Brian Hudson Smith, celebrated mastermind behind Bliss Raw Café's
Elixir Bar, recently parted ways with his creation. Why did this
happen? Because of a little thing called water.
See, as with most fads and trends, this new one--raw foods--is changing faster than most of its devotees can keep up with, and in the case of Bliss, that's meaning big bumps in the road just when the journey's getting underway. The bumps (and Smith's decision to leave) has to do with "processed" water.
"[Raw foodists] talk about going away from processed food," says Smith. The most advanced rawists these days follow diets low in solid foods and receive most of their nutrition from liquids "elixirs, " such as Bliss' "Chocolate Bliss," which incorporates cacao, maca, several berries, and an additive called tocotrienols, a vitamin E complex.
This is where things get really weird.
"The definition of [an elixir] is a liquid medicinal preparation
bestowing health and longevity on those who consume it," says Smith,
whose obsession with pure liquids has crossed into General Jack Ripper (Dr. Strangelove)
territory. He and other raw superfoodists disagree with the methods
used at Bliss. They believe an elixir can only be called an elixir once
certain criteria are met. And the biggest focus is on water.
But not just any kind of water--living water.
"They're still drinking processed water" at Bliss, Smith notes. "[The
water] is in air conditioning and heating...and under fluorescent bulbs."
Hmm. Bliss does, in fact, use Ozarka water that has been stored under
such conditions. So what's the difference?
"The structure," Smith explains, "The way the atoms are in formation."
Drinking Ozarka and other processed waters, he says, is "pretty much
like [drinking] pencil lead.
"If you're drinking water straight out of the spring," on the other hand, "it's actually like drinking a diamond."
Those things can tear up your internal organs, but never mind. Where
does one find such water in Dallas?
Nowhere. Smith travels as far as Canton, Frankston, and Oklahoma to
fill up his personal tanks with fresh spring water. He claims that
"basing your elixirs on real water, you can't even calculate how much
more powerful that is."
Matt Porco of Bliss admits making the drinks with living water "would
take their effects to a higher level." But he still believes the
elixirs at Bliss Raw Café & Elixir Bar are worthy of the title.
Smith acknowledges, "they're just doing the best they can with the
resources they have available. But it's not really personally where I
am with that.
"This is more about really getting connected with nature. And getting our health back to that level of a wild animal,"
he says.
The last time humans did that, life spans could be counted on four--maybe five--hands.
Could this new trend of "getting connected with nature...back to the
level of a wild animal" be the reason some once vegan rawists are also
turning to non-vegan foods such as deer antler extract? This strange
new fad is spinning heads in the raw foods community because not only
is deer antler extract not vegan, it isn't raw either.
According to Porco, "If you just chopped it up and drank it, you
wouldn't be able to get any of the minerals from it. So they actually
have to do heat extraction."
The purpose for consuming this new supplement is to balance out hormone
levels in the body that tend to go out of whack on a purely raw foods
diet. The extreme rawists are now claiming a certain amount of heat is
needed for optimum health.
Bliss Café's Elixir Bar, at one point, did offer deer antler extract
under Smith's lead, but has been unable to restock their supply since
his departure.
But even without her celebrity alchemist, Dee Pisarro, owner of Bliss
Raw Café & Elixir Bar, is moving forward with her plans to open two
more locations in the next few months. Considering how quickly trends
change in this wild community, one has to wonder if Dallas is truly
ready to play ball.
Oh, they may join up with raw foodists for a little antler huntin', but...
