Globally Raw
A few years ago, the U.S. definitely appeared to be one of the pioneers in the field of creative raw food and, perhaps it still is. However, the movement seems to be developing quickly througout the world, which is a great sign for those of us who are interested in what others will develop (as a chef, its quite often preferably to have others cook for us!)
I have always tried to find inspiration in the cuisine and products of other countries and from what I am seeing lately, it is only a short amount of time before raw food, like other cuisines, will be given the attention of many cultures, if it is not already.
If this fact hadn't already been well established in my mind, it was certainly reinforced when I entered my office at The Plant last week. We had a full team in the kitchen, preparing for numerous events this week, including our Thursday night Blue Green dinner, an evening in collaboration with David Wolfe on Friday, a Japanese class on Saturday and another weekend class for a group of 20 students...this on top of our day to day operations, new openings in October, the menu change at Blue Green tomorrow, and a couple of books we are working on.
Our head chefs are Anna and Kristen - Kristen has been with us from the beginning and is a resident raw food genius with a photographic memory, or so it seems. Anna joined us from Rio de Janeiro many months ago and has stayed on, and we're all very happy about that. Her organizational and creative skills are surpassed only by her positive approach to everything she does. Russell James is from the U.K., and has his own raw food website (Therawchef.com), developing business and works with Karen Knowler there. Julie Mitsios is with us from Sydney, and has an interesting background in pastry and the culinary arts which she is planning to apply to a boutique raw food business in Australia. Soorya Kaur recently began working with us during her stay in New York from New Delhi, where she operates a cleanse and works in many areas of raw food in that growing market. Another person may be joining us this week, who has potential plans to work on a project in Spain.
All of this is great news for any of us that hope to one day travel the world and still be able to enjoy the amazing raw food that is available to us here in New York. We are also very fortunate to be able to share so many different perspectives and we all grow as a result. Its quite a fascinating movement in the way it is spreading and more than anything, I am repeatedly impressed with the people who are becoming involved. They are some of the most talented, professional, intelligent and genuinely nice individuals I have worked with - it makes a day at the office far more interesting.