Top New York chef and restaurateur Matthew Kenney and his partner, Sarma Melngailis, had been thinking of opening a Moroccan restaurant. But one night they were invited to a raw food restaurant — and it changed their lives. They instead opened Pure Food and Wine, a restaurant devoted to creative, tasty raw food, and it has been drawing rave reviews. Dishes such as Zucchini and Green Zebra Tomato Lasagne, Golden Squash Pasta with Black Summer Truffles, and Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart with Vanilla Cream have given raw food a sexy new appeal.

The decision to go raw was shocking at first for these two ex-carnivorous chefs, but they soon found that preparing and eating raw food made them and their guests feel their physical best. Melngailis noticed a difference almost immediately — "Light, clean, natural, and alive foods make you feel light, clean, and more alive. And sexy." This new way of life has changed their outlook on eating and cooking and connects them to the world around them. As Kenney says, "Raw foods and the lifestyle associated with it are so compelling and complex that we will be forever learning and growing. Already it seems that we have discovered some of the magic that life offers."

In this lushly photographed book, Kenney and Melngailis share some of that magic — and show that preparing and eating raw does not mean bland, unsatisfying, or impossibly time-consuming meals. Using dehydrating, Vita-Mix blending, a nuanced understanding of spices, and unprecedented creativity, they explore a whole new outlook on raw food that transfers beautifully and easily from their kitchen to yours — no matter what your present diet. And you'll immediately begin to reap the benefits of healthful, delicious, life-giving raw food.

A few years ago, Kenney, best known for his Mediterranean-style cuisine (see Mediterranean Cooking), was chef/owner of a minirestaurant empire in New York City. But in 2002, it all collapsed, as he relates here. Afterward, he and partner MeIngailis became raw-food converts, and last summer they opened Pure Food and Wine, also in Manhattan. Though their menu holds to the tenets of the raw-food movement, most of their dishes are far more sophisticated than those of other health food restaurants: along with the nut milks and fruit shakes, for example, there are recipes for Asparagus and Porcini Ravioli with Lemon Cream as well as Lobster-Mushroom and Fava Bean Tarts. The book is very personal, including anecdotes about the authors' relationship and the story of their conversion to a raw-food lifestyle (an afterword provides more details on their "Adventures in Cleansing" and other topics that many readers will want to know). There are color photographs throughout, both of the recipes and of Kenney and MeIngailis "glowing" at each other. For all health food collections. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.