The Vegan New Wave
Posted: March 25, 2015 at 2:54 pm
When Joe Haptas opened his first vegan grocery store in Seattle ten years ago, he didn't know what to put on the shelves. When he opened Republic of V in Berkeley (1624 University Ave.) with his partner Noelle Callahan a little more than a year ago, however, he had the opposite problem. "We exceeded our expectations," said Haptas, who has been vegan since 1995. The store, the only one of its kind in the Bay Area (and one of only nine vegan grocery stores nationwide), is home to a plethora of vegan products, many made locally.
"There's been a vegan cheese explosion," said Haptas, touting a product lineup that includes foods from Fairfax-based Miyoko's Kitchen. "People used to say, 'I believe what you're saying but I could never give up cheese.' It gives me hope that there are so many amazing cheeses out there now," said Haptas, whose philosophy revolves around promoting "the foods that are winning hearts, minds, and stomachs." Republic of V is only one of a new wave of businesses in the East Bay that are redefining what it means to be vegan. Gone are the days of bland soy products. Eating vegan in 2015 is all about luscious cashew cheeses and farm-to-table, vegetable-centric fare.
Until late February, one of Republic of V's best sellers was Fromagerie Esseme's nut-based vegan cream cheeses, which have also been hits at Rainbow Grocery and Sacred Wheel Cheese Shop. Produced by catering team Shane Stanbridge and Marie Chia, who go by S+M Vegan Chefs, Fromagerie Esseme's vegan cheeses were so popular that Stanbridge and Chia could not keep up with production. "Catering and pop-ups make more sense to us as cooks," said Stanbridge. With Fromagerie Esseme on hiatus, Stanbridge and Chia are keeping busy with pop-ups, including their collaboration with Oakland-based Baia Pasta, which brings Stanbridge and Chia's popular $6 mac 'n' cheese to the Jack London farmers market every first Sunday, and their multicourse, seasonally inspired, $50-a-head Blind Tiger dinners with Berkeley's organic Bison Brewery.
The collaborative ethos behind S+M stems from both a supportive vegan community and the creative energy of the East Bay. "There's a solidarity between young Oakland businesses," said Chia. We just all want to build a more exciting Oakland." In addition to the community, there's the food fresh California produce makes it easier: "It doesn't take a lot to make a good vegan meal here," said Chia. The presence of other vegan foodmakers, such as Oakland-based Rhizocali Tempeh and Hodo Soy, allows Chia and Stanbridge to cook with fresh, quality protein, and with each successful vegan business, others follow suit. "Just seeing [food truck] Hella Vegan Eats doing pop-ups showed us that it was possible," said Chia of her inspiration to start popping up.
"We definitely wanted to be in the East Bay," said Haptas of Republic of V. "There are a lot of young, passionate people here," and rent is still affordable enough for a niche business like a vegan grocery store to survive. Stanbridge echoed this: "You can offer the same kinds of things you would offer in the city at a much better price." Millennium, a high-end vegan restaurant in San Francisco, launched a Kickstarter to finance its move to Oakland. As of March 18, it has already raised $82,403, surpassing the original $50,000 goal.
Clearly East Bay eaters want more vegan restaurants and are willing to pay. "A lot of people are worried that it's not going to be elegant," said Chia, who thinks that "what has been really helping vegan food is that a lot of omnivore chefs, even the old school French chefs, have been cooking more with vegetables, and that has inspired vegans to cook the vegetables for what they are instead of just constantly looking for substitutes."
With S+M's delicate and creative dishes (such as a recent take on gnocchi, which included pink peppercorn and orange blossom savory cream, sumac-roasted broccolini and pistachio gremolata), it's no wonder Stanbridge and Chia's dinners are popular with vegans and omnivores alike.
"We try to show people that a vegan diet can be just as satisfying as an omnivore diet. That's our main form of activism," said Stanbridge. The lack of animal products forces vegan chefs to get creative. Chia, who taught herself how to cook after being faced with a dearth of vegan options in her hometown of Paris, said: "The vegan scene is still pretty new, so unlike omnivore chefs who have been doing this forever, chances are if you're making something [as a vegan chef], you're the first one."
See the original post here:
The Vegan New Wave
Lee Holmes introduces supercharged… – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
Lee Holmes introduces supercharged...
Lee Holmes introduces supercharged high-energy foods in new book Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian Lee Holmes introduces supercharged high-energy foods in new book Eat Clean, Green and ...
By:
PManiaSyoGo here to see the original:
Lee Holmes introduces supercharged... - Video
where is a vegetarian cat going? – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
where is a vegetarian cat going?
She must eat grass.
By:
See the original post:
where is a vegetarian cat going? - Video
Our Vegetarian life * 16th – 22nd March 2015 – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
Our Vegetarian life * 16th - 22nd March 2015
Our weekly roundup of the food that we have eaten in our vegetarian / vegan-ish week / life. Includes views and reviews of recipes and where we have found them. Basically anything food, vegetarian...
By:
Anna BrimContinued here:
Our Vegetarian life * 16th - 22nd March 2015 - Video
The Vegetarian Biker, Part 2 – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
The Vegetarian Biker, Part 2
Part 2 of my thoughts on becoming vegetarian. No sermons, just my experience. Sites and Resources for New Vegetarians: http://www.getvegucated.com http://www.forksoverknives.com ...
By:
Motorcycling with BazView post:
The Vegetarian Biker, Part 2 - Video
Vegetarian buffet – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
Vegetarian buffet
via YouTube Capture.
