Akasha Joins Culver City’s Burgeoning Food Scene

Opening February 2008, Akasha (9543 Culver Boulevard, at Watseka Avenue) is the newest restaurant to join Culver City’s burgeoning food scene. Akasha, the first restaurant opened by self-styled "organic celebrity chef" Akasha Richmond, is an eco-friendly restaurant/bakery/bar producing comfort foods prepared with sustainable ingredients and free-range meats. By day, the artisan bakery turns out traditional, vegan, and low-fat breads and sweets, along with fair-trade coffee and tea. Come lunch or dinnertime, the menu is New American with a bar featuring fresh juice cocktails made with organic premium spirits, as well as beer and wine. In addition to the food, the furniture is made of organic leather and hemp fabrics, feeding into the sustainable nature of the restaurants design. Even the menus and to-go products are biodegradable. http://www.akasharestaurant.com

The restaurants transition from San Gennaro, the previous occupant, to Akasha has been captured on TLC’s Flip that Restaurant. The show follows the transformation from a "straight out of Miami Vice" Italian restaurant into a modern, organic eatery featuring tasty and sustainable foods. This one-hour special for TLC condenses an intense six months of architecture, menu testing, and construction into a lively hour documenting the joys and challenges of opening a new restaurant. Flip That Restaurant is scheduled to premiere on March 8th, 2008 on TLC.

Akasha Richmond has devoted most of her cooking career to her passion of using healthy and organic ingredients in mainstream cooking. Akasha is the chef/owner of Akasha’s Visionary Cuisine, a catering and event company in Los Angeles. She is also a spokesperson for Silk Soymilk. She has written 2 books, The Hollywood Dish and The Art of Tofu, and she is a contributing editor to The Vegetarian Times. Visit Akasha at: http://www.chefakasha.com