Today we’d like to introduce you to Omar Abou-Ismail.
Hi Omar, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was raised in Nigeria, West Africa, and then Lebanon, and at the age of 17 moved to Utah and studied Geophysics at the University of Utah and graduated in 2002. I worked in my field for a couple of years, and during that time, I was supposed to gain experience to go back and get my masters in Geophysics. However, I found that I was interested in health and wellness and was considering changing careers and becoming a naturopathic doctor.
In 2004 my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and so I had to come back home from my Job, and take care of my dad and family. Shortly after my dad passed away, I was convinced that the world we lived in had no or little accountability towards diet and the correlation of diet and health. And to push this a step further, there is also no accountability towards supporting healthy agricultural practices, which yield higher nutrient content in food, and how that affects the planet, and our bodies. I was lucky enough to be raised by my mother Jinan, who happens to be a great chef, and her skills came from her grandparents and her sustainable lifestyle living in a small town in the mountains of Lebanon. She was also the head chef of Mazza, since 2001. I’m naturally talented in creating food, and my research in health and wellness pushed me to create healthy cuisines, that not only were healthy, but very flavorful and delicious. Given my Nigerian/Lebanese background with spices and different world cuisines…
6 months after my Dad passed away, I had worked out a deal with a guy that owned a store in Sugar House called Herbs for Health. I rented half of his space, and opened up a small healthy eater and called it Living Cuisine Raw food Bar. It was a hole in a wall, so to speak, July 4th, 2005. Prior to opening up, I had been teaching food preparation at whole foods (it was called Wild Oats at the time) and people were hearing about me through word of mouth from all the classes I would teach, not just at wild oats but other small gatherings people put together for me to teach at. So I had a following so to speak that found out I would be opening a place in Sugar House. That started my small customer base and from there word of mouth spread and slowly I got busier and busier. Living Cuisine Raw food bar was an all organic eatery that specialized in Gourmet Raw Foods. And in 2007, I moved to a bigger location, still in SugarHouse, and this time was not sharing a space with herbs for Health. I called it Omar’s Rawtopia, Peace through food. I stayed in that location till February of 2017, and was forced to move out due to the development and construction of the Sugar House Area. I opened up in Millcreek, Aug 2017, and called my place Rawtopia, Living Cuisine and Beyond. I expanded my menu, and added some cooked foods, and wild meats, because of my nature of always learning and acquiring knowledge and pushing towards a more sustainable lifestyle and attracting vegans and non-vegans to have a place to enjoy together amazing organic food.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a challenge for sure. First, it’s hard enough to create a restaurant that was purely just Raw Vegan Food, and back in 2005 it was unheard of really, then to move locations in 2007 was a bit of a challenge financially. Then it took me 5. years to search for a new Location because I had always known that eventually I’d be kicked out of Sugar House due to the housing developments… Every space I tried to rent would not go through because they looked at my business and from the Name did not understand it since it wasn’t like the rest of the normal restaurants that were out there. Given I had a lot of media coverage and great reviews, I wasn’t taken seriously, until finally I was given the opportunity to rent a big space in Millcreek, Olympus Hills shopping center. In opening there and expanding my menu to including sustainable animal proteins, my loyal based vegan customers were very upset and literally attacked me personally on social media and boycotted my restaurant. So I had to start from scratch again, and acquire a new customer base that were more open to my idea of a sustainable restaurant that still offered Raw foods, Cooked foods, and sustainable meats, organic coffee, and alcohol. Then Covid hit, and mind you, my restaurant is very labor intensive as everything we do is made from scratch, with love. Our ingredients are expensive, our labor is a lot, and so it takes a lot of cash flow to stay in business, and then Covid happened and made it very difficult with losing almost half my staff. To stay in business, I had to open 7 days a week, and I had to work 7 days a week myself due to losing staff members, and that was really difficult. Thanks to my Mother and Brother and other loyal employees, I managed to make it through the pandemic. Then staffing got harder and harder, so it’s been really challenging. However I believe in what I do, I know my Restaurant is supporting healthy agricultural practices, Local farmers, and providing nutrient dense foods for the community. I am the hope of the Future and the example I hope to lead for the future generations to come. Our soil is sacred, and the more we destroy our top soil with unhealthy agricultural practices (chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, larvicides, etc.,) we will have no crop and no rain creating desert scapes with soil that is unsuitable for growing anything… A great documentary on this is “Kiss the Ground” which emphasizes on our climate and the correlation between soil and climate change… And even now, prices are going up, and I’m pushing through all of this because I’m definitely a fighter, and will do anything to keep my business going!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My restaurant is one of a kind, because of the quality of the food, from where it is sourced, to how it is prepared, to how it is presented in the end. Everything is made from scratch, whether it is our spice mix, pealing our own garlic and ginger, sprouting beans, nuts and seeds, hand juicing our lemons, limes, using no processed ingredients, nothing comes in a package. For ultimate enzyme-rich foods, readily absorbable nutrients, and sustainably sourced proteins. We specialize in world cuisines with an emphasis on Lebanese foods. Our Ice cream is made from scratch, vegan, unprocessed ingredients, our deserts are also all made in the house, using the finest ingredients and alchemy of nutrient dense ingredients to create the most flavorful desserts. The oils we use are pure, olive oil and coconut oil. We do not deep fry anything. We create our own crackers made from vegetables, sprouted seeds, and dehydrated for nutrient preservation. We have gourmet raw foods, ethnic cooked dishes, and sustainable proteins such as Bison, Wild Alaskan Salmon, and wild line-caught cod. We make our own sprouted buckwheat buns for our burgers, and we have baked sweet potatoes with a fry sauce made from raw ingredients. We truly value the health of the planet and its inhabitants, and like to share that with our community in a commitment to a healthier sustainable future! We have a to go section of treats we make in-house, and we have a large dine-in area, with a fabulous view of the Valley. Amazing coffee, lattes, drinks, smoothies, etc. and not to mention my famous chocolate fudge which is an alchemy of herbs and chocolate! All made from scratch with love…
What matters most to you?
Mother Earth, as we all come from her. Every atom, every cell, every mineral, every matter, that we are made up of, comes from the Earth. We are not separate, we are the living earth. There is a native American saying that says Earth my Body, Water my blood, air my breath and fire my spirit.
So yes, supporting the planet is Huge in my opinion. It is a place where our ancestors preserved for us to enjoy, and it is our obligation to do the same for the future generations to come. Food is Huge! Everyone eats, and our foods comes from the Earth, and if you understand science and soil ecology, it is crucial that we choose to support healthy agricultural practices and soil ecology. We owe to our children. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to our creator! We are stewards of this precious planet, and we are connected to it in through every atom and fiber of our being.
Cheers to everyone that cares to create a healthier more harmonious planet, peace through food!
Contact Info:
- Website: rawtopia.com
- Instagram: omarsrawtopia
- Facebook: omarsrawtopia
