Cinnaholic Media Preview

Who: The VN editorial staff

What: Press event for opening of vegan bakery Cinnaholic

Where: Downtown Berkeley, Calif.

When: Friday, July 16, 2010

Why: Because everyone needs an excuse to eat cinnamon rolls and drink Champagne in the middle of the day. That's how we roll.

The Scoop: Cinnaholic vegan cinnamon buns have been pretty famous around the VNHQ for a while now—we savor their holiday treats and practically buy them out at SF Vegan Bake Sales. So imagine our pure delight when the grand opening of Cinnaholic's first bakery in downtown Berkeley finally came. Over the bridge and through the college town we went, straight to the front door of what easily could be death-by-cinnamon.

Immediately we soaked in the atmosphere—what owners Shannon Michelle and Florian Radke call "punk-rock meets pin-up." The cuteness of the shop, which will be decorated by rotating local art, was only surpassed when we caught glimpses of the first cinnamon rolls.

Cinnaholic owners Florian and

Shannon Michelle

Radke

We're not talking your average cinnamon roll. The genius behind Cinnaholic is that everything is customizable. The bakery offers 30 different flavors of frosting and toppings, all to be mixed and matched to your delight—oh, and it's all 100-percent vegan! So if you're in the mood for apple pie or Rocky Road, they've got you covered. For inspiration, Shannon Michelle says, "I tried to think of our favorite childhood treats. Rocky Road, chocolate-chip cookie dough, s'mores ... we incorporated some classic flavors that everyone loves like vanilla or strawberry and chose a few that just sounded interesting like piña colada and root beer. We were blown away at how good they tasted."

Cinnaholic's amazing cinnamon rolls

We were blown away too. Overall, it was a perfectly delicious Friday afternoon. Cinnaholic officially opens tomorrow, July 17. Get there early, these rolls are too good to miss!

VegNews Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria enjoying some Champagne.

Chicago Green Festival

Who: Editorial Assistant Liz Miller and Associate Editor Abigail Young

What: Chicago Green Festival

Where: Navy Pier, Chicago, Ill.

When: May 22–23, 2010

Why: Going green is just more fun in a city chockfull of vegan food.

The Scoop: With its year-round moderate temperatures, it's not hard to get comfortable living in San Francisco—even if the current season is perennially unclear. Is it autumn? Is it winter? Honestly, when it's 70 degrees and sunny two weeks before Christmas, we're not asking questions. Occasionally though, two Missouri girls just need a weekend in the Midwest to revel in classic summer weather: hot, hot, heat and some serious humidity. That was the forecast for our Windy City weekend spent working at the Chicago Green Festival, and boy were we excited.

The Windy City's skyline from Navy Pier

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, and after downing some hotel-brewed coffee, made for the festival, held at Chicago's tourist destination du jour, Navy Pier. Our friend Sarah had happily volunteered to drive up from St. Louis to help work the booth with us on Saturday, and her help made the whole day that much more fun. We always love meeting subscribers and extended VN family members at shows, and finally getting to meet our superstar contributor Marla Rose and our March+April cover girl Leanne Mai-Ly Hilgart of Vaute Couture was an extra-special treat. Additionally, Abby was thrilled—if not a little overwhelmed—to meet several, very lovely Savvy Abby fans. We were definitely feeling, and appreciating, all the Windy City love.

Sarah and Abby workin' it

After several long hours of making new friends, connecting with readers, handing out copies of our May+June issue, and selling VN subscriptions, we three ladies were ready for a little thing we like to call lunch. With a selection of the best vegan restaurants to choose from, we found ourselves in a sort of plant-based paradise: What to do? Abby and Sarah opted for the hearty, spicy Buddha Burger from The Chicago Diner, while I chose the savory, rich Mac 'n' Cheese and Corn Bread from Soul Vegetarian. Fully satisfied and left with lingering food comas, the consensus was that Chicago might know a thing or two about serving up excellent vegan comfort food.

Corn bread and mac 'n' cheese from Soul Vegetarian

After wrapping up the show on Saturday, Sarah, Abby, and I went back to our hotel to change out of our VN attire and met up with Abby's super fun friend Nick to head north for an evening of the finest cruelty-free cocktails and margaritas that Boystown has to offer. On Sunday, we awoke early to the hottest day Chicago has experienced since last summer—and no, we weren't upset about it. Clad in capped-sleeved tees and our favorite sunglasses, we trekked over to Navy Pier for more great Green Festival festivities.

