Green Goodness

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Abigail Wick, VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, and the rest of the VN crew
What: SF's first springtime Green Festival
Where: San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco, Calif.
When: April 9–11, 2010
Why: The gathering of like minds for a good, old-fashioned green time

The Scoop: Last weekend, San Francisco hosted one of the country’s premier environmental-justice conferences, the Green Festival, sponsored in part by VegNews Magazine. This event marked the first spring iteration of the event, which is usually held just once per year in cities across the country. Despite the torrential deluge outdoors, inside the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, attendees created a warm, hospitable atmosphere. Some of the special guests included musical artist Chuck D of hip-hop group Public Enemy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, Democracy Now journalist Amy Goodman, along with another 120 green speakers, educators, and activists.

Lyndsay and I handle the VegNews booth.

Three hundred and fifty eco-businesses erected booths and promoted all manner of goods and services. Sundry offerings included the homemade vegan corn dogs and garlic fries that Lyndsay and I devoured. Domestic items encompassed everything from green-manufactured, organic-cotton, screen printed dresses to soft hemp linens. Services ranged from a sustainable construction company to on-site, hour-long massages. Media purveyors varied from the local (Oakland-based anarcho publisher PM Press), to the progressive (Utne Magazine), to the prestigious (The New York Times). There was also a special sighting—Hollywood actor Danny Glover, a Bay Area local, came strolling through the Green Festival late Sunday afternoon.

VegNews' youngest (and shortest) fan!

All in all, the Green Festival was a fantastic event that brought sunlight to an otherwise wet, cold day in our City by the Bay.

Green Stylin' It in the DC

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: DC Green Festival + Sticky Fingers Bakery
Where: Washington, DC
When: October 10–11, 2009
Why: To catch up with old friends and to promote the green movement in our nation's capital

The Scoop: Being an East Coaster for most of my life, I was very happy to travel to Washington, DC, this past weekend for the Green Festival and to see some old friends, including Kellie, who is a dear friend all the way back to the age of 12. Yes, there were quite a few slumber parties in our past, and I was so excited to revisit those memories once again by bunking at her home. It wasn’t non-stop movies and giggle fests as before, but there was good food and fun, as well as some much-needed catching up.

Kellie and me at the Green Festival

Being the doll that she is, Kellie helped me out at the Green Festival. As you’ve read before, the festival is a sustainable event sweeping the US that strives to spread the green movement by inviting individuals, businesses, and community leaders to come together and share their issues, ideas, and products focused on restoring the planet. The festival is currently held in five cities—Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Washington, DC, and San Francisco—and VegNews has had the pleasure of participating in all of them this year (excluding San Francisco, which is coming up November 13 to 15). It’s fun and educational, not to mention tasty with vegetarian food galore. I don’t want to make you jealous, but I feasted on some amazing vegan soul food from Soul Vegetarian, including some of the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever tasted. You may want to check out a Green Festival happening near you—it’s definitely a good time.

An everlasting friendship

The Green Festival was the focus of the weekend, but I was also able to hang out in the District of Columbia as well. Along with seeing Kellie, I caught up with an old friend, Matt, and his band-mate from their up-and-coming group from the Hampton Roads called The Poly Opto. Last, but certainly not least, I visited another friend who I had not seen in a very long time, named Sticky Fingers Bakery. Let me just say that a Daiya grilled cheese with tempeh bacon and tomato is about the best breakfast in the entire world, and a box full of fresh baked goods (hello, Cowvin Cookies) isn’t too shabby either.

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Yes, it was a wonderful weekend, and one that I was very sad to see end. Though I absolutely love the West Coast and don’t plan to leave anytime soon, the East Coast definitely has a part of my heart. It’s always a beautiful thing to come back to old friends.

Friday Night’s Alright For Eating

Who: VN Publisher/Editor in Chief Joseph Connelly + a pair of pedometists
What: A raw Friday-night dinner
Where: Café Gratitude, San Francisco
When: November 21, 2008
Why: To chew the fat with fat-free athletes

The Scoop: It was a dark and stormy workweek. After the Green Festival, which coincided with what must have been record-breaking temps here in Fog City, we enjoyed a few more days of Indian summer on Monday/Tuesday before someone turned off the heat and the chill-that-can-be-San Francisco returned in full fall fashion. Yes, dear readers in New England, Ontario, Chicago, or Minnesota, the mercury dipped below 60°F here, low enough to send nearly the entire city running for mittens, scarves, and space heaters. We're tough.

