Girlfriends' Getaway at The Stanford Inn

Who: VN Associate Editor Jennifer Chen
What: A vacation with my girlfriends
When: November 11–13, 2011
Where: The Stanford Inn, Mendocino, CA
Why: To spend quality time with my best friends

The Scoop: Every year, my best friends, Alina Kwak and Diana Breen, and I get together for a mini-vacation. While boys are great, there is nothing like a girls' weekend away. My friend Diana has been vegan since she was 15, so I suggested we take a trip to the Stanford Inn, a beautiful and enchanting veg-friendly inn, located in the coastal town of Mendocino, CA.

We arrived on Friday and were greeted warmly by the staff. Plus, vegan chocolate chip cookies were waiting for us inside our room. (And yes, every room gets cookies every day that you stay. My kind of place!) We ate dinner at Mendocino Café, which had several vegan options. The Healing Bowl, with soba noodles, kale, and tofu in a miso broth, was my pick.

On Saturday, we started our day with a warm Vinyasa yoga class, followed by brunch. The Stanford Inn vegan breakfast, complimentary for inn guests, is not to be missed. Everything you could ever want veganized—frittatas, French toast, crêpes—is on this hard-to-pick-just-one-dish menu. I went for the mind-blowing Portobello Benedict. After that, we worked off our brunch with a two-hour canoe trip along the Big River. Then, we hit Frankie's for vegan pizza. You can build your own pie with vegan cheese and a choice of tomato sauce or pesto (all vegan). Believe it or not, the inn also hosts a daily vegan happy hour with free (!!!) dessert and tea or coffee so we hustled back to indulge.

Wild Mushroom Crêpe, filled with spinach, wild mushrooms, 

shallots, served with roasted butternut squash 

and puréed garden greens on top of poblano créme.

Saturday night, we were excited to try the special five-course wine and mushroom tasting menu at Ravens, Stanford Inn's restaurant, in celebration of Mendocino's annual Wine and Mushroom Festival. Ravens' Chef Sally Owens and Stanford Inn Co-owner Jeff Stanford took the time to explain Ravens' culinary philosophy to my friends and I. Nutritious food is key, as Jeff explained. While each dish was a standout, my hands-down favorite was the mushroom crêpe. It was light and fluffy and the mushrooms were packed with umami flavor. And don't even get me started on the puréed garden greens!

Ravens' Chef Sally Owens, the genius behind the dishes.

Sally and I discussed sharing some of Ravens' best recipes with VegNews Recipe Club subscribers. (If you're not signed up for our free weekly recipe newsletter, head to VegNews.com and sign up today!) I am so excited we will feature the Portobello Benedict recipe in December. It's so delicious that I might have to make it every weekend. Sally also told me that Ravens' will be releasing a brand new cookbook, so stay tuned.

If you've never been to The Stanford Inn, definitely add it to your bucket list. Companion animals are welcome, and you'll see quite a few four-legged guests in the dining room. Daily cookies, a bountiful garden, an indoor salt-water pool, and some of the best vegan eats await you.

Vegan Pizza Party!

Who: VegWebmistress Laura Beck and 40 pizza-hungry vegans!

What: Vegan Cheese Smackdown!

Where: Delisi's Pizzeria & Bar

When: December 13, 2009, Chicago, Ill.

Why: Because eating vegan Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is pretty much all anyone ever wants to do.

The Scoop: Vegan pizza is an elusive beast. For many of us, the only vegan pizza we ever get to indulge in comes from our own kitchen. If we're able to find a place with vegan crust, the pizza is usually cheeseless, dry, and bo-ring. However, if you're lucky enough to live in Chicago, Delisi's Pizzeria & Bar has your back. They regularly offer a menu that features not only Teese vegan cheese from the geniuses at Chicago Soydairy, but also several vegan meats, including pepperoni, seitan chorizo, and sausage. All of the meats are from Upton's Naturals, a local company specializing in blow-your-mind delicious seitan.

On Sunday, a group of 40 vegans gathered at Delisi's for a taste challenge to end all taste challenges. Organized by Julia from Snarky Vegan and Melisser from The Urban Housewife, the event promised to be a delicious battle of epic proportions. Our goal was to try several different types of Chicago deep dish pizza—half made with the pizzeria's regular vegan cheese, Teese, and half made with new vegan cheese wunderkind, Daiya—and declare a winner! This was a contest I could physically, emotionally, and spiritually get behind.

When we arrived, we paid our entrance fee (only $12, including soda, tax, and tip! Chicago prices, I love you!) and were given name tags. Next, the chef brought out a panzerotti, which is basically a deep-fried calzone. Hello, obesity! It was filled with tomatoes, Teese, Daiya, and a selection of Upton's seitan. I imagine it's what is served in heaven. SO GOOD. After that, the deep dish pizzas started to come out. They offered up a meat lover's special, Hawaiian pizza (complete with vegan ham), veggie special, and more. We loaded our plates and got down to the taste test.

