Gracious Gourmand

Who: VN contributor Jasmin Singer
What: Gracious Gourmand
Where: Second Stop Café, Brooklyn, NY
When: November 19, 2010

The Scoop: It’s true: Brooklyn is New York’s newest food Mecca. And last Friday, the L-train delivered me to the height of good taste.

“It’s a platform for chefs to get very experimental and avant garde with vegan cuisine, and really push the boundaries,” says Joshua Katcher, mastermind behind the city’s new hot ticket, Gracious Gourmand.

The man of the evening, Joshua Katcher, and me

The bi-weekly Friday night supper club boasts a different chef each time. For my lucky day, Chef Ella Nemcova of The Regal Vegan outdid herself, winning the hearts and stomachs of even rabid meat-eaters. One guest remarked, “I am an avid carnivore, and that was an amazing meal.”

The impressive entrée was a mouthful indeed: Rice Cannelloni Stuffed with Lobster Mushroom, with Pecan Braised Leek and Tempeh in a Porcini Cream Sauce on Kabocha Squash Puree. It was not only superb, but substantial. (“I like to eat a meal and feel like I’ve eaten a meal,” Nemcova told me.) Though each course was extraordinary, most memorable was the Lebanese Garlic, Cashew Cheese, and Smoky Kale Napoleon. Vaguely reminiscent of spinach pie, it was infinitely more complex, with bold flavors that popped and perfectly blended textures.

The amazing Rice Canelloni

Katcher, founder of The Discerning Brute, began Gracious Gourmand last summer to show off the delectable diversity of foods available to those with an appetite for compassion. Snuggled in the back of the quaint Second Stop Café (near the L train’s second stop in Brooklyn), Gracious Gourmand is “an iconoclastic feast for food-heretics,” explains Katcher, who will soon be in Paris organizing a cruelty-free fashion show for Paris Vegan Day. “And that really is my underhanded way of saying vegan.”

VegNews Eats New York (2nd course)

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: Second of Two Weeks in Veg Heaven
Where: Mostly Manhattan
When: April 18–24, 2010
Why: Someone was having a birthday…

The Scoop: Colleen and I spent the middle two weeks of April telecommuting from New York City. We stayed in the penthouse apartment of the vegetarian Sanctuary Guest Suites, one project of the nonprofit Interfaith Community Services, whose many programs include feeding the homeless. Next time you are in New York, consider a stay at the SGS rather than an expensive hotel. Our East Village “pad” had a kitchen, washer/dryer, and private rooftop deck with northern views of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. No kidding.

If you missed yesterday’s posting of the highlights of week one, click here. Week two was even better. Let's get started... there are many calories to consume.

10. Lantern Books' Martin Rowe and I woke early Sunday to participate in the City Parks Foundation's four-mile run in Manhattan's Central Park (while our female counterparts slept in). Afterward, we ventured over to Martin and Mia MacDonald’s stunning Brooklyn brownstone for a brunch feast prepared by (Super)Martin, who had already kicked my butt in the race (he does have longer legs). Here are Mia and Martin in front of their home.

9. After a quick trip to Long Island, we ended the long day at Atlas Café & Bakery (73 Second Avenue) with this delectable piece of Vegan Treats Strawberry Shortcake.

8. On Monday we lunched at the launch of the world’s newest vegetarian fast-food eatery, Otarian (154 Bleeker Street), the opening of its first two locations just happening to coincide with our trip. Here is The Discerning Brute himself, Joshua Katcher, communing with his VegO burger.

7. A post-lunch visit to BabyCakes NYC (248 Broome Street) kicked off “Sweets Week.” That’s Colleen and BabyCake’s GM (and die-hard Mets fan) Emily Woesthoff with a plate of goodies outside the Lower East Side destination.

6. Another new Big Apple eatery is The Loving Hut (348 Seventh Avenue), one of 159 such restaurants around the globe run by the devotees of Supreme Master Ching Hai. We dined with VegNews contributor Jasmin Singer on this simple-yet-delicious healthy fare.

5. A pleasant post-lunch stroll around the western half of midtown brought us to face-to-face with Blossom (187 Ninth Avenue), Zen Palate (663 Ninth Avenue), and the ultra hip chocolate and wine bar Cocoa V (174 Ninth Avenue), where Margaret and Dwight played show-and-tell with some of the finest vegan chocolate you’ll ever consume.

4. Finally we had time for some R&R. These lucky ducks took in a taping of the Comedy Central fake news show The Colbert Report, thanks to a connection made through our good friend Sarma Melngailis, owner of Pure Food and Wine (54 Irving Place).

3. Yes, it’s vegan. Yes, it’s Daiya. Yes, it tastes as good as it looks. After Colbert, we met up with Bart Potenza and Joy Pierson, owners of Candle 79, for perfect pies at Pala Pizza (198 Allen Street).

2. Wednesday marked somebody’s birthday, and with it came this very special delivery from Vegan Treats. Here the fabulous b-day girl poses on our rooftop with da goods. Yes, she shared.

1. Colleen’s birthday lunch at Franchia (12 Park Avenue), the absolutely charming Korean-fusion teahouse and restaurant from the same folks who gave us Hangawi (12 East 32nd Street), turned out quite special. The food was incredible, and we enjoyed the company of VN columnist Terry Hope Romero, author of the new Latin-inspired cookbook Viva Vegan! Then I got a call from the Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez, author of The All-Pro Diet. Tony stopped by along with his coauthor, nutritionist Mitzi Dulan, and we ended the meal with a few of the Vegan Treats we’d snuck in, which were, to quote Tony, “unbelievable.” A birthday Colleen will remember, for sure.

