That's So Raw a fresh addition

The Chilicardo Burrito has walnut chili and a collard green leaf “tortilla.”
The Chilicardo Burrito has walnut chili and a collard green leaf “tortilla.”

It's more of an indoor taco stand than a full-grown restaurant, with food truck aspirations (all tips are earmarked) and several items eighty-sixed just two hours past opening. With easily premade fare, That's So Raw would make a fantastic food truck, wildly welcomed, we suspect, by local vegetarians who have scant options in the mobile eats scene.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

That’s So Raw’s take on vegan Raw Nachos includes jicama chips and cashew “cheese,” and the raw Sweet Potato Pie is best served frozen.

The offerings are mostly raw (heated no more than 109 degrees, aka lukewarm soup), exceptionally creative and entirely plant-based, soy-free and gluten-free. If you're accustomed to alternative "health food," you'll likely celebrate this scrappy little venture. If you're a meat-and-potatoes person, it will be a more perplexing but perhaps pleasantly surprising experience.

That’s So Raw

Address: 423 Dupree Drive, Jacksonville

Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V

Cuisine: Vegan/raw

Reservations: No

Alcoholic beverages: No

Wheelchair accessible: Yes

(501) 563-6299

thatssoraw.org

First you've got the find the place, and if you're looking for That's So Raw, you never will. Instead, keep your eyes peeled for a maroon, concrete-block building that appears to have been a gas station in its former life and a sign that says "It's All Good."

Inside the building, there's a spacious resale shop (It's All Good) and toward the back, a narrow doorway covered with hot-pink curtains. Behind the curtains, you'll find That's So Raw -- essentially, a counter, a kitchenette and a couple of two-top tables.

The restaurant is the brainchild of two young women. Kendalyn Mckisick creates the menu and does most of the food preparation (can you call it cooking when it's raw?) and Natashia Burch is a communications graduate student who helps with food and manages the social media. Both follow the "Raw Till 4" diet, which stipulates that only raw fruits and greens are eaten till 4 p.m., followed by a cooked, high-carb, plant-based dinner.

That's So Raw can handle only a handful of customers at a time, but during our first visit, from noon till 1 p.m. on a weekday a month and a half in, there was a steady stream of people, mostly for takeout.

"It's the first day we've really been steadily busy," Burch says.

Their customers seem largely unfamiliar with raw food. "It looks like a hot dog, but it's made of almonds?" one guy asks incredulously. "It's wrapped in kale? Oh, I see, there's no bread."

Nope, no bread. At That's So Raw, kale and cabbage leaves serve as buns, nuts make "meaty" fillings, flaxseed substitutes for eggs, "bacon" is made from eggplant and most "dairy" has a cashew base. The result is unexpected flavor combinations and an experience akin to eating a particular type of ethnic food for the first time. (There are generally one or two cooked items on any given day, such as Quinoa Chili or Mung Bean Vindaloo, an Indian-influenced curry.)

Over two visits, we had a Chilicardo Burrito, a Raw Dog, Curried Sweet Potato Soup, a Grapefruit Smoothie, Raw Nachos and for dessert, Chocolate Pudding Pie, Vanilla Bean Pistachio Cake and Sweet Potato Pie.

The burrito ($8) contained a Sriracha-spiked spread of soaked and pureed walnut chili, with shredded cabbage and carrot and a layer of creamy avocado, all of it rolled in a collard green leaf. It was more snack than meal, but it had the perfect amount of heat and a savory umami flavor. The varying textures -- tough collard, crispy cabbage, soft avocado and the chunky walnut -- worked especially well.

The burrito was served with a side of very salty, not-so-crispy crackers, which tamed the heat. They contained only salt, ground flaxseed and water.

"It tastes healthy, but not in a bad way," my (primarily vegan) dining partner said.

The Raw Dog ($8), arrayed on a curly-edged leaf of dinosaur kale, was made of a mealy almond paste and had a distinct fennel flavor. It would never be mistaken for meat, nor does that seem to be its aim. Mustard and pickled-cucumber relish provided tang, while tiny, cubed beets enhanced the faintly sweet almond. It was more filling than it appeared and, despite the absent bun, there was a yeasty, breadlike flavor -- maybe the combination of almonds and sour relish?

The Raw Nachos ($9) started with a base of chewy, fibrous, dehydrated jicama chips with a texture and sweetly tart flavor similar to home-dried green apple chips. (Jicama is a root vegetable used in Mexican and Asian cooking.) The chips were topped with crunchy, raw purple cabbage (more for texture than taste) and bits of onion and diced raw tomatoes. Jalapenos are optional, so if you don't want "spicy" to be the overriding sensation, leave them off.

Then there's the thin, yellow cashew "cheese" that is so mustardlike, it prompted a taste test, to make sure That's So Raw isn't passing off mustard as cheese. (This cheese is obviously made with turmeric, although not enough turmeric to impart bitterness.) Turns out, regular yellow mustard is tangier than the "cheese," and that is its sole discernible difference. (Which is odd, since mustard doesn't have a cashew base.) Other toppings include a dollop of (convincing) cashew cream cheese and walnut chili, with the texture of chunky, refried beans and a clean, woodsy taste.

Overall, the Raw Nachos were satisfying but more as an exotic (maybe Asian-theme) salad than as the familiar, gooey comfort food.

The soup ($5) had chunks of sweet potato and tomato with a thick applesauce texture, a mild heat and strong curry, cinnamon and ginger flavors. And the $4 Grapefruit "Smoothie" (it's actually a frothy juice, served room temperature) was the perfect, mildly sweet palate cleanser.

"It's nothing but grapefruit, water and some dates," Burch tells us.

Even those who don't adhere to any dietary creed would consider the desserts ($7-$8) standout, particularly when seeking a chilled alternative to ice cream. "Cakes" and pies alike seem to be generous slices of frozen pie, boasting a tempered sweetness and a comfortable heartiness that didn't leave us feeling sluggish or sugar-fried.

Our favorite was the Vanilla Bean Pistachio Cake -- a rich, cashew concoction with a hard-serve ice cream texture and a chewy, nutty (ground almond?) cookie crust. The flavors -- strong vanilla, pistachio, cardamom and coconut -- were complex and pleasing, reminiscent of Indian or Pakistani desserts such as pistachio and rice pudding. The pie was topped with whole pistachios -- a nice texture switch -- and black pyramid salt, which added an aesthetic touch and a dash of savory to complement the sweet.

The dark chocolate pudding cake, sprinkled with tiny chocolate chips, was nearly as delicious. Avocado lent a credible pudding-pop creaminess (without a hint of avocado flavor) and there was a cinnamon rolled-oat crust and faint peanut-buttery flavor (though maybe that was in our imagination, since there were no obvious peanuts).

We made the mistake of letting the raw sweet potato pie partially defrost on the ride home from Jacksonville, and the result was an odd mushy, slightly gritty texture like a mousse that hadn't been blended well. Even the graham crust turned to mush. So let our lesson be yours -- these desserts are at their best frozen. But the pie did have warm vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon flavors and managed to be sweet but not cloying.

Our That's So Raw take-away: a food adventure, where texture is as important as flavor.

Other tidbits: The ladies do custom orders -- so if your vegan niece needs a birthday cake, they're a safe bet. And they occasionally organize raw cooking classes at Whole Foods ($15 for an hour). Call or check Facebook before trekking to Jacksonville, since they run out of food and close early sometimes.

Weekend on 04/23/2015

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