I have long wanted to interview Sarma for this blog, because she’s a woman of fascinating contradictions, multi-talents and beauty. Plus, she makes some seriously awesome raw food! Really, those Rosemary Quackers are unbelievable. đ Sarma has received quite a bit of press for her restaurant, online shop and books, but I wanted this interview to show a side of her that not everyone gets to see. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did!

1. Youâve got a new book that just came out. For those of us who loved Raw Food, Real World, please share a bit about how your new oneâs similar and how it differs.
Itâs called Living Raw Food and like the first book itâs full of recipes from my restaurant Pure Food and Wine, but this time theyâre divided in two sections: easier recipes that donât require much soaking time or dehydration, and more ambitious recipes that require a bit more planning. The text around the recipes in Raw Food Real World was from a beginnerâs perspective. My co-author and I described how we felt after our overnight transition from eating absolutely everything to eating only (or, mostly only) raw plant foods. Now this book is written just by me, and itâs more about what itâs been like for me after five years on mostly raw. I also really wanted to address some of the more common questions Iâve been asked over the years, which includes issues related to emotional detox and peopleâs struggle to âstick with itâ. There are also lots of short essays about various ingredients and an essay on feeding your pets raw.
2. Your restaurant gets rave reviews from around the world. Please share some of your favorite moments of recognition.
Hmmm. Itâs not that often that I get asked to gloat but this is fun! Domestically, Iâve always been really proud of our listing as a three-star restaurant in Forbes magazineâs list of All Star New York Eateries, every year since weâve opened. It always makes me really happy when weâre recognized for our food and not just in a vegetarian category.
Internationally, weâve always gotten tons of coverage from Japan more than anywhere else. I think they are very in tune with whatâs new and perceived as âcutting edgeâ over here, and also experiencing a big movement towards organic and healthy living. Also, Japanese food has similarities with our food in that itâs very much about aesthetics, natural flavors, and respect for the ingredients. Japanese food (like raw food) is very restrained in comparison to often heavy or sloppy American or other foods.
What other favorite moments⌠OKAY, since my father is from Latvia, I was totally excited when the magazine with the biggest circulation in Latvia, Sestdiena (which translates as âSaturdayâ) put me on their cover. That was pretty cool. International press is great because so many people from all over the world are always traveling through New York, and we also ship One Lucky Duck orders internationally now.
3. So many people know you as the author of Raw Food, Real World and the owner of Pure Food and Wine, but you also have an online store called One Lucky Duck. I havenât made it out to NYC yet, but I sure love the Duck. For those readers not aware of your company, please share some of the vision behind this little gem.
One Lucky Duck is a brand I created for our packaged snack line and ingredients and also for our online store (http://oneluckyduck.com). Launched in 2005, itâs a source for the best of everything raw and organic. I felt like there was a need for a fun, colorful, reliable source that didnât carry an overwhelming selection of products, only the very best that we find in every category. We carry a whole line of our own packaged cookies and snacks, ingredients and supplements in a section called âeatâ.
Then we also have âglowâ for skincare and cosmetics, âreadâ for books and magazines, âwearâ for apparel, and ânestâ for kitchen tools, home products, exercise tools, and pet products. The website is a lot of funâwe just updated it to add more informational sections and my blog.
4. You have an unusual tattoo. Is there an interesting story behind that?
Thanks. Itâs the One Lucky Duck logo (registered and trademarked, by the way!) I got it just before the online business launched in the summer of 2005. As soon as the logo was completed and confirmed, I realized it was the tattoo Iâd been waiting for. For years and years Iâd wanted to get a tattoo but really didnât want to get just anything. So I was waiting for the right image and this was it. I like the idea of branding myself with the brand of the company.
5. Tell me about your famous sneaker collection.
Oh dear. This is a bit embarrassing. Over the years Iâve collected a lot of sneakers. I purposely avoid going into or looking in windows of sneaker shops, but sometimes I canât avoid it and see something new or a color I donât have. Right now, I have 39 pairs of Pumas. I donât know how they all fit in my apartment b/c itâs not very big but theyâre stashed in the backs of closets and up on shelves. I also have 3 pairs of Pro-Keds, 2 Adidas, 3 pairs of Vans, a few Converse, and a few boring old running sneakers. I just have a thing for old-school style sneakers (and all of these collected over many years! I havenât bought any new sneakers in at least a year⌠I think.) I only have a few pairs of high heeled shoes and I wear high heels maybe two or three times a year.
6. Youâre widely recognized as one of the most gorgeous raw foodists. What are your favorite beauty products?
Oh⌠thanks! Well, I love coconut butter. Thatâs one of my all time favorites because it has so many uses â body oil, face oil, make-up remover, shaving, lip balm, and then you can put some in shakes too because itâs so yummy. Speaking of yummy, Bee Yummy Skin Food is another favorite product. Itâs amazing for everyone and really healing for burns and any irritated condition. I think itâs also great to keep skin clearâitâs not a heavy cream. And for cosmetics, RMS Beauty is made by my good friend and is outstanding. The concealer is the best, and I love the luminizer tooâitâs shimmery and makes you glowy. Those are my all time favorites. And lately Iâve been using Dr. Alkaitis products (cleanser, eye cream, etc)âtheyâre amazing.
7. You once sported a blue Mohawk. Care to share anything about those days? What has inspired your various style shifts?
Oh yes. Well, when I was 12 years old I started cutting my hair shorter and shorter. Then coloring it orange, then it got brighterâlike Ronald McDonald brightâthen it went to blue, then green, and back to mostly blue and so it went until I was 15 when I finally grew it out and dyed it brown (which then shifted to my current blonde over the years). I think I just liked being different, and at that age I could get away with it. During that time I worked at a quirky frame store and art gallery, where I could also get away with it.
8. You receive a lot of emails from young women with eating disorders. What tips can you share here for anyone struggling with body image issues?
I always say to them, go easy on yourself! Better yet, forgive yourself! Itâs okay. Itâs funny? Okay, itâs not always funny, not at all. But I think if you can try to see it that way, then at least some of the pressure is lifted, and itâs the pressure thatâs causing all the trouble. The saddest thing is to feel terrible, guilty, and alone over those sorts of issues. And I think feeling really bad about these sorts of struggles only exacerbates the whole thing.
Breathing in and out and focusing on being compassionate with your self no matter whatâs going on is helpful. Also, trying to shift thinking towards being optimally healthy (vs. optimally skinny, etc.) can provide the right kind of inspiration, and thatâs how raw food can help because it shifts your focus onto food as nourishment and fuel and eating optimally healthy foods (which are also optimally healthy for the planet).
I read an excerpt from Frank Bruniâs upcoming bookâheâs been the New York Times restaurant critic for over five years, and turns out he was bulimic throughout high school and college. You donât often hear about men having these sorts of struggles. So, itâs not as unusual as people think. Overall the issue of body image is a tough one. Everyoneâs their own worst critic, and feeling crappy about that stuff doesnât do anything to help at all.
9. In addition to being One Lucky Duck, youâre also âOne Smart Cookieâ with a surprising history in ⌠investment banking? How did you know it was time to take a leap of faith into something different?
After college I came to New York and worked for Bear, Stearns. After two years of many 100-hour plus weeks of working, I moved to private equity. I still worked my ass off there, but it was more interesting. Finally, I wanted more of a life and more control and figured at a hedge fund I could have thatâwhere the work is not deal-oriented but rather market-oriented and so didnât require late nights and weekends. I thought Iâd be happy then.
Instead, having more time only made it really obvious to me that I simply didnât love what I was doing and very often felt out of place in that environment. I didnât get excited about reading The Wall Street Journal and talking about deals. But I loved reading Gourmet and Food and Wine and loved talking about restaurants and food. When I was leaving private equity to go look for work at a hedge fund, one of my colleagues pointed out to me that I didnât seem to love what I do, since I always talked about food and restaurants. I think thatâs when I realized inside that I needed to leave finance, though it didnât happen until almost a year into my next job.
10. You run a busy restaurant and online store with over 70 employees in total, have written two books, you represent your own brand to the press and public, youâre in a relationship, and youâre doing all of this under some challenging circumstances. I also know youâve got a huge heart. How do you manage to keep it all together?
I donât always keep it all together! Or, I just havenât figured it out yet. The restaurant and oneluckyduck.com stay together and running because so many amazing people work there and Iâm lucky that theyâre so dedicated. Iâm usually able to keep myself together because Iâm inspired by them and inspired by all the people who come to the restaurant and juice bar, and visit the website and read the books.
Still, sometimes I let myself fall apart. Or, I hit some kind of burnout threshold and then just really donât want to get out from under the covers. I used to beat myself up over this, or try to avoid it. Now itâs much better if I can accept that it doesnât mean Iâm a total failure if I feel that way now and then, and just go with it!
11. Whatâs your very favorite âNew York Momentâ?
I think it was actually the very first day I lived in New York in the summer of 1994. Iâll never forget the feeling standing on the street on Second Avenue and 10th street holding the keys to the little studio apartment I was renting. I was out of college and my father just rode off after having helped move me in. I felt this incredibly exhilarated feeling, all on my own, in New York City, where Iâd barely spent any time before, living alone in my own place for the first timeâcompletely independent. So Iâm in this euphoric mood, and I turn to walk down the block and thereâs Robert DeNiro, just standing there talking to someone. And he looks right at me and I look right back. Of all the people to see in New York City on your first day there⌠!
12) Please tell us a bit about your furry friends, Dallas and Sydney.

