Only few minutes away from the hustling and bustling Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, this little gem of a restaurant is surprisingly peaceful and intimate. Between the cozy interior and the very pretty backyard (festively decorated with Mardi Gras beads), it’s the ideal spot for a romantic date, to properly catch up with a friend, or for a special “me time” pamper session.
And then there’s the food… a blissful marriage of Creole and South American cuisine officiated by Chef Vanessa Cabrera of East Village's 5C and the National Gourmet Institute. The founders, Holistic Health Counselors Luis Salgado and Tere Fox, created the restaurant in their respective images: he’s a musician and nutritionist from Peru and she’s a stylist from New Orleans. Ps: they’re married. So the food…is light, exotic, spicy, nutritious, elegant, and possibly aphrodisiac. It’s also earth friendly, with ingredients coming from the weekly McCarren Park’s farmers’market and from organic distributors for non-local ingredients such as maca and lucuma.
And if you have no idea what to pick from, you can also ask and the waiter will very aptly and kindly guide you (the waiter was as delightful as everything else there).
The Jimaca a la Huancaina was a fiery start to the midsummer night dinner: the watery crunch Jimaca dices were the perfect contrast to the raw vegan Huancaina, a very popular yellow spicy cheese-like sauce made of Ají Amarillo, -served with olives and peruvian corn kernels.
Next, and still on the spicier side, was the Peruvian Trio Plate: three savory Peruvian peppers, served in three delectable ways: the first with delicate cauliflower/chayote rice and mushrooms, the second stuffed with minced mushrooms, eggplant, herbs, and cashew cheese, and the third simply with cornbread.
Because there was still plenty of room and desire for desert, the two spicy dishes were followed by two sweet deserts “a la mod”e: jumbo cinnabuns with chocolate ice-cream, and a praline (chewy caramel pecan cookie) with chili-banana ice-creams. They were both just sweet enough and polished off the meal nicely leaving our bodies fully restored and light enough to feel at full energy and ready to move.
The restaurant’s website says “Live Longer, feel amazing, beautify yourself.” Stepping back out onto North 8 street, the mission definitely felt accomplished.
Among other delicious sounding dishes were the mushroom cebiche, Louisianna Gumbo, Creole slaw and Lucuma Cheesecake. The menu also offers salads, sides, milkshakes (from classics like chocolate or vanilla, to more unusual flavors including rose and lavender-vanilla-honey), smoothies, wines, beers (with or without gluten), apple cider, raw sake, and a lovely variety of cocktails.
The $13 four-course lunch combo served on weekdays might be ideal to catch a second wind midweek, and the weekend brunch, with its $15 Prix Fixe and its Sunday $3 all you can drink Mimosas/Bloody Mary special really seems worth checking out on a sunny late morning this autumn, enjoying the backyard again in wonderful company….can somebody hear the jazz already?
And then there’s the food… a blissful marriage of Creole and South American cuisine officiated by Chef Vanessa Cabrera of East Village's 5C and the National Gourmet Institute. The founders, Holistic Health Counselors Luis Salgado and Tere Fox, created the restaurant in their respective images: he’s a musician and nutritionist from Peru and she’s a stylist from New Orleans. Ps: they’re married. So the food…is light, exotic, spicy, nutritious, elegant, and possibly aphrodisiac. It’s also earth friendly, with ingredients coming from the weekly McCarren Park’s farmers’market and from organic distributors for non-local ingredients such as maca and lucuma.
And if you have no idea what to pick from, you can also ask and the waiter will very aptly and kindly guide you (the waiter was as delightful as everything else there).
The Jimaca a la Huancaina was a fiery start to the midsummer night dinner: the watery crunch Jimaca dices were the perfect contrast to the raw vegan Huancaina, a very popular yellow spicy cheese-like sauce made of Ají Amarillo, -served with olives and peruvian corn kernels.
Next, and still on the spicier side, was the Peruvian Trio Plate: three savory Peruvian peppers, served in three delectable ways: the first with delicate cauliflower/chayote rice and mushrooms, the second stuffed with minced mushrooms, eggplant, herbs, and cashew cheese, and the third simply with cornbread.
Because there was still plenty of room and desire for desert, the two spicy dishes were followed by two sweet deserts “a la mod”e: jumbo cinnabuns with chocolate ice-cream, and a praline (chewy caramel pecan cookie) with chili-banana ice-creams. They were both just sweet enough and polished off the meal nicely leaving our bodies fully restored and light enough to feel at full energy and ready to move.
The restaurant’s website says “Live Longer, feel amazing, beautify yourself.” Stepping back out onto North 8 street, the mission definitely felt accomplished.
Among other delicious sounding dishes were the mushroom cebiche, Louisianna Gumbo, Creole slaw and Lucuma Cheesecake. The menu also offers salads, sides, milkshakes (from classics like chocolate or vanilla, to more unusual flavors including rose and lavender-vanilla-honey), smoothies, wines, beers (with or without gluten), apple cider, raw sake, and a lovely variety of cocktails.
The $13 four-course lunch combo served on weekdays might be ideal to catch a second wind midweek, and the weekend brunch, with its $15 Prix Fixe and its Sunday $3 all you can drink Mimosas/Bloody Mary special really seems worth checking out on a sunny late morning this autumn, enjoying the backyard again in wonderful company….can somebody hear the jazz already?
Rockin’Raw
178 North 8 Street
Brooklyn, NY11211
718 599 9333
Schedule:
Tuesday thru Thursday: 12pm-10pm
Friday and Saturday: 12pm-11pm
Sunday: 12pm-10p
closed on Mondays.
Also available: raw cakes to order (agave-free and nut-free options available)
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