There's actually much more from week two, but we are out of time and space. To see all of the pictures from VegNews' fortnight in NYC, visit our Facebook site and click the photos tab. Or, if we get enough demand, maybe, just maybe, we'll post a third course. Simply leave a comment if you want dessert.

VegNews Eats New York (1st course)

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: First of Two Weeks in Veg Heaven
Where: The Big (Vegan) Apple: New York, NY
When: April 11–17, 2010
Why: Yo, we gots some business to take care of...

The Scoop: After the PCRM 25th Anniversary Gala, Colleen and Joe jetted off to NYC for a two-week jaunt filled with business meetings, eating, visits to our favorite restaurants, eating, gathering with contributors, eating, taking lots of photographs, and did I mention eating?

Rather than bore you with the gritty details of why we had a secret meeting in New Jersey or whether it was the F-train of the #6 Line that shared its platform with various rodents larger than our office mascots Khane and Cal, I’ll present instead a Top 10 photo montage from each of our NYC weeks. Do check back tomorrow for Course Two of VegNews Eats NYC, and leave a comment if you'd like to see and hear more, 'K?

Week One Highlights:

10. Co-owner Craig Cochran (second from right) and the staff of the newly opened Terri Restaurant (60 W. 23rd Street).

9. Just a few of the vegan cookies at LifeThyme Natural Market (410 Avenue of the Americas).

8. After a delicious dinner at Vegetarian Dim Sum House (24 Pell Street). That’s HSUS’ Patrick Kwan and his partner Seth Carlson with Colleen.

7. Tuesday is the day Bethlehem, Penn.'s Vegan Treats delivers to Atlas Café & Bakery (73 Second Avenue). We were there. It's our job.

6. Sweet and savory at Candle 79 (154 E. 79th Street), where we enjoyed a fab vegan meal with Joe’s aunt and uncle. Check out those cannolis!

5. Yes, that is a vegan egg cream from Lula’s Sweet Apothecary (516 East 6th Street)

4. Just around the block from our apartment was Pinisi Bakery & Café (124 East 4th Street), which always had a few vegan options, such as these.

3. Oh yeah, we hit the world famous Dosa Hut in Washington Square Park! (West 4th Street at Sullivan)

2. At the end of the week we enjoyed what may be New York’s worst kept vegan secret: The 5-star, 3-course Friday Night Dinner at the Natural Gourmet Institute (48 West 21st Street).Vegan Important Persons Chef Fran Costigan (left) and Photographer Linda Long joined us.

1. After a Saturday stroll on the East River Bikeway, we brunched at Caravan of Dreams (405 East 6th Street), where Joe chose the “special of the day”: spelt pancakes with tempeh.

Let's recap. This was just our first week in NYC, and the next week was even busier (can you believe?). Don't miss the second course... follow VegNews on Twitter and we'll keep you in the loop.

NY Veg Expo + Liz Lovely Factory Tour

Colleen Holland and Joseph Connelly at the VegNews booth

Who: VN Publisher/Editor in Chief Joseph Connelly + Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: Business, but all pleasure
Where: Saratoga Springs, NY, and Waitsfield, Vt.
When: September 13–14, 2008
Why: To promote VegNews and continue our obsession with vegan cookies

The Scoop: Each year, VegNews sponsors or exhibits at nearly 25 vegetarian-related shows. We send staff to Chicago, Seattle, Austin, Toronto, Sedona, Portland, Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Boston, Raleigh, Washington DC, and, for the second year in a row, Saratoga Springs, NY. Not only do we love meeting VN readers and signing people up for magazine subscriptions, it’s important to connect with local vegetarian communities and support their efforts to promote the veg message.

And the folks in Saratoga Springs are doing a great job. Led by husband-wife-daughter team Dave, Jan, and Kristin LaJeunesse, they have built local awareness and organized the ultra-successful NY’s Capital Region Vegetarian Expo. This year, the one-day show attracted 3,000 attendees and 100 vendors, and was buzzing from start to close. Held in downtown Saratoga Springs, a quaint, picturesque town approximately 30 minutes north of Albany, the expo featured veggie food companies (with lots of samples!), animal sanctuaries, non-profits, vegan bakeries, and more. On our way out of town, we peeked inside Saratoga Spring’s beloved Four Seasons Natural Foods and only wished we had the appetite for its famous smoothies and hot and cold entrée/salad bar. In San Francisco, where Whole Foods and Rainbow dominate, it’s always fun to visit these old-school health-food stores.

At the show, we hook up with longtime colleagues Dan and Liz Holtz, who invite us to visit their Vermont cookie company, Liz Lovely. Forget the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour (which happens to be just up the road from Liz Lovely)—it doesn’t get better than this. If you haven’t sampled the company’s soft, gooey cookies with such clever names as Mochadamia Mountains, Chocolate Moose Dragons, and Ginger Snapdragons (Liz Lovely’s best-selling cookie), we suggest you do so immediately. These babies won our 2005 Veggie Award for “Product of the Year,” so you know they're good.

On Sunday, we make the leisurely (and stunning) drive to Vermont, stopping for lunch at a roadside organic smoothie shop operated out of a farmhouse kitchen. We then head to Waitsfield, a progressive rural pocket known for its laid-back ways. When we reach Liz Lovely, we’re greeted by Dan, Liz, and Bruiser (their very sweet canine companion), hear all about the company’s early days, their move from Philadelphia to Vermont, and company perks (which includes a daily staff lunch). We then get the full bakery tour and learn about the cookie-making process, from the proprietary spice blends to the secret behind their luscious chocolate coating (we know, but we won’t tell!). After our delightful afternoon together, we couldn’t be more thrilled for their success and look forward to watching what’s next for this vegan cookie company.

Liz Lovely's Liz Holtz and VegNews' Colleen Holland flank the just-made cookie shelf