Seed, Spork Sisters, and the 59th Annual Maggie Awards

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: One fine day in LA
Where: Venice, West Hollywood, and Los Angeles, Calif.
When: May 7, 2010
Why: The trophies were waiting

The Scoop: Colleen and I have been on the road pretty much non-stop since early February—publishing duties keep us busy, y'know. Why not jam as much into this 48-hour SoCal trip as possible?

Thursday night was Forks Over Knives; today began with chopsticks at Venice's stylish Seed Restaurant. The baby of Love, Eric author Eric Lechasseur and his wife Sanae Suzuki, this quaint and cozy restaurant not far from Muscle Beach serves such a dazzling selection of fresh macrobiotic fare that one visit won't do it justice. We'll be back. Thanks, Eric!

Seed's Saisai Donburi Macro Bowl

Just around the corner from Seed is Eko Zone, a spacious, well-lit vegan shop run by the lovely threesome of Dana Riley, Bill, and the one who does the real work, the photogenic Kosmo. If you ever need to pick up a copy of VegNews, they sell it here!

Eko Zone's Dana, Bill, and the white-and-fluffy Kosmo

Since I had just seen Chef Tanya Petrovna at the Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down six days ago, we stopped at the Westwood location of her Native Foods to see if she was around. She wasn't, so we settled for a non-macro Boogie Bar.

Native Food's cookbook and Boogie Bar

A last-minute invite by the dynamic duo that is the Goldberg sisters, had us "rushing" from Venice to West Hollywood through legendary LA traffic. Heather and Jenny, the insanely adorable owners of Spork Foods have opened a fashionable loft studio where they teach cooking classes, film their VegNews TV segments, and actually spin vinyl! I was in heaven. Heather and Jenny are raising veganism to a new level, which is a good thing, don't you think?

The chic, hip Spork Foods loft

Heather and Jenny Goldberg

Next up was a pit stop at "Sunset Grill," aka the West Hollywood Veggie Grill on Sunset Boulevard (Colleen's first visit). We bumped into a young man cautiously eyeing the menu; sensing apprehension, VegNews offered to buy him his very first veggie burger (the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin', for those who appreciate detail). Wouldn't you know that our new friend, Tamon George, is actually a professional football player (defensive back) for the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders and was the number nine overall pick in the 2009 CFL draft? Later, his lovely Persia White-look-alike girlfriend Sarah Fontenot joined us. Of course, she's beautiful and a budding silver screen actress. If this story isn't sappy enough, the handsome couple met when they were five years old! Another order of Sweetheart Fries, please.

All the way from Saskatchewan: Tamon George and Sarah Fontenot

A quick change into evening wear and we were off to the big show: The 59th annual Maggie Awards, the "Oscars of the Magazine Industry." VegNews picked up two (including Best Lifestyle Magazine for the third year in a row), and had the pleasure of sitting with Madeleine Buckingham, publisher of fellow San Francisco magazine Mother Jones. Madeleine and MJ were the evening's big winners, taking home four Maggies, which translates into bragging rights for our table, as seen here:

Mother Jones' Claudia Smukler and Madeleine Buckingham with VegNews' Joe and Colleen

If you enjoy Press Pass, check back often, and sign up to get notified about new postings via Google Friend Connect!

PCRM Celebrates 25 Years

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: The Art of Compassion: PCRM's 25th Anniversary Gala
Where: The Lot, West Hollywood, Calif.
When: April 10, 2010
Why: Celebrating a quarter-century of PCRM’s extraordinary accomplishments

The Scoop: If you picture the folks at the Physician’s Committee for Responsible donning white lab coats rather than party gowns, it’s safe to say you weren’t in Hollywood last month. The organization known for advancing preventative medicine and ethical research let its hair down for a glorious and star-studded celebration for nearly 500 friends and supporters at The Lot—the former home of Warner Hollywood Studios, United Artists Studios, and the Samuel Goldwyn Studios—a venue which proved as fitting as the dresses and tuxes for the who’s-who of compassion that paraded and pranced around the stages where the classic films Robin Hood and West Side Story were filmed.

Event Chairs Tom and Kathy Freston kicked it all off with heartfelt words on why they are supporters of PCRM, including Tom’s admission that he never expected to end up vegan. Following the Freston’s were four-time NBA champ John Salley, the actors and actresses Marilu Henner, Jennifer Landon, Cloris Leachman, Melissa Rivers, Larry Sullivan, Mariana Tosca, and Persia White, and CNN's Jane Velez Mitchell. The evening’s entertainment included a rousing musical performance by Leona Lewis and a short yet hilarious stand-up routine by comedienne Carol Leifer. PCRM founder and president, the ageless Neal Barnard, MD, closed the ceremony with a recap of the lengthy accomplishments his organization and vision have ushered to fruition over the last quarter-century.

PCRM President Neal Barnard, MD, with VN's Colleen Holland

The gala wouldn’t have been complete without it’s quartet of awards. The Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine was given to Baxter Montgomery, MD, a Houston cardiologist who developed a “nutritional boot camp” to assist his patients in breaking unhealthy habits; The Henry Heimlich Award honored Gilman Veith, PhD, founder of the QSAR Foundation to Reduce Animal Testing, which uses computer models to predict the toxicity of chemicals without using animals; and The Art of Compassion Award, bestowed upon Robert “Skip” Trimble, the legislative chair of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, which promotes the humane treatment of animals through advocacy, education, and legislation. Lastly, two Voice of Compassion Awards were given to Ellen DeGeneres and Marilu Henner, which honors those who, “by word or example, have communicated caring, compassion, and the highest ethical principles.”

VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and Dr. Henry Heimlich share their maneuvers.

The delicious vegan dinner, coordinated by Tal Ronnen, was an all-star line-up of dishes from the nation’s best veg restaurants and chefs: hors d’oeuvres by Millennium, salad by Candle 79, soup and entrée from The Conscious Cook, and desserts from Seed Kitchen, Sublime, and The Veggie Grill.

Congratulations to everyone at PCRM for all the organization has done in making the world a healthy, safer place as well as for inviting us to your party. All of us at VegNews look forward to working with you over the next 25 years.