Prop. 2 Party Play-by-Play

Who: VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria, Peter Ryan, and some of the finest animal advocates on the planet
What: Yes on Prop. 2 Election Night Party
Where: The San Francisco SPCA, San Francisco, Calif.
When: November 4, 2008
Why: To watch and freak out as Prop. 2 passed!

The Scoop: Remember way back in April when a few VN staffers headed out to celebrate the seemingly impossible accomplishment of drumming up enough signatures to get Prop. 2 onto the California ballot? Well, maybe a ton has happened between then and now. Maybe a veritable army of volunteers has leafletted, canvassed, and in all other ways promoted the hell out of Prop. 2 all over the state, and maybe it was officially time to see their efforts pay off. After an excrutiatingly long day of refreshing the online swing-state maps and twitching in anticipation, I headed down to the SPCA, ready to hear some good news.

The scene was quietly energetic when Peter and I first arrived, as most people were glued to the television watching reports of the presidential election results come in. As at any good party, there were tables of food, specifically vegan Mexican food from Flacos and a selection of chocolate-mint mini cupcakes and butterscotch brownies from Sugar Beat Sweets. First things came first: finding and hugging Erin Williams of The Humane Society of the United States, who has worked tirelessly on this campaign. I found her, Karin Olsson, and Andrew Page—also of HSUS—glued to a smaller screen, that of a computer that would soon tell us Prop. 2's results.
What's the hardest part of being so close to victory? The waiting, believe it or not. While some people have been "cautiously optimistic" about the potential of Prop. 2 to pass, a certain senior editor has been convinced wholeheartedly that the passing was imminent from day one, which made the wait even more intolerable. Thankfully, someone thoughtful organized a little distraction called the presidential election. As news that Obama had officially won came in, a massive sigh of excitement and relief went up. Listening to his moving acceptance speech was probably the only possible thing that could have prepared us for the excitement that was about to be announced. Appropriately, the well-oiled, history-making machine that was the Prop. 2 campaign has been compared to the obviously successful, and well-organized Obama campaign.

When the time finally came to make the big announcement, Erin asked us all to keep it down just a bit—we didn't want shrieks of joy from animal advocates disturbing the animals at the shelter! Barely able to contain ourselves, we listened as she told us that, yes, Prop. 2 passed. We died. Some of us may have literally cried—a lot. The excitement, relief, gratitude, and exhilaration of victory was palpable in the room, as people hugged, clapped, and hugged again. Erin gave a brief, lovely speech and thanked everyone profusely, as did Karin and Nora Kramer. By the time the evening came to its close, the world had changed for the better.

An extremely happy Erin Williams and Elizabeth Castoria

Put a Little Love in Your Hut

The Won Ton Noodle Soup at San Francisco's Loving Hut

Who: VN Publisher/Editor in Chief Joseph Connelly + VN Editorial Director Aurelia d'Andrea
What: A vegan restaurant opening
When: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Where: San Francisco's Chinatown
Why: Vegan food, silly!

The Scoop: If there's one thing San Francisco needs more of, it's vegan restaurants. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: bring on the dosas, burritos, tajines, tamales, gnocchi, fried noodles, bibimbap, dim sum, pho, sushi, injera, and your won ton noodle soup, and make mine animal-free! Well, ask, and ye shall receive, apparently, because the Supreme Master Ching Hai folks—the ones who've given us Golden Era, Golden Lotus, Vegetarian House, and other Chinese-Vietnamese veg places around the world, have now given us Loving Hut.  

Joseph and I agreed to meet in Chinatown at 11:00 am on this sunny autumn Saturday to celebrate the newest addition to the global chain of Loving Hut cafés. Finding the restaurant wasn't a problem; we merely gravitated toward the crowd that converged at the corner of Stockton and Vallejo streets, and we were met with a festive hoohah that included dancing dragons spitting out chunks of cabbage, fireworks, drums, and lots of oohs and aahs from the crowd.

