Botanica

It's hard to put a label on Red Hill's Botanica, which is gourmet providore, real foods peddler, new age takeaway and "substitute home-baking Gran" to the westside's time poor residents all under one roof.

Let's just say that the Euro-chic little store, which has its home in a tiny 1920s shop opposite Red Hill Cinemas, is the unofficial foodie heart of Red Hill, with a steady stream of customers in and out of its door.

Mornings they drop in for freshly-baked loaves of organic bread or whatever delicious sweet baked gluten free goodies (moist vanilla cupcakes, Bundt cakes or wicked chocolate brownies with salted coconut caramel) that have come out of Botanica's kitchen that day.

At lunch time it's all about the sensational salads, a fresh daily range that walk out the door in their neat cardboard eco-boxes (with recycled wooden forks). Pesto potatoes, Israeli cous cous, beetroot slaw, wild rice, pumpkin, celery root, spiced peanut puree, fried almonds and crisp green beans are but a few of the ingredients to turn up in their delicious combinations. Then later in the afternoon the time-poor rush in to pick up boxes of ready-made healthy accompaniments for the dinner table.

Need to know - Salad boxes come in three sizes.