Braving the frigid conditions, Canadian triathlete Brendan Brazier, formulator of Vega, everyone’s favorite whole-food meal replacement, and his traveling companion Julie Morris, she of LA (though recently relocated from Portland), were in the Bay Area demo-ing said nutritional supplement at a few Whole Foods Markets. With their duties complete, the pair swung by the VegNews offices for a quick visit with the working-late-on-a-Friday staff, and to pick up complimentary “You Are What You Read’ VegNews t-shirts, which, of course, they promised to wear whenever they are out and about.

Next, it was off to dinner. We spun the big wheel and the needle landed on Café Gratitude, the perfect choice, since all three of us all delve in rawish foods whenever possible. We picked the 9th Avenue (SF) location, though any of the other four CG’s, which you read about in our September+October Food Issue, would have been just fine. This is a chain where the food is consistently good no matter the location.

We started with an order of I Am Generous, which equates to chips, guac, and salsa ($9). The “chips’ being, of course, dehydrated flax crackers. Brendan and Julie shared a bowl of I Am Thankful, or coconut curry soup with avo, tomato, cukes, and shiitakes. I ordered the I Am Giving kale salad ($9.75 for a half portion), thanks to VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria, who at our staff lunch earlier in the day talked about how she could go for a kale salad. This vegan yum yum mixes sea veggies, cukes, shiitakes, cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds, and tasty teriyaki almonds into the marinated kale. It’s as good as it sounds.

Brendan and Julie each ordered the I Am Fulfilled large café salad, which is what I normally get so I was happy to have been corrupted by Ms. Castoria, lest all three of us order the same thing, and how ridiculous is that? For $13 you get a hugemungaloid bowl of mixed greens, avo, carrots, beets, cukes, tomato, more flax crackers, “parmesan,” and those yummy teriyaki almonds, which I vote for adding to the menu as a side. You hear me?

I Am Thankful + I Am Fulfilled, courtesy Café Gratitude

I also ordered the I Am Cool milk-free milkshake—no reason needed. This tempting concoction blends raw hazelnut milk, vanilla, cacao nibs, and mint into a refreshing, light treat that had Julie formulating the recipe in her head for trial at home, using her Vita-Mix, of course. I asked for the large, 16-oz ($9.75), and took half of it back to Colleen because, well, in her not-so-subtle way, she asked me to.

During dinner I learned that Julie had just run her first marathon, in Portland. Regular Press Passers know that I just ran one, as well, making the world famous triathlete and two-time Canadian 50k champion the slacker at our table. At least for the month of October, 2008.

Julie Morris & Brendan Brazier, San Francisco, November 2008

Green (Festival) Day

Who: VN Editorial Director Aurelia d'Andrea + a couple o' colleagues

What: A day at the San Francisco Green Festival + and a post-fest evening on the town

When: Saturday, November 15

Where: South of Market district, San Francisco

Why: For work + for play

The Scoop: I like the Green Festival. It's a fun opportunity to taste a ton of new "green" food and drink (the elderflower kombucha by Kombucha Botanica is my new favorite), to get to meet and greet fellow green-media folk, to become acquainted with green conservation leaders, and to learn more about such things as socially responsible investing, renewable energy, and green technology. Never mind that there was maybe a little too much patchouli oil floating around, that I probably ate way more than my fair share of Clif bar samples, and that I spent more time working when I really wanted to be eating even more samples. It was still loads of fun, and not just because I also got to see a lot of friends and acquaintances who popped by our booth to say hi.

Lyndsay Orwig and Aurelia d'Andrea workin' it at the VN booth

This year, I was paired up with Lyndsay Orwig, VegNews' editorial-intern-turned-office-manager, to work the Saturday afternoon shift at our swanky double-wide booth. Together, we busted our behinds selling subscriptions, fielding queries, and distributing free copies of our current issue. After several hours-worth of shilling for a good cause—and for enduring an hour or more of tantric dance maneuvers provided by some random attendees who thought the space in front of our booth would make an ideal "stage"—we figured we earned the right to relax and have fun.

