Drinks and Dinner

Who: VegNews Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria

What: A swell evening of drinks and dinner in the Mission

Where: San Francisco, Calif.

When: July 13, 2011

Why: My neighborhood is pretty stinking great.

The Scoop: Sometimes, especially during crazy work weeks, Wednesdays are their own reason to head for a watering hole, indulge in a couple drinks, and then let someone else do the cooking for dinner (not to mention the serving and dishes!). Here's the thing: In the Mission, there are roughly 14 bazillion places to get drinks and dinner. Bars and restaurants abound here, and the options are so numerous that I often skip them all and head for home, as actually taking the time to decide on a place could result in starving to death. Thankfully, my intrepid dinner partner made the call to grab drinks at Laszlo, and then head to Osha Thai for dinner.

Laszlo's chic exterior

I'd walked by Laszlo a hundred times, and always thought it was cute but never gone inside. The good news: it is cute, inside and out. The better news: the bartender made a mean Dark and Stormy. Having lived in Newport, RI, you might think that I'd already be a huge Dark and Stormy fan (that's ginger beer with rum, sometimes with lime), but it's just as of this summer that I'm completely obsessed with them. If it were unlikely to result in the loss of my job and liver, I'd drink them instead of water. So, after a couple highly delicious and refreshing rounds at Laszlo, it was time to find food.

Hello, delicious Thai food.

Oh, did I mention that the Mission has a ridiculous number of awesome restaurants? Because it does. Just minutes away from Laszlo is Osha Thai. Do I love Thai food? Yes. Do I love it even more after a couple Dark and Stormys? Indeed. Vegetarian Pad Khee Mao, yellow curry, and crispy spring rolls made the perfect apres-drinks meal. The Laszlo-and-Osha combination probably constitutes about a zillionth of the possible amazing drinks-and-dinner choices. I guess someone (Pick me! Pick me!) will just have to research and find them all.

San Francisco Staycation!

Who: VegNews Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria

What: An evening's vacation in my hometown

Where: San Francisco, Calif.

When: Thursday, May 5, 2011

Why: Why not take an hours-long vacation at home?

The Scoop: So, some people would call going out for the evening just a regular old outing, not so much a "vacation." Well, I say vacay is all in how you think about it. On a recent Thursday night, I took a little time off (that just happened to fall between the close of business and bedtime), and toured San Francsico. Along with my adventuresome roommates, I headed for the Sutro Baths, which, insanely, I'd never really visited despite having lived in the Bay Area nearly my entire life. Really, you might as well play tourist when your city happens to house a number of places that are frequented by actual tourists. 

The Sutro Baths ruins and flowers

 

We got to the Baths shortly before sunset, and the view was completely stunning. The ruins of the Baths are totally enchanting, as they are partially overtaken by the tide rushing in, and partially covered in a sandy beach. There are caves, swampy lagoons, jutting rocks, and basically everything you need to feel like you've happened upon the end of the world. (Just don't turn away from the ocean and face the parking lot—that kind of ruins the magical whimsy.) 

A duck and her ducklings in the lagoon right after sunset

 

Our need for scenery sated, we turned to another necessary element of any good vacation: food! One of my favorite far-away vacation destinations is New Mexico, where my dad grew up. Our family used to drive out there every few years, and I could never get enough of the sun, the history, or the food. I'm 99-percent certain that as soon as I hit retirement age, I'm headed straight for a tiny house in the middle of nowhere (potentially Truth or Consequences, but we'll see if I'm feeling heady at age 70) to bake away the rest of my days in the sun, wearing my own shriveled weight in turquoise jewelry. Suffice it to say, The Land of Enchantment has a permanent spell cast on this gal. So, after our non-desert beach foray, I was eager to try Green Chile Kitchen, a newish New Mexican restaurant here in town.

