Kate Kendall, Flow Athletic co-founder and yogi from Paddington

WHERE

Pure Wholefoods, Manly

WHY

It was a very hard choice - it's not a lot to look at. It's simple, organic, it's quite paleo, which I'm quite into at the moment. You can sit down and eat there, or what I like to do is grab some stuff and go and sit on the beach.

[There's a] really, really simple fit out; staff [are] really friendly, there's seating up front. It's just a really friendly, laid-back, beachy vibe.

Sydney is so health conscious, but I still feel like there aren't a whole lot of fast, fresh take-away options. As long as its unprocessed and it's fresh and it's local - that's not a huge ask is it?

I've been spoilt by NY and LA yoga studios that have the most amazing cafes attached to them.

WHAT

They're always changing things up but I can't go past the zucchini pasta. All of the sweet treats are amazing but I definitely recommend the raw vegan cheesecake. The coffee is quite good, and all of the smoothies. The thing I love about it the most is that it's always really colourful, fresh, bright and it's always dripping with taste.

ABOUT

I cook really simply at home. For my favourite dish, I just get a whole handful of my favourite vegetables, steam them all, stir through half an avocado, stir through some hummus, put in some seaweed flakes and season it with cayenne pepper. I call it my Sunday special but I eat it all the time. If I feel like crunch, I add sprouts; if I feel like sweetness, I eat sultanas. I add some fish or meat for protein.

I'm living the Space Between philosophy - finding time to do less, slow down and learn how to live simply again. We've forgotten how to eat slowly, to put down our phones. I'm creating more video content for my YouTube channel, The Active Yogi, and focusing on the next 30 Days Clean challenge for Flow Athletic. We're working on getting it online. We get so many people from Perth and Melbourne and overseas saying they really want to do it.

I recently shot 10 videos in Bali for My Yoga. I'm always talking and developing my concept of the Space Between, which is basically just simple living, doing one thing and doing it with your whole heart.

PURE WHOLEFOODS

5/10 Darley Road, Manly, 8966 9377, facebook.com/PureWholefoods

Breakfasts, $7-$20; lunches $10-$22. $40 for two, plus drinks.

THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS

REVIEW

You're a healthy lot, aren't you? In this column's short history, we've received only two or three recommendations for places that make a crust from selling what we tend to love but know is not good for the ticker: chips, cheese, cakes, that kind of thing. I'll take that as a barometer of our collective nutritional wisdom – something that lies very close to the heart of this week's chooser.

Overlooking Manly Public School – the playground of which is a lot more boisterous than this enclave of calm – Pure Wholefoods' muzak is zen, its menu strictly health-based and its intentions simple and unpretentious. Like Kate Kendall, Pure has clean living on the brain.

Former fashion photographer Walter Rambaldini and his model wife Dini have worked hard to deliver a mostly vegan, often paleo alternative to the Manly coffee scene without sacrificing the area's laid-back approachability.

I queue behind a tradie, who orders a vegetarian lasagne from the counter of rice balls, salmon patties, tofu veggie patties and salads.

I'm all for outsourcing a conscientiously balanced diet on a lazy, late morning. So, in for a penny, in for a pound, I go for blueberry pancakes with the lot. They arrive piping hot: a fresh, though not huge, mound of sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free goodness, though I can't find a blueberry in the mix. What might have been on the dry side was neatly balanced with berry compote, fresh fruit, honey and a spoonful of rich coconut yoghurt.

A pear muffin is a heavy and satisfying thing, packed with grated fruit and (other) sugar free.

A dish called 'yogi' is as om as it sounds: brown rice, roasted pumpkin and mushrooms, marinated and grilled tofu, kale, broccolini and lots of tahini. By my reckoning, it needs a little more pizazz in the seasoning. But that's probably the point – this food isn't full of salt but is kept simple and relatively naked.

A special of nasi goreng made with brown rice is fragrant and loaded with vegetables and a freshly fried egg. Again, a drop more soy and a pinch more chilli wouldn't go amiss for my palate.

The menu and specials wall is largely vegetarian but free-range chicken, smoky bacon and scotch fillet make appearances.

Drinks, besides the extra-pure water from dispensers that are full of pebbles, include seven types of milk, a plethora of teas, juices, smoothies and superfood upgrades. They're not buttery chocolate croissants or creamy eclairs, but raw vegan tiramisu or mint-choc brownies and paleo raw balls make decent sugar-free challengers.

Service is hands-off and straightforward - order at the counter, grab your own water, find a perch on the sun-soaked tables outside or on the shared bar table in front of the counter. Staff are busy in the open kitchen – perhaps too busy to lavish much time on the floor. Take-away plastic tubs are no problem but, oddly enough, a paper carrier bag costs 20c.

It's all sparkling fresh, considered and, well, good for you –  and at what it does.