AGAIN!!! DARN YOU ING NYC MARATHON LOTTERY

Rejected!

Review: Franchia "Veggie to a Tea"

Had a very nice lunch at Franchia in New York City. The food was quite good. The atomosphere was very relaxing.

We had a variety of dishes and smpled their faux meats. The portion sizes were very good. I wil say that we tried to order a wide variety of foods ( my wife and I share everything so we can taste more dishes) yet everything seemed very simliar.

The Franchia web site makes this restaurant seem like a bit of a Tea House. If you are vegetarian that hates tea, hates tea rituals, and would rather eat a big slab of pork than sit across the aisle from somone drinking tea have no fear! Franchia didn't make too big of a deal of the 'tea thing' when we were there (and it was really cold out).

There is definitly better Korean food to be had in NYC than Franchia. No doubt. However, if you are not up for playng 'find the fish sauce' in Little Korea, this place is a vegetarian Korean safe haven. Consider also Hangwai this place is much better that Franchia for Vegetarian korean but about four times the price (ouch!) so better for a special event and not for the casual lunch.

Vegetarian Love? Let's agree to see other people

Review: Brazilian Steakhouse

Remember the Brazilian steakhouse in New York City I blogged about named Churrascaria Plataforma. I was amazed it had the tag line "The Steak House That Even Vegetarians Love!!!!".



So, last night I had some guests in from out of town. I was playing host and wanted to take them someplace unique. It would pretty crazy for a vegetarian like me to be lured to a steakhouse. Not just any steakhouse but a big huge Brazilian steakhouse. Keep in mind I'm the type of guy that doesn’t eat mash potatoes from Boston Chicken because I am sure they have only one spoon (also, a place like that has chicken on everything including the doorknobs)

So when choosing last night's destination did I dance with the devil?

Sure, I did. (I wore tap shoes.)

Overall, everyone seemed to have a nice time. It is a $50 all you can eat affair. Seated at your table you are frequently visited by carvers carry skewers of meats of all varieties. Sausage, turkey, chicken, brisket, prime rib, etc came dancing by. You are engaged to try something. Say yes, they carve it the hunk of meat about 3 inches from your nose. Your job is to use your supplied tongs to snatch the meat before it falls and lay it to rest on your plate. Very interactive!

I was one astounded vegetarian. Stuck deep behind carnivore enemy lines I was surrounded on all side but knives, skewers, drippings, and ever increasing piles of cast aside gristle (it really did build up at times).

This continues for about 60 to 90 minutes. It could last all night but one by one each diner is filled to the brim and yelled enough.

For me, it was okay. I made two trips to the salad bar which was quite good but not super wonderful. Part of the problem is that I had to examine everything 2 or 3 times to be sure I didn't step on some hidden meat salad bar landmine. I was full in the end but that is no surprise thanks to my little bird vegetarian stomach which is really no match compared to that of omnivorous dinning companions.

So, Vegetarian love? No, I don't think so. More like Vegetarian "girl I went to high school with"

• Overall Rating: 2
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 5n/a
• Similarity to actual food described: n/a
• "Worth it?" Rating: 1
• "Would I get them again?": 1

Review: Yves Veggie Meatless Barbecue Beef Skewers

Wow these are good. Not everything from Yves is best in category but these skewers are really good. They totally nail the veggie mock beef thing. Everything from mock meat texture to the experience of tearing it from a skewer. The BBQ sauce is okay but not great. The sauce is not over pronounced so you could easily baste these with your own favorite sauce and have the best of both world.

Yves also makes a lemon chicken version of these skewers. Those are okay but the beef skewers really stand out. They only come two to a box. It would be nice if they were packaged with 6 (party size!)

So,

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 5
• Similarity to actual food described: 3
• "Worth it?" Rating: 4
• "Would I get them again?": 4

Tags: vegetarian, skewers, food review

YouTube: First Time in a Vegetarian Restaurant

Well, here is the debut of the first dreadlobster YouTube throw:

tags: dreadlobster

Review: Zest. Not the Best...Not the worst

I just ordered a salad at a lunch place called Zest. This is a typical NYC make your own salad bar. You call out ingredients and a guy behind the counter throws them in a bowl. Call out a dressing and he mixes the thing up and you have you very own custom salad.