A sight for hungry, pizza-lovin' eyes.

One bite into this marvelous deep-dish pizza and you'll wonder why you ever bothered eating anything else. Classic Chicago deep-dish pizza has no worldly match; it is spicy, hearty, and flat-out amazing. While opinions varied on which cheese was superior, the consensus was that both cheeses were delicious in their own right. Delisi's agreed and soon will most likely be offering both Teese and Daiya! How's that for service?

Attendee Jon enjoys his pizza afterglow, while Joy longs for her chance to indulge.

It's exciting to walk into what seems to be your typical, unpretentious, neighborhood pizza spot and find they're looking out for vegans, too. Awesome! Co-owner Brian Esterline estimates that about one-third of his clientele is vegan. That's a fact we can all use when we go into pizza places and request vegan options. I don't mean to get all cheesy (ouch!) on you, but if you build it, we will come. We will travel across states, climb mountains, and swim oceans for a tasty vegan treat. I've been known to forsake family and friends for a good vegan milkshake.

Speaking of ice cream, the kind folks of Chicago Soydairy were at the event and brought dessert! We all quickly found room in our expanded stomachs for cherry-vanilla, pineapple, and peppermint ice creams. I don't know how we did it, but what can I say? We were a strong group.

Chicago Soydairy's tasty frozen trio.

The event ended when we were all nearly incapacitated due to our overwhelming consumption. We laid in the booths and begged for relief. And then, we went for more pizza. Many thanks to the co-owners of Delisi's, Brian Esterline and Sean Anderson, and all of their fabulous staff for hosting the event. Now, who else is up for organizing one of these? It's an amazing form of outreach, to the pizza place and to other vegans in your community. When you do accept the challenge, be a doll and invite us, okay? We'll be there with our eating pants on!

Boston Veg Rocks!

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Liz Miller and VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
Where: Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, Boston, Mass.
When: October 31-November 1, 2009
Why: To celebrate all things veg (including the city's new vegan pizzeria).


While we love our mild, West Coast climate here at the VNHQ, it is easy to get nostalgic for autumn traditions, like trees glowing with vibrantly colored leaves and the feeling of crisp fall air against warm, winter coats. Fortunately, the 2009 Boston Vegetarian Food Festival offered us the perfect chance to satisfy our fall season craving. The festival, hosted by the Boston Vegetarian Society, celebrated its 14th anniversary this year. Traditionally a one-day event, the festival stretched over two days this year, ensuring that VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig and I would have ample time to indulge in the many food options available. Of course, our main objective was to make new veggie friends, meet our awesome readers, and spread the good word about veganism by selling VN subscriptions. We were lucky enough to have help from VN superstar volunteer Alexandra Santilli, who helped us man the booth on Saturday. We were also lucky to have two amazing booth neighbors, with Vegan Treats to our left, we found ourselves trying (and failing) to resist sugary temptation with the good people situated to our right, the amazing folks over at GREY2K. As the long first day wound day, Lyndsay and I shared (read: devoured) a miniature peanut-butter cheesecake, packed up for the day, and headed out for our next out-of-town adventure.

Daiya breadsticks and marinara: leftovers never stood a chance

Not surprisingly, it was an adventure that involved pizza. All day we'd been anticipating our visit to Boston's only vegan-owned and -operated pizzeria, Peace O'Pie, and we were not disappointed. The menu was stacked with delicious, utterly mouthwatering pizzeria classics, with options ranging from savory calzones to hearty build-your-own vegan pizzas (vegan pepperoni and extra Daiya cheese, please). Excited and a bit overwhelmed, Lyndsay and I finally settled on Daiya breadsticks as an appetizer, and a medium "The EP" pizza, topped high with smoked tempeh, sun-dried tomatoes, sautéed spinach, and garlic on a regular crust, as our main course. Never have vegans so voraciously consumed (nay, inhaled), a meal. In true go-big-or-go-home style, we entered the meal with no intention of leftovers, and no leftovers there were. The breadsticks were warm and gooey, and complimented perfectly with a healthy dollop of marinara. Our pizza was also beyond tasty, with soft, doughy crust; stretchy, flavorful cheese, and savory toppings. Being able to order a legitimate, satisfying pizza—and wash it down with root beer—made us feel exactly 10 years old again, in the best ways possible. The resulting food-coma was completely earned—and surprisingly short-lived, as the meal didn't leave us feeling heavy. Aside from being pizza-crafting geniuses, the folks at Peace O'Pie were also more than generous, gifting us complimentary peanut-butter-and-maple-syrup sweet rolls as a parting gift.

