Instead his wife cooked up an alternative: Roxanne's, now thriving as the country's first gourmet raw-foods restaurant. The Larkspur, Calif., eatery, which the couple opened last December, offers no fish, meat or dairy—only organic fruits, vegetables and nuts whose temperature has never risen above 118°. At that point, raw advocates believe, enzymes begin to degenerate, forcing the body to use its own limited supply to digest food, which may hasten aging and contribute to sapping energy levels. "This cuisine is about using ingredients in their most luscious, sensual moment," says Klein, 38, "which is their natural state."
She's in the forefront of a trend—celebs like Alicia Silverstone are fans of uncooked cuisine, and designer Donna Karan recently lost 20 lbs. the raw way—but not all nutritionists are sold. "There is no hard science" to back up the raw-food philosophy, says Dr. David Heber, director of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition, who advocates eating both raw and cooked food. "Heating food is a safe thing to do."
One thing is certain: Klein's unique concoctions—noodles made from coconut meat, cheese created from cashew milk and mashed "potatoes" made from whipped parsnips—have won over plenty of stomachs. "I went expecting to make fun of it, but I was blown away," says San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer. "She is a genius."
Though she adheres to a strict raw diet herself, "I am not trying to tell anyone how to eat," says Klein, who picks many of the herbs and vegetables used in Roxanne's dishes from her three-acre organic garden, located on the Marin County estate that she and Michael call home. "I want to raise consciousness about eating healthier, so that people consider eating [more] seasonal fresh food."
Klein's first exposure to raw food dates back to her Manteca, Calif., childhood. Born to Marvin, 67, a retired educator, and Carola Sohns, 67, a retired kindergarten teacher, Klein remembers picking fruits and vegetables in her grandparents' garden. "My grandfather would ask, 'What do you smell fresh today?'" she says. "Whatever it was, that was dinner."
Klein became a vegetarian while a student at the University of California Santa Cruz. She graduated in 1986 with a degree in art and psychology, then pursued modeling and acting before marrying a man 20 years her senior in 1988 (the marriage ended four years later). Klein enrolled in the California Culinary Institute in 1990, took time off to raise daughter Alexandra, now 11, then completed her degree in 1994. Internships at posh eateries like Le Verdon in Provence, France, followed, as did romance. In 1995 she met Michael, a divorced father of two. "I fell in love with her sensual approach to life," says Michael, 47, a former tech entrepreneur, now CEO of ex-Grateful Dead member Bob Weir's company Modulus Guitars.
The couple married in '96; daughter Nataraja was born the following year. After meeting Harrelson, Klein began consulting with raw-food chefs and learned the cuisine's complex processing and dehydrating techniques.
Roxanne's opened in December 2001 to raves, though some rival restaurateurs griped that Michael's deep pockets gave Klein a competitive advantage. But with reservations booked solid for at least a month in advance, "we will be profitable by the end of our first year," says Michael. (All profits will be donated to environmental causes.)
More good fortune is on the horizon. Klein's book, Raw, cowritten by star Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, is due next May, and in March she and Michael will open a takeout business adjacent to Roxanne's. "In our own way," says Klein, "we are changing the world, one bite at a time."
Jason Lynch
Vicki Sheff-Cahan in Larkspur
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- Vicki Sheff-Cahan.
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