Lydia's Loving Foods, Fairfax, California

Went to have a raw food dinner, but was bored by the offerings on the menu. Same old raw food items, nothing creative like Roxanne's in Larkspur used to be or Pure Food and Wine in New York City currently is. When I told the waitress I hoped to eat raw, but the options were cold, not warm and comforting, she replied, "well, it is raw food." I tried to explain what I meant to no avail. I ended up ordering a plate of baked yams and the rice pasta primavera. One of the specials, of which there was a whole page changing daily, was an order of buckwheat crepes, which sounded good. As I was eating healthy, I would have liked some wine, but, unfortunately, they don't have a liquor license.

The yams were delicious baked with some kind of seasonings and had a cold dipping sauce, which wasn't too memorable. The yams on their own would have been fine. The pasta, however, was horrendous. I was regretting not stopping at the carb laden Italian joint on the corner. The sauce inundated the pasta and wasn't even very tasty. Some chopped basil on top made it a little edible, but not much. When I told the waitress, she said, "bummer." Typical hippie Fairfax, what do you want? Since I barely ate my dinner, I decided to go for dessert which was a different story. The case is full of interesting, fluffy pies - all of them raw. It was hard to choose, but I ordered the chocolate raspberry which was delicious and made up for the lousy pasta dinner. Earlier today, I stopped by for breakfast, which consisted of raw cereal, almond milk and a green drink - all excellent choices. I won't rush back for dinner but would highly recommend the juices and desserts.

Oh, and taking my dessert to go, I asked for a plastic fork. The waitress gave me a corn starch? fork, which she said was bio-degradable and I could just throw it away. How cool is that? And, why aren't these more popular? To me, there seems to be no reason to continue polluting the environment by making plastic forks, knives and spoons when there is an eco-friendly solution available. I'm giving away the remaining plastic crap in my house and buying this wonderful new product. 7.12.6
31 Bolinas Road, Fairfax, off Broadway, (415-456-5300) www.lydiasorganics.com