Green Chile Kitchen, photo via SF Weekly

 

Any menu that includes sopapillas (little fried bread triangles ubiquitous in NM) is OK by me. While the restaurant is far from completely vegan, the sopapillas are, as well as the fantastic veggie chile stew. Packed with green chiles (which are the secret to a long, happy life, in case you didn't know), I could easily eat this stellar stew every single day. 


With full bellies and a new collection of travel photos, we went home, just in time to go to sleep and be ready for work the next day.

A Bit of Southern Comfort

Who: VegNews Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, the rest of the VN Crew, plus a special guest

What: The annual Southern Comfort dinner

Where: Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco, Calif.

When: Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Why: We just can't get enough fried, comforting food.

The Scoop: For those who are familiar with Millennium, their annual Southern Comfort night is something to look forward to all year long. It's also the one time in the year when the restaurant may be a little more casual than usual—plaid and mullets are in abundance, as is the beer. So we at the VNHQ were very excited when VegNews Publishers Joseph Connelly and Colleen Holland invited all of us to this special dinner. We were also extremely thrilled to have a special guest join us—former VegNews Editorial Assistant and VN Contributor Melissa Feineman, who is now living in the SF Bay Area once again!  Delicious food and friends—what more could you ask for?

 Lyndsay and Elizabeth having a good time

Shortly after our arrival, we were served a big bucket of a variety of beer, including such classics as Pabst Blue Ribbon (my personal favorite), Schlitz, Olympia, and Miller High Life. Then came the bread—homemade biscuits, oat-molasses bread, and jalapeño-scallion cornbread to be exact—served with an amazing smoky pecan spread. And that was just the beginning of the appetizers! We were then served Becca's Chili Fries with papadzul, Danielle's Deep Fried Kosher Dill Pickles, and Black-eyed Pea Chow Chow. This was our idea of heaven, but then we were given the third part of the appetizers, which blew our minds—a shredded cabbage and watercress salad with strawberries, spiced almonds, tempeh bacon, and poppy-seed dressing.

 The amazing appetizer—chili cheese fries,  fried pickles, and black-eyed peas

Did I mention that those were just the appetizers? The choice of entrées was up next, and boy was it a hard decision to make! Here were our choices (see if you can decide): a Steamed Beer and Kraut Brat with your choice of toppings, including but not limited to cheese sauce, chili, and pickled mushrooms; Tammy Fae Gomez's Midwest Tamale Pie; Jersey Diner-Style Ketchup-Glazed Meatloaf, served with mushroom-bourbon gravy, and sour-cream-and-chive smashed potatoes; Alice's Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich, with cilanto-red cabbage slaw, mayonnaise, Yucatan Diablo Sauce, and a French bread roll. It was a very tough decision, to say the least, but the chicken sandwich was the big winner, and the meatloaf was a close second.

Two entrées in one—the meatloaf and the popular buttermilk fried chicken

Straight from the ice cream sandwich bar—delicious!

We were completely stuffed, but you can't attend Southern Comfort night without fitting in the dessert. And this was no ordinary dessert, but Anne's Ice Cream Sandwich Bar! First, we had a choice of Oatmeal Raisin or Chocolate cookies, but most of us picked one of each. Then we had to choose two fillings to be mixed with the vanilla ice cream, including chocolate-covered pretzels, sprinkles, chocolate chips, brownies, Newman O's, chocolate-peanut butter rice crispy treats, pralines, and rice mellow. Finally, we were able to go crazy with the toppings, which included maraschino cherries, fudge sauce, caramel sauce, strawberry-chipotle sauce, and vanilla bean cream. The decadence nearly killed us, and it took us a little while, but we were finally able to stand up and say our goodbyes. Our satisfaction had hit 100 percent—that is until this morning when the waiting began once again for this amazing dinner! To check out more photos, just go to our Facebook photo gallery.

Dining at Darbster

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria

What: Refueling between tanning sessions in Florida

Where: Darbster, West Palm Beach, Fla.

When: February 27, 2011

Why: To try a restaurant I've read so much about!