Zest was on its way to being about $2 more expensive then my favorite salad from Guy & Gallard. I didn't mind much because I was trying Zest for the first time.

Then Zest failed me. They threw my bowl of salad on a cutting board and started chopping it up. They didn't clean the cutting board or the chopper. I was pretty sure they had been cutting chicken on the same board. Thanks Zest. That's just what I wanted: 2 hour old chicken left overs on my salad.

To Zest's credit they did have a non-Meat board if I requested it and they offered to re-do my salad. I said 'no thanks' and we ended the very bad situation amicably.

So, Zest not the best but nice enough to let me out unscathed.

Go Vegetarian or I'll round house kick you in the face

Happy Valentine's day from Peta.org...I Guess.

That's one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while. Don't worry it is silly and cute. Not peta's usual shock style animal rights movie.

Vegetarian Brazillian Steakhouse

I just heard about a place called Churrascaria Plataforma. This is a Brazillian Steakhouse with a tag line "The Steak House That Even Vegetarians Love!!!!" Seriously. It is branded on their web site's header and is even part of their CitySearch write up (where it got a 9.3 rating I might add)

I heard about it because my buddy ate their last night and was telling me about it. You see, you sit at your table and flip a disk from red to green and these guys come around and huge skewers of meat and slice it up for you right there. This place is so meaty that the file name for the page on their web site where this is all described is meat1.html. Caution, meat1.html has an image of a big stack of meat on skewers. It looks as if the meat is attacking the peppers and asparagus on the chopping block.

Sounds Veggie-tatstic!! I am going to hold the next meating of my "vegetarian pals" dining club there.

Seriously, my buddy that ate their last night wrote "I took a vegetarian there ... and he really enjoyed it ... their salad bar is ridiculous"

I don't know. Maybe I'll go and report back.

Happy Thanksgiv-Ming

Nothing says Thanksgiving like Ming Tsai, Ocean Spray and Tropical Fruit.

The cooking philosophy of world-renowned chef Ming Tsai centers on the use of
master recipes to give traditional meals a boost of East-West excitement.

While Ocean Spray shouldn't be faulted for including Ming in their Holiday celebration, didn't the pilgrims travel from west to east? Ming is likely a good dude. However, he has been on my hit list for over 5 years. He served a five course course meal/presentation at my hotel in Hawaii when I was there on my honeymoon. There was no vegetarian alternative so we were shut out.

Oh man. Just when I was giving Ocean Spray a break I did a search of their site for 'vegetarian'. The single hit has the following user-submitted vegetarian "basting"

Tofurkey!As a new vegetarian, I was determined to create a
veggie-friendly meal for my meat-eating clan. What a fiasco! "What the H*LL is
that?" muttered my dad. "Tofurkey!" I announced ... To-tasteless" snarled my teenage son who was highly annoyed. At least I was sane enough to not mess with the cranberry sauce!

Oh thank goodness! Ocean Spray saved Thanksgiving. That lady doesn't need a new turkey, she needs a new family with some manners.

Now say Grace.

Vegan-gate or is it Ve-gate

Vegetarian cook books are a dime a dozen. Nonetheless, I was reading a review of a few vegetarian cookbooks and enjoying the write up when I noticed something. Jennifer Cornbleet and Sarah Kramer look a lot alike. Too alike, if you ask me, to be a coincidence.

So I did a search for the two of them on Google trying to find a picture of them together and no results.

So, they are obviously the same person. I bet the raw movement doesn't dig when one of their pundits cooks vegan food. She must be in the raw movement relocation program. Oh man. I just totally outed Jennifer Cornbleet-Kramer. Call the special prosecutor!

Ps. My trick for evaluating a vegetarian cookbook is to look up the Veggie Chili recipe. If the recipe contains one new ingredient or different twist on veggie chili, then consider buying it. Else, it will just be "vegetarain lazagna with mixed vegetables" from cover to cover.

