June 13, 2007 Food+Drink » Features

NEW RESTAURANT ‌ The Sprout 

Food Unspoiled: The Sprout serves it up raw

by Stratton Lawrence
Mickey and Caroline Brennan sprout a new raw-food restaurant in Mt. Pleasant
  • Mickey and Caroline Brennan sprout a new raw-food restaurant in Mt. Pleasant

You woke up late this morning, with just enough time to grab a Pop-Tart on the way out the door. By noon you're starving, ready to hit up the barbecue buffet. Back at the office, you lose focus and get distracted on the internet, stuffed with pork and pudding and unable to concentrate. "Food coma" — sound familiar?

Most of the meals we eat in the U.S. require lots of energy to digest. Food is our energy source, but we're lucky to break even between what we take in and what we use. When eating makes us tired, our bodies are on the losing side of that ratio.

Caroline and Mickey Brennan believe that food ought to be an energy boost (some can even give us a buzz!), but that modern methods of food preparation destroy the healthy digestive enzymes we need to properly digest. They've recently opened The Sprout — South Carolina's first raw foods restaurant — at 627 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. in Mt. Pleasant, with hopes that the good word about how great food can make you feel will spread.

Those unfamiliar with raw foods may immediately imagine sushi, steak tartare, and even foie gras. Although some fish can be incorporated into a healthy raw foods diet, The Sprout is a wholly vegetarian and organic establishment.

After running a family restaurant in Ohio for 11 years, the Brennans moved to San Francisco for Mickey to attend culinary school, where he worked at the raw food Café Gratitude. "I fell in love with the food," says Mickey. "I love the chemistry of live enzymes, and making desserts without baking them."

The couple traveled the country for four months, searching for a location where a raw food restaurant would thrive, finally settling on Charleston. A tour of their kitchen shows just how radically different their restaurant is from others. There's no grill, no heat lights, and (gasp) no fryer. Instead, they've got a huge dehydrator named "Excalibur" ("the largest dehydrator east of the Mississippi," jokes Mickey), filled to the brim with almonds, pizza "dough," and fruits and vegetables.

Raw enthusiasts maintain that heat over 116 degrees Fahrenheit kills the enzymes in food that help us digest. "We spend 70 percent of our energy every day digesting food," says Caroline. "It's because our body has to make the enzymes to break the food down." The theory goes that by leaving the natural digesters in our food, we have more energy to spare.

At the base of a raw food diet are fruits and vegetables, but nuts and seeds play an integral role as well. To activate the "dormant" enzymes in a raw almond or walnut, they are soaked overnight, releasing "inhibitors" and bringing them back to life. A raw food diet could just as easily be called a "living" food diet.

For a restaurant with no meat and no heat, The Sprout's breakfast through dinner menu is packed with delicious treats. In the morning they offer crepes of pear, walnut, and pine nuts pureed together into a pancake batter-like consistency and then dehydrated, stuffed with apples, agave nector, raisins, and maple syrup. At lunch, squash and zucchini are run through a noodle maker, creating raw "pasta" that's served with "meatballs" of seasoned walnut, portabello, and ginger doused in a heavily herbed sauce. Irresistible treats like lemon brûlèe, nut brittle, and almond hummus line the shelves next to the lasagna or pizza of the day, on a bed of greens topped with parmesan "cheese" made from macadamia nuts, lemon, and garlic.

Because of the soaking and dehydrating process, preparing raw foods is an extensive process. Home dehydrators and juicers are available, but even for those convinced of the benefits of raw foods, getting started requires more time in the kitchen than is feasible for most. At The Sprout, a veggie burger patty takes 12 hours to prepare, almond milk closer to 24. "Just about everything we serve has been loved on for two days," says Caroline.

The devotion The Sprout puts into its food carries over into their service and attitude about their role in the community. They built the restaurant using recycled materials, natural paints and stains, and bamboo countertops. Even the corn oil containers, sugar cane hot cups, and potato starch flatware emanate sustainability. "Anything we can do to be better to the world, that's our intention," says Mickey. "We had a yoga instructor in here the other day who ate the tip of one of our forks. He said it was pretty good."

For people with major food allergies, The Sprout may be a godsend. Wheat-gluten and lactose-intolerant people can eat anything on the menu. Because most items are low-glycemic, with natural sugars, even diabetics can find respite at The Sprout.

Those without special needs can still benefit from eating "living" meals. Detox plans often utilize raw food because of their cleansing effect on our bodies. "When you're eating food with 100 percent of its enzymes, you end up with extra energy, you need less sleep, your skin heals, and your eyes get whiter," says Caroline. "You just feel really good."

Comments (6) RSS

Showing 1-5 of 6

Add a comment | All comments »

I had The Sprout's walnut veggie burger at the farmer's market. It was absolutely delicious, filled me up completely, and made me feel great. I wish that there was a location in downtown Charleston, where there are many food options, but too few that put health first.

Posted by Lisa Goddard on | Report this comment

Just visited The Sprout while on vacation in Mt. Pleasant (Charleston), SC. It was a great place! They've got me hooked on the breakfast quinoa blend. Caroline was there. She was very pleasant, patient, and informative. Everyone was full of smiles! If I lived in Charleston, I'd be at The Sprout all the time! Please start shipping to Whole Foods in Houston! (But how good does raw food ship?!?!?! *lol*) You guys keep up the good work. Get The Sprout going in Houston!

Posted by ju on | Report this comment

Bravo! Another raw food restaurant is widening America's horizons of healthy living! However, I disagree with the idea that a raw foods based life requires more time than is feasible for most people. What is more simple than peeling 7 bananas, slurping up the juicy flesh of 6 mangos, or eating some dates and celery? I applaud the delicious raw food cuisine that's available but lets not forget that it is a means towards a more simple way of eating. It's not an end in itself. Stephen Parker, www.rawdish.com

Posted by Stephen Parker on | Report this comment

As the editor and founder of an online magazine celebrating the raw foods lifestyle, I'm delighted to hear that South Carolina has its first raw restaurant. You're luckier than we are here in Sarasota, Florida, where there are none, despite a large raw foods community. One question: Why are they using maple syrup? It's never a raw product. It's heated at very high temperatures. Raw agave nectar, stevia, or pureed dates are much better. Judy Pokras RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com Celebrating the raw vegan lifestyle since 2001 with breaking news, authoritative info and fun features. Have you signed up for our free newsletter?

Posted by vegwriter on | Report this comment

This sounds absolutely wonderful and we wish the Brennan's much success and happiness with their new venture. We just wish it was closer to us!

Posted by Scott & Megan on | Report this comment

Add a comment

Classified Listings
{ more } Recent Comments
{ more } Reader Reviews
Most Viewed

Powered by Foundation   © Copyright 2010, Charleston City Paper   RSS