The Scoop: I recently had the very good fortune of attending the engagement party of one Stephanie Katcher. Yes, she's of the Joshua and Joelle Katchers, which means that I not only got the chance to celebrate her engagement (congrats Stephanie and Brad!), but got to see two good friends and meet their phenomenal parents, Michael and Cindy. Oh, and did I mention that all this family fun took place in Florida, aka a place where they have warm sun and beaches and pools and lawns and other places to sun yourself like a lizard, which is my absolute favorite thing in the world?!

Two cute Katchers: Stephanie, the bride-to-be, and Joshua

The trip was spectacular, to say the least, and not least of it was our evening at Darbster. After Joelle's review (read it here), I'd been dying to try this East Coast gem, and we headed there with all possible haste. From the review, I knew I needed to try the Palm Cakes (faux crab cakes made with hearts of palm) and sliders, both of which were totally delicious. As can sometimes happen when I visit a new restaurant, I might have gotten a teeny bit over-excited, and ordered just about everything on the menu. All in all, the four people of our party tried the mac and cheese, sliders, palm cakes, miso soup, kale salad, tempeh Reuben, Chick'n Parmesan, chocolate mousse, and an insane s'mores cheesecake. Hey! It takes a lot of energy to soak up sun!

The signature palm cakes

The food was great, and we even got to meet the executive chef, Seth, and owners Allan and Ellen. All three were really lovely; we couldn't have asked for better hosts. We did learn from Seth that we'd missed brunch that morning, about which we were all pretty bummed. The bright side? Now we have one more reason to head back to sunny Florida!

Vegan Soup Stand

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria

What: Soup on the street

Where: The corner of 20th and Valencia, San Francisco, Calif.

When: February 9, 2011

Why: Who doesn't want soup?

The Scoop: Sometimes, your friends come up with some pretty great ideas. San Francisco has a fairly bustling underground food scene, and the soup stands are definitely the new taco trucks, which I'm pretty sure were the new cupcakes a week or so ago. How quickly one man's gated gas station becomes another man's place of business! After a few months of living in the Mission District, honorary VN staffer Peter Ryan noticed people setting up little soup stands on various corners, and realized that a) he makes excellent soup and b) can any neighborhood ever really have enough awesome vegan soup? Hence, SF Relais was born! Evidently, a relais is the French equivalent of a truck stop, but better, because it's French. Travelers can stop in for a hearty meal on the cheap and then get back on the road. So, Peter took out the middle man (aka, the stop) and took to the streets (literally) with his killer soup.

Peter and his now-you-see-it-now-you-don't set up

I stopped by last night to see how the soup du nuit was going. After a slow start, Peter quickly started selling cup after cup of his vegan clam chowdah. The night was pretty chilly (OK, pretty chilly for SF), so I could definitely see the curb appeal of a warm bowl of awesome soup. After only two hours, the soup was gone, the stand was gone, and the corner remained in it's place, as though nothing had happened at all.

Lindsay and Hermann, a couple satisfied customers

Here's to finding something delicious on every corner! It's what I call a soup-er good idea.

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.”

Vegan Ice Cream Fix

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Brooke Still

What: A late-night sweet treat
Where: Holy Gelato! San Francisco, Calif.
When: August 3, 2010
Why: It was 8pm on a Tuesday—obviously I needed some vegan ice cream.

The Scoop: While the rest of the country is trying to escape the summer heat, we here in San Francisco are still trying to convince ourselves that it's not winter. It's hard to get in the summer-lovin' mood when the sun hasn't come out in weeks and your day-to-day attire consists mostly of thick socks and turtlenecks. Slight exaggeration, but really, it's cold. So in an attempt to pay homage to my third favorite season, I went out for some vegan ice cream last night.