Review: V-Dog Veggie Dog food

The original vegetarian dog food, Happidog from England, is now available
in the USA as V-dog. ...V-dog is a complete high protein, nutritionally balanced food providing all the natural goodness a pet needs in an appetizing and easily digestible form. The
carefully selected ingredients used in V-dog provide a healthy alternative to
meat-based pet foods.

I'm just kidding about the review. I'm not going to eat the stuff.

I don't have a strong opinion one way or another about having a veggie or non-veggie dog. I did browse the health benefits section of the v-dog site.
"A meat free diet can help in cases of sensitive digestions, skin problems and suspected allergies to meat."

Only three possible health benefits.? Dogs seem to really like meat. A lot. A whole bunch. That's a pretty thin lists of reasons to take a dog off meat.

The grenhouse series: new home

The greenhouse series has moved. You can find it here (http://pvcgreenhouse.blogspot.com/).

I should have some good progress on my own greenhouse contruction after this weekend. I should also be able to focus some attention on the dreadlobster veggie-eats content.

BTW, I was in Vermont this weekned for a wedding. We were visiting my inlaws on their Dairy Farm. Vermont is total cow-ville and very veggie unfriendly. We have to haul in all our own tofu and mock meat if we expect to get any protein (that is not in cheese form)

Also, it snowed 5 inches!!!

The Greenhouse Series: Pre-game

COME ALL, COME ALL, SEE HERE THE START OF THE AMAZING GRANDIOSE STUPENDOUS ALL PVC ROOF DECK GREENHOUSE!!!!!


Last year I overwintered my trees and shrubs by simply packing them with additional mulch and pushing them against the building where there was a slight overhang. They didn't do too well.

Pictured here is the start of my Greenhouse. I am planning a 6' x 8' A-Frame that will be about 9' high at its peak. It will have a door at one end that will be hinged at the top and open like a garage door. It is based on the plans for this wood/pvc combo greenhouse. I've adapted that in-garden design for my own all-pvc roof deck concept.

I have 270 feet of PVC pipe, about 50 pipe fittings (elbows, tees, crosses) for the joints, metals screws, some wire ties, and PVC pipe glue ready to go.

The goal is to have a sturdy structure, that is light weight, as air-tight as possible, that can be broken down in the spring and stored behind the fence out of view.

Updates soon

Tags: greenhouse, pvc, roof deck

October is be nice to froggie month

As if you could even consider taking a scalpel to one of these cute little froggies...

October is Peta's "Cut Out Dissection" month. Peta is encouraging kids to "Cut class, not frogs" in a campaign to raise awareness and end Bio-lab frog dissecting. It is apparently so popular with the kids that PETA cannot distribute campaign promotional stickers to kids fast enough.

While I wouldn't have needed an extra reason to cut class in high school, this seems like a pretty good idea. Fortunately for our high schools, they are not trying to combine their anti-fur campaign with this pro-frog movement: "I'd rather go naked than dissect that frog"

Tags: vegetarian, PETA, peta2

Phoenix walks the line "cruelty-free"

Phoenix has big shoes to fill in his role as Johnny Cash. However, msnbc.com reports that when he fills those shoes he will do so "cruelty-free"

When Joaquin Phoenix walks the line in a Johnny Cash biopic, it will be in plastic cowboy boots. The moody actor is a staunch animal-rights supporter, and drove the wardrobe folks a little batty by insisting on wearing an entirely "cruelty-free"wardrobe, says a source.

Review: Red Bamboo

Red Bamboo is a fine vegan restaurant in New York City. It was recommended to me for it s nice array faux meats. This place did not disappoint. Everything was very good and some of our selections were excellent.

I am keeping this review brief because it is really just for my NY City readers and I don't want to be unfair to my national audience.

I can say that
1) It is small so make reservations
2) They could use a better offering of cocktails
3) A few non-vegan entries (clearly identified)
4) I liked the Grilled Bourbon Chicken particularly

You should try it.


