Vegan Ventures: RAWvolution

To highlight the delicious perks of her vegan lifestyle, Daily Bruin staffer Alejandra Reyes-Velarde showcases 10 diverse vegan restaurants in the West Los Angeles area. She will be joined by Daily Bruin staffer William Thorne to bring a meat eater’s perspective to vegan cuisine. They will alternate reviewing a restaurant each week.

Every day of last summer, I woke up and immediately made my way to my kitchen counter, where several large papayas sat waiting for me. I split one right down the middle with a large knife, spooned the seeds out and sat in front of my laptop with a spoon to eat my sweet breakfast.

That summer, I followed a Raw Till 4 diet, eating only fruits, smoothies and uncooked veggies until 4 p.m. Not one day went by when my mom didn’t scold me, saying anything in excess, even fruit, is not good for me.

Some call a raw lifestyle deprivation. Others call it extreme. Though I can’t afford to buy all that fruit anymore, I definitely miss the simplicity of being Raw Till 4.

I revisited the raw lifestyle Saturday at RAWvolution, a vegan, organic and 95 percent raw restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica. But it was nothing like my last summer.

RAWvolution created an effortlessly Zen vibe.

On the exterior wall of the restaurant, a naked man and woman with long, flowing hair share a kiss. The inside of the restaurant is earthy, with Buddhist symbols all around the room, plants scattered on tables and turquoise blue walls.

The restaurant also boasts a laid-back and effortless feel. A few frameless black and white photographs sit on the walls as if it were a humble home.

Even the customers fit in perfectly with the restaurant’s aesthetic. Some men had mid-length, unruly hair and were in tight yoga attire, while another woman with blue highlights wore a large, decorated septum ring to match her chunky silver necklace.

The restaurant’s food also caters to those who value organic, vegan and raw. Raw vegans don’t eat any food that is cooked at a temperature more than 104 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything higher causes the food’s natural nutrients to be compromised. Though RAWvolution subjects some of the food to heat, it maintains a mostly uncooked menu.

RAWvolution is not as disgusting as one might imagine. The restaurant doesn’t serve plain fruit and vegetables on a plate, but rather creatively combines ingredients and finds innovative ways to prepare their meals without heat.

Will and I opted for two Mexican-style dishes: the Nachos Grandes and the Mexican Pizza.

The most surprising part of the Nachos Grande was its walnut meat. The meat was made of ground walnuts, which were blended to a saucy consistency with bits of walnuts, making it resemble minced meat. The plate was piled with layers of avocado, pico de gallo and cashew cheese – cashews liquified to a cheese consistency. The mountain of ingredients was decorated with purple nacho chips inserted around the edges.

The nacho chips were not like regular tortilla chips, which are fried to get their crunchy consistency. Instead, the restaurant seems to have ground several ingredients together, like seeds and spinach, and laid them out to dry in triangle shapes on a pan naturally without heat.

The Mexican Pizza had similar ingredients piled on top of a crispy piece of nori, a thick sheet of dried seaweed.

Though I’m always eager to talk about how good vegan food can be, I was worried RAWvolution would confirm the idea that raw food can’t be made enjoyable for the mainstream. Thankfully, RAWvolution exceeded my, and especially Will’s, expectations.

The most surprising dish was also the smallest – a plate with strips of dehydrated curried coconut and a small serving of white cashew mayo.

As Will and I took the first bite, we were silenced by the beef jerky-like texture of the coconut. To my amusement, Will exclaimed repeatedly, “I was not expecting this,” and “But it’s coconut!”

One disappointment came at the end of the meal in the form of a seaweed reen cake called the Chlorella. I should have known that a cake with a name like Chlorella can’t be good, but since our lunch had gone so well, I thought we could venture out further.

We chose the cake because it wasn’t the usual vegan brownie or chocolate, like the other desserts in the case. The waitress said the cake was filled with what I thought were harmless ingredients, like almonds and hemp seeds. However, as I took a bite, I felt a Play-Doh-like consistency in my mouth that tasted vaguely of herbs and medicine.

I don’t doubt at least some of its customers willingly spend their money on the cake, since the refrigerator next to the desserts was filled with medicine-like bottles with titles like “Health-ade Kombucha,” “I Love My Brain” and “Raw Power Shot.” RAWvolution’s customers clearly aren’t afraid to go the extra mile and try new things for health.

Though RAWvolution is far from my stripped-down raw diet last summer when I ate copious amounts of plain fruit, RAWvolution’s creativity was refreshing. The restaurant succeeds in appealing to mainstream taste buds while staying true to its all natural ideals.