Raw Food: More than Just a Carrot Stick

Roxanne Klein can trace her love affair—and career—as both a chef and a raw food enthusiast to her childhood. “My grandparents were organic farmers,” she recalls, “and they would ask me, ‘What do you smell today?’”

“I would say peaches, or strawberries, and we’d see what was ready to pick and that’s what we’d have for dinner that evening,” says Klein. “Early on I was able to make the connection between food and the senses.”

Klein’s childhood was always a source of inspiration to her, and she grew up saying she wanted to be a chef and open a restaurant. After attending the University of California, Santa Cruz, and studying at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Klein moved to France where she continued her culinary training, and made frequent trips around the world to study other cultures and their cuisine. It was in Thailand that she was first exposed to eating raw food. “I was reluctant, but when I got home I tried it for a month,” Klein remembers.

That experiment not only reminded her of days spent on her grandparents’ farm, but also improved her health as well. “My skin was better, I slept less, and I woke up feeling energized and not needing that caffeine boost.”

But as a true chef, Klein found that health benefits alone weren’t enough for her. “Food is a celebratory, sensual experience and I wanted to experiment with flavors and dishes that I could really enjoy,” she says.

Klein, who began her career as a pastry chef, set up a test kitchen where she could experiment with new techniques—a dehydrator instead of an oven, for example—and new ingredients—nuts instead of cream, for instance.

Along the way, Klein became friends with six-time James Beard- award winner Charlie Trotter and the two authored a cookbook, Raw, now out in paperback. In 2001, she opened a restaurant, Roxanne’s, in Larkspur, California, based on her raw food philosophy. Tasty dishes such as Heirloom Tomato Soup with Alberquina Olives and Shaved Fennel; Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honey Comb, Medjool Dates, and Dried Apricots; Polenta with Wild Mushroom Ragout; and Watermelon Soup with Sharlyn Melon Granité, proved popular. “I didn’t know what was going to happen but it took off,” she says. Customers who had eaten at the legendary Chez Panisse or French Laundry the night before were coming to Roxanne’s for her edible flowers, exotic herbs and greens grown in her own organic garden, and organic food from local vendors. The restaurant used no meat, fish, poultry, or dairy products, refined sugars, grains, and no ingredient was heated above 118 degrees.

Unfortunately, the restaurant is no longer open—“a long story involving my divorce,” Klein explains—but she has moved on to other ventures and now sells her a line of products at Whole Foods and other stores in California. She hopes to take the distribution nationwide in the future and perhaps open another restaurant.

“My vision is to make this food available, and convenient, to lots more people,” says Klein, who points out that if one-half of your plate is made up of raw foods, you will notice a significant improvement in how you feel.

The half-plate measurement is meant to keep more traditional eaters from running in the other direction.

“This isn’t an either or type of eating,” says Klein. “Just add some in to your own food and notice the difference.”

For more information, visit www.Roxannes.com.

—Carol Sorgen