July 2004 | Dining Out
Raw Food Rox
by Donnanne Epstein
“Eating Raw? That’s what I asked my friend, Laurie, when she suggested going to Roxanne’s raw-food restaurant in Larkspur. She’d just returned from a spa in southern California that included a raw food diet as part of the health regime. She felt fantastic and was motivated to continue dining on uncooked cuisine. I was skeptical about paying for an expensive meal of raw foods. Would I be satisfied or would I come home hungry? How can Roxanne’s be a gourmet restaurant when they don’t even have a stove! One answer is Raw, a book she wrote with Charlie Trotter, a six-time James Beard award-winner and recipient of the Year 2000 Outstanding Restaurant Award.
We arrived for dinner at 5:30 (early enough so I could eat something later, just in case). The restaurant is a visual treat and, in keeping with Roxanne and Michael Klein’s philosophy, everything is natural, ecological, and organic. Not only is the food raw, the restaurant is green. The lamps are made from recycled, crushed glass with natural pigments. All the wood, inside and out, is recycled or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The tablecloths and napkins are made from unbleached organic cotton and the chair covers from organic hemp chenille. The walls are painted with a lime-based, natural pigment that contains no chemicals or toxins. The menus and other paper goods are made from tree-free paper.
Laurie and I decided on the tasting menu that includes ten courses encompassing the restaurant’s entire range of flavors and textures. I was glad we started early. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that wine is considered a raw food, and Roxanne’s has an extensive wine list featuring bottles from organic vineyards. We chose a ZD Merlot.
I knew from the first course that this was going to be a creative dining experience: radish ravioli with miso-sesame broth and Shimeji mushroom; cucumber-wrapped summer rolls with almond and sweet chili sauce. The salads (so fresh they seemed just picked from the garden) were served with an aged balsamic vinegar and special Italian olive oil that tempted me to lick my plate.
The soup course was a surprise. Since heating food over 118 degrees kills the enzymes, I was expecting cold soup. Instead, the soups are served comfortably warm — no need to blow on the spoon to cool it and no danger of burning the tongue. As with the soups, the entree courses were served warm and included a tamale with queso amarillo, corn, chipotle vinaigrette, sour cream and mole sauce. The sour cream is non-dairy but very smooth in texture, as are the “ice cream” desserts. My favorite was the chocolate-layered tart. The first bite tasted like ice cream, cold and velvety, but with no lactose texture left on the tongue. The various textures, creamy, crunchy, and chewy are accomplished using nut butters, purees, dehydration techniques, blending, and, I’m sure, magic. The presentation of all the courses was a feast for the eyes. The tastes were complex and fresh.
It was 8:30 and, having eaten a ten-course meal in three hours, I would expect to feel stuffed and sluggish, ready for bed or at least a nap. On the contrary, I felt full of energy, satisfied, and not the least bit hungry. Cooking makes the proteins in food harder to digest. Cooking also destroys the natural enzymes that normally aid in digestion. Raw food is more natural, takes less energy to digest, and puts less strain on the finite reserve of enzymes in our system. No wonder I had more energy: my body was not working so hard to digest the dinner, and it had received more nutrients than it usually gets in a meal. Another side effect of this wonderful, healthful experience was the honing of my taste buds. For days after the Roxanne’s experience, everything I put in my mouth seemed unusually flavorful. Even water tasted better.
Eating at Roxanne’s should not be missed. For those who value vegetarian, organic, and naturally prepared foods, Roxanne’s reliance on raw foods takes dining out to a new level. For those who care about gourmet foods and fine dining, Roxanne’s will not disappoint.
Chocolatier Donnanne Epstein is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy.
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