[Pigging by Wilfrid: August 3, 2007]
A raw food restaurant surviving three harsh, dark Gotham winters on the street named after the writer who called the city "Gotham". And their prime asset is a garden?
If that doesn't take the cake.
Sarma Melngailis - among all her many accomplishments, Mouthfulsfood member #150 - deserves a gold star. Not just because she has proved her point simply by still being there; but also because everyone, except her customers, has to get over the whole theory, concept, proffer and politics of raw, vegan food before they can even taste the dishes.
Yes, it's vegan. Momentary enthusiasm about a menu featuring raw animal of the day must be dispelled. And yes, it's raw, which means all food kept below 118 degrees. The implications of this, if not immediately apparent, include no bread, no rice, no pastry, no baked goods at all - an intellectual challenge, and also a test of the kitchen's sheer patience as it bends raw ingredients into surprising and palatable new shapes. You can't just sear it and bung it in the oven.
Anyone with an open mind might enjoy, though, this salad liberally scattered with morels:
Refreshing, a large portion, and you really don't need me to guide you through it. Astutely, you will detect the sweetcorn, slices of radish, and sugar snaps. I'll add that the cream is from ramps (out-of-season, now, no?), and there's a touch of balsamico. Can't have too many morels.
Raw food seems to have taken its impetus from a 1984 book by Leslie Kenton, The New Raw Energy, which, no, I haven't read. It reflects, I believe, earlier claims that beneficial enzymes are destroyed by cooking, and that a raw food diet has, therefore, health benefits in addition to the obvious low calorie and high fiber counts. Whether this is true or not, I have no idea, although the reference to energy encourages me to think that the Stooges were no inapt inspiration for my headline.
If you'd rather talk about taste and texture than enzymes, please see the "biryani". I liked this much.
The broth, masquerading as creamy, is coconut based, dabbed with saffron oil. The tiara of cucumbers was gently pickled. Now here's my thought process: can't be rice, of course, because raw rice is no fun; mmm, okay, cous cous instead; you bonehead, this isn't raw cous cous. I had to ask. The apparently starchy component, unmistakeably cous cous to the blind taster, was finely minced jicama. This housed not only vegetable chunks, but delicious raisins. Can I lay one concern to rest. This was filling. Surprisingly filling. We'll come back to that.
If I had to point to a Melngailis signature, its her way with fake pasta. This has recently been all the rage around town. Within the last week or so, I've eaten summer rolls which used thinly sliced turnip as the wrap, and elsewhere, thinly sliced apple. The Pure Food kitchen has this down; perhaps because they do a lot of it. It's not unusual to find a couple of ravioli dishes on the menu - they get the pliability just right.
I believe - and kick me the length of Irving place if I'm wrong - that these were somehow constructed from softened chanterelles. The filling, an aged cashew cheese. The bright star of the dish, though, that lapping foam: turned out to be macadamia. Chopped parsley on top. And the mention of mainstream restaurants fooling with such things, brings me to this question:
How would non-raw people feel about some of these techniques as part of a non-raw menu? Really, there are constructions here which would be entirely at home on some of the cities best menus. It's almost a pity that the Pure Food regulars - and what a chic crowd; such narrow hips - keep them to themselves. Sarma, of course, was not born a vegetarian, and it would be fascinating to see what she could do, abandoning constraints on her cuisine.
Now, you've had pudding already, haven't you?
Pink peppercorn ice cream. The cake, I have to say, didn't work, simply because it was so hard. It had to be carved rather than spooned. Not everything in the garden can be perfect; which brings me to the service too. I guess its the style of the place, and certainly the customers seem happy, but laidback isn't in it. And it was the same in 2004. Ask about a dish, an ingredient, a technique, and every member of the waitstaff has it down: impressive. But sometimes you don't actually get a spoon or fork; you can be waving your arms a lot to get noticed. Must be how they like it.
Also, I said I'd come back to "surprisingly filling": this food looks light. Strictly, it probably is light. But anyone unaccustomed to an entire raw dinner should stand by for some interesting effects - you can bloat fast, and, let's be frank, don't be too far from a bathroom in the hours after eating. It's lively stuff.
One year, I will twist my arm behind my back and force myself to see what it's like to dine here when the snow is piling up around Washington Irving's statue. Meantime, it's obviously a sweet spot for summer. In addition to the little Pure Juice and take-away outlet, just around the corner on 17th, Sarma is all over the web, both at the restaurant's web-site and at her online store, One Lucky Duck. I will draw discreet veil over twitter.com.
If you're moved to discuss, go to MouthfulsFood.