I'd heard from some fellow VN staffers that Holy Gelato! in the Inner Sunset would be a great way to spend a weekday night—it's near my apartment, the neighborhood is adorable, and the vegan ice cream is decadent, some varities of which are supplied by Maggie Mudd. So roommate in tow, we headed over to the corner of 9th and Judah, soaking in the charming Inner Sunset along the way. We didn't manage to leave the house until after 8, but unlike the small-town Midwestern life I hail from, places in SF are open past dusk. Holy Gelato! welcomes customers until 11pm, which is exciting for me.

The gorgeous display of vegan ice cream and sorbet at Holy Gelato!

The décor was precious—an ice cream joint with a boutique-like feel, selling clothing and mugs across from the ice cream case. After sampling nearly all the vegan ice cream they had to offer, which comprises about half of their total selection, I settled on a small bowl with two scoops: One of Charlie Brown's Nightmare—chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies—and one of The Bomb—chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallows, and fudge brownie bits. Not to sound like Rachel Zoe, but when I had my first bite, I died. Literally.

My Charlie Brown's Nightmare and The Bomb dessert

Overally, Holy Gelato! was a monumental success. Delicious vegan ice cream in all the flavors I love. Now to keep this from being a regular Tuesday-night occurance...

Me enjoying the treat!

Vegan Iron Chef!

Who: VN West Coast Ad Rep Lara Bradley

What: Vegan Iron Chef Competition After Party

Where: Backspace, Portland, Ore.

When: June 6, 2010

Why: To celebrate competitive vegan chefs!

The Scoop: Bragging Rights: I am the only staffer who resides in ultra-hip Portland, the number one vegan city in the country. Yes, Kokopelli dances regularly, but with such an established vegan community, the rain can’t dampen the attitudes and lifestyles here in progressive Portland.

A recent Sunday evening was no exception as Try Vegan PDX held their Inaugural Vegan Iron Chef Competition in front of a sold out audience of 125 drooling and envious on-lookers as they watched the five lucky judges sample appetizers, entrées, and desserts from three talented and skilled Portland chefs all vying to claim the title.

The esteemed chefs were Qausu AsaaseYaa, from Asaase Ital Palace, Wes Hannah of Blossoming Lotus, and Aaron Adams of Portobello. A secret ingredient that was to be integrated into every course was revealed to the chefs just 25 minutes before the cook-off and that coveted ingredient was—drum roll please—chocolate!

The announcers of the evening, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of Vegan with a Vengeance, and Michelle Schwegmann, co-owner of Herbivore Clothing Company, kept the masses entertained as the judges sampled to oohs and aahs and wrote down their secret scores. The event was live-streamed to an international audience of Portland WannaBes, rain and all, oohing and aahing from their dry couches.

After a close race and some tough decisions by the judges, Qausu AsaaseYaa, was crowned as the Winner of the Inaugural Vegan Iron Chef. Aausu graciously accepted the title for her three tantalizing dishes:

Caramelized Plantains And Chocolate Coconut Sauce With Micro greens
Chocolate Groundnut Stew With Onion Rice
Gari Peanut Candy Hearts With Cashew Chocolate Cream And Berries

Qausu AsaaseYaa, hard at work. Photo by Lucas DeShazer

After the nail biting competition, an after party was held at Backspace Café where Camping Party rocked the house and kept the vibe alive. Prizes were raffled off and appetizers for the food-deprived crowd were abundant. Wine donated by Hip Chicks Do Wine provided a close to a picture perfect cruelty-free evening.

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.