Boston's Peace O'Pie serves up tasty eats, food comas

On Sunday, the festival was almost just as exciting and crowded as Saturday had been. We were overjoyed to find a special gift left at our booth by Edward & Sons, complete with The Road's End Dairy Free Mac & Chreese, Lets Do...Organic Classic Gummi Bears, and more. As the day progressed, we were happy to meet and chat with a whole batch of VN fans, new and old, and learn about the ins-and-outs of Boston's vegetarian community. As the festival wound down, Lyndsay broke away from the table long enough to procure one last sugary treat: chocolate-covered ice cream bars made by Wheeler's Frozen Dessert, the creative confectioners behind some of the best desserts around. With dessert in hand, we packed up our VN tables and headed out to catch our flight home. Thanks for the great weekend, Boston!

Perfect Pizza + Talk Show Exploits

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Sara Constantineau and the rest of the VegNews crew
What: A pizza-filled lunch followed by a stint as a studio audience
Where: A local pizzeria and ABC studios, San Francisco, Calif.
When: October 20, 2009
Why: To put our Daiya shipment to good use and support a fellow veg superstar

The Scoop: When we received a 10-pound shipment of Daiya this week, there was no doubt that we had to make the most of it. Armed with two pounds or so, we headed to a local pizzeria for a full-on, dairy-free pizza experience. Our menu consisted of one huge, gooey cheese pizza, another pie piled high with artichokes, baby spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes, and a giant veggie-stuffed calzone for dessert.

One beautiful, Daiya-smothered pie

Thoroughly stuffed and fortified with many soda refills, we traveled toward the Embarcadero and lined up to watch the live taping of The View from the Bay, since Alicia Silverstone was making a guest appearance to promote her vegan lifestyle book, The Kind Diet.

Once comfortably seated in the studio, we learned how to clap and cheer on cue. After we were welcomed by hosts Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang, the show finally began. We were treated to segments including male-model makeovers and the CEO of 1-800-DENTIST, who taught us how to floss properly (hint: you use a lot of floss). Finally, the most anticipated guest arrived to talk about her book and show off some veg-friendly food.

Alicia Silverstone, VN Publisher Joseph Connelly, and SFVS president Dixie Mahy

Silverstone and Christian raved about Café Gratitude's Key Lime Pie, and she showed off her pantry must-haves, such as Earth Balance buttery spread, brown rice syrup, and Vegenaise. Christian and Wang sampled recipes from The Kind Diet, including tacos, peanut butter cups, and Caesar salad. The hosts raved about the food, and a few lucky audience members went home with a copy of the book. It was just another day all about tasty, veg-friendly eats. No biggie!

Stateside Sake Sampling

My petite tasting cup lookin' pretty

Who: VN Editorial Assistant Melissa Feineman
What: Sophisticated boozing, aka sake tasting
When: Saturday, February 14, 2009
Where: Takara Sake Tasting Room and Museum in Berkeley
Why: Because there just aren't enough opportunities to say "sake to me" in daily life

The Scoop: For those of you who don't know, I've been suffering from an acute case of JWS (Japan Withdrawal Syndrome). Symptoms include constantly talking about Japan, traveling all over the Bay Area to procure rare Japanese products (separate post to follow), and generally trying to adjust to life on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. In an effort to rouse my spirit (and make me feel more "at home"), a friend invited me to a sake sampling at Takara Sake Tasting Room and Museum, producers of the Sho Chiku Bai line of sake.

After watching an informative video about the sake-making process and touring the Sake Museum (aka getting the cultural bits out of the way so we could guzzle our fill guilt-free), we sidled up to the Tasting Room and made our selection. Takara offers seven different courses to suit your fancy, including a course "for those who prefer white wine" and one "for sake connoisseurs." Being the certified sweet-tooth that I am, I opted for the "Sweet Variety Course," which included two types of nigori unfiltered sake, one lychee-flavored sake, two types of plum wine, and one plum sake.

After the first few sips of sake, I almost forgot I wasn't in Japan!

Since I can sometimes find the flavor of sake to be overpowering, I was very happy with my selection, appreciating the nigori sake for its lighter and sweeter qualities. I was surprised by the hints of coconut and honeydew in the Nigori Silky Mild and Nigori Crème de Sake, respectively. Who would have thought that rice+enzymes=tropical cocktail?

In Japan (here we go again!), one of favorite drinks was umeshu, a sweet wine-like alcohol made from a Japanese plum, so I was very happy to see that there were three such drinks on my tasting menu. They were all superb, but for me, the standout was the Koshu Plum with its alluring fragrance and cherry-almond taste.

Some of our fellow patrons were complaining about the $5 tasting fee and the long line (to be fair, we did have to wait for about 15 minutes before we were served), but it was just the shot in the arm–or, come to think of it, just the shot–I needed. I left feeling refreshed and with a slightly rosier outlook on life in general.

Since we happened to be a mere 10 blocks away from Fellini, we stopped by afterwards for some vegan pizza and other goodies. It was Valentine's Day, and in addition to super-attentive service, we also received single red roses, a small–but significant–detail we enjoyed. All in all, our trans-bay trip was a success, and instead of feeling homesick, it left me feeling excited about all the adventures I have ahead of me in my new hometown.