If working at shows proves one thing time and time again, it's how awesome VN subscribers are. Hearing everything from people's recipe-testing stories to how they went vegan after reading a feature about the hazards of eating meat definitely made our weekend. While it's always a relief to board a plane back home, it's nice to know there's such great people waiting for you the next time you're in town.

Millennium's Southern Comfort Dinner

Who: The Entire Toothless VN Posse
What: Annual staff trek to Millennium RestaurantWhere: San Francisco, Calif.When: May 26, 2010Why: Southern-fried, artery-clogging extravagance. And Beer.
The Scoop: Not sure zackly how long we-all ben goin' to this-here Millennium Restaurant for its annual Southern Comfort Dinner, "an evening of embarrassingly unsophisticated family favorites," but we never miss th' family reunion or chance to stuff ourselves comatose with the down-right tastiest, anti-McDougall menu this side o' Tupelo.

Fer starters we had this ol' bucket of the finest suds money kin buy, seen here wetting the whistles of Miss Lyndsay and Miss Abby.

Olympia, Hamm's, and MHL. Only the best!

Dat's Miss Lyndsay and Miss Abby

Next was a trio of breads plus backyard-raised chicken wing "appeteasers," which left yo' mouth hotter than a half-bred fox in a forest fire.

Cornbread, Cheddar & Green Chili Bread, and Parker Houses Rolls with Pimento "Spam" Butter

Danielle's chicken wings, spinach non-skinny dip and chips

Not sure why we had such a healthy course, maybe health 'surence cause o' dat new law the Prez'dent passed. Check out dat feda cheese!

Fun's Over for the Greek Salad with gov'ment feta "cheese!"

There was a quartet of entrees, which is like four I think, and I'm glad you asked yes we had to try all o' 'em. Loosen yo' belt!

Chef Hot Carl's Roast, straight from the carving station

Dunbar's Missed Bris Minnesota Meatball Sub

Li'l Brother Nic's Crispy Tacos

The M. Crew topped off this bypass brouhaha with a sticky sundae bar jammed with more fixins' than allowed by law. We all managed to squeeze in the "sweat treat with no meats" before crashing and burning. Asked by Grand Ol' Chef Eric Tucker with satisfactory glee, "You feeling comatose?" "Yes." "Good."

The sundae bar included coffee bark, rice mellow creme, and oreos

Praise the Good Lord it's only once a year. See you there next May!

Loving Hut and Lovely Frapps

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young and Editorial Assistant Liz Miller

What: Snack breaks at Loving Hut and Starbucks

Where: Downtown San Francisco, Calif.

When: Sunday, May 2, 2010

Why: Because we'll take any excuse—especially brand-new vegan offerings—to spend the day downtown.

The Scoop: Living out by the beach has its perks, but the distance from bustling downtown SF can be quite the deterrent on the weekends when all I want to do is sleep in and lay around on said beach (weather permitting). Luckily, last weekend provided two viable excuses to motivate, and not surprisingly, both were of the edible variety.

Liz and I set out with Loving Hut in mind, whose new location in the Westfield mall's fancy food court promised a bit of shopping, too. Loving Hut has more than 100 locations worldwide, proving the all-vegan chain is doing something right. Even better, the new location has prime food-court real estate, smack-dab in the middle of this mall-food mecca, with its cute, glowing "vegan cuisine"sign and friendly staff inviting everyone to give some egg-free fried rice a try.

Loving Hut's newest location

We each decided on the buffet special, which included two entrée items and a side of rice. The best part? It wasn't just steamed rice like the typical mall chain—diners have a choice of steamed, brown, or fried. We rolled with fried, naturally, and picked out two unlabeled—but completely delicious—items. I stuck with a simple choice of steamed, seasoned veggies and a crispy tofu dish. The servings were huge, making it impossible for me to try two other offerings that caught my eye in the display case: cha siu bao and some major cake business.

Vegan fried rice, steamed veggies, and crispy tofu

It was a good thing we ignored our initial sweet-tooth craving, because it wasn't long before we stumbled into a Starbucks. Have you tried the newly reformulated, vegan-friendly Frappuccinos? Because they might change your life. We both went for a soy mocha frapp, and pretty much couldn't stop talking about how delicious they were until we had annihilated them. A chocolate shake with caffeine? That's all I need in life.

The almighty soy mocha Frappuccino

Oh, there was some shopping and other stuff in there, too, but all I can think about is fried rice and frapps. Is it the weekend yet?

