pElAgUS' 

By Judy Pokras

In the case of Chef Ryan Boeve, one of the owners of the elegant Zoria in downtown Sarasota, it was simply by chance that he discovered raw food. As a busy restaurateur with no time to take classes to expand his culinary sights, he looks at cookbooks to see how other chefs approach recipe creation. One day earlier this year, he happened to buy Raw Food Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis, tried some of its recipes, and loved the way he felt. "My girlfriend is a pilates instructor and she's all for me doing this stuff," he says, while sitting at a table in the high-ceilinged Zoria.

Although he wanted to pursue eating raw foods, he found that making the recipes took more time than he had. He figured if he made raw foods part of his restaurant's menu, it would be easier. He began experimenting with specials this past summer, and found the response from customers was better than he expected. "People have had only positive things to say," Ryan says.

So he began doing more and more raw dishes for Zoria. "I'm still experimenting. It's hard, because I have to switch my whole thinking. It's a really different process," says the handsome, unassuming chef.

His approach is to make dishes that the average person can't make at home, food that's a little extra special, and nicely presented. The raw food on Zoria's menu is made with all organic ingredients, unless he can't find a specific ingredient that's organic. Zoria also offers organic and biodynamic wines.

Ryan hopes to add a variety of raw desserts to the menu by mid-November, and I look forward to it! The small plates I've sampled have been excellent. In fact, I wish those plates were bigger!

Following is the current selection of raw food small plates from Zoria's menu:

Arugula, Lemon Vinaigrette, Shaved Pears, Currants

Thai Coconut Noodles, Curried Vegstables, Spicy Peanuts

Thai Coconut Noodles, Curried Vegetables, Spicy Peanuts

Tomato Salad: Semi Dehydrated  Red Tomatoes, Basil, Seasonal Greens, Yellow Tomatoes, Arugula Puree, Aged Balsamic

Portabella Mushroom Terrine, Artichoke and Pine Nut Cheese Napoleon

Portabella Mushroom Terrine, Artichoke and Pine Nut Cheese Napoleon

Several studies have shown the health risks, including cancer and cell death, posed by nanoparticles, molecules less than one thousandth the size of a human hair. But despite such findings, many companies are putting these particles into skincare products. Even worse, the FDA is allowing them to do so without adequate testing of the new technology or its consequences for human health.

In the absence of effective labeling or testing standards, Friends of the Earth has compiled a guide, Nanoparticles and Sunscreens: A Consumer Guide for Avoiding Nano Sunscreens, so that you can protect yourself and your family from the dangers of nanoparticles.

We asked 128 skincare companies about the ingredients of their sunscreens. Only nine confirmed that they keep nanoparticles out of their products; we know of 19 that do use the technology, either through their own statements or from other sources. Staggeringly, over 90 companies refused to say what's in their products.

Use the guide to see which brands are nano-free and which are to be avoided. Then sign our petition calling on the FDA to require sensible safety testing of products containing nanoparticles and mandatory labeling so consumers can protect themselves.

- Ian Illuminato
Friends of the Earth

Rollins into Academy

The former Black Flag frontman, who trailblazed America in the legendary outfit, is now an elder statesman of the scene. But through his spoken word shows, the 45-year-old is fast finding himself a perfect showcase for his personae.

As well as playing in the Rollins band, he has also had many bit parts in Hollywood movies and run a publishing company. The complete punk rock renaissance man.

“Some acting? Yes, I'll try that. Voiceovers? Sure. Talking tour? Great. Band stuff? Great. Talk show, TV? Can do, am interested. Why not? Especially these days with all of the media that's in existence.”

From punk rock warlord to spoken word commentator on contemporary Americana, Rollins is a legend.

A battle scarred legend. He fought the punk wars as the frontman for legendary LA hardcore outfit Black Flag. The Flag were the key band that opened up the USA in the early ‘80s to the fiercer possibilities of rock‘n’roll. Their brutality was often balanced by the sheer inventiveness of their music and the sensitivity that was always lurking just beyond view from the frontman’s lyrics.

Not that you could tell. The heavily tattooed, pumped up, non-drinking straight edge confrontational frontman took the rock’n’roll thing head on. His roots in Washington DC’s hardcore scene, along with his best friend Fugazi and Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye stood him in good stead. He got on stage with Black Flag as a crazed teenager and has stayed on the road ever since.

MTV

Rollins in the new millennium has become a multimedia phenomena – voicing ads, VJing on MTV, sitting as the best spoken-word artist in the world – with a fierce examination of modern life that is both funny and unsettling.

His spoken word show is one man with a whole fistful of opinions and is over two hours of stories and observations. It’s done fantastically, as anyone who has seen him will testify. On stage Rollins never drops a beat – it’s exhausting, pounding stuff but also funny, wry and with a sucker punch of a thoughtful message.

”I have a rough idea of what I'm going to do up there, but I vary the topics every night – there's plenty of stuff to talk about out there.”

Rollins covers plenty of ground in his spoken word show from the deaths of punk icons like Dee Dee Ramone and Joe Strummer (“I felt lonely when I heard that news&rdquo or the murder of his best friend Joe Cole, who was shot dead next to Rollins in a mugging that went tragically wrong. From the bizarre world of Hollywood that he observes as a sometimes insider, to being invited to Ozzy Osbourne's birthday party, to the current world situation that is fulfilling all the worst paranoiac’s political nightmares.

“People like Donald Rumsfeld feed me lines – you can’t make some of this stuff up. Of course I’m anti-war. Who isn’t? And although I’ve got a problem with a guy like Saddam Hussein, I don’t want to see the Iraqi people bombed and I don’t want to see American marines coming home in body bags. I don’t pretend I’m an expert on the situation – but I don’t think it’s something that can be ignored.”

Observations

The set will have plenty more observations on the war – and plenty of digs at the Bush regime. Rollins worries that everyone will now hate Americans and think that it is “a country full of gung ho warmongerers,” and “that it’s not the way it is at all.”

Surprisingly for such a confident performer he admits to feeling nervous before going on stage, but in that disciplined uber mensch way he’s made his own once he’s up there he up and running.

“You have got to be on it when you are up there. There is always someone smarter than you out there who is ready with a quick reply!”

They wouldn't get a chance, Rollins doesn’t miss a beat and his incredible word flow in itself is an entertaining slice of contemporary Americana; self-deprecating, thought-provoking and funny.

The Rollins spoken word experience is the sight of a survivor from the popular culture frontline – and a neat sideways glance at the nu-millennium world with a beady punk rock eye.