Chicago winter. Words of ominous potency that uttered in whisper, send chills down a Texan’s spine, place a pea under the Valley Girl’s mattress and cruise the Vegas Strip with six thugs hanging out a limo window like the notorious bad-girl rock stars they are. Maui to Massachusetts, the nation knows that Chicago’s winter will not be messed with.

The truth of this statement impacted me last nite when speaking with one of my dearest Windy City friends, Jerry, about the “mildness” of the current December weather. He said, “it’s only getting down to 20 – it hasn’t even been cold, yet.” I agreed. Having lived there for four and a half years, I know that 20 degrees is practically surfing weather this time of year – time to catch some rays, set up the volley ball net, have a family reunion or something.

Some of my raw friends change their diet in the cold months, adding in warm vegetable soups and steamed veggies. Apparently they become quite sensitive to the chill and their sweaters, central heating and cuddle partners just can’t keep them satisfied. But with tulips practically blossoming in Chicago this winter season, I’d say there is still time, My Chicago Friends, to try out a new raw food restaurant before the negative 20 degree wind chill freezes the tears right in your eyes and the blizzard snow, like quicksand, swallows your car without a trace.

Vitality Foods, just 10 minutes north of Chicago city limits, is a café/health food store/studio space in Wilmette IL serving raw for over a year now. Since it is a short drive from the city, I can not exactly call it “competition” for Karyn’s in the heart of Lincoln Park, but more like another strong gathering place and educational outlet for Chicago’s raw food community, and even in December, defiantly worth the drive.

The store itself is situated on the Main St. of Wilmette’s quaint and homey shopping center. The feeling of safety, cleanliness and in general lightness of the neighborhood is only amplified inside Vitality by full length store front windows, bathing one in sunlight as they shop or sit at the little café. The health food store carries an impressive library of health oriented books and magazines, a complete selection of bulk grains, cereals, and nuts, carefully discerned health and beauty products, as well as (omitting produce) all a raw foodist’s staples: oil cured olives, hemp nut butter, organic food bars and two types of raw crackers made by the owner, Ralph Roberts, himself. In the back is a gorgeous studio open for public rental, currently hosting yoga, dance and theatre company rehearsals. Although a sprung floor was noticeably missing (the first requirement for this professional dancer), I can praise the studio's exquisite fung shui, cared-for wood floors, and soft lighting – indeed an ideal space for no-impact activities. But the best part about Vitality’s studio space was the optional earth-tone curtains hung over the three walls of body-friendly mirrors – something this dancer has always dreamed about having in her own studio/ritual space in the Never Never Land fantasy of "settling down" and domestication.

My girlfriend, Dana, and I were lucky to have been the only patrons dining at Vitality that afternoon, because Ralph Roberts, the owner, scooped us up in his raw arms, delighted us with activist conversation, educated us about the Chicago raw community and prepared for us, as is his way, a fresh organic raw meal completely from scratch. It was nice to see a menu so simple and easy to digest, unlike many of the nut-heavy gourmet creations at raw restaurants nowadays. I dinned on a large dark green salad and a notably refreshing raw milk (not over sweetened or thickened) while Ralph and I discussed super green foods, omega 3 nutrition, and cleanses for the active lifestyle. I am still impressed by the affordability of everything in the store and Ralph’s red bell pepper crackers (I have honestly never tasted a raw cracker so light in texture and intense in flavor). And even more impressed at Ralph’s non-proprietary approach to spreading the raw word – offering all his amazing raw recipes free to anyone interested. And to those of you who think 20 degrees too cold for your sensitive circulation, Vitality Foods offers whole grain bread for their sandwiches or pita for the raw hummus to warm you from the inside until the sun again returns.

I myself, now in Philadelphia, am choosing to stay raw as ever, with a personalized approach to cultivating warmth during the snowy season:

- eat more light fats (like hemp seed and olives)
- practice no-impact chi moving exercises
- allow more time for sleep
- do not remove cozy socks for the next four months
- view coldness as stimulation instead of pain, and
- become your hotel’s most proficient herbal tea party host.

Someone once said, “You can stop a war with a cup of tea”. Well, at least it can wait until spring for renegotiation…

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