We all need somewhere nice to go for our birthday dinner and after hearing about a lovely 5-course prix fixe dinner that was not only vegan but raw… well, I had to check it out! Enter Elizabeth’s Gone Raw, a raw vegan foodie experience that can only be had on Friday evenings through a reservation system.
Having made reservations on the website the week before, we sailed in to Dupont and found the restaurant easily. We were greeted warmly and shown up to our table immediately to start our culinary adventure.
The first course was a cute mushroom salad with truffle, shallots, and a bit of lime with a plate of kale chips appearing soon after. Next up was an avocado and cucumber gazpacho that was mild and somehow creamy. Quite nice!
Course number three turned out to be a baby corn and endive salad with a few pickled ramps, olives, and some parsley pesto. Fresh and crunchy and I admit you usually can’t go wrong with pickled foods and olives. Mm.
A palate cleanser of basil-celery sorbet was up next in a tiny little bowl. It was a unique experience but I wasn’t a huge fan personally.
The main entrée was stuffed squash blossoms with dill yogurt, fennel, some crispy beets on top, and a plethora of horseradish-mustard foam on the side. I found it to be a bit on the small side for a mail course and the foam to be… rather unique but overall it was generally tasty. The crispy beets were my favorite part of the dish, though.
Soon after came the dessert – a peach curd cake on one side with coconut ice cream beside it and both swimming in cilantro water. It might sound a little strange but this was the definite highlight of the meal! The peach curd was flavorful, had a good mouth-feel, and went down a treat! The coconut ice cream was quite nice as well and a good compliment.
All in all it was a fascinating journey on how to do raw vegan food at an upper class establishment and I was thrilled to be along for the ride. Some dishes worked better than others but I felt the reason to come here was more to check out the atmosphere, the cooking styles and ingredients (squash blossom as a main dish? Well, ok. Why not?), and get a bit out of your comfort zone (at least for most of us).
With that said, this meal isn’t particularly cheap. It starts off at $75 per person and you can add in a wine pairing for an additional $30. My friend and I opted for a glass of wine each and when all was said and done it was a bit under $100 without the tip added on. Still, it was a memorable experience for a birthday celebration and I am quite happy I had the chance to go!
If you're curious about the restaurant, take a peek over atn their website here: http://www.elizabethsgoneraw.com/raw.html
Bon appétit!