"Forks Over Knives" Private Screening

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly and VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland
What: Private Screening of Forks Over Knives
Where: Santa Monica, Calif.
When: May 6, 2010
Why: View an advanced-screening of upcoming diet doc

The Scoop: This fall, look for the excellent documentary Forks Over Knives, a feature-length film centered around the work and careers of Drs. T. Colin Campbell and Caldwell Esselstyn, two giants in their respective fields of nutrition and medicine. Colleen and I attended a special VegNews screening hosted by the film's creator, Brian Wendel, who envisioned the film as "the most effective way of bringing this message to a broad audience" after reading Dr. Campbell's seminal book The China Study two years ago.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn with Director Lee Fulkerson

We had the opportunity to screen the movie with writer/director Lee Fulkerson—who turned vegan while making the film and has since lost 60 pounds—as well as Dr. Matthew Lederman, co-author of Keep it Simple, Keep it Whole and one of the many MDs featured in FOK. The (currently) 96-minute movie—filmed in the US, Canada, and China—spells out, sometimes in fairly graphic detail, the myriad health problems with the Standard America Diet. Through interviews with a dozen leading health and nutritional professionals, from Neal Barnard to Pam Popper; award-winning caliber writing and narration from Fulkerson; plus a sprinkling of Grade-A graphics and historical footage, the message that the SAD is destroying our individual—and increasingly, global—health is delivered quite convincingly.

Forks Over Knives explains human motivation

FOK also follows several people, including Fulkerson, who willingly subject themselves to Lederman's plant-based, whole-food regimen (and all whom achieve wonderful results, of course) and also checks in with various Cleveland Clinic patients of Dr. Esselstyn's who reversed their advanced heart disease without surgery after being left for dead by the traditional medical community.

What open heart surgery looks like

When approached by the veg-curious for an explanation of your lifestyle change, first determine their motivation. If it's ethics or animals, suggest they watch Earthlings. If being green is their raison d'etre, they can rent Food, Inc. Come this fall, those who have decided that the SAD is making them, well, sad, will no longer have an excuse: just get 'em to watch Forks Over Knives. The triad is complete.

To watch the trailer for Forks Over Knives, click here.

Wined & Dined at Millennium

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and Editorial Assistant Liz Miller

What: Dinner hosted by Yellow+Blue Wines at the amazing Millennium Restaurant

Where: San Francisco, Calif.

When: Thursday, May 6, 2010

Why: Because who passes up a delicious meal and wine tasting at Millennium? Not us!

The Scoop: It was late afternoon last Wednesday, and staring at me from my inbox was an invitation from Yellow+Blue Wines to a complimentary dinner at the vegan mecca that is Millennium to taste their newly launched wines, which are certified organic. My taste buds quickly fired up, and I responded with a very enthusiastic "Yes!"

One of the four wines we tasted

The next day, Liz and I excitedly boarded the Muni to downtown San Francisco with every intention to meet new people, taste good vino, and stuff ourselves silly, and we succeeded on all fronts. The hosts were Yellow+Blue (makes green, get it?) founder, Matt Cain, and its PR representative, Julie Conover. While discussing such topics as the wine industry, the environment, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (don't ask), we were served a four-course dinner along with wine pairings, including the Chickpea and Almond Encrusted Oyster Mushrooms paired with the fruity 2009 Torrontes wine, a Mushroom Duxelle Roulade with the 2008 Malbec, and a carrot cake dessert with the 2009 Rosé. Perfection, if you ask me.

The ridiculously good roulande

With are taste buds completely satisfied, Liz and I made our way home. Needless to say, it was a lovely evening.

Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria, VegWebmistress Laura Hooper Beck, and three honorary VN staffers
What: Northern California's first all-vegan bakery!
Where: Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery, Sacramento, Calif.
When: April 18, 2010
Why: The reason why we do most things: awesome vegan food

The Scoop: Maybe you've never considered the California state capital to be a "destination" city. Perhaps you've heard that it's not as glamorous as Napa, not as hip as San Francisco, and not as savvy as San Jose. Maybe you are wrong, dead wrong. On a recent staycation Sunday, a few brave adventurers—namely Laura, Peter, Khane, Cal, and yours truly—made our way up highway 80 to Sactown.

The case o' greatness at Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery

First of all, it was a gorgeous day, which always helps when falling in love with a new city. Second, we went straight for the good stuff—aka Sugar Plum. Having already thoroughly oggled the online menu, we were pleasantly surprised to arrive just as a batch of SPV's oversized cinnamon buns came out of the oven. Yes. We ordered two immediately.

