The cuisine at Chef Michael Severance’s Try it Raw defies expectation. The 2-year-old Birmingham restaurant’s vegan, raw, gluten-free ethos might imply a menu of boring salads, but such an assumption would be completely wrong. Instead, diners get super-flavorful, nutrient-rich choices. There are a lot of great options, but the Birminghamburger is one of the best. Beets are the primary ingredient in the patty, supplemented with sunflower seeds, celery, onion, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. But the real mind-blower here is the bun, made with a dehydrated carrot/buckwheat/flax “batter” and topped with a handful of sesame seeds for the full bun experience. Sliced cucumber, tomato, sprouts and a cashew lemon garlic dill sauce round out the burger, which also comes with a superb broccoli raisin salad...

Try It Raw - a tiny organic and vegan diner in downtown Birmingham, the restaurant’s straightforward name lets people know what type of food they serve. But more than that, it’s a friendly invitation to experience a way of eating that’s new to many local diners. Raw food, in which no ingredients are heated at more than 116 degrees, uses soaked legumes, nuts and grains, in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, to create dishes that often imitate or draw inspiration from familiar cooked foods.

The restaurant is owned by Marc Dobaczewski and Michael Severance, both former sushi chefs at Clawson’s Noble Fish and veterans of Detroit’s garage rock scene. The two worked together for seven years, during which time Severance began to experiment with raw food, bringing the results in to work to share...