Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash

Who: The whole VN staff, legendary cookbook author Sarah Kramer, and 75 perky party-goers
What: The much-anticipated Vegan à Go-Go! Book Bash
Where: GingerRubio Salon, San Francisco, Calif.
When: October 3, 2008
Why: To launch Vegan à Go-Go! in high style

The Scoop: It's not every day that one of the world's best-selling vegan cookbook authors makes her return to the world of publishing—and you know how we like an excuse to throw a party. In celebration of Sarah Kramer's latest work, we held a little shindig at GingerRubio, an absolutely gorgeous salon tucked away on a side street in San Francisco's Mission District. The festivities got started right around 6pm when the guest of honor arrived. Sarah immediately got busy greeting guests as they arrived and chatting with her dedicated fans. Mini root-beer floats and Pink Lady cocktails whetted everyone's appetite for actual eats, and gave the party a fun, frivolous feeling. Friendly servers bearing trays of food—provided by Google chef Justin Lucke—swirled around the room offering guests such mid-century classics as Rocket Dogs (fancy Pigs-in-a-Blanket), Knuckle Sandwiches (open-faced no-egg-salad sandwiches on sliced baguette), and Doo Wop Dip (a classic onion dip, complete with crunchy onions on top), and Doris Day Mushroom Paté, which was served with the requisite crackers: Triscuits.

Upstairs, DJ Jazzy Aurelia kept the evening lively with '50s-era tunes, and our diligent tattoo artists, Abby and Lyndsay, made sure that everyone was as colorful as possible. While it was difficult to choose between various tattoo options—including one bearing the likeness of the guest of honor—most people elected to be adorned with the simple "vegan" tatt. We even saw one gracing a guest's neck! Speaking of the guests, we were in no short supply of cool company. In addition to Sarah, we got to mingle with Erin Williams—who's in California for the final push for Yes! on Prop. 2 before election day—Erica Meier and Noelle Callahan of Compassion Over Killing, Ann and Larry Wheat of Millennium, Ursula Calderon of Oakland's Micio Mambo boutique, fabulous vegan esthetician Jocelyn Clarin Richards, and about 75 other enthusiastic party-goers.

About halfway through the evening we gave out a few fabulous door prizes, including tubs of Sjaak's incredibly yummy chocolates and one very swanky Matt & Nat bag. Sarah entertained the crowd and answered questions, though she might not have wanted to admit that she'd never been to Millennium! After offering advice on how to get your stuff back from your ex, and letting us know which is her favorite recipe in Vegan à Go-Go!—Nanaimo bars, in case you were wondering—Sarah got to work signing books. To make sure no one died of starvation while waiting to get their book autographed, servers made the rounds with Tollhouse-style Chocolate Chip cookies, which were extra gooey and delicious, and Betty Crocker Coconut Islands (pictured below). After the munching, mingling, and merriment, please consider Vegan à Go-Go! officially launched.

Fun up the Waziema!

Who: VN's Editorial Director Aurelia d'Andrea + Editorial Assistant Lisa Mickleborough
What: Dinner and dancing
Where: Club Waziema and The Transfer in San Francisco
When: August 8, 2008
Why: Well, because it's fun

The Scoop: Having already been on an exciting not-for-tourists tour of San Francisco, when Aurelia suggested we head to her neighborhood and try an Ethiopian restaurant/dive bar known to locals for its all-you-can-eat vegan special, I was in. Now, I have to be honest—my past experiences with injera, the traditional Ethiopian flat bread, have bordered on traumatic, but with the promise of East African beer, a Midwestern-American jukebox, and Aurelia’s good company, I took a gamble knowing the night would have to be at least twice as fun as it was … traumatic.

Sitting deep in Club Wazeima’s unlikely dark, musty, wood-paneled bar setting, we waited for our food long enough to get a couple drinks in, thus inhibiting my squeamishness. We tore into the pizza-sized flat bread laden with homemade split lentils and peas, savory vegetable stew, rich mushrooms, collard greens and—coulda been the beer—but I swear there wasn’t a hint of the wet, too-tangy, deflated whoopie-cushion experience I recalled. Instead, this injera was soft, fluffy and mild—the perfect vehicle for the somehow-buttery, robust sauces. Whether or not we actually had room for seconds, we happily obliged as the chef came around with ladles of lentils.

From the NoPa neighborhood, it’s just a quick jaunt to the The Transfer nightclub in lower Castro where we met up with Aurelia's DJ friends including Anthony Lymon. The co-owner of Ginger Rubio Salon by day, I was pumped to meet him since his veg-friendly business space is the site of the upcoming VegNews-hosted Vegan A-Go-G0 Book Bash (Sarah Kramer's new cookbook). Anthony turned out to be very sweet and fun, and while dancing to new wave mixes sipping I-can't-believe-it's-vegan mixed drinks like Tanqueray tonics, twisted vodka sodas, and Malibu orange-crans, we came up with very original dance moves. (See below for one highly technical example, which I've dubbed, "Oh no, it's the cops!")