Chef Spotlight: Chad Sarno Name: Chad Sarno Age: 30 Restaurant: Vital Creations, Raw Culinary Services New York City, New York www.rawchef.com

How long have you been a chef?
I grew up in restaurants, so ever since I was a youth, [I] have been warmly embraced by many influences with immense passion for food. Professionally, it has been about 10 years now.

What type of cuisine do you focus on?
I like to call it evolved culinary arts, with the main cuisine focused on being spa cuisine of quite a spectrum of raw, vegan, vegetarian, alkalarian, and macrobiotic. Our true specialty is raw and living foods.

Have you or your restaurant received any awards?
A restaurant I was working with for some time now, Counter Organic Wine Bar in New York City, just received the VegNews award for best veggie restaurant in the U.S. Other than that, many of the restaurants I have assisted with the opening of have had a generous amount of press.

Do you have a specialty?
One of the mission statements we have for our raw culinary services is, “To make raw foods [taste] as cooked as possible without losing the enzymatic value of it in its natural state.” Comfort raw foods, or some may call [them] “recreational or transitional” raw foods.

What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian cuisine?
Using as much locally grown, organic, high-quality product that you can find is the first and most important step.

What is the key to getting meat-eaters to enjoy vegetarian food?
Working with taste, flavor, and texture [and] balancing of what the mainstream diner is “used to” is the key. When this is considered with the intersection of high-quality locally sourced product, there is nothing short of perfection to appeal to the masses.

What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
I think more than ever with the over-consumption of contaminated animal proteins, a plethora of preservatives, and other foreign chemicals in the mainstream food source, we are seeing more “dis-ease,” obesity, birth defects, and sickness within our society. There is no other direction at this point than for food establishments, stores, and restaurants to offer healthier options.

Do you have a favorite cooking method?
As mentioned above, I have a great passion for working with local flavors and small-batch-grown produce. In terms of methods, raw, vegan cuisine is the most creative.

Where did you train to become a chef?
Self-taught—also during my travels, I have sought the apprenticeship with the experts in the field of organic cuisine.

What are your favorite ingredients to work with?
As mentioned above, local high-quality vegetables. When you have a great-tasting product to work with, the fewer ingredients added to the dish, the more of the emphasis is on the quality of the product itself.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of ethnic food, what would it be?
I would have to stretch this one a bit and choose three ingredients: kale, avocado, and coconuts, my three personal favorites.

Do vegetarian restaurants face any special obstacles that meat-based restaurants don’t have to face?
Yes, that’s to appeal to a wider audience, most of which [has] a negative immediate perception of vegetarian cuisine. It’s always a great challenge to face.

Can you give us one great cooking tip for aspiring vegetarian chefs?
Be patient, and don’t be afraid to go beyond your comfort zone with creativity.

What are some ingredients that you recommend vegetarians and vegans have in their kitchens to cook with?
First and foremost, cold-pressed varieties of organic oils and quality sea or crystal salts are essential for a foundation to start with.

Have you had any noteworthy comments from or experiences with diners?
Many larger events that I have offered as raw tasting evenings have been very well received by the diners ….

Choose one area to give some specialty tips for:

. Your favorite way to work with a certain fruit or vegetable

For creating a raw dish using any type of mushrooms, to avoid using them in a raw state, marinate them to soften and [to] resemble a more cooked texture. To do this, marinate the mushrooms you choose to use in equal parts tamari or shoyu and a good olive oil, [and] from this base, add any other ingredients to the marinade, such as various spices, vinegars, sweeteners, etc.

Spring Consommé With Avocado, Chile, and Baby Dill
Apple-Fennel Salad With Lemon Zest and Thyme
Wild Berry Tart With Cashew-Lemon Crème and Candied Orange Peel