Vegan Drinks: Hello, 2010!

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Liz Miller and the VN crew!

What: SF Vegan Drinks

Where: Martuni's, San Francisco, Calif.

When: Thursday, January 28, 2010

Why: Cocktail time is always more fun with like-minded people!

The Scoop: When happy hour rolls around, hardworking vegans are just like everybody else—we too enjoy indulging in afterwork libations. Thankfully for thirsty Bay Area vegans, VegNews and Vegansaurus host SF Vegan Drinks once every month at Martuni's. While the drink specials are great—no, seriously, we have our own monthly special—the company is certainly why we love and greatly anticipate the event. The best part of the night was definitely seeing the room slowly grow from a handful of people to an overwhelming, tightly packed crowd of the finest vegans in SF. Familiar faces included vegan bodybuilder and former VN cover model Kenneth Williams, VN contributor Mat Thomas, VegWebmistress and Vegansaurus founder Laura Beck, vegetarian chef Philip Gelb, Brian Grupe of Vegan Outreach, Dr. Mark Berman, Suicide Girls co-founder and Vegansaurus contributor Steve Simitzis, and many more! Yep, we vegans are a pretty awesome crowd—and very looking good, of course.

Elizabeth and Abby show off how "cute" is done.

It wasn't all just fun though—there were also games. While sipping on cocktails, guests had the opportunity to enter VN's raffle for a chance to win a dozen cinnamon rolls from Cinnaholic! As if that alone wasn't a good enough reason to sign-up, all proceeds from the raffle benefited LBGT Compassion. Florian and Shannon Michelle Radke of Cinnaholic were even on-hand to see who the lucky winner would be. After much anticipation, officer manager Lyndsay Orwig drew the winning raffle ticket: VN columnist and vegan chef extraordinaire Jesse Miner! In total, the raffle raised more than $60 for LBGT Compassion.

Florian and Shannon Michelle from Cinnaholic!

If you haven't tried Cinnaholic's crazy delicious cinnamon roll creations, we can't emphasize enough how, well, crazy fantastic they are. Between delicious drinks we chatted with old friends, mingled with new ones, and photographed everything in between. We were thrilled with the teeming turn out, and can't wait for next month's celebration—hope to see you there! Cheers!

Vegan Bake Sale Benefit for Haiti

Who: VN Editorial Assistants Kristen Haney and Liz Miller, VN Associate Editor Abigail Young, and VegWebmistress Laura Beck

What: SF Vegan Bake Sale Benefit for Haiti

Where: Mercury Cafe, San Francisco, Calif.

When: Saturday, January 23, 2010

Why: Because vegan baked goods always taste better when they're helping those in need.

The Scoop: After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many of us were left discussing what we could do to help the suffering nation. A bunch of amazing vegans decided to put their spatulas where their mouths were and got to baking for the SF Vegan Bake Sale Benefit for Haiti.

Due to the seemingly relentless San Francisco rain, the bake sale was moved from Patricia's Green to Mercury Cafe. Luckily, the bad weather didn't seem to deter hungry vegans and omnivores alike. More than 30 bakers contributed their time and skills to the event, and the spread on the tables would make even the most determined dieters throw their New Year's resolutions out the window faster than you can say "adorable vegan mini cupcakes."

Gorgeous baked goods ready for the taking

Local bakeries Sugar Beat Sweets (who helped organize the event), Bike Basket Pies, and Cinnaholic all donated their delicious specialties, including mini cupcakes and brownies, whole vegan pies, and Daiya pizza rolls (!) and s'mores cinnamon rolls, respectively. Other yummy treats I snagged were a couple varieties of sugar cookies, some monkey bread that was absolutely bananas (get it?), and the peanut-butter-potato-chip cookies I brought in. Yes, I paid for things both my housemates and I made, and yes, I spent more than I care to disclose on things I promptly consumed.

Cinnaholic's savory Daiya pizza roll

While all of my delicious sugary loot and the subsequent sugar rush were reason enough to drag my butt through the drizzle, the best part is how insanely successful the bake sale's fund-raising efforts were. The sale raised $3,375!! Dang, that's a lot of sweets! Proceeds go to Food for Life Global and Partners in Health in Haiti.

Kristen shows off her baked-goods bounty

If you missed out on all the fun and feel-good vibes, don't fret. The next SF Vegan Bake Sale is right around the corner on Saturday, February 13, from 11am to 4pm in front of Ike's. With any luck, my sugar coma will have passed by then.

