Food: Some Like It Raw

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By Newsweek Editors

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Forget tofu--there's a new trend among health-obsessed foodies in the United States: gourmet raw, or "living foods," restaurants. These cutting-edge eateries use only vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits in their dishes, not heating anything above 47.8 degrees Celsius (the point at which, some believe, enzymes begin to degenerate and harm to the body). Demi Moore's new body is said to have been perfected by the regime. There are now more than 30 such restaurants in the United States, offering everything from noodles of coconut meat and Caesar salads with sea kelp instead of anchovies, to "burgers" made of sunflower and flaxseed meal. (To check out menus, visit roxraw.com, the Web site for California's Roxanne's; or New York's Quintessence, raw-q.com.)

Can this trend ever flower overseas? Tip Sheet investigated in cities known for world-class cuisine. In Paris we found obesity on the rise, and diners busy eating force-fed duck livers. Britain, however, was a different story. Karen Knowler, director of Fresh-Network.com, has organized a raw-food chef-training course next October. The 50 slots are already fully booked. In north London, the salads and raw muesli at Heartstone have a raw-food following--though not enough to sustain a "raw" restaurant. "The trend is catching on," says raw-food entrepreneur Femi Cole. "When I went raw nine years ago, I only knew a handful of people who did it; now there is a network of thousands." Cole is hoping to enlist a London restaurant to offer an entirely raw-food menu one day a week. Herbed cashew cheese anyone?

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