Black rice bowl with mango, avocado, feta, cashews and black berries Photo credit Meghan Maguire
WHO’S IN CHARGE Once upon a time — in Julia Child’s day, say — people cooked, dined out, and ate whatever the heck they wanted with pure joy and abandon, but not anymore. Today, our heads are filled with thoughts about which foods are good and bad and guilt that we should be eating better. But whatever healthy foods you aspire to, you don’t have to make seismic changes to improve your diet.
“One of my core values is that small changes add up to big changes,” said Norwell’s Tami Guiney, owner of the bustling Daily Press juice bar and vegetarian eatery in Cohasset. Neither Guiney nor her knowledgeable head chef Meghan Maguire are vegetarians, but both their diets largely include the dishes and juices they serve. With so much of the menu dependent on fresh produce and ripe fruits, the kitchen has become terrific at curating a daily supply. “Ripeness takes a little bit of luck,” said Guiney, who grew up on a farm in Michigan cooking with her mother from their gardens. “It’s the most destabilizing thing not to have ripe avocados. We bring them in green and ripen them.”
THE LOCALE The Press is a storefront in the Old Colony Square at Cohasset Station on Route 3A. When it opened in 2014 it was small, but two years ago Guiney expanded into an adjacent space. A large circular counter fills half the airy room, the front wall is all windows, there are rustic wooden tables, and it has a corner with a love seat and chairs. Most people take their food to go, but it’s a pleasing enough space for eating in.
ON THE MENU There’s a lot more to eat here than just the dazzling cold-pressed juices, but definitely have one. The combinations on offer are skillfully balanced. The Pure Greens ($8) turns celery, kale, lemon, and apples into something that seems lighter than water yet bursting with flavor. Others are just as amazing.
On several recent visits, we’ve found sandwiches, salads, acai bowls, grain bowls, and soups beautifully prepared and the staff helpful and efficient. The veggie burger ($7.50), which can also be ordered as the Skinny Jill salad ($9), is an outstanding homemade patty with a meaty texture made of real veggies and black beans, not processed soy. Topped with a creamy aioli, fontina cheese, tomato, microgreens, and served with veggie chips, the burger is totally satisfying and delicious. Same goes for creative chili-pecan crusted cauliflower tacos ($9) with chipotle aioli and chunks of creamy avocado. The black rice bowl ($9) has become another favorite with its chewy-terrific rice, blackberries, mango, roasted cashews, chickpeas, feta, and pesto.
The Cobb salad ($9), the farmer’s daughter sandwich ($7.50), and the avocado toast ($8) are all good choices. The quinoa salad ($8) is a cool plate of the mild, proteinous grain, but beware: It has a lot of red onion (I’m asking for less next time).
Guiney’s popular acai bowls ($8) are a thick, cold puree of the nutritious purple berry topped with various fruits, granola, even goji berries. Chia seed pudding cups ($4) are another welcome snack or small nutritious meal and the daily soups also fit that category. I’ve enjoyed two: the roasted tomato and the quinoa chili ($5/$7 cup/bowl), the former sided with a gruyere toast, the latter some tortilla chips. There are no desserts, but the dreamy peanut butter (banana) blast smoothie ($7.49 for 12 ounces, $8 for 16 ounces) does a sterling imitation. And Guiney has just debuted four colorful hot “latte” drinks ($5) made with a frothy blend of coconut and almond milks flavored with various warming spices and “super foods” like cacao and the more exotic chaga, pink dragonfruit, and maca. Nice this time of year.
The Daily Press, 132 Chief Justice Cushing Highway, Cohasset, 781-261-6099,
www.thedailypressjuicebar.com .
Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.
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