COMBO CUT
Issac Shoki practices what he preaches. He uses no canned, frozen or processed foods at his Miami Juice Restaurant and Healthy Food Emporium, and more than two-thirds of the food is organic. Every dish is made to order, and nothing is nuked in a microwave.
The Israeli-born restaurateur rises before dawn several days a week to shop at the wholesale produce market downtown, scoring crates of seasonal fruits and vegetables including dinosaur plums, huge pomelo (a grapefruit cousin) and lychees.
He and his wife, Bonita, have many regulars who eat almost all their meals at the counter that stretches the length of their shop or the cluster of tables set outside.
Issac is from Ramat Gan, an agricultural settlement near Tel Aviv. In his youth, he worked on a kibbutz, then opened a juice bar with his cousin. He moved to Miami in 1982, and opened his first restaurant in Miami Lakes, relocating to Sunny Isles Beach 17 years ago.
Some health-food fans come for meals in a glass, from Very Berry to One-Way Ticket to Heaven (low-fat soy milk whirled with cashews and dates). There are countless combinations of fresh produce, some with coconut milk or rice milk, some spiked with honey, fresh mint, bee pollen or spirulina (a nutrient-rich algae). wheat grass is clipped just before juicing.
Besides the power shakes, breakfast options include organic oatmeal, omelets and bagels. Hummus or guacamole with pita is a good any-time snack.
For a light lunch, get a baked russet potato, sweet potato or boniato (white yam), split and topped with cheese (or dairy or soy), steamed veggies, tuna salad or chicken salad. The chicken -- kosher and free range -- can also be had grilled in a pita with lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes, shredded cabbage and carrots.
Issac's abundant salad brings mixed greens with sliced olives, avocado, bell pepper, onion, sprouts and more, with a choice of toppings such as tofu, falafel balls, blackened snapper or Bonita's baked salmon (marinated in teriyaki sauce and crusted in sesame seeds).
Platters come with brown rice or quinoa, the tiny, protein-rich ''mother grain'' of the Incas, mixed with pine nuts and topped with steamed vegetables. Add-on options include tilapia with capers, lime and garlic sauce; baked butternut squash; red kidney beans; baked tofu; teriyaki tuna; poached salmon or barbecue chicken.
A must-have is the fruit salad, with dozens of fruit cut in chunks and topped with lycium (dried boxhorn berries, also known as goji), sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and grated coconut. Good and good for you, as are all the dishes here, prepared from the heart.
Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.
Place: Miami Juice Restaurant and Healthy Food Emporium.
Address: 16210 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach.
Contact: 305-945-0444.
Hours: 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Prices: Salads $5.50-$15.95, sandwiches $4.25-$8.95, pizza $5.95-$15.95, platters $8.50-$18.95, juices $3.50 (small) to $19.95 ( ½ gallon).
