19704 Sun May 05 00:14:39 -0700 2002 12 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 66430 Greetings from New York. I have a query about a new restaurant. A gourmet raw foods venue called Roxanne('s) opened recently in the Bay Area. The restaurant serves wine and it is receiving some buzz in the local chef community. Any reports, 1st or 2nd-hand to be had? I am not a raw foodist but am a patron of a good Manhatten raw foods restaurant, Quintesence, that is refined but not upscale. I am intrigued by the sound of the elegant but environmentally counscious approach of this new venture. Or is it mostly hype? BTW, Roxanne is the daughter-in-law of Bally's founder. Hey, they could start a chain in LV. ;-) Looking forward to hearing your feedback! eu Sun May 05 00:14:39 -0700 2002 0 epicure-us 1 66431 Haven't eaten there yet, but here is Michael Bauer's take: Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/reviews/restaurants/4159245004.DTL&type=food Sun May 05 01:04:10 -0700 2002 66430 0 Bruce Cole 2 66444 We had dinner at Roxanne's last month. We are not vegetarians and the idea of serving things luke warm sounded strange. We approached the experience with some skepticism. However, it was outstanding. The flavors were very intense. Every dish presented new combinations and sensations. The overall ambience is very upscale, and the prices reflect this (although I have spent a lot more at restaurants that were not nearly as good). The wine list is extensive and the service is first class. Dinner took about three hours, primarily because of the waits between courses. I think this is because of the labor intensity of the dishes and the resulting long preparation times. Considering the quality, however, we didn't object to the wait and are going back next month. Sun May 05 13:21:49 -0700 2002 66431 0 Stephen Brown 1 66445 I read the review -- Sounds like maybe we need to get a group together to try it???? Sun May 05 13:24:27 -0700 2002 66430 0 Kim Cooper 1 66467 There is an article about it in the L.A. Times today. Here is the link. (You may need to register, its free, at this site to view the article.) Sounds interesting, but is this a long term viable business, or just Roxanne being indulged by her husband? Link: http://www.latimes.com/services/site/view.reg?temp=rc-restricted Sun May 05 20:47:19 -0700 2002 66430 0 Chino Wayne 1 66483 I wrote a short review a couple weeks ago. You can find it further down on this page. Aside from some of the pretension in eating "live" foods, it was pretty good and fun to try. Mon May 06 01:24:16 -0700 2002 66430 0 Dana Beigel 2 66859 Here's a link to your post, as reported in the 4/5 issue of San Francisco ChowNews. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/19231#63733 Sat May 11 22:39:15 -0700 2002 66483 0 Melanie Wong 1 66511 This place has gotten so much press. The Chronicle did a HUGE piece on Roxanne's a few weeks ago. I'm bothered that they (and other press) have almost completely ignored the seminal influence of Chef Julian, formerly of RAW/Organica, which was on 9th near Irving. That's where Woody Harrelson caught on it the raw foods thing. Julian released a full-color cookbook a few years ago! RAW existed for over a decade here and just closed about a year ago, so Julian could open a place in Santa Monica. Why does the press have this collective amnesia? Mon May 06 12:28:01 -0700 2002 66430 0 howard 2 66667 Because Juliano is a huge wacko and flake, and Roxanne's is a very different place--the difference between a sandwich shop and a white-tablecloth restaurant. And actually that Chron article did reference Juliano's restaurant and cookbook. Wed May 08 14:17:09 -0700 2002 66511 0 dixieday 3 66731 I knew Juliano, and yes he's a bit of a freak. But that doesn't have anything to do with cooking or food! The Chron's brief paragraph on him sounded like a personal attack. What innovative chef (or artist) isn't a little wacko? I think we should celebrate wackiness, not dismiss it. I thought his food was pretty good, but overpriced. And the atmosphere at raw/organica, sure it was hippy/flakey, but that's a part of California culture that's vanishing, and it's almost sad. I never see those Deadheads on the bus anymore. (Maybe they're riding in limos with the Kleins?)... Thu May 09 12:34:15 -0700 2002 66667 0 howard 2 66686 I didn't find Organica that memorable. I ate there twice and found very little discipline in the "cooking" -- there are good flavors , but there are too many flavors crowding on a plate and fighting for palate space. The best dishes were ones that were used to being raw, like their awesome guacamole or hummus, the rest of the dishes were fine, but by no means fantastic. The concept was interesting and definitely a bay area curiosity, but the food didn't shine as much as it could. As for pres amnesia, I think the press just gives more press to the more extravagant openings, just like Gary Danko or Fifth Floor getting more press than Einstein's Cafe. P.S. I did enjoy a couple of the rich nut-based sauces at Organica -- bet that they would have been even better on salmon or chicken. Wed May 08 18:01:09 -0700 2002 66511 0 Limster 3 66745 Re "raw" hummus -- what about the garbanzos? Those little devils need to be cooked, and for quite a while, too! Thu May 09 15:08:07 -0700 2002 66686 0 Sharuf 4 66747 My guess is that he soaked them for a very long time before throwing them into the blender. Thu May 09 15:10:02 -0700 2002 66745 0 Limster