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July 17, 2006
You say you want a Rawvolution ...
(Matt Amsden, the man behind Rawvolution)
Lest you think this place is swimmin' in freebies, rest assured, it is not. Hence my surprise when we got a complete "Raw Box" from Rawvolution. Containing 12 separate raw food items, there was probably enough food for two people to eat at least two, if not three full meals. The box, which is delivered weekly if you so choose, costs $100, plus $10 delivery if you live on the Westside, $20 in the Valley, and if you're really committed, $65 to $75 for overnight FedEx. Now that's going overboard, but if you kindle your fireplace with $100 bills, it might be worth trying. And if you either live locally or pick up, $100 for 12 items, most of which contain multiple servings, is pretty darn economical.
So what's raw food, anyway? Well, it's food that hasn't been cooked. Lots of vegetables, sure, no bread, ditto. The tools of the trade are food processor, high-speed blender, mandoline slicer and food "dehydrator," which heats stuff to 100 degrees -- OK by raw food standards. The chef is Matt Amsden, and he does a pretty good job here. This food is labor intensive, the techniques and often the ingredients are little known (agave nectar?), and the reasoning behind why to go, or not to go, raw is complicated, and sometimes murky. Well, if you're already a raw food type, you've been through this already. But if not, it bears some reading about. Start with Matt's new "Rawvolution" cookbook, or even his Web site.
Now onto the food. My notes are not with me, and I will add to this when they are, but overall the Rawvolution Box was surprisingly good. Everything was extremely fresh, and much of it didn't have the herb-and-spice onslaught of some raw food I've tasted. Vegetable Nori Rolls had great crunch -- just good solid vegetables there. The Carob Torte Balls (which I think morphed to Cocoa Torte Balls now that Matt has found raw cocoa) were an extremely satisfying dessert -- nuts, coconut and chocolatey goodness expertly blended. In between was a great Mock Tuna Salad made with sunflower seeds, celery, scallions, dill and pine-nut mayo.
I digress, and I will. Raw food is SWIMMING IN FAT, mostly from nuts, and it's no holds barred as far as that goes. But I've never seen a real raw foodie who weighed more than 110 pounds. So what is the secret? Lack of refined sugars? Ton of fat, fewer carbs (the Atkins effect)? All that fiber? A mystery, but any excuse to eat fat and not get fat (and NOT have it be all meat, or any for that matter) is OK by me.
Cucumber Dill Salad was just that -- very refreshing on a hot day, and that's pretty much every day here. Vegetable Lasagna brought the box to the middle level of spiciness. Instead of noodles (nothing cooked, remember?) Matt uses thinly sliced zucchini (that's where the mandoline slicer comes in) between the layers, along with tomato marinara (how does he do it without cooking?), creamy seed cheese, marinated portobello mushrooms and more. Very good.
Two soups came with the box: Hearty Lentil Chili and Scarborough Fair Soup (with, yes, parsley, sage, rosemary and ... wait for it ... thyme). Both were way too spicy. Raw food chefs often go for extremely strong flavors, and Matt seemed to be deviating from that trend, except for these soups.
Now I didn't get to every dish, because some were eaten by other Daily Newsers, and 12 items is a lot, but one more that deserves mentioning is what I believe is the Fresh Peach Pie, which is fresh, all right, and made with agave nectar (it doesn't ALL go to tequila, I've learned). Complex flavors, indeed, and a dish worth returning to.
Overall, this tastes like very CLEAN food, and unlike the fare from some raw restaurants I've tried, you could eat like this everyday. I'd sure like to try it -- it's so healthy, it hurts. And if you either have a whole lot of spare cash, or a heckuva lot of time and a passion -- and I do mean PASSION -- for not cooking yet being in the kitchen anyway, doing all the things that not cooking entails for a raw foodist, this very well could be for you. For the rest of us, enjoy the raw, sample the raw, and realize that vegetarianism alone won't necessarily carry you the extra mile toward healthfulness, especially if you're waist-deep in cheese. So as an antidote, a little raw will do you good. Explore more at Euphoria raw cafe and retail store the next time you're in Santa Monica. Books, raw ingredients, and real, live raw foodies are sure to be there. Also, you can take a raw food class on Aug. 13, or read what these celebrites and regular people have to say about Matt's food. Now I'm not one to take advice from the likes of Gary Busey and Andy Dick, but there are a ton of other people, famous and not, who say this kind of eating has transformed their lives. It's something worth trying.
Posted by Steven Rosenberg at July 17, 2006 1:11 PM