High Tower Cafe

Sprouted Dahl in green dressing over herb mixed baby greens.

Photos by Megan Maas

For most chefs, an important piece of kitchen equipment is"not surprisingly"a stove.

But for Chef Richard Hemsley it"s a toss up between a refrigerator and an $800 blender that can take a tablespoon of curry, Himalayan sea salt and organic carrots to create a culinary wonder.

Hemsley, a classically trained chef, left the world of "cooking" after finding his inspiration in the raw food scene. Or as he calls it, LIVE food.   He went from using chicken broth to the juice of young baby coconuts and from five course meals to communal dining.  His latest foray is High Tower Cafe on Sutter Street, a niche restaurant specializing in raw food cuisine, scheduled to open mid-February. The all-natural café"squeezed below a raucous Mexican restaurant and a pizzeria in Historic Old Folsom" will plant itself inside of O2 Lifesource Yoga Studio & Wellness Center.

"First there is vegetarian, then vegan, which is no animal products, cheese or milk. Then you get into raw vegan, that"s the next step. In addition to being vegan nothing has been cooked or it isn"t cooked above a certain degree," explains Hemsley, who doesn"t cook over 107 degrees.

Although Hemsley predicts a large percentage of his diners will likely come from the in-house yogi"s and clients who visit the wellness center, he hopes word will spread about Sacramento"s first raw food restaurant to Sacramento"s SAD dieters (Standard American Diet.)

California has more than 50 raw restaurants and smoothie stands with a large cluster of them in Los Angeles, San Francisco and the East Bay, according to the Web site rawfoodinfo.com, which has listings for the entire United States.

But aside from the Sacramento Natural Food Coop and Whole Foods Market on Arden Way, Hemsley"s High Tower will be the first of its kind.

"When I want prepared food I drive down to Berkeley for dinner. To me it is worth it, if you haven"t had a raw meal in a while. But, when this place opens, I will definitely be coming here a lot " says Andrew Grandinegti, 38.

On a recent Saturday evening, Hemsley who is holding fundraising food dinners through January was hosting his first event to a group of Sacramento raw foodist, vegetarians and SAD dieters.  The cost of each dinner is $35 and the money will be reinvested into the raw food cafe, says Hemsley.  The first dinner is Indian themed with samosas made from dehydrated eggplant, a carrot ginger curry soup, raita (a yogurt dip) made with coconut juice and a dahl salad (created with French green lentils that have sat in water for at least five days until sprouted with the help of natural sunlight.)

Hemsley, stands at the center explaining the menu and how each course works with the bodies enzymes and digestion. He encourages everyone to start with dessert, a dense date halva that should be eaten first to give the stomach time to digest.

And just as he turns back toward his blender to make more coconut soup, he calls out to the crowd,  "Everything here is made with love, so you will taste that in every bite."  Which for Hemsley is really the whole point of cooking with or without fire.

To learn more about High Tower Cafe, 02 Lifesource Yoga Studio and the January dinners, log on to livechefcollaboration.blogspot.com.