Rating: 
Summary: Yummy recipes, great book!
Review: This man is a genius! I never knew how good raw food could taste. Some of the previous reviewers seem to be daunted by the ingredient list, but the ingredient lists in this book are not much more than your average cooked food cookbook. (granted - I live in a major metropolitan area - so its easy to find nonstandard items - but you can easily substitute or leave ingredients out) I am a beginner in raw food preparation, and the recipes that I have tried did not take as much time as I imagined they would. With practice, it will go even faster. I highly recommend this book to anyone - even beginners like me.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like food, and want to be healthy
Review: I've just started the raw food thing, and mostly for health purposes. I have found this book to be exciting, no one in my family was looking forward to the raw diet, but the recipes help make the food interesting, and they are not too complicated now that I've got the hang of preping ahead of time. Its possible to get by without the expensive and fancy equipment. I tend to agree with one of the other reviewers that the author really likes himself allot. His intro is kind of cocky, and it is annoying that he has his face plastered all over the book; but at the same time, its kind of amusing that someone can be that successful and still have no humility.
Rating:
Summary: Better the second time around
Review: Ok, I must confess, when I first purchased this book, I was overwhelmed! Everything looked so complicated! (BEAUTIFUL! But complicated!) I gave the book a once-over and set it aside. Months later, I picked it up again, and started really reading it, slowly. Carefully. Then, re-reading it. Oh, now this is beginning to make sense...I get it. Ok. NOW, this book is by my side, every minute of every day. Indespensible guide to anyone interested in raw and living foods.
Rating: 
Summary: Only suitable for chefs and people who love kitchen time
Review: This book is a collection of interesting and exotic raw dishes. However, if you want to actually make one of these dishes, be prepared to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen "uncooking" these meals. Most of the recipes call for a champion juicer and a excalibur food dehydrator, or both. Right there alone, that's a $700 investment. Sure, not as much as a really good oven, so that's really not a huge issue. Some of these recipes require 6-12 hours to prepare. Not like you can sit down and whip up one of these meals in a matter of minutes. I don't like the fact that this book uses so many nuts and seeds. The meals have a higher fat content than the Standard American Diet, which is already too high. Yes, it's raw fat, but that doesn't make it healthy to consume mass quantities of it. My other problem with these recipes is that they call for the use of too many dried (dehydrated) foods. Eating too many dry foods will in time dry you out, or dehydrate the cells of your body. This recipe guide is excellent to serve to guests and on special occasions, but I don't see the point in making these recipes part of your daily routine. It's far too time consuming, and the healthiness is questionable.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: The foods in this book are beautiful and colorful, but the recipies are a little too much for me to handle. Some of the ingredient lists are are over 20 items long! I am a simple gal so I find this book, while inspiring, just a little too complex.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: Raw food is no longer just sprouts, salad and rabbit food. This is a sophisticated gourmet cuisine cookbook so it's not for anyone with little or no time to devote to preparation. Any creative cook/chef could improvise on the recipes if not all of the ingredients can be obtained, or when cooking for someone with dietary restrictions. If you have an herb garden you will probably enjoy this cookbook. Even if you're not into eating 100% raw foods, or a vegetarian diet, this book has lots of great ideas and inspiring recipes that will add some serious pizzazz into the vegetable/salad/fruit portions of your meals. Preparation tools, like a food processor, are a plus but you could get away with a just a blender. If you want to eat healthy without compromising great flavor or inspiring presentation this is a worthwhile purchase!
Rating: 
Summary: RAW IS NOT IT
Review: i bought this book about a year ago because it was hailed as "the bible of raw food." i beg to differ. this book is basically a picture book with recipes that not only take days to prepare, but they don't taste good, nor is raw the way to go. raw attracts many people who have a history of high meat consumption (yang). they go raw (yin)to seek balance. every culture since the beginning of time has used fire, salt, time and pressure to prepare their foods. this is a main raw fallacy. as someone who was raised macrobiotically, and continues to maintain macrobiotic, I know that raw diets are not lifetime diets. raw is just the newest "trendy diet." plus, the author's tone is derogatory. anyone skilled in facial diagnosis can see that the excess use of raw foods has femenized the author's appearance, resulting in an overly yin look.
Rating:
Summary: Coffee table book
Review: This book appears to be more aimed at creating a splash than providing any practical guidance on a new dietary approach. The photography is gorgeous. But, it seems to end there. Juliano's basis for this radical dietary approach is pretty much nonsense. In his defense of pure raw vegan practices, he asks: "how would you like to be boiled alive in water?" Hmmm. How would you like to be sliced thinly before being chomped by someone? There is a sound defense for raw vegan, but you won't find it here. The recipies are not very practical for those of us who have about 30 minutes to prepare dinner, none to prepare lunch, and maybe three minutes for breakfast. Nice novelty book that should benefit the publisher and author, but little value to the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Learn from the master. . .Juliano
Review: This book is so well designed--it's a work of art. The recipes taste great and are easy to make. Eating raw is the best thing you can do for your body, and this book is too. It's the only really good raw food book out there.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, a different kind of cook book.
Review: It is hard to choose a star rating for this book because it is not your typical cookbook. Not because it is raw, but because of how I have used it. Although I have only made a recipe or two from this book in the 2 months I have owned it, I think this is a wonderful book. It is inspiring and will fuel creative cooking (and uncooking) in your kitchen. The recipes I have made have been wonderful, but most of the ingredient requirements are too long. As a functional cookbook, this is surely a mere 1 star for the average cooker. But as a mind expanding book filled with beautiful pictures and creative recipes it is 5 stars. The photos make the food look fantastic, and Juliano doesn't look too bad himself. But unless you are an accomplished home chef or experienced rawist, these recipes will seem daunting. Everyone I have lent the book to has enjoyed it, though, even if they didn't rush out and whip up a 20 ingredient recipe from the book. But I love this book and I think you will too, unless you are looking for a traditional functional cookbook. This is more of a hypothetical exploration of what food can be, and at Juliano's restaurant, food is. One thing is certain. Reading this book will make you want to go to his restaurant and let him go to the trouble of making all these wonderful dishes for you!
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