I go back and forth with my zeal towards raw food. It seems that in the winter I am wanting warmer foods which generally means they are cooked and not raw. Last week I had a friend invite me to try out a local Raw Food Cafe here in Salt Lake City. The place is called Omar’s Rawtopia and although it was a little tricky to find, it was well worth the 30 minute drive!
Here is a blurb from their website describing their food:
Rawtopia has been open since July 2005. Instead of baking, frying, and boiling, we preserve the enzymes by bringing nuts and seeds back to life through sprouting. Doctor Bernard Jenson research shows that after sprouting nuts and seeds, the nutrition increases by over 600%. We then process our food using juicers, blenders, food processors, and dehydrators at maximum temperature of 105ºF/40.56ºC. Our ingredients come from fresh all organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Cold pressed, unrefined, stone-crushed Bariani olive oil and cold pressed coconut oil. Food is sweetened with dates, figs, agave nectar (agave is derived from the agave cactus plant) and yacon syrup (from the yacon root). The food here takes more than 4 days to be prepared. Lots of patience, peace, and love go into every Rawtopia recipe.
I had no idea raw food could taste this good! It was seriously like a party for my mouth. The mixture of different flavors was perfectly precise, and it made the price of my lunch a little easier to swallow ($16 for the plate pictured below).
My friend ordered the sweet basil salad with a “bean burrito” (see picture above). This is the description:
Bean burrito – Beans consist of a purée of Tahini and sunflower seeds mixed with Mexican herbs, and spices. Topped with macadamia nut sour cream, sprouts, and served wrapped in collard greens, or with crackers, lettuce, cabbage, and love.
Sweet Basil Salad – A sweet garlic basil mixture poured over a bed of mixed greens, topped with avocados, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, onions, celery, hemp seeds, parsley, and love!
I ordered the Seaweed Hummus Roll which came on a bed of greens and was topped with a curry dressing and falafel flakes.
Seaweed Hummus Roll – Hummus wrapped with Nori roll piled with bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, avocados, sprouts,
and love.
The picture does not do justice to the incredible taste of this dish! It was heaven, especially knowing how good it was for my body.
It gave me a whole new appreciation for raw food and made me want to step it up in the kitchen. I thought I would add this link to their menu. Not to make you salivate on your keyboard, but to inspire the creative cook inside of you!
Source: WFM 1-10