Hello, cinnamon bun. Do you see that frosting?!

When the general excitement of the cinnamon smell abated long enough for us to be able to read again, we picked a tofu breakfast burrito, tempeh Reuben, and chef's salad. Um, let's talk for a second about Reubens, and why we should all eat one every day. It's because they are delicious, insanely so. SPV's version featured lightly toasted rye, crisp pickles, punchy sauerkraut, and perfectly flavored tempeh, all enveloped in vegan cheese and thousand island dressing. Heaven? Yes. Everything we ordered came out of the kitchen in record time, and was incredibly delicious. While we sat in the sun-drenched front patio and gorged, a steady line of eager diners marched into Sugar Plum, which we took as a good sign for the very recently opened eatery.

Tempeh Reuben. We could have eaten a dozen of these.

We easily could have eaten twice as much as we did, but only if we'd also thought to bring our extra stomachs with us. Instead, we took a leisurely (read: stuffed) stroll around the tree-lined neighborhood, sprawled for a while in a grassy park, stumbled upon Gluten Free Specialty Market—a totally gluten-free store, which carried a bunch of vegan goodies like the new retail packages of Daiya—and then headed back to SPV to pick up some sweet treats for the ride home. Among them were a chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing, an oatmeal-cookie sandwich, a burger (OK, that one's not-so sweet), and a cheddar biscuit. Amazing. Every last one. We are thrilled to announce that as soon as we convince the rest of the team, VegNews is officially moving to Sacramento. We're pretty sure the only convincing they'll need will be a taste of SVP's fantastic food.

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.

Gracias Madre Fiesta

Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, and VN Editorial Assistant Liz Miller

What: A celebration of the opening of Gracias Madre

Where: The Mission District of San Francisco, CA

When: Monday, February 22, 2010

Why: To honor Latin American culture with delicious organic, vegan food.

The scoop: Mexican fare is not hard to come by in the SF Bay area, especially in the Mission District. Almost every block has a taqueria of some sort, where you can grab a big burrito with all the fixin's, including beans, rice, veggies, and guacamole. These places are great, but unfortunately none of them is specifically organic and vegan. And maybe sometimes a burrito just won't suffice, and what you're really in the mood for is a tasty tamale, or an overstuffed quesadilla. This is where Gracias Madre comes in—the new, all-vegan Mexican restuarant from the owners of Café Gratitude. To celebrate the restaurant's recent opening, the owners, Matthew and Terces, cordially invited close friends to a special evening of food, drinks, and fun.

The owners and staff among the gorgeous spread.

The first thing you notice when you step into the restaurant is its atmosphere. It has a beautifully designed interior with a quaint bar on the side, and gorgeous paintings and embroidered quilts adorning the walls. This is no "In and out" dining experience, but a place in which to enjoy yourself and share.

Upon entering, we were greeted by the owners and managers of the restaurant and served mojitos, made with fresh mint, lime, and agave with soju—oh so refreshing. After some mingling within the crowd, we were invited to serve ourselves from a beautiful buffet of the Quesadillas de Calabaza, the Tamal (or tamale), guacamole, and fresh salsas. Everything was truly delicious, but the favorite was definitely the Tamal—stoneground heirloom masa (corn) steamed in the husk, and filled with butternut squash and green chile. It was so good, some of us had seconds. And though we were stuffed and satisfied with these dishes, we just couldn't pass up on dessert. Hugo, one of the managers, graciously helped us with our decision, and we were served the Flan as well as the Mexican Wedding Cookies with a cacao-cinnamon sauce. Both were marvelous.

Quesadillas de Calabaza

The end of the evening was near, and to finish it off, Terces and Matthew stood up to say thanks to all those who came, as well as to introduce the amazing staff and to give a bit of history of how Gracias Madre came to be. Being their seventh restaurant in a span of six years, it was mainly their love of the Latin culture that inspired the restaurant, as well as their wish to bring local, organic fare to the Mission District. Being farmers themselves—both in Hawaii and the Bay Area—they wanted to share how delicious fresh and organic produce can be. We think they've definitely proved their point.

