Just Pressed – How Reeta Skeeter survived a one-day juice-only cleanse!

Even the best of health magazines and forums cannot rob Skeeter of her love for fresh, natural juices. Most health experts tell you to eat the whole fruit than squeezing out the juice. They have their reasons (fiber loss and so on) but Skeeter prefers to turn deaf. A hygienic juice bar round the corner? Count Skeets in! In the bits of Western and Southern India that Skeeter has visited, juices are fresh and aplenty, colas are less prevalent and seasonal fruits are a celebrity in their own right. And Skeeter’s take is that as long as it is not canned and tetra-packed and so on, is freshly squeezed and tastes good, well, go for it!
Cold pressed juices are a hit with overseas cousins going ga-ga over them. When Just Pressed offered Skeeter a sampler of Cold Pressed Craft juices that they bottle after juicing them in a Norwalk juicer, Skeeter agreed. Now Skeeter’s not used to fasting but the thought of giving her system a break with juices was tempting. 
The cleanse
Skeeter started her day with warm honey, lemon water followed by SOAK. A green coloured juice, not very great to look at, it had the goodness of Pineapple, Celery, Cucumber, Spinach, Collard, Kale, Lemon, Ginger and Wheatgrass. Skeeter sipped it cautiously and found that the pineapple, cucumber, lemon and ginger gave it a kick and saved the day. For someone, who’s used to starting her day with milky tea this was quite a departure. The no-solids food plan needs a solid will power. Several times during the day, Skeeter would almost reach out for something or the other only to be reminded that she is off solids.
ACTIVE was similar minus Pineapple and Wheatgrass with the added freshness of Lettuce, Parsley and Cilantro. Both filled Skeeter up and put her off food too! Too much of green, healthy stuff does that to you Skeeter guesses. 
PUMP, Skeeter’s favourite of all the juices, was made up of Coconut Water, Pineapple, Apple, Aloevera, Orange, Mint and Lemongrass. A very refreshing one this. Lifted Skeeter’s mood and spirited and gave her the energy to keep going with the cleanse. 
JOLT was next. The kind of juice you’d have at a health bar. Carrot, Apple, Celery, Cucumber, Beetroot, Lemon and Spirulina were there in this bottle. If you are a health freak, this one will leave you happy and satiated. 
BOUNCE made for a pre-dinner snack. It had Carrot, Orange, Apple, Pineapple, Lemon, Turmeric and Chia Seed. Bounce was good and had the sharpness of the fresh turmeric root. Something Skeeter is used to having all through winter. 
By now Skeeter was used to a fasting body and mind. She could have really skipped CHARGE but then there were heaps of praises all over social networking sites and blogs for charge which is made up of Coconut Meat, Almond, Vanilla, Honey, Cashew, Cinnamon and Chia Seeds. It was filling and akin to a gluten free milk-shake spiked with cinnamon. A complete meal.
VERDICT: A very doable and delicious cleanse. The next day, Skeeter felt light and nice AND motivated enough to take this cleanse up once every now and then!
P.S.:The thing to be noted is that these bottles come with an expiry date (3-days) as they have no additives whatsoever, so do drink up maximum by the second day of receving your cleanse set. And Just Pressed can do custom juices as per your preference as well. All the best!
The only downpoint is the hefty pricing( which Skeeter guesses many may frown at): Rs 1600 for a one-day cleanse. But hey, you pay that kinda money (or more) for one meal at a restaurant eating unhealthy carb-laden food. Why not spend one such amount on your health?

Tres -> Delhi’s sparkling star

The mood

A much needed dinner outing had Skeety thinking and after closing in on a Chinese favourite Skeety dumped it for the Modern European food serving restaurant in town: Tres. And no cheesecakes for guessing Skeety came home happy after the dinner. It was an absolute impulsive, ‘I must get out today’ evening. Skeeter was not hungry. Okay not much. She called up for the directions, and was told the exact directions (it pays to have well-informed staff). Reached there without event on the broomstick.

The drinks

Our table set in for the evening with an Apple Rosemary julip (Rs 225) that had fresh apple chunks, a twig of fresh rosemary, zesty lemon topped up with lemonade. A rather refreshing take on a drink. As perfect as it could be. The second drink we ordered was the Tres Mary (Rs 225), which the menu says is a Classic Virgin Mary with house made tomato jalapeno relish. A lovely drink again, though I’d have liked the rim of my glass much better salted (It could just be a Skeeter thing). We also had a generous and very fresh bread basket accompanying the drinks.

The food

The menu lists these broad categories: Small plates, Sharing plates, Salads & Appetizers, Soups, Mains, Meats and desserts.
We chose to order Roasted goat cheese and beetroot, apple walnut dressing and olive bread (Rs 419) from Salads & Appetizers. What we got was a giant slab of goat cheese on the slightly toasted olive bread with a taste bud teaser, finger licking good, beetroot, apple walnut dressing on a bed of lettuce. A medley of flavours, each distinct and each binding all ingredients together for a unique flavour. This was a dish Skeeter will definitely go back and order again. We requested our attendant to leave the plate so that we could polish off the dressing to the last drop. Skeeter does believe in helping nice restaurants clean the plates you see.

Next, we opted for the vegetarian sharing plate, which is a trio of chef’s selection served with dry salad, relish and crust bread (Rs 659). The chef can never be wrong. We trusted them blindly and got our share of a)Baked artichoke hearts b)Roasted summer peppers, aubergines and mushrooms and c)Deep fried corn tortellini with salsa verde for the sharing plate. The baked artichoke hearts stole Skeety’s heart. Naughty them. The roasted peppers, aubergines, mushrooms had bulbs of garlic thrown in and a chunk of cheese for company which altogether made for a very, very warm and hearty plate. The tortellini were perfect but the salsa verde did not shine much. As much as Skeeter would have liked to order the Mains, she thought an almost full stomach would not be able to do justice to those plates of art. And then, Skeeter wanted to secretly make some room for dessert.
The list of desserts made us slightly dizzy (so many good options to choose from), so we went ahead with the chef Julia’s recommendation of a “little different” Cajita (Cajeta) cake with seasonal fruit, a Tres speciality and trademark. An extraordinary end to a magnificent dinner.
The people and some titbits
Chef Jatin Mallick, Chef Julia and Fatima Lobo are the people behind the place. Tres means three in Spanish.
If you make a reservation and go you are likely to be better off as the place got almost full by 8:15ish.
They are open for dinner only and start early at 6pm.
The plating of each dish was outstanding and made each dish very, very visually appealing.

The not so good
Our tiny table could barely accommodate the beautiful big plates. 
The waiters were in a rush to take away our glass of unfinished beverage which we did not like. We had to stop them but our lovely bread basket was taken away. *Insert very sad smiley*
None of the above will deter us from going there again and again, and more. Will try to update this post as and when.
How to reach
Shop No. 17, Main Market, Lodhi Colony, Delhi, 110003
Opposite Vir Savarkar Park 
Ph:  011 24625520
Damages: Approx Rs 3,500 for two without alcohol.