Safran Foer in San Francisco

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young and VN Publisher Joseph Connelly
What: “Why Do We Eat Animals?” with Jonathan Safran Foer
Where: Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, Calif.
When: November 5, 2009
Why: To support the release of Eating Animals, a thorough look at factory farming in the US

These days, it’s nearly impossible to glance through my RSS feed without at least one mention of Eating Animals staring me in the face. Maybe I have absolutely no problem with this, and maybe the increasing hype surrounding Jonathan Safran Foer’s first venture into non-fiction had me even more excited for Thursday’s seemingly fanatic festivities. Not only did we have Mr. Foer join us for a catered three-course lunch, but I also made it to his lecture that evening at the Jewish Community Center.

After a few failed attempts at maneuvering the Muni bus system despite nearly a collective year living in the city (Note to self: Presidio Park is not the same as Presidio Avenue), my sister, Alisha, and I managed to make it to the center with a few minutes to spare. The crowd hurried to their seats, and we spotted VN Publisher Joseph Connelly just a few rows ahead.

Copies of Eating Animals, ready for purchase

Foer started off reading from the first chapter of his book, opening up the conversation with his own childhood memories of food and its importance. He kept it brief, giving audience members a good idea of what to expect if and when they bought the book. Foer opened up the floor for a good portion of the evening, addressing audience questions on everything from ex-vegetarians to “humane” meat, and even doled out advice on being veg in the Arctic Circle. (“If your only two options are moose meat or Spam, don’t move to the Arctic Circle.”)

Foer signs copies of his book after the lecture

Overall, the evening was an honest dialogue between a variety of opinions and viewpoints. Listening to the young writer state his case and converse with the audience, it was hard to imagine this was around his fourth or fifth speaking engagement of the day. A meet-and-greet ended the evening in the center’s spacious lobby, where the only thing missing were vegan cupcakes on the sweets-filled snack trays. We hung around as the line died down, and met the man of the hour for a brief snapshot and congratulations. As Foer’s media blitz continues, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll be hearing from him.

Alisha, Jonathan Safran Foer, and me

Mushroom Meet 'n' Greet

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria and Associate Editor Abigail Young
What: A pre-conference
Where: RN74, San Francisco, Calif.
When: September 25, 2009
Why: Meeting fellow food bloggers before the big BlogHer Food '09 conference!

The Scoop: Often times, Abby and I like to eat. Sometimes, we even like to eat together, and when the opportunity arose to attend a pre-conference cocktail hour with mushroom-centric hors d'oeuvres, we pretty much jumped at it. The evening was organized by Jessi Langsen of The Mushroom Channel, which is a PR blog for The Mushroom Council. As you might expect, there was a clear theme: mushrooms.

The very chic RN74 was a charming, if somewhat croweded, space for the fun. The place was packed—it was Friday night, after all—with diners, drinkers, and then us, the bloggers. Canapés of maitake mushroom tempura and shiitake veloute—which I was assured was vegan—came around every so often, which we eagerly devourved, having been instructed to come "dinner-time hungry." Abby and I got separated early on by the crowd, but both ended up finding fine chatting companions. It was fun to catch up with Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen, and Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of BlogHer. Abby met Abi Jones, a local San Franciscan—something of a rarity in this crowd—who started Heat Eat Review.

Me, Abby, and Abi, at the evening's end

By the time we left we were all geared up for the following day's conference, about which Abby will have a full report soon!

Saturday Sound-off

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, and VN Editorial Assistant Kailey Harless

What: PCRM’s School Lunch Sound-off

Where: a.Muse Gallery, San Francisco, Calif.

When: August 22, 2009

Why: I was told there’d be vegan tamales.

The Scoop: This was an extra-special Saturday, seeing as I’m generally of the sleep-until-noon variety. I happily put my weekend tradition on hold for an event not to be missed—the School Lunch Sound-Off, presented by the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine. I managed a pre-lunchtime wake-up call with (relative) ease, and made my way to a.Muse Gallery with the rest of the VN crew for what promised to be a fantastic start to my Saturday.

The event, spearheaded by everyone’s favorite Ms. Laura Beck, brought students, parents, and citizens together to discuss PCRM’s Healthy School Lunches campaign, aimed at bringing vegetarian and vegan options to public schools nationwide. To fuel attendees brains, an all-star vegan feast created by local SF talent awaited guests. I’m not ashamed to admit, I was one of the first to hit the serving table.

