Anna Harouvis claims she's not the most successful cafe owner. "I'll break even just to expose people to a new cuisine," she says.
But Dim and Den Sum chef Chris Hodgson, who regularly visits Harouvis' Good to Go Café in the IMG building, disagrees. "I'm there probably two or three times a week," he says. "It's my home away from home. The egg salad sandwich is ridiculously good."
The four-table breakfast and lunch spot offers more than standard grab-and-go fare with daily menus crafted by Harouvis from local and sustainable products. She mixes Greek specialties such as moussaka and baklava, with creative dishes like buffalo turkey with dill havarti, shrimp and corn chowder, and vegetarian creations such as sun-flax focaccia veggie sandwiches.
"I make these kale chips with Indian curry, and customers are always like, •Kale? Never!' And then they start liking it," she says. Her next venture: raw foods that aren't cooked above 115 degrees. It's a simple diet that has reinvigorated her cooking.
"Food tastes so good with very limited seasonings. Today I made a great mango salsa with fresh cilantro and roasted red pepper," Harouvis says, adding that her raw carrot cake with cashews and coconut is also a hit.
Harouvis grew up in the business watching her father run The London Bar and Grill, and she learned firsthand working as a busser, server and bartender in college. "It really did help form my love for [restaurants] and my passion for putting quality and service above everything."
As part of that service Harouvis constantly solicits menu ideas through Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook. Become her friend on the latter, and you'll be privy to a daily password good for a 20 percent discount. "I love the feedback from customers," she says. "You can create whatever you want, but in the end it really is what they want."