After retrieving my bike from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's valet parking station, Lyndsay and I headed toward 7th and Folsom Streets to Brainwash, a cafe-slash-laundromat, where Cult of Sue Todd—one of the many bands featured in our July+August Music issue—was scheduled to perform. When we got there, we didn't yet see anyone we knew, so we decided to pop in next door to Terroir, which totally resembled this place in my old Paris neighborhood that I adored, and which, therefore, led me to assume it would be a cozy wine bar. It was, but it wasn't until we'd committed to a glass that we noticed the not-very-vegan-friendly menu. I won't tell you what was on it, except to say that it included animal parts that many in the animal-rights movement are fighting to ban the production of. Oh well. Now I know.

As soon as we'd polished off our Malbec, we headed back over to Brainwash where VN Editor-at-Large Jennifer Pickens awaited us, as did The Traveling Vegetarian Yvonne Smith, VN Volunteer Extraordinaire Paul Saccone, and a few other friends we hadn't seen in a while. I was starving at this point, so after perusing the menu, I decided on a big ol' plate of French fries. Nothing like a spot of grease after all those healthy Green Festival nibbles. They were really tasty, by the way, especially when dunked into barbecue sauce. Yum!

Yvonne Smith, Paul Saccone, and Jennifer Pickens do "cool" like nobody's business

After rocking out to such classic Cult of Sue Todd hits as "Closer" and "Tampa," the band busted out a stellar rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." Even if you, like me, were never a fan of San Francisco's most famous musical hometown heroes, maybe you just couldn't help but wish you had a lighter to flick in the air for this one. When the musical segment of the evening ended, the motley lot of us migrated across the street to a really funky restaurant/bar/swing-goth dance club (really) that just isn't worth mentioning the name of, but let's just say the ambience didn't matter as much as getting to hang out with a cool gang of veggies for one warm November evening.

Windy City Green

Who: VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria, VN Distribution Manager Katie Donaldson, and former VN Editorial Assistant Extraordinaire Christine Petrozzo
What: Chicago Green Festival + related revelry
Where: Navy Pier, Chicago, Ill.
When: May 17–18, 2008
Why: Because we're greenies who like to eat

The Scoop: Next to the calm waters of Lake Michigan, the Windy City was recently taken by a green storm. After an opening ceremony hosted by Mayor Richard Daley, hundreds of exhibitors, dozens of A-list speakers, and thousands of attendees swarmed the festive premises of Navy Pier to celebrate the best and brightest of the green industry. From eco-friendly footwear to fair-trade chocolate there were plenty of opportunities to get swept up in the green tide. Is that enough eco/weather references for one post? Okay, we'll move on. The show hours were spent meeting new subscribers, checking out oodles of edibles, and getting the scoop on new organizations, products, and potential story leads. Suffice it to say that at the end of the day, there was nothing we wanted more than to kick back and relax over a leisurely dinner.

After successfully navigating the tourist-friendly El system, we arrived, ravenous, at The Chicago Diner. Immediately taken in by the diner-themed decor, we eagerly poured over their extensive menu, and nearly died from the excitement of vegan shakes and their famous Radical Reuben. Finally, the three of us settled on the Reuben, the Southwestern Chikin Burger, one order of Crab Cakes, a strawberry shake, a peanut butter shake, and a slice of Cookies and Cream cake. Does that all sound outrageously fantastic? Because it totally was. Phe-freakin'-nominal would also be an appropriate description. The dinner was so good, in fact, that even though we were slightly tempted to explore other eateries during our two-day stay, we unanimously decided to go back the next night for more Chicago-Diner goodness. If you're in the area, allow us to strongly recommend the potato skins, Super Gyros, and a side of the mac 'n' cheese. Oh yeah, the leftovers also made excellent in-flight snacks the next day.

If there's anything better than great food and a good cause, it's getting to share the weekend with friends. Below, see some of our favorite ice-cream makers, the men of Chicago Soy Dairy, who evidently didn't do too shabbily at their booth:

Stuffed Silly in Seattle

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, and VN West Coast Sales Rep Laurie Bradley
What: Seattle Green Festival + vegan food tour
Where: Washington State Convention & Trade Center
When: April 11–14, 2008
Why: To share VegNews with 25k Green Festival attendees, as well as hit some great veg restaurants

The Scoop: In town for Seattle’s first-ever Green Festival, the VN team was eager to share the mag with the Seattle community. A long-time sponsor of the Green Festival, we travel each year to cool cities like Chicago, Austin, Washington DC, San Francisco, and now Seattle to promote the magazine at this wildly successful event—each attracts an average of 25,000 attendees, and the food is always vegetarian (and mostly vegan). It’s nice to be a part of a green event that gets its on the food level. After all, going veg is the single most important thing we can do to stop global warming, but, then, you already knew that.

