Take the thinking out for you. And let me tell you, the food is not bad.
If you think this is too healthy for you, just go there to try it for the quick and easy sake. You know you already do it with the other diet programs. Snap is diet focus, but if you actually go into the store, you see that they pride themselves on freshness of ingredients, they care about how things taste, so no more cardboard for diet food, you can have your diet and still eat well.
Snap Kitchen
3600 Kirby Dr
Houston, TX 77098
713-526-5700
http://www.snapkitchen.com/