Sarma's Feline Friends
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I have two cats, Sydney and her brother Dallas. Theyâre from the same litter even though they look very different. I got them from someoneâs house near where my mother lives in New Hampshire, so I met their mom and other siblings. Theyâre over eleven years old now.
After I switched to raw food six years ago I started thinking more about what I was feeding them and what their ideal and natural diet should be. After looking into it I started feeding them raw food and theyâre amazing on it. I havenât brought them to the vet since and theyâre beautiful, energetic companions. The food I get them is raw organic chicken and vegetables and it comes frozen. I also give them dehydrated wild salmon treats which they go totally bonkers over. We carry them at oneluckyduck.com. They come for dogs too but theyâre the same thing, just a bigger size. Iâm working on spinning off the pets section of oneluckyduck into its own site, shinyhappypets.com, so thatâs one of the projects in the works.

13. Iâm so excited by your work! If Sarma had Sarmaâs way, what else would we see from you in the near future?
A LOT! Thereâs a lot I want to do. Feeling held back from being able to charge forward to make it happen has been really challenging. Iâm looking for the right partnerships and funding, which takes time. Itâs like finding the right person to father your children⌠you donât want to do that with just anyone. Itâs been a long and very interesting road, but I really want to do it all the right way. Bringing raw food (and natural living) into the mainstream in a very big (and fun) way is the goal, and there are a lot of really great and different ways I want to do that, and in different parts of the world. And one of these days, I want to take a real vacation!
Thanks so much, Sarma! Wishing you the grandest of blessings and synchronicities and that all-elusive vacation.
You can visit Sarma at http://oneluckyduck.com or Pure Food & Wine.
Interviewed by Laura Bruno of www.internationalrenaissancecoaching.com. If you liked this interview, you might also enjoy ones with Cassie Margraf and Tania Marie.