I consider myself something of a food explorer, a gastronaut if you will, but one of the current Cal trends I've never introduced my palate to is raw food. I'm not talking carrot sticks to dip into your guacamole here, you can prepare anything but there's one stiff rule: nothing can be heated above 40C (104F).
As the Singers have become vegan (with the exception of Chinese crispy duck) and Anat is considering the same, it seemed a decent time to check out whether risking listeria, salmonella, tuberculosis etc. was worth it to enjoy a lukewarm plate of vegetables.
The setting for this experience was lunch with Anat and Arbel at Cafe Gratitude, a local, organic, vegan eatery whose walls are covered with feelgood posters that claim things like "money isn't everything" (err, hello? This is America). I have some previous with this place - I once "enjoyed" a dairy free cappuccino in their Healdsburg cafe with Dana after convincing her that it couldn't be that bad. It tasted like despair.
I had higher hopes for this trip. Forewarned is forearmed, after all. Presented with a very cryptic menu ("I am elated", "I am transparent", "I am nourished") I opted for...and I am embarrassed to admit my naivete...a deep pan pizza. Yes, a deep pan pizza that had not been heated above the temperature of a hot tub. The fact that it featured Brazil nut Parmesan and cashew ricotta cheese should have warned me.
What can I say? The dish I was presented with wasn't even trying to be a pizza. This is the trouble with people who don't eat meat: they're just not honest. As if to confirm this, Anat ordered a cooked dish, and fed Arbel homemade meatballs (after making me swear not to tell the waitress). And to add insult, I drank a glass of "the world's only fresh algae from Klamath Lake, Oregon." It tasted suspiciously like the hazelnut cappuccino from all those years ago.
Arbel is ready to eat!
No, I was not lying about the menu.
Mmmm, tasty!
You really drank that?!
A deep pan pizza. And I'm Sean Connery.
Come on, Anat. You can't look suspiciously at something that's cooked.
Yep, welcome to veganism kid.