By:
Burr Oak Creek FarmOriginal post:
Vegetarian buffet - Video
Vegetarian London: Zaika Of Kensington Restaurant Review
Posted: at 2:53 pm
24 March 2015 | Food | By: Sejal Sukhadwala
In this series,we review restaurants from an entirely vegetarian angle. While some restaurants will be specifically vegetarian, others will be mainstream. Well be tasting everything from veggie burgers, to posh meat-free menus. Along the way, well try to find out, as far as possible, whether chicken stock, cheese made from animal rennet, gelatine, fish sauce and so on are not lurking in the supposedly vegetarian dishes.
Londonist Rating:
We were excited that the once-acclaimed Zaikahad been revamped, refurbished and reimagined and finally relaunched around 3-4 months ago and so all the more disappointed when our overpriced meal turned out to be incompetently cooked. Very surprising, given the restaurants pedigree and other critics effusive praise.
First established in Chelsea over 15 years ago, Zaika has had more ups and downs than a yo-yo on a trampoline. Its where top Indian chef Vineet Bhatia (who went on to open the award-garlanded Rasoiin Chelsea) first made his mark, and it was one of the first Indian restaurants ever to gain a Michelin star. Many affluent Indians, proud that their complex cuisine had finally been recognised beyond the curry-house clich, flocked there in their finery to celebrate special occasions.
It spawned numerous Indian restaurants up and down the country copying the word Zaika which means sophisticated flavours into their names, and its chocolate samosa became one of Londons most widely imitated restaurant desserts. But when the restaurant lost its star, the Tamarind Collection, owners of Tamarind and Imli Street restaurants, took over and a couple of years ago inexplicably turned it into an Italian restaurant named One Kensington. It didnt work and eventually closed, leadingus to the rebooted Zaika of Kensington at the end of last year.
The 19th century Grade II listed building, formerly a bank, is certainly impressive, and retains many of the original architectural features such as high vaulted ceilings. Whereas once the bar was located by the entrance, its now plonked right in the middle of the room, with informal seating and a more formal dining area squeezed to either side. You can just drop by for a drink and the cocktails are truly fabulous but the bars unusually prominent positioning makes us question how serious the kitchens intentions are. Is Zaika now supposed to be more a drinking or a dining destination? It is a handsome-looking space though, all creams and browns and luxuriant with sturdy wooden panels, leather banquettes and dozens of framed pictures. Splashes of fresh flowers and plants bring tropical colour and feel, but the sparkling jewel-hued lamps have been replaced by more functional spotlights. If colonial India had gentlemens clubs, they would probably have looked like this.
The kitchen is now overseen by Mumbai-born executive chef Sanjay Gaur, whos trained as a pastry chef and worked at The Savoy Grill, Maze, and Angela Hartnetts Murano among others. The head chef Devshanker Sharma has worked with the Tamarind Collection for over a decade. The menu is a contemporary take on Awadhi cuisine of Lucknow, the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. This intricate cooking style evolved in the royal kitchens during the Mughal Empire. Its renowned for its refined, nuanced flavours and highly sophisticated techniques influenced by the cuisines of Persia, Turkey, Afghanistan and, to some extent, the Balkans and Central Asia. So we were surprised that there was nothing royal or refined about the vegetarian dishes on our visit.
Mixed sprout tikki spiced Indian potato cakes with sprouted beans have no discernible flavour or texture of the sprouts, and we cant see or taste their apricot-coriander stuffing. Theyre over-cooked to the point of almost being burnt on both sides. Palak paneer (spinach with Indian cheese), on the other hand, is alarmingly undercooked and has an unusually bright green colour and dominant taste of raw garlic. Its described on the menu as paneer tossed with onion-tomato masala finished with pureed spinach and if you take the description of the cooking process literally, maybe thats the problem. The curry should be made by frying the onion-tomato masala long enough to give it a rounded, well-cooked taste, adding minced spinach and cooking it further until it acquires a dark khaki-green colour. Sauting onions, tomatoes and spices patiently for the correct length of time is absolutely essential in Indian curries, otherwise they just wont taste right and this popular Punjabi staple, which even many high street restaurants are proficient at, clearly hasnt been cooked through.
Indian baby aubergines are often astringent, depending on the variety used and unfortunately this is the case with baigan masala here. The masala is fine, but the bitterness of the baigan doesnt do it justice though this is not really the kitchens fault. A bread basket is filled with soft plain and chilli-and-cheese stuffed naans, which are fine, but also paratha (flatbread) thats overcooked to the point of being crisp and dry in texture.
Here is the original post:
Vegetarian London: Zaika Of Kensington Restaurant Review
Organic food is clean food – Video
Posted: at 2:53 pm
Organic food is clean food
I #39;m speaking at a local gallery to educate the public on WHY it #39;s so important to your health to eat CLEAN (organic) food. Organic foods are foods produced by organic farming. Synthetic pesticides...
By:
jaylynn444More here:
Organic food is clean food - Video
#mybiofach – Join into the World`s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food – Video
Posted: at 2:52 pm
#mybiofach - Join into the World`s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food
People, ideas and tastes - BIOFACH gathers the full variety of the organic food world in Nrnberg, Germany every year In February. Organic focuses on life and BIOFACH sees itself as the central...
By:
BIOFACHRead the original post:
#mybiofach - Join into the World`s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food - Video
Kratky Hydroponics Indoor vs Outdoor Growth Comparison – Video
Posted: at 2:52 pm
Kratky Hydroponics Indoor vs Outdoor Growth Comparison
Here is a little one month growth comparison for my lettuce plants growing in the Kratky method hydroponics. The results are pretty amazing to say the least! Project America is all about...
By:
Project America - Growing Organic Food - Buying American GoodsHere is the original post:
Kratky Hydroponics Indoor vs Outdoor Growth Comparison - Video