The front of the serving line—the happiest place on earth

You can’t blame my eagerness—this wasn’t ordinary “free food.” A triple culinary threat brought the party, formed by the Brassica Supperclub gourmands, the elusive SF Vegan Tamales crew, and the always tasty Sugar Beat Sweets. The results? We’re talking two kinds of vegan tamales, fresh fruit salad, savory white and black bean dips, heirloom-tomato bruschetta, and bite-sized cupcakes, including my personal favorite flavor combo, chocolate mint. Maybe I got seconds. You would’ve, too.

A full plate of vegan offerings, including the infamous tamales

The food served as a welcomed bonus, but not the main attraction. Millennium chef Stephanie Roston started off the afternoon’s lecture with a brief history of her experience with kids and healthy eating (conclusion: kids love healthy food!), followed by a talk on nutrition by Susan LaVelle, a family nurse practitioner. The facts and figures about childhood obesity and its resulting health risks, not to mention first-hand accounts of her professional practice, were unsettling. Considering 30.5 million school lunches are served everyday, the cafeteria seems like a great place to initiate healthy change.

The third speaker was former Taxi-star, nutritionista, and best-selling author Marilu Henner. During her passionate speech, Marilu shared her personal vegan history, reaching back more than 30 years, and her motivation as a mother and educated activist for supporting PCRM’s initiative. The word “firecracker” could be heard throughout the room as the perfect descriptive of Marilu. An inspiring force to be reckoned with, she’s spreading a message of health across the country.

The rest of the afternoon passed with mingling, including a run-in with our friend Michelle (who also works with PCRM) from Vegan Break, and other fun activities: planting take-home flower pots, writing letters in support of PCRM, coloring, and making awesome animal-shaped PB&J sandwiches. Okay, so maybe some of these activities were originally planned for the younger crowd. Still, they were enjoyed by all, as was the entire afternoon.

Weekend Warriors

Who: VN Associate Editor Abigail Young, Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, and Editorial Assistants Kailey Harless and Charlotte Gordon
What: Animal Rights National Conference, Part I
Where: Los Angeles, Calif.
When: June 16–20, 2009
Why: To represent VegNews at the annual AR conference

The Scoop: This year’s Animal Rights National Conference brought activists from across the world to Los Angeles for four days of thought-provoking lectures, stimulating conversations, and fast friendships. A lucky group of VN staffers, myself included, made the oh-so-excruciating one-hour flight to the world’s oldest meet-up of its kind.

Joining an array of exhibitors, the team set up shop to meet attendees and spread the VegNews word. Conveniently, our table was sandwiched between the two sole food vendors, Samosa House and SunPower Natural Café. Did we complain about vegan samosas in plain sight, or the generous raw chocolate-cookie samples sent our way? Certainly not.

Friday welcomed an excited crowd, eager to peruse the exhibition room between lectures. I had the pleasure of meeting many of our readers, as well as making friends with some new subscribers. Robert Cheeke of Vegan Bodybuilding fame stopped by and was kind enough to dole out free fitness advice to Kailey and me (upon our request).

After a long day at the conference, it was time for our anticipated outing to the much-hyped vegan fast-food haven, The Veggie Grill. In case you haven’t been, believe the hype.

Veggie Grill's All Hail Kale salad with crispy "chicken"

I inhaled my All Hail Kale salad, and snuck a few stellar sweet-potato fries from the table’s appetizer.

Sweet-potato fries with chipotle ranch dipping sauce

If the food and sunshine weren't enough, I had the pleasure of keeping excellent dinner company: author and blogger Erik Marcus, Mercy for Animals' Nathan Runkle, and the conference’s two Grassroots Activist awardees, Lauren Ornelas and Dave Bernel.

Their awards, among others, were presented at Saturday’s banquet. Attendees in their swankiest weekend wear honored the year’s top activists and organizations, dined on Match Meats entrées, and enjoyed an entertaining celebrity-hosted charity auction. Remember French Stewart? No? What about now? He garnered quite a few laughs from our table, which I wouldn't entirely attribute to the merlot.

Charlotte, Kailey, and I pose at the banquet

The night ended with a mixer at the hotel’s high-dollar bar, combining a local LA Vegan Drinks event with the conference’s nightly reception. Despite the attire and the cocktails’ price tags, the tone was casual, celebratory, and a perfect end to the evening.