Restaurants - London, ON (canada)

ZEN GARDENS omg, this place rocks so hard....too many things to say... www.zen-garden.ca 519-433-6688 also, tons of other locations around Ontario

Restaurants - Berkeley, CA (Bay Area)

Long Life Vegi House

Located just west of the University of CA in Berkeley, this place looks a little bad from the outside and the inside was not the greatest and/or nicest decor ever. However, the food was amazing. My only concern was that they served some fish dishes, but I asked my server and they swore that the fish stuff was cooked completely seperate from the veggie stuff. I had the Long Life Vegi Chicken, which was the house sauce and battered and fried veggie chicken; the sauce was similar to a General Tso's. Very good and an easy walk from Campus.

2129 University Ave

510-848-7777

www.allmenus.com/ca/berkeley/57539-long-life-vegi-house/menu/

Restaurants - Walnut Creek, CA (Bay Area)

360 World Grill (or 360 Burrito)

Several locations in the Bay Area. Ate at the one in Lafayette, CA. This was a quick Burrito place, but better. I think the SMoked Tofu burrito I had was THE BEST quick burrito from any of the places I have ever tried. It was very tasty and they even have everything listed that is "Vegan", so it was easy to order.

LOVED it.

www.360gb.com/eat

925-362-3506

The website has it listed in Walnut Creek, but I definitely visited them in Lafayette.

Restaurants - Toronto, ON

Bar Burrito

5 locations throughout the greater Toronto area. I went to the one at 4918 Yonge St.

Excellent quick Mexican Burritos and the option for 'soy meat' (which turned out to be like the Grillers Crumbles). But the guy asked if I wanted it 'dairy free' and I said yes, of course. Talked to him for awhile and he said they were trying to have more Vegan options.

Good choice whereever you are in Toronto, fast and inexpensive.

www.barburrito.ca

416-733-2424

Restaurants - Ft. Collins, CO

Tasty Harmony

130 S Mason St in Ft Collins

completely worth it...more comments to come...

970-689-3234

tastyharmony.com

Restaurants - Denver, CO

It's been awhile since I found a new place to eat in Denver, but I did and it is awesome!

The Rebellion is a take out/delivery Pizza Place located 2231 S Broadway in Denver, just east of Santa Fe. The best thing about it is they will subsitute anything for vegan versions. We got The Works pizza and it came with vegan cheese, soy sausage, soy bacon, soy pepperoni and was 100% vegan. The crust was nice and soft and they swear it too is vegan. You can get ANY of their pizzas vegan if you ask. My next attempt will be their BBQ Chicken pizza, which can also be made vegan. This is a great place to get some take out on the way back from skiing, or anytime. 303-733-4511

rebellionpizza.com

Compassion for Obama?

Do I have compassion for Obama? I am going with NO.

I believe that he ran on a course of Change and all he has done is more and more of "the same". It is almost worse than Bush because he pretended like he cared about issues such as Ending the War, Universal Health Care, Gay Marriage, and Progressive Action on Financial Institutions (read; more oversight), but has backtracked on everything. At least with Bush, we KNEW what he was about, even if we didn't like it.

Don't get me wrong, I LIKE Obama; which is more than I can say for Bush, Clinton, et al. But he has turned out to be no different; in the pockets of Insurance Companies and the like. Look at the current "Health Care Reform Bill", it really only gives power to the Insurance companies by mandating private citizens buy coverage from them. They get richer as we get screwed. The current bill sucks really bad and, in fact, is completely Uncompassionate to the vast majority of people who are without coverage currently. I am actually glad that the Republicans might win a 'victory' by defeating this bill. On the other hand though, the Republicans version of the bill was equally as appalling.

It is TIME for a change in the country. A REAL change, brought about by Citizens and Leaders who understand that Money and Power are not the be-all, end-all. Leaders who really want to help the disenfranchised, not say they do and go screw them over more by getting in bed with Wall Street or the Insurers. This cannot happen without a drastic change to our "Democracy". Both Repubs and Dems are part of the same system and feed off each other. Only when a viable 3rd alternative comes about will this country really begin to change itself back into a World Leader; right now we suck; Bill Maher was right, we live in a country of idiots.

If Obama really hopes to make headway given this imperfect system we call "Democracy", he needs to fight for what he has said for years were his main ideas; Fighting poverty (which will never happen until we have a REAL conversation about the economic disparities between Whites and Non-Whites, City versus Suburbs), Ending the War (which should have happened years ago), and Financial Reform (again, cannot happen when the head of the Fed used to work for AIG). Stand up and do what's right. Take a tip from Bush; he wanted to do something and then said "Fuck You" to anyone who disagreed, even if his poll numbers dropped.

Genetically Modified Compassion

So, the question has now come up with several of my fellow Vegan friends. Is a Genetically Modified Tomato really Vegan if it has a gene that originated with a Pig?

Most hardcore Vegans would say NO. However, I beg to differ and here's why:

Plants and Animals are all made up of thousands of genes. The figure is between 30,000 and 40,000 for Humans and only slightly less for animals. The number is about the same when it comes to plants. I believe that when ONE specific gene is used to make a crop of Rice more productive by utilizing intrinsic values from an Animal Gene, that does NOT inherently mean the crop is non-vegan. It does NOT mean that crop is part animal. However, most Vegans would disagree.

