Pura Vida Bakery & Bystro, Las Vegas

Pura Vida Bakery & Bystro chef and owner Mayra Trabulse has one goal: to create compassionate cuisine with a level of flavor that reflects her diverse cultural background. As she shared with Katherine Fernelius of [_Vegas Seven_](http://gr.pn/SPTjQX), Mayra is half Lebanese and half Cuban, and was born and raised in Mexico City. After moving to Las Vegas and attending community college, Mayra found herself unfulfilled. She decided to relocate to Florida, where she began to explore the politics of eating and her own relationship with food. She founded a catering business and became a private vegan chef before returning once more to Las Vegas to share her signature Caribbean- and Southwest-inspired dishes with Nevadans. Mayra incorporated the Spanish phrase ["pura vida"](http://gr.pn/YbEzxm) into the moniker of her eatery because it's a greeting or a farewell that can signify a sense of community and enjoying life slowly. That's exactly what she wants diners to feel at the restaurant, where she uses local, organic, fair-trade ingredients and incorporates macrobiotic, Ayurvedic, and raw-food principles in her low-temperature cooking. Mayra enhances her creations with unrefined oils and sweeteners and grinds whole spices for maximum flavor. Boasting a designated gluten-free area of her kitchen, she can cater to most any dietary restriction—Vanessa Meier of [The Green Girl Next Door blog](http://gr.pn/V7X9lx) described how Mayra composed custom, on-the-fly dishes that were "beautiful and clearly prepared with so much love" for her and her husband. And Meier isn't the only critic to take note of the blossoming restaurant: it earned Las Vegas Weekly’s [2012 Best Vegan Eating](http://gr.pn/Xd1dPp) award and was named the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s [Dining Pick of the Week](http://gr.pn/WKHzKJ) in October 2012. Mayra and her team also cater special events and bake custom vegan wedding cakes for couples being married by an Elvis wearing faux-blue-suede shoes.