BODY

BODY is Mall of America for yogis. “It’s the synthesis,” owner Lorin Parrish explains, “of throwing a really big net.” That’s for damn sure. “It just kept building,” she says. What started as mainly an espresso bar eventually took root and expanded. “No kitchen, no grill, no countertop,” Parrish says. The modest snack bar eventually tiptoed into transition when Crock-Pots and hot plates entered the equation. And then there was the issue of the hood (the final accoutrement, and what separates a snack bar from a full-fledged kitchen). “I didn’t want a hood, a hood is $20,000,” Parrish recalls, “but then we got a hood.” So with a fully legit kitchen, Parrish, a California native, set out to refine her recipes. “Simple, straightforward and good,” Parrish says. Every item’s whittled down to its most basic elements (organic, local, sustainable). Be it raw pizza (sun dried tomato marinara, basil pesto, and nut cheese) or the soup of the day, the dishes never complicate or stray. Their tart ginger sauce—a translucent dark amber-hued concoction—is served as a dipping sauce, but many a patron insists on sipping it straight; “Go ahead,” Parrish says, “it’s just juiced ginger.” The trick is, keep it simple. And that’s basically it—plus a handful of creativity and the ability to take 14 ingredients and manifest something worthwhile.