I visited a raw foods restaurant last night on Main street after hearing about it for a while and passing by a few times on my way to the beach. Rawvolution is the name of the place and after walking in and smelling the distinctive aroma of vitamins and wheat grass juice I chose to sit outside.
The service was efficient and friendly and the menu was short but fairly extensive given that there are no cooked foods to be had.
I am definitely into healthier food and take pride in cooking with no dairy, little fat and organic produce so I was open to enjoying a raw food experience. Having said that I must admit after the meal I had a strong urge to go across the street and order a piece of pizza from Bravo.
Ok, ok, raw food is all the rage right now with restaurants cropping up all over L.A. but this was a meal that was hard for me to swallow.
I ordered a mushroom “burger” after hearing from a friend that the onion “bread” they are famous for is so amazing. It came on said bread but something about the texture of it was very strange. First of all, they don’t use wheat, yeast or any flour in their cuisine so all “breads” are made from seeds and some kind of pressed grain. The texture was chewy and dry sort of like eating very salty cardboard and I didn’t detect any onion flavor at all. The mushroom was topped with a spread that is supposed to be a facsimile of cheese which wasn’t bad but also overly salty. The whole thing was quite dense and heavy and I felt full after eating half of it. I also ordered the one quite yummy item of my meal which was a nori roll filled with vegetables and a bean spread, it was delicious and although messy to eat- so not first date material- I would say that is worth going back for. I went with a friend who also is into vegetarian food and enjoys trying new cuisines as I do so she was the right person to accompany me. She ordered a “big mac” but remember we are eating raw foods here so no burger, cheese or bun. This was a creative attempt to copy a burger with the infamous onion bread once again and a textured grain, seed, nut thing as the burger. Hers was also overly salty but she liked it more than I did.
We tried their truffles for dessert and the wait person said they were great. We ordered a cookie dough, chocolate coconut haystack and a Goji berry truffle. They gave us one order that we split, thank god because I could barely eat any most of it. The coconut one was acceptable but the other two were in edible, between the weird texture and the strange sweetener they use I almost spit it out. Give me a good piece of chocolate any day over this mock dessert.
I often here people say I must be picky in restaurants because I am in the food business and my answer is, only when it is bad. I go out to all kinds of places and an appreciative of efforts made to prepare good food as I know what goes into it. But this experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth, literally.
I was macrobiotic for a few years in my early twenties and taught at the one and only vegan cooking school in the country for five years so I am not a novice at off the beaten path vegetarian fare but next time I will pass on the raw part of healthy eating and choose for my food to be cooked.
If you would like a fabulous vegan chocolate chip cookie try this one, you won't be disappointed.
Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 ½ dozen
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rolled oats, toasted in a 350 oven for 6 min., ground in food processor, cooled
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup raw almonds or hazelnuts toasted in 350 oven for 10 minutes, roughly chopped and cooled
1 cup chocolate or carob chips
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 375. Line two half sheet pans with parchment, set aside.
2. Combine oats, flour, salt, soda, nuts and chips in a large bowl stir and set aside. Combine the oil, syrup and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk. Stir wet into dry ingredients just until mixed.
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto sheet pans about 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten dough with fingers.
6. Bake one pan at a time until lightly browned on bottom about 15 min. Cool and remove to wire rack. Repeat with the other pan and remaining dough.
No comments:
Post a Comment