Halfway through a multi-course tasting
dinner at Green Paradise, a raw foods restaurant in Prospect
Heights, my husband said, "I’ve never tasted anything like
this."
The "this" was a faux "pizza" with a nut
crust, and pepper and pineapple toppings, one of several raw
food wannabes we sampled that tried hard to mimic the real thing.
The restaurant’s chef and owner, Mawule Jobe-Simon, is a vegan
and raw foods enthusiast from Trinidad who opened his tiny, mostly
takeout restaurant, in September 2002.
Jobe-Simon has worked in the kitchen of Quintessence, a restaurant
with two branches in Manhattan that is known for gourmet raw
foods. His mentor is Aris La Tham, a chef who opened the Sunfire
Juice Club in Park Slope, where Jobe-Simon cooked, before La
Tham decamped to Negril where he opened the Sunfire Spa.
Raw foodists believe that heating food over 116 degrees destroys
the enzymes that aid in digestion, causing toxicity in the body.
A raw foodist eats organic fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains,
sea vegetables, olives and cold-pressed olive oil and nuts –
lots of nuts – but no animal or dairy products, nothing processed
and no sugar.
Raw food extremists shy away from honey – it’s a byproduct of
an insect. Some eschew any kind of "hybrid" fruit or
vegetable preferring nature’s unadulterated offerings.
While a raw food meal isn’t prepared the traditional way – over
a stove or in the oven – it’s far from a simple slice-and-dice
affair. Before a meal hits the table, ingredients are whirled
in a food processor or blender; whipped in a Vita-Mix; and grains
are opened in a "sprouter" (a layered contraption in
which seeds – alfalfa, broccoli, mung beans and radishes, to
name a few -are watered and in two to four days, sprouts are
sprung). Fruit and vegetables are reduced to their essence in
a dehydrator.
What emerges are raw food imposters of dishes so ingrained in
our minds to taste a certain way, that anything trying to mimic
their flavors will disappoint us. As anyone who has ever eaten
a "veggie burger" – hoping to enjoy it as much as the
fabulous, fatty beef thing off the grill – will tell you, simply
giving a dish a familiar name, as Jobe-Simon has done, doesn’t
make it so.
"Pasta" made of shredded zucchini doesn’t make it pasta,
and calling a dish layered with ground nuts, faux cheese and
dehydrated tomatoes a "pizza" won’t fool anyone, either.
Raw food enthusiasts say that their cuisine should be appreciated
without comparison to the delicious, unhealthy SAD (standard
American diet) foods most of us enjoy.
I agree in theory, but bad-for-you food is my only point of reference.
Without the aid of heat to soften flavors and crisp textures,
and no butter to enrich sauces, Jobe-Simon works hard to blend
flavors. He grinds pecans and mixes them with olive oil, cilantro
and a touch of orange juice, then adds a smoky finish with dried
chipotle pepper for a hearty (nothing I tasted could be described
as light) hot, spicy and smoky dip.
Celery stalks were used in place of crackers.
The falafel, made of chickpeas and sunflower seeds, looked and
tasted like balls of dark rye bread, although their cashew sauce
was pleasantly creamy and nutty.
The best dish of the evening was the sweet and sour plantain
salad served as a side dish with the falafel. Slices of the sweet
banana were tossed with lemon juice and olive oil and brightened
with parsley.
Whole mushrooms marinated in pineapple juice and ginger, served
in a lush Brazil nut and garlic cream sauce, were delectable
– firm yet tender and with the heat of the ginger adding a kick
to the sauce.
I enjoyed the nutty flavor of a wild rice salad seasoned with
lots of garlic and olive oil, but not its texture. The grain
is soaked, not simmered, until it sprouts. I’ll be kind and say
it was chewy. Two forkfuls gave my mouth a workout.
There was an odd "pizza," with layers of macadamia
nut "cheese"; a sauce made of dehydrated tomatoes that
tasted like good tomato paste mixed with green, red and yellow
peppers; olives; mushroom slices; and pineapple (I liked the
pineapple) spread over a dense chickpea and sunflower seed crust.
As a vegetarian offering, it wasn’t bad, but even with the pineapple,
I wanted it served warm and I was in the wrong place for that.
The disaster of the evening was the banana pancakes. They looked
dark and damp and tasted like batter that came off the grill
too soon. A tart, well-made raspberry sauce and banana slices
were a welcome relief.
Two of the three sweet "pies" were satisfying dessert
choices. (The third, flavored with pods from the mesquite tree,
had no flavor.) For his mango pie, Jobe-Simon grinds walnuts
with dates for a sweet, chewy crust. He then tops the crust with
a delicious mango pudding and scatters fresh raspberries on top.
In another dessert, with the same crust, he layers slices of
bananas and tops it with a fluffy banana-and-coconut pudding
and a crunchy topping of crisp almonds.
All I needed with the pies was a cup of coffee, but that was
not to be.
If I ate only raw foods, I suspect I would live a longer, healthier
life – after all, everything on the diet is pure, fresh and rich
in fiber. But without coffee and chocolate, bread and butter,
and the occasional rare burger and glass of red wine to look
forward to, I’m not sure I’d want to.
Green Paradise (609 Vanderbilt Ave.
between St. Marks Place and Bergen Street in Prospect Heights)
accepts cash only. Grand re-opening on March 5, 2-8 pm. Entrees:
$5-$7.50. Daily specials $10-$14. Lunch and dinner is served
Tuesdays through Sundays. Closed Mondays. For information, call
(718) 230-5177.
