A gourmet dinner with a metaphysical twist? With the summer solstice upon us, two practitioners of The Cadent Cross Institute will explain how certain foods directly “feed” our chakras, and which ones ultimately help us achieve spiritual and emotional balance from a Chinese medical perspective.

Instructor Jessica Ifshin, also of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, and Astrologer Eve Elly will present their first “gourmet readings” dinner from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., June 18, at a private home in La Mesa. The event is open to the public and seats up to 15 guests. The cost is $50, and includes a full meal, beverage, wine and 15-minute readings in Tarot, astrology and numerology.

“We’ll be focusing on the heart chakra, which governs the chest cavity and serves as our window to the soul and the emotional realm,” says Elly. Foods that are green and pink in color, she adds, fortify the heart chakra. Hence the menu will include avocado soup and poached salmon.

“Most people in this country are just running around eating and not really focusing on what they’re putting into their mouths. They are ultimately ignoring their chakra energies and what their bodies are saying.”

Ifshin agrees and points out some of the lesser-known benefits of keeping the chakras and vital organs nutritionally fit.

“People with healthy hearts are generally more friendly. They seem to see effortlessly through problems to arrive at brilliant solutions,” she says. Oyster shell calcium, available in supplements at health food stores, also supports the heart.

Foods that are sour in flavor or high in chlorophyll, adds Ifshin, are beneficial to the liver, which is considered the “mother of the heart.” She notes that, “If your liver is sick, you’ll be more prone to anger. If it’s in good shape, you’ll be happy, free flowing and gregarious. The liver gets kicked around because it’s always in a detoxifying mode. It works really hard and doesn’t get enough love and attention.”

And when it comes to our brain’s ability to achieve higher thoughts and combat negative thinking patterns, one need only look to raw purple cabbage and blueberries for a tune up. “Any foods with indigo or purple hues feed our sixth chakra, which governs the whole forehead from the eyes to the top of the head,” notes Elly.

In regards to wine, which Ifshin calls “the controlled spoilage of grapes,” drinking a single glass two or three times a week is also salubrious for the heart. “Wine in small doses moves the chi energy in our bodies so that it’s not sluggish and stagnant.”

The women will incorporate a Spanish red wine into their menu lineup, as well as watercress-roasted beet salad and mixed berry sorbet. The dinner is the first in a series they plan to present seasonally.

“Food is a vehicle to create education and enlightenment,” adds Ifshin. “I’m always talking to my patients about diets and food. It’s pretty central in my treatment philosophy.”

For reservations or to obtain more information about Gourmet Readings, call The Cadent Cross at (619) 299-2897.