Whether it’s from maintaining a mostly raw vegan diet or just an inner joie de vie, Sarma Melngailis, is just one of those women that stands out in a crowd. The Proprietor of Pure Food and Wine, the sheik and trendy, raw vegan restaurant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side even had non-vegan shock-jock Howard Stern fawning over her, and raving about the unsuspecting tastiness of the cuisine.  Sarma’s expanding raw vegan empire also includes One Lucky Duck Juice and Takeaway, an online store, and two cookbooks: “Raw Food Real World” and “Living Raw Food”.   We had the opportunity to talk with the busy author and restaurateur who is poised to take the raw food movement mainstream.

Greenopia:  What attracted you to the raw food movement and inspired you to open Pure Food and Wine after making the switch from finance to culinary school?  

Sarma:  I first heard about raw in the summer of 2003. I didn’t know anything about it really, and was reluctantly brought to a small raw café. I remember thinking it was going to completely suck. But it didn’t suck and everything changed for me after that dinner. The philosophy/rationale (whatever you’d call it) behind eating raw was being explained to me while I was eating (a lot) of yummy food that was so much better than I thought it was going to be, and I felt really good—a noticeable contrast vs. the heavy, want-to-take-a-nap-now feeling that I normally felt after a big restaurant dinner. I was completely intrigued and excited. After that I went all raw and started planning with my then-partner to open the restaurant.

Greenopia:  What kinds of changes in your health or appearance have you observed since adopting a largely vegan raw diet?

Sarma:  When I first went raw the changes were really noticeable to me. I had so much more energy, and clarity. My skin looked better, and I felt stronger. I didn’t have much extra weight at the time so that didn’t really change. But what was really exciting was how my PMS went away (which was really bad before that). I’ve always been pretty healthy, though I used to get colds or a bad flu like everyone else once a year. Now I don’t ever get sick.

The person I was living with at the time was 40 and had started to feel creaky in his joints, and that went away entirely for him. His seasonal allergies went away too. About a year after I went raw, my sister told me I seemed different, “much more open” she said. Somehow I think that makes sense. 

Greenopia:  Do you have any non-raw foods that you just can’t live without?

Sarma:  I am definitely very open about what I eat (or drink). I wrote a blog about falling back into coffee when I was really stressed out.  I don’t think there are any non-raw foods I literally couldn’t live without, but I do really love beer, which is definitely not raw. My boyfriend makes popcorn with macadamia oil a lot at home, and that drives me crazy. It’s so good. So sometimes I have some. For me, being flexible works best, and I’m happy being almost always raw, with worthy diversions. I just don’t like rules!

Greenopia:  What’s your favorite dish on the menu at PFAW?

Sarma:  Right now my favorite dish on the menu is probably the Saffron Pickled Golden Beet Ravioli with Currant and Shallot Cheese, Harissa Spiced Heirloom Tomato, Wilted Market Greens, and Persian Pickles. For dessert my current favorite is the Chocolate Passion Fruit Tart with Framboise Pearls, Fresh Raspberries, Vanilla Cream, and Chocolate Cacao Nib Ice Cream. It’s so good. From the One Lucky Duck juice bar and takeaway around the corner, my favorite is definitely the falafel salad, and for dessert our version of a mallomar. Those mallomars are the best selling item in there. From the oneluckyduck.com website, we have new snowflake shaped sugar cookies that have become my new all time favorite cookie. 

Greenopia:  How do you respond to critics who say there’s no evidence that eating raw instead of cooked food is a better way to eat as far as preserving enzymes, vitamins and minerals?

Sarma:  Some critics do challenge that eating only raw is not necessarily best, but it’s hard to argue that eating more fresh fruits and vegetables isn’t generally a good thing. I know how amazing I feel on raw vs cooked food, and it seems logical to me that eating all or mostly raw food should be the best, since it’s the way we’d eat if dropped on a desert island. (I almost wrote “dessert” island! Probably because I now have that passion fruit dessert on my brain.) Anyway, I’m also not a doctor or nutritionist, so I avoid making any absolute claims. I just point out that all wild animals eat raw food, and only people, cats and dogs (and other “pets” as well as most animals raised for food) eat cooked (or processed) food and yet we’re the ones getting sick. Wild animals aren’t getting cancer, diabetes, asthma, allergies, autism, or getting clogged arteries and having heart attacks. So, would you rather eat more naturally like a wild animal, or like a person with a grill, spatula and jar of BBQ sauce? That’s usually my response. 

Greenopia:  You estimate that the majority of your customers are not total vegans or raw foodists, and yet they enjoy your food.  Is your goal to introduce raw food as a viable dietary option to a larger audience? 

Sarma:  Yes, most of our guests at any given time aren’t raw or vegan and probably most of our regulars also aren’t raw. My approach is to appeal to the non-raw audience. As I see it, people who are all raw are all set. I’m really happy they can come and eat anything they want on the menu. But the way we do things is meant to cater to the wider audience, and thereby open more minds to see that raw and vegan can be incredibly yummy, elegant, filling, etc. 

Greenopia:  You’ve already got a successful restaurant, books, and an online store.  What’s next on the horizon for the PFAW and One Lucky Duck empire? 

Sarma:  In the near term, we’re opening a One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market on the west side of Manhattan in a few weeks. It will be more of a grab and go than the One Lucky Duck at Pure Food and Wine, but everything from the same source. I love Chelsea Market and I’m excited about that! I’m also working on concepts for upcoming books, possibly something for TV, and exploring options overseas, among other things. I’m not sure I want to be as visible as Martha, but I would like to have the kind of reach that she does. I’d like to be more of a hybrid of Martha and Richard Branson, in the world of healthy living and raw food. 

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