Liz and Lyndsay show off the delicious desserts.

With our stomachs full and our palates satisfied, the night came to an end—some of us are already planning a return trip. Among the plethora of wonderful restaurants in San Francisco, Gracias Madre is a great addition and one that truly stands out.

TGIF!

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Sara Constantineau and the rest of the VegNews crew
What: An afternoon outing to check out the 45th Annual Big Book Sale
Where: Underdog and the Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, Calif.
When: September 25, 2009
Why: We like big books, and we cannot lie.

The Scoop: All work and no play makes magazine editors a little restless, so this Friday we decided to take a little bit longer for our lunch break and head into the city for some food and some fun.

Our first stop was at Underdog in the Inner Sunset, where we grabbed a smorgasbord of vegan sausages and side dishes to go. After piling back into our cars and heading out to the marina, we dined outside in the bright sunshine, a nice change from the usual morning fog surrounding our office. Once we had out fill of veggie hot dogs complete with all the fixin's, we headed inside the Fort Mason Center to check out the Big Book Sale, put on by the Friends of the San Francisco Library to raise money for literacy programs.

Scanning the titles for something specific was a little impossible, but if you kept an open mind you could make some great finds. Everything from pre-1900 classics to manga to rock records was on offer. While I opted to carry my books by the handful, others pushed around huge shopping carts and loaded in choice paperbacks like groceries. When everything costs less than $5, it's easy to go a little overboard.
With full tummies and a bevy of new/old books to enjoy, we headed back to the VNHQ and got back to work with renewed vigor. If you are in the market for some cheap reads, be sure to check out the sale next year!

Holiday for Hanging

Who: VN Senior Editor Elizabeth Castoria
What: An auspicious art opening
Where: M. Coffee, Half Moon Bay, Calif.
When: January 8, 2009
Why: Art for heart's sake

The Scoop: Sometimes, you just happen to be related to someone who has what people like to call "talent." When this person happens to be your sister, and she happens to have an art opening at your hometown coffee shop where you happen to have spent innumerable weekends together—her working, you taking advantage of her incredible soymilk-frothing abilities—it's pretty imperative that you attend. Oh, and you know that since the artist of the evening shares the same mother you do, there will be no shortage of delicious vegan food.

The evening got going around 6pm, after-hours at M. Coffee, where Sheila—aka the artist—used to work. As predicted, the first thing I saw when I walked in the door was a huge table of food, and then my super-effing-cute sister, flocked with admirers. Since one of Sheila's all-time favorite foods is olive spread, my mom whipped up about eight gallons of it, which I eagerly tucked into with sliced bell peppers and La Panzanella Rosemary crackers. Also on the menu were a couple ginormous trays of roasted vegetables, my mom's signature carrot cake—a traditionally vegan cake recipe, and with a little non-dairy cream cheese, voilá, cream-cheese-frosted carrot cake—and a few bottles of wine.

Sheila's art was mostly compiled from class assignments, and there was a distinct heart theme going on. In addition to red being her favorite color—hence the crimson mounting—she herself has a finnicky ticker that likes to act up on her every once in a while. One day, it started racing a bit and put her out of commission for the afternoon, so the next day she did what any reasonable artist would do: create something awesome. See above for the results.

A few of the pieces sold, all of the wine was drunk, and about an eighth of the food was eaten. It was a well-deserved evening of fun for one super-fantastic sister. Oh, and did I mention that she's just about the cutest thing on the entire planet? Yeah, she is. See below for proof. As art openings go, I think it's safe to say in the words of Rilo Kiley (the band that reigned as Sheila's go-to music on hectic Saturday mornings of latte-making), it's a hit.

Portrait of the artist (left) and her sister

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