1/10 - Chef Chad Sarno, Larry Van Aalst,

Chef Chad Sarno Executive Chef/Owner, Counter and Vital CreationsNew York City, New York http://www.rawchef.com/http://www.rawchef.com/

Chad travelled the world, seeking the counsel of those whose work reminded people of both the implicit benefits of hand-crafting foods and the virtues of “walking the earth lightly”. Whether in the American desert or the Philippine jungle, he studied traditional ingredients and customs, and began bringing them together in newly healthful and delicious ways. With vegan cuisine generally, and living foods specifically, Chad experienced how locally sourced plant-based foods - the staple diet of many cultures - provided him a level of vitality, energy, and serenity rarely seen in the traditional West. (Indeed, even his childhood asthma disappeared!) With the guidance and reflection of many teachers along with way, he began eating food only in its raw state, experimenting with their living textures, smells, and tastes. With each creation, he saw the horizon of Living Foods broaden. Soon, Chad began formally sharing what he was learning. He founded Vital Creations LLC and RawChef.com, and began sharing his dreams and hopes for the Living Foods movement with anyone who would listen. He crafted and fine-tuned his recipes, cataloguing the growing and cultivation methods for each of his ingredients, and compiled valuable contacts among the constellation of individuals and companies also working to progress the Living Foods movement. These original writings and recipes became Vital Creations - An Organic Life Experience. Any person attempting to learn about any specific area of nutrition can easily become confused by the mass contradictions inherent in the different approaches that exist. The foundation of human vitality is simple and very obvious; which is Raw Living Plant Food and is ever so abundant and present all around us in nature. When one engulfs self with simply ingesting raw plant matter it brings us back to our ultimate purpose, being one with nature and the Earth. No matter what your religious path is, even if you do not feel spirituality is important in life, living as close to nature as we can is our divine blueprint as a species of this planet. The fraud revolves around one idea: the loss of the truth that our food and the soil from which it grows is a living system. When you forget that food is alive, it can easily become conventional wisdom to cook, can, salt, skin, dilute, dissect, adulterate, and/or irradiate food into an enzymatically dead substance. This depleted food is the source of almost all dietary and health problems. It has become commonplace to drown crops chemically instead of growing or feeding the soil, which is the life of the plant. So why embrace vegan and living foods as a major component of any diet? Enzymes in their natural form, by far, accomplish the largest part of digestion. Every living food has naturally occurring enzymes, enough to digest that particular food. Nature has wrapped up its bounty in a self contained, flawless package. An apple, for instance, has the right amount of enzymes needed for your body to digest it. The millions of enzymes that produce life are what allow us to talk, blink, walk, digest and simply be alive. Digestive enzymes are destroyed by heat. Beginning at a cooking temperature of 115 degrees the complete enzymatic content of food begins to rapidly decrease to 0% by 120 degrees. Cooking foods can also destroy other nutrients, and render natural oils indigestible. Organically grown living foods reduce the depletion of the body's enzyme reserves, allowing them to fight off outside toxins and viruses. What typically happens when enzyme production cannot keep up with processed, cooked food intake? Absorption of partially digested proteins into the bloodstream can cause allergic reactions, and cause further toxicity of the immune system. Remember, our immune system identifies and eliminates that which is not us. Foreign proteins, or undigested animal protein in our blood causes an immune reaction called Leukocytosis1. This is the rapid production of a large number of white blood cells immediately following ingestion of many cooked, processed foods and animal products. In a nutshell, this process throws the body into shock, acting in self-defense by pumping out its own enzymes to digest the foreign substances that were ingested. By simply ingesting a raw plant based diet, you have completely eliminated all the toxins that nutritionists routinely target for elimination from the diet - no matter what.

Larry Van Aalst - Sommelier - Equus Restaurant

At the Fountaingrove Inn, business and leisure travelers alike will discover simple elegance, gracious hospitality and all the amenities one could desire. Located only 65 miles North of San Francisco and Oakland airports, the Inn is the perfect location as a home-base for your wine country excursion. The towns of Sonoma and Healdsburg are in Santa Rosa's backyard as well as the popular wine regions of Russian River, Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley. Sonoma Wine Country boasts over 300 wineries, many within a short scenic drive from the hotel. Stylish, classic and modern.the Equus Restaurant and Loungebar has been transformed into an inviting casual dining experience. The California fusion menu highlights local ingredients and emphasizes classic flavors with Mediterranean, Spanish and French influences. The Loungebar features Friday evening wine tasting and Saturday entertainment. Equus Restaurant and Loungebar.make it your next stop.