Renee (my fabulous friend), Soup and Monica (two of my three incredible sisters) and I made a quick trip to LA. We had a great visit with my brother, Andy, and then headed off to crash the Craig Ferguson party at NBC studios. I’m not much of a TV person and had actually never heard of the guy but was excited about being in the audience during a taping. After being “warmed up” and coached on how to be a fantastic audience (they bribed us with chocolate) we watched them put a show together. I’m a fan now. That Craig guy is one funny dude. Thanks, Renee, for getting the tickets.
After we checked into our hotel in Santa Monica, we explored the neighborhood. We had a great dinner at True Foods and soaked up the artistic, funky atmosphere near the pier.
Before going to California I had researched some raw restaurants in the area in hopes of trying one out. I wrote down a list of five or six and their locations but then left the list on my desk at home.
Early the next morning I was drifting in and out of sleep when I suddenly remembered that one of the raw food restaurants was located on Broadway in Santa Monica. I didn’t know which one but realized we had walked down Broadway the night before. I jumped out of bed, eager to start my quest. Monica heard me get up and offered to go with me. So, with about 5 minutes of primping (looking gorgeous in my sweats) we were off on our adventures.
We walked about ten minutes and found Planet Raw Cafe with the front door wide open, awaiting our arrival. We entered and I explained to the man on the computer that we knew they weren’t open yet but wanted to look at their menu. He kindly gave us the menus and allowed us to sit and peruse. Halfway through the menu I saw references to Juliano and excitedly asked the man if this was perhaps Juliano’s restaurant. (I have read about the famous raw food chef.) He said, “I’m Juliano” which immediently sent me into geeky fan mode.
“You’re Juliano? REALLY? I’ve read so much about you!”
Then Monica chimed in, “Picture time!” which was great because although it NEVER crosses my mind, she’s really good about getting pictures of everything. He was gracious and accommodating and spent time explaining the benefits of raw food to us. When I complained to him about my cookie downfall he brought out two chocolate coconut raw cookies for us to sample. Delicious!
Monica and I eventually let him get back to his work and made our way to the beach. I happily remembered how the ocean soothes my soul and made a note to get there more often.
Suzy and Renee were game to try the Planet Raw with us at lunch which was no small sacrifice given the abundance of incredible restaurants around.
It was a new experience for Renee to have an extensive menu in hand where every single item was gluten free. We ordered four different entrees and the avocado chocolate pudding to share. (It sounds weird but is really good.) They gave us a complimentary appetizer sampler plate and we were oohing and aahing our way all through lunch. The best part was how good we all felt afterwards. Or maybe it was the chocolate pudding. Possibly it was the kelp noodles with a wonderfully flavored, creamy sauce. It’s hard to say. But we did feel energized after eating that delicious food.
I could easily be a raw foodist if Juliano would just move into my house for while and take over the food prep!
Of course It never occurred to me to take any pictures of the food but that only means we will need to return. The sooner the better.