Red Bamboo
140 W 4th StNew York, NY 10012
(212) 260-1212
Cross Street: Avenue of the Americas

Review: Adams Rib

I have been way to slow getting the good word out about Gardenburger. They created this scrumptious fake meat product that is hearty and flavorful. Riblets come two to a box and are individually wrapped. You pierce the plastic wrapper and shove the whole thing in the microwave. Two minutes later you have a big chunk of 'Riblet' in a better that good sauce. The Riblet itself pulls apart like its meat cousin. They really nailed the texture. The sauce it good and smoky. Unlike other fake rib or spare rib product Riblets have no hint of bone-like matter. There's no bone, no fake bone, no molded bone, no picture of a bone and no bone replication.

Riblets are found in the freezer section with about 8 to 10 other similar Gardenburger products. This series is all quite good but all have the same flaws: A bit pricey, too much packaging, and small portions. Nonetheless, I would say you should still sample this product at least once. I don't think it will be on your weekly list but I don;t think you might crave it once and while and bring it home as a treat. I know I do.



Meatless Riblet (Soy Protein Concentrate-Hydrated, Wheat Gluten-Hydrated, Canola Oil, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Yeast Extract, Isolated Soy Protein, Vegetable Gum, Salt, Corn Grits, Malted Barley, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Caramel Color, Water), Barbecue Sauce (High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Tomato Puree, Molasses, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Modified Food Starch, Natural Smoke Flavor, Spices, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic, Cayenne Pepper).

• Overall Rating: 4
• Similarity to meat (but in a good way): 5
• Similarity to actual food described: 4
• "Worth it?" Rating: 3
• "Would I get them again?": 4
  This product contains corn, soy, sunflower and wheat.
  
  
  
  
  Meatless Riblets
  Serving Size 1 Riblet with sauce (142g)
  Calories 160
  Calories from Fat 45
  Total Fat 5g
  Saturated Fat 0g
  Trans Fat 0g
  Cholesterol 0mg
  Sodium 720mg
  Total Carbohydrate 11g
  Dietary Fiber 4g
  Sugars 7g
  Protein 17g

Vegetarian? Phuket!!!

Thai news reports:

During October 3rd to 11th the whole island of Phuket will covered with
mostly yellow flags, and local people in white clothes, symbolizing the ancient
vegetarian festival which has been practiced for almost two hundred years.

Chairing a press conference held last Friday at the Navamin square in Phuket City, Governor of Phuket, Udomsak Uswarangkura reaffirmed that the island is ready to welcome participants and tourists, both Thais and foreigners, to join in the ceremonial festival, with ample security and facilities.

Wow, what a nice statement from Governor U. Phuket. Phuket's cultural ambassador Holly Cheet added "If you are going to Phuket for the festival you'll surely leave with a smile' and "bring your mother to Phuket"

Mitt Romney and me

Redstate.org reports

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney likes to tell conservative audiences that
being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is like being a cattle rancher
at a vegetarian convention.

Of course, the article is rather crtiitical of Mitt but...

Oh, poor victimized conservative republican. It must hurt to be in the minority on all political and social issues including vegetarianism...oh wait, that's me. I'm in the minority.

Poor me.

September is National Chicken Month!

September is National Chicken Month! There is no better way to celebrate Chicken Month than by visiting Eatchicken.com. It is a site created and sponsored by "individuals in the chicken business".

My favorite feature on the site is the 'advanced' chicken search. It is so advanced that it needed a 'tips'' section so that they could explain to the audience the eatchicken.com advancements in chicken search.

"All recipes have been categorized by the chicken part used to prepare the dish. Some recipes use more than one chicken part and are categorize as such. To search for recipes based on chicken part, you can select one or more of the listed parts. Selecting more than one chicken part will not find recipes that contain all of the parts selected.

If more than one part is selected, the results list will include recipes that contain any of the selected parts. For instance, if "Leg" and "Whole" are selected, the ingredients of the resulting list of recipes will include either leg meat or a whole chicken, not necessarily both."

Wow, that is advanced. You need a chicken-parts degree from chicken university to figure out the logic of their search. The sad thing is that I did an advanced chicken parts search on "beaks" and only got one recipe...for Chicken McNuggets (just kidding)

The really suprising thing about eatchicken.com is that it is sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Associations. Don't you think those two assoictions would actally be mortal enemies. Isn't the egg asocition like a Pro-life group and the chicken association more like Pro-choice?