Of course, VN business trips always include excursions to the city’s finest vegetarian eateries. It’s our duty, after all, to share the very best of all things veg with VN readers, so we’re just doing our job. Let’s just say that Seattle makes a great veggie getaway, whether for a weekend or a week. The options seem limitless, and we barely scratched the surface. So let’s get started:

Friday lunch: Cyber-Dogs
Located next to the convention center in the heart of downtown (see photo above), how could we pass up an opportunity to hit a café featuring exclusively vegetarian hot dogs and coffee drinks (this is Seattle, after all, birthplace of Starbucks). We savored the El Bandito (veggie dog topped with chili, vegan cheese, avocado, salsa, and onions) and Dog from Ipanema (smothered in rice, black beans, tomatoes, hearts of palm, and cilantro simmered in coconut milk).

Friday dinner: Teapot Vegetarian House
When asked about their favorite veg spot, many locals immediately respond “Teapot.” If you like faux meats, you’ll love this place. Three of us shared two of their house specialties: Rose Drummettes (tofu and seitan drummettes with a rose-tea dipping sauce) and Sweet and Sour Nuggets (made from mushrooms in a tangy sauce). We couldn’t resist the traditional Malay dessert called Gulu Malacca: tapioca pearls with sorbet, coconut syrup, soy whipped cream, and crushed peanuts.

Sunday breakfast #1: Flying Apron Bakery
We could have relaxed at this cozy vegan bakery for hours. Antique tables and chairs filled the eating area, where we nibbled on a warm gluten-free cinnamon roll and raspberry oat bar, and sipped peppermint tea and a soy chai latte. Free wi-fi and good people-watching made it extra special.

Sunday breakfast #2: Mighty-O Donuts
How could we pass up an opportunity to indulge in organic vegan donuts at the world-famous Mighty-O? An institution in Seattle, this friendly spot was packed, and we split a Chocolate Cake Don King (chocolate donut drizzled with vanilla icing and sprinkled with sweet coconut). If we lived in Seattle, we would house-hunt as close as possible to this joint to ensure a daily dose of the best damn vegan donuts we’ve ever had (see below photo for visual proof).

Sunday breakfast #3: Sidecar for Pigs Peace
Okay, we didn’t eat a third time, but we did make a stop at the vegan boutique, Sidecar for Pigs Peace, a must-visit on our trip. Located in the University district, this well-stocked shop donates all proceeds to Pigs Peace Sanctuary. What a great concept—and they sell everything from handbags and handmade soaps to vegan ice cream and dog food. We did buy some drinks to keep ourselves hydrated after the morning sugar overload.

Sunday dinner: Café Flora
This was the perfect place to enjoy a meal with friends on a cold, drizzly Seattle night. One of the city’s most celebrated vegetarian restaurants, we kept warm inside over yam fries with cayenne aioli, French dip sandwiches, flat-bread pizzas, organic green salads, and pan-fried yucca cakes. This is the place to impress non-veg friends or celebrate a special occasion.

Monday lunch: Chaco Canyon Café
In need of a healthy meal, this bright, airy organic café came highly recommended. Completely vegan, we sipped freshly squeezed juices (the 7003—apple, orange, carrot, kiwi, and ginger—and the Tummy Tickle (grapefruit, apple, ginger, and lemon) before sinking into a Hippy Bowl (quinoa topped with baked tofu, carrots, sprouts, and a garlic-tahini sauce) and a Thai Peanut Bowl (brown rice with baby bok choi, spinach, black sesame seeds, and a spicy peanut sauce).

Monday snack: Mighty-O Donuts
How awful would it be to return to the VNHQ without souvenirs from Seattle? And VN staffers deserve nothing but the best. So we picked up two dozen freshly-made, still-warm donuts from Mighty-O and got a full tour to boot, where owner Ryan Kellner shared the inner workings of a vegan donut shop (we found it fascinating). The VN staff will thank us in the morning.

And that completes our veggie food tour of Seattle. Hope you’re satisfied!