No flames, lots of flavors

It didn’t seem like such a big leap from admiring the vegetables at the Santa Monica farmers market to having lunch at Juliano’s raw, a new Santa Monica restaurant from the raw food guru who goes by just one name.

The place is a little unexpected. Instead of being a panorama of funk and Birkenstocks, it’s populated by incredibly slender, beautiful people with bellies bared. Fabulous orchids and perfumed lilies grace the cafe-style wood tables. The art on the walls is Abstract Expressionism at its purest -- done by Indian elephants who paint with their trunks (and are also enthusiastic lifelong raw-fooders).

A couple of people were seated at the handsome green marble counter that looks onto the “kitchen,” so to speak. The command post in front consists of several rows of small stainless-steel containers that hold the chef’s palette of ingredients -- myriad vegetables, nuts, purees, flowers etc. -- all certified 100% organic.

Though none of it is cooked in the traditional sense, it sure takes a long time to prepare. First out was a delicious blueberry smoothie enriched with ground sprouted almonds (and toting probably a gazillion calories). The chunky guacamole actually holds some heat (the chile kind); the crunchy chips are made from pressed flax seeds.

For the colorful Tijuana taco, a purple cabbage leaf stands in for the tortilla. Filled with “caramelized” onions (marinated in sun-brewed soy sauce), chiles, cilantro and a cream that’s not really cream but ground macadamia nuts mixed with lemon juice and Celtic sea salt, it packs more punch than your garden-variety vegetarian hippie fare. At raw, the flavor volume is turned up high.

This is clever stuff, and a lot of effort goes into trying to make the food look appealing. Edible flower petals are strewn over dishes like fairy dust. Paper-thin ribbons of vegetables stand in for pasta in the dish of ravioli in pine nut and garlic cream and marinara sauce.

The pad Thai, though, made with finely julienned vegetables, mangoes and sprouts, fell flat. Sea witch soup arrived cold. Naturally. It’s not cooked, therefore it’s not warmed. Made with cumin-cured seaweed, sunflower sprouts and miscellaneous vegetables, plus the avocado that’s in nearly everything at raw, it had an intriguing flavor, but one so shrill, in a way, it’s hard to finish the entire bowl.

“Intense” and “dense” could describe much of the food at raw. Instead of whole vegetables, you get them minced and mixed with ground nuts and other ingredients to mimic dishes from the world of cooked food. So you have “fish and chips,” “sushi” made with mock salmon pate and a “meat” of walnut loaf served with cauliflower “mashed potatoes.” (If you can’t cook ‘em, you can’t mash ‘em.) The most successful are the recipes with the least amount of mock, like “harem in the raw”: falafel with a quite respectable tabbouleh made from sprouted quinoa.

Come dessert time, a raw food restaurant should shine, because what could be better than a perfect peach or plum? Unfortunately, raw gives us leaden faux pastries made with dates and/or carob and nuts.

In case you want to try this style of raw food at home, Juliano has written a cookbook, for sale at the front desk. One of my dining companions was intrigued enough to buy a copy. And when I peeked inside, I realized that the young dude I’d noticed trying to find the perfect spot for a potted banana tree, the one with some of his blond tresses woven into tiny braids, was the raw food maven himself.

*

Juliano’s raw

Where: 609 Broadway, Santa Monica

When: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. No alcohol. Street parking.

Cost: Appetizers, $4.95 to $5.95; main courses, $8.95 to $11.95; desserts, $4.95-$5.95

Info: (310) 587-1552