SPLIT BAKEHOUSE, MYSTICAL BLENDS, & MORE VEGAN EATS AT GROSSMONT CENTER

(Photo -left of Split Bakehouse owner Vanessa Corrales and her cousin Roxy Corrales)

By Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

December 8, 2021 – La Mesa’s Grossmont Center offers even more vegan food choices since adding Mystical Blends to their food court. Mystical Blends joins Split Bakehouse, a vegan bakery, and other establishments at the mall.

Split Bakehouse is located near the food court, just steps outside their west doors. They are a 100% plant-based bakery. They have won best vegan bakery, reader’s pick, in a San Diego Magazine poll in 2021 and best vegan pastries in 2019.

“We’ve been here three years,” said Split Bakehouse owner Vanessa Corrales. She adapted to the covid19 pandemic by opening a window in their storefront that they sell their plant based baked goods from Wednesday to Sunday. A buzzer can be used to alert staff to a customer’s presence.

“We are 100% plant based,” she said. “We make our own eggs and butter. We are mostly known for our ‘laminated’ croissants.”

“We’re also known for our take home bake kits,” said Corrales.

Split Bakehouse’s Chef Pablo made it to round 2 of 3 on “Hulu’s Baker’s Dozen” show that aired October 7^th of this year. Chef Pablo’s last round was a Chocolate Passion Fruit Cakesicle. The cake layers had fruit gel in between cream cheese mousse covered by chocolate hazelnut. To see the episode, visit: https://www.hulu.com/series/bakers-dozen .     

Visit their bakery for holiday offerings or order online at https://splitbakehouse.com/ .

Another of Grossmont Center’s vegan food providers is only weeks old – Mystical Blends. Sergio Mendez, a food stylist and sous chef for seven years for the Los Angeles based Café Gratitude restaurants, now provides his vegan creations and even his own almond milk, made on the premises.

(Photo – right: Sergio Mendez, owner of Mystical Blends. )

“We have salads, smoothies---even our desserts are vegan,” said Mendez.  He described his brand of almond milk with “We put in 2 cups of raw almond silk.” He also prepares a completely vegan acai bowl.

“We also have a hangover remedy,” said Mendez. He opened the business several weeks ago. “Some of our smoothies have essential oils in them.” Visit his Instagram account for more information at https://www.instagram.com/drink.mystical/ .

Additionally, the food court houses Veg ‘n Out https://eatvegnout.com/ and El Veganito Plant Based Cocina https://www.facebook.com/elveganitosd/. Days open and hours vary; call ahead for information or check their Instagram or social media accounts.

(Photos of two of  Mystical Blends' vegan offerings taken by Miriam Raftery.)