Making Vegan a New Normal
Making Vegan a New Normal
Vegan Food Is in Mainstream in Southern California J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times; Anais Wade and Dax Henry for The New York Times; Axel Koester for The New York Times From left, vegetarian sashimi from n/naka; Kathy Freston, a high-profile advocate for veganism, dining at Craig's; the quinoa burger at Golden Road Brewing. More Photos » By Jeff Gordinier NYTimes.com September 24, 2012 It was a warm California evening in the city of West Hollywood, and Kathy Freston was sipping a martini. “Just because you’re a vegan doesn’t mean you don’t want to have fun,” she said, sitting in a booth at a restaurant called Craig’s. “I’m a decadent gal. I want to drink. I want to feel full at the end of a meal. I just don’t want it to have any animals in it, for a variety of reasons.” Tall, slim and golden-tressed enough to be mistaken for a movie star, Ms. Freston is the author of books like “Quantum Wellness”*and “The Lean,” and a high-profile advocate for veganism. She strives to consume nothing that can be traced back to sentient creatures: no meat, no eggs, no dairy. But chilled vodka with extra olives? No problem. Nor did she have any qualms about eating from a menu that includes an 18-ounce bone-in rib-eye steak. Craig’s, hatched last year by Craig Susser, an alumnus of Dan Tana’s, the age-defying hangout on Santa Monica Boulevard, is not a vegan restaurant. It represents a new culinary wave that can be felt all over Southern California, that reliable ripple-generator of so many national trends: the omnivore’s restaurant that courts vegans and vegetarians (particularly the glamorous and powerful ones who are a crucial engine of the dining economy here) by preparing meatless dishes that surpass the droopy steamed-vegetable platters of yore. “You picture vegan restaurants with a lot of people with sandals and dreadlocks, drinking carrot juice,” said Ellen DeGeneres, who stopped by with her spouse, the actress Portia de Rossi, to chat with Ms. Freston. Here at Craig’s, the mood was more high heels and blond locks. In fact, from power tables in Beverly Hills to pubs in the San Fernando Valley, the surging popularity of plant- based diets is drastically changing the dining landscape. That shift is under way in various cities around the world, but it’s happening in an explosive way in and around Los Angeles: at the elite gastronome magnets, at casual gathering spots and everywhere in between. Continues at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/di...nia.html?_r=2& Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi Om Shanti http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:43 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
FoodBanter