For me, the Compassionate response is to use as much of our knowledge of plants to make sure that the world has more access to food. The guy that changed Rice crops using a gene from a Pig won a Nobel Prize for his efforts and they say he fed an addiotional 1 Billion People. Sounds pretty Compassionate to me. To deny poor people this type of food is uncompassionate, so for me, Vegans need to think about them instead of themselves when dealing with GMOs. At this point in Human History, almost everything we do or touch has been modified in some way, shape, or form anyways, so we should use it for good.

Also, Vegans usually think that animals are actually harmed in the process of obtaining their DNA. Whereas this MAY have been true many years ago, the entire process is contained in a laboratory and is produced without harming any animal. Therefore, I feel as though the only Compassionate response would be to use as many GMOs as possible to try and feed the world.

Maybe that makes me "Not Vegan", but if being Vegan means that I believe that one single gene being spliced into a crop of tomatoes makes it un-eatable, then I am NOT a Vegan. I am a "non-dairy vegetarian" I guess.

I would be interested for anyone's thoughts here....

Going to start posting again....I Swear!

2010 will be the year I begin to really Blog more....so, I promise to continue this blog soon!

Restaurants - Brooklyn, NY

RED BAMBOO is possibly the best vegetarian restaurant ever. They have two locations, but the one I went to was at 271 Adelphi St in Brooklyn (corner of Adelphi and Dekalb). I do not even know where to begin, but it is an amazing assortment of American staples like Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes all the way to breakfasts, burritos, stir fries, and soups. ALL their 'chicken' and other 'meats' are soy protein based; they even have a vegan Veal Marsala. I have to admit that the Fried Chicken appetizer, known as "Soul Chicken" was THE BEST appetizer I have ever had; even better than Sunflower's 'Fried Chicken'. I cannot even fathom the amount of food I have left to taste and will frequent this place EVERY time I am in Brooklyn.
www.redbamboobrooklyn.com
718-643-4352

Restaurants - Long Island, NY (Jericho)

Green Melody is a superb Vegetarian Chinese place locate at 519 North Broadway (just north of the L.I.E.) in Jericho. I ate here 5 times in a week since my hotel was 2 miles away and I have to say that I was impressed by EVERYTHING I ate. They have TONS of items, from great Appetizers to incredibly diverse and unique Specials and Entrees. My favorite Appetizers were Barbeque Veggie Duck, Pan Fried Veggie Dumplings (with Veggie Chicken in them), Veggie Chicken Rolls, Barbeque Veggie Beef and Protein Nuggets Sticks, Latkes (fried vegan mashed potatoes), and Moo Shu Rolls. However, they have many more Appetizers that I did not try. Their Wonton Soup was excellent. The Entrees I tried were the General Tso's Veggie Chicken, Veggie Chicken with Cashews, and Veggie Sesame Beef; all of which were absolutely incredible. I did not even touch their Specials, of which there are about 30 of them, but the one I still want to try at some point is "Steak and Veggie Medley"; Grilled Vegetarian Steaks, served with Red Bell Peppers, Sweet Peas, Fresh Mushrooms, Acorn Squash, and Potato Slices in a tangy dark sauce, topped with Broccoli Rabe. Man, this place is awesome!!!!!
516-681-5715 or 516-681-5716

Restaurants - Denver, CO

Wynkoop Brewery is a gem of a place that one would never think would have a ton of vegan options. Located at 1855 18th st in the LoDo section of Downtown Denver, it is a nice sized brewery that offers tours and some great beer. They also have a Vegan Sloppie Joe sandwich, a Vegan Chicken Wrap, and Vegan Green Chile. The sandwiches were excellent and the fries are cooked in oil dedicated for fries, so no cross contamination. I loved this place and will make it a point to come back often.

www.wynkoop.com

Restaurants - Austin, TX cont...

We Fuse is a delightful little eatery located next to the Frost Bank Tower in Downtown Austin, at 120 east 4th st. They have veggie dumplings, soups, salads, and a really tasty "Bento Tray" which includes Tofu, Asparagus, and Tomato (and goat cheese if you do not ask for it Vegan). This tray was excellent and I ate it three times while working at the Frost Bank Tower.

www.wefuse.net

Restaurants - Austin, TX cont..

Thai Tara is a traditional Thai place in downtown Austin, located at 601 w. 6th st, just east of the new WHole Foods. I have to say that my food from here was pretty nasty. The sauce was REALLY salty (and they swore it had no fish sauce in it), the tofu was definitely stale and very chewy, and the veggies were WAY overcooked.

www.thaitara.com

Restaurants - Austin, TX cont....

The Satay Restaurant in North Austin is a phenomenal Thai meal. Very fresh and good portions, not too big. They know about Veganism and have tons of options for veggies and tofu with several sauces and curries that are truly vegan. They also have two vegan desserts, a tofu pie!!!!

http://www.satayusa.com/

Restaurants - Austin, TX cont...

Kerbey Lane Cafe is a wonderful meal and they have 4 locations across Austin. They have scrambles they will make vegan using tofu. They usually have vegan pancakes, assorted sandwiches and salads along with a really tasty Hippie Burger.

www.kerbeylanecafe.com

Restaurants - Austin, TX

Veggie Heaven is just that; Heaven. The food is magnificent. More later...

You can see their menu at
www.campusfood.com/restaurant.asp?restid=4244&campusid=187

Taking time off....

with so much going on this holiday season I have been too busy to continue posting....

however, I will begin again with new places and recipes starting in 2009....

see you then!

I'm On Facebook now

wow...took awhile, but i finally signed up for facebook.....

micah turnquist.......

Restaurants - Indianapolis, In cont....

two more places that served pretty decent Thai food....not great, but decent....