After the commotion settled, the hungry throngs poured inside the immaculate, slightly sterile interior for a taste of whatever was on offer, which happened  to be an eclectic melange of Asian and good-ol' American. From noodle soups and mild curries to veggie burgers and French fries, there was a little something for everyone. I opted for a bowl of Bun Hue—a spicy noodle soup loaded with fake meat, while Joseph went for the Won Ton Noodle Soup. And the Gurus Curry. And the Spring Rolls. And the Raspberry-Chocolate Cake. Okay: We actually shared. However, the soup was so filling there was barely room for anything else. Somehow I made it happen, though.

While we slurped our noodles and chopsticked our way through the curry, we felt the eerie sensation of eyeballs boring into us. Looking out the glass window onto Vallejo Street, we recognized a familiar face staring back at us: HSUS' Erin Williams! Turns out Erin—who, among other things, is co-author of Why Animals Matter: The Case For Animal Protection—was out in the 'hood distributing Prop. 2 flyers, and since it was lunchtime, she and a couple of cohorts thought they'd stop in for a nibble. 

We later discovered—by their own admission—that for Erin, Karin, and Walker, this was to be their third Loving Hut meal in two days. Looks like Loving Hut is already a hit.

Walker, Karin, Erin, Joseph, and Aurelia at Loving Hut

Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash

Who: The whole VN staff, legendary cookbook author Sarah Kramer, and 75 perky party-goers
What: The much-anticipated Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash
Where: GingerRubio Salon, San Francisco, Calif.
When: October 3, 2008
Why: To launch Vegan à Go-Go! in high style

The Scoop: It's not every day that one of the world's best-selling vegan cookbook authors makes her return to the world of publishing—and you know how we like an excuse to throw a party. In celebration of Sarah Kramer's latest work, we held a little shindig at GingerRubio, an absolutely gorgeous salon tucked away on a side street in San Francisco's Mission District. The festivities got started right around 6pm when the guest of honor arrived. Sarah immediately got busy greeting guests as they arrived and chatting with her dedicated fans. Mini root-beer floats and Pink Lady cocktails whetted everyone's appetite for actual eats, and gave the party a fun, frivolous feeling. Friendly servers bearing trays of food—provided by Google chef Justin Lucke—swirled around the room offering guests such mid-century classics as Rocket Dogs (fancy Pigs-in-a-Blanket), Knuckle Sandwiches (open-faced no-egg-salad sandwiches on sliced baguette), and Doo Wop Dip (a classic onion dip, complete with crunchy onions on top), and Doris Day Mushroom Paté, which was served with the requisite crackers: Triscuits.

Upstairs, DJ Jazzy Aurelia kept the evening lively with '50s-era tunes, and our diligent tattoo artists, Abby and Lyndsay, made sure that everyone was as colorful as possible. While it was difficult to choose between various tattoo options—including one bearing the likeness of the guest of honor—most people elected to be adorned with the simple "vegan" tatt. We even saw one gracing a guest's neck! Speaking of the guests, we were in no short supply of cool company. In addition to Sarah, we got to mingle with Erin Williams—who's in California for the final push for Yes! on Prop. 2 before election day—Erica Meier and Noelle Callahan of Compassion Over Killing, Ann and Larry Wheat of Millennium, Ursula Calderon of Oakland's Micio Mambo boutique, fabulous vegan esthetician Jocelyn Clarin Richards, and about 75 other enthusiastic party-goers.

About halfway through the evening we gave out a few fabulous door prizes, including tubs of Sjaak's incredibly yummy chocolates and one very swanky Matt & Nat bag. Sarah entertained the crowd and answered questions, though she might not have wanted to admit that she'd never been to Millennium! After offering advice on how to get your stuff back from your ex, and letting us know which is her favorite recipe in Vegan à Go-Go!—Nanaimo bars, in case you were wondering—Sarah got to work signing books. To make sure no one died of starvation while waiting to get their book autographed, servers made the rounds with Tollhouse-style Chocolate Chip cookies, which were extra gooey and delicious, and Betty Crocker Coconut Islands (pictured below). After the munching, mingling, and merriment, please consider Vegan à Go-Go! officially launched.