West Side Today: The Santa Monica Sun, July 2003

Juliano's RAW is creating a buzz with its rare, ingenious recipes created by raw creature extraordinaire, Juliano. Open since May, Juliano's RAW has introduced Santa Monica to a way of eating - living cuisine, as Juliano coins it. Everything you ingest is alive, and as far as Juliano is concerned, you are what you eat. If you eat what is living, you are therefore alive; if you eat what is dead - well, you get the point. The menu is an incredible trickery that features dishes from all over the world. Sushi, pizza, pad Thai, falafel, even a cheeseburger. How does this work with absolutely vegetarian, vegan and raw standards? Juliano, that's how. The bread is not baked in an oven, but sprouted in Palm Springs and baked on a rock for ten hours. The sushi is not fish, but rather a spectacular experiment gone right that includes almond paste, powdered seaweed and spices. The "cheezeburger" has no cheese, no meat, but mushrooms, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds. It comes with all the fixins', as well as the many special spices that inhabit almost all of RAW's creations. Other examples of RAW's fare includes French fries (crumbled bread and zucchini), noodles made from mango, and desserts that you would swear on your scale were real chocolate, but are made from carob, vanilla beans, dates, maple syrup and honey (because, as Juliano says, ain't nothing sweeter than honey.) Go see for yourself, the ingredients on paper just do not compare to the surprise your taste buds have in store. Juliano also has a raw cookbook available. With more than 500 recipes, another cookbook is on deck with more insight into the raw world. I bet you never knew that most of us are considered cooked-fooders.

609 Broadway, Santa Monica (310) 587-1552.