Vegan Like Me No. 11

Vegan Like Me aims to profile fellow vegans, from all walks of life from everywhere in the world!  We’ve all been beginners and I think its important for folks to hear people’s stories in order to motivate themselves to keep going. This feature is intended to do just that.  If you are vegan and would like to participate, get in touch with me and I’ll be sure to send our questionnaire along to you.

Name:  Keith De-Lin

 Where do you live?  Manhattan

How long have you been vegan?  “Vegetarian for 12 years, vegan for the last 10 months”

Keith (right), vegan 10 months (With his wife, Stacy, who is also vegan!)

What inspired you to take on a plant-based (vegan/vegetarian) diet?   “If you’re a guy, vegan and in a relationship, I’m sure you’ve heard the following far too many times: “”Who stopped eating meat first, you or her?”” Essentially what they’re asking is, “”So, when did she tell you to stop eating meat?”” The premise being that eating meat is manly and only women trouble themselves with thoughts of compassion. Real men eat meat, blah, blah, blah.

It wasn’t my vegetarian wife and it wasn’t some awful PETA video. For me it was just the right choice at the right time. Yeah, I’d heard the pleas from her and seen the gruesome videos, but as a stubborn New Englander that grew up in cow country, I was desensitized to those images and could not be convinced they were bad.

Then finally in the winter of 2000, I read an article about a large egg farm abandoning thousands upon thousands of chickens after a roof collapsed because it was cheaper for the company to walk away. This extreme callousness just rubbed me the wrong way and from that minute on I decided I would not support an industry that chose profit over life.

Eleven years later it was the egg industry again. I learned of the fate of male chicks and how the industry inhumanely discards them and decided it was time to complete the journey and go vegan and I couldn’t be happier. ”

What do you love most about being vegan?  “Knowing that my eating habits align with my beliefs, that all life is precious.

What three items do you always have in your pantry?  “1) Garlic: Being married to an Italian means never running low on garlic. We use it in just about everything and why wouldn’t we? It’s amazing!

2) Field Roast Italian Sausage: Not only is this vegan sausage delicious, it completes my spicy red sauce which is the life-blood of my existence.

3) My Spicy Red Sauce: I know this isn’t really an “”item””, but it’s rare that I don’t have at least one mason jar in the fridge with it. I love pasta and used to spend far too much money buying expensive sauces until one day I decided to make my own and it’s SO DELICIOUS. I cannot live without it. It’s great on pasta, pizza, fried dough, fights crime, fills potholes, makes Popeye strong… wait, I may be wrong about some of those. ”

What is your favorite vegan comfort food?  “Two words. French Fries.”

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about taking on a plant-based (vegan) diet?  “I heard some advice recently that I loved and recommend. It was, lean into it. It would be great if everyone could go vegan over night, but sometimes it’s not that easy. For those people it’s nice to say that you don’t need to be The Perfect Vegan right away. Do what you’re comfortable with and slowly eliminate meat from your diet. I think you’ll find with all the alternatives out there, that it’s not as hard as people make it sound. In fact, I bet you don’t realize that most of your diet is already vegan.”

Do you find anything difficult about being vegan?  “I really wish I could give a big hardy no but there is one thing that still gets me from time to time. Pizza. While there are tons of wonderful alternatives what with Daiya and Teese, it’s the pizzerias that throw me off. Living in NYC I used to love being able to step into one no matter what block I was on. It was practically second nature to me to grab a slice whenever the mood struck. Just the smell would lure me in. And that’s the problem, on every corner the temptation is there. DAMN YOU NEW YORK!! Thankfully I’ve found a couple terrific new spots that serve vegan slices so I’m just making a point to get there as often as I can.”

Any other comments you or words of wisdom you would like to add?  “I’d just like to add that the vegan community is so amazing. The sense of community and camaraderie is overwhelming and having a large support system and friends with similar values makes being a vegan one of the best choices I’ve ever made and I encourage all those on the fence to do the same.”

Thank you so much, Keith, for being our first male “Vegan Like Me”!  Keith’s wife, Stacy, was my second “Vegan Like Me” and I’m so thrilled to say that we have all become friends, because of this very blog!  In fact, Keith & Stacy were inspired to create their own vegan blog, Vegan Fatty Boombalatty!  They post a lot of great recipes, reviews and other such vegan goodness.  You can “like” them on Facebook, too.  Keith is totally right, though – the vegan community is an amazingly supportive bunch, and I am so grateful for all of the friends that I have made just through being vegan. 

San Francisco Vegan Food Extravaganza!

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.

San Francisco is a vegan mecca.  Before editing, I had over 60 photos just of vegan food that we ate while in The City By The Bay.  It was absolutely glorious.  Granted, we are pretty spoiled here in the NYC area when it comes to vegan fare, but its always fun and exciting to explore unfamiliar territory.

Our first venture was to the Ferry Building Marketplace where we were searching for Peeples Vegan Donuts.  I tried the chocolate frosted donut and Melissa had the coffee flavored donut.  They were the cake style donuts, and were deliciously moist and satisfying.

Next up was Gracias Madre (Mission), organic & vegan Mexican cuisine.  It was a difficult decision as every single menu item made my mouth water, and it had been ages since I’ve been out for Mexican food!  However, once I saw that they had enchiladas on the menu, I was sold.  I left the choosing of the appetizer up to Melissa, and she smartly chose the corn gorditas.  The gorditas were bursting with bright flavors, as I was to soon learn the rest of our food was as well.  They serve a cashew cream with their dishes that is so creamy and delicious.  While their sautéed greens were a little too spicy (and I like spicy!) I still managed to enjoy them.  All entrees came with their refried black beans, which I had never had before.  I have had black beans, and your typical refried beans, but never refried black beans.  They were fantastic!

Later that night, we had dinner with friends who are not vegan.  Luckily, Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria (Marina) offers Daiya cheese to make a vegan pizza!  Score!  We dined on a scrumptious vegan veggie pizza while my friends could still have their dairy cheese pie.  Win/win.

We had been to Herbivore (Haight) for brunch before, but find it incredibly worthy for a second visit.  I enjoyed a tofu scramble breakfast platter that included a pancake and home fries and Melissa had blueberry pancakes.  We shared an order of their sausage biscuit & gravy.  Topped it all off with a mimosa and fresh carrot & ginger juice!

Underdog (Sunset) is billed as “The Organic Sausage Joint” but they also boast an entirely vegan section in their offerings.  We went for the regular vegan dog and enjoyed it with all the trimmings – onion, sauerkraut, relish and ketchup.  Just make sure you are specific when ordering — we were accidentally served real meat dogs!  Thankfully, we noticed and quickly let them know of their error, to which they whole-heartedly apologized and promptly remedied their error.

Cha Ya (Mission) serves strictly Vegetarian Japanese food and was heaven on earth.  While they don’t have a restaurant website, they do have a Yelp page boasting over 700 reviews and a 4-star rating.  And boy do I understand why!  We were blown away so much by how delicious their food is that we went two nights in a row.  I am such a sucker for dumpling anything, so once I saw they had vegan gyoza on the menu, I was sold.  If you read the reviews on the linked Yelp page, you will see that even declared meat-eaters loved this place.  I can attest to that, because the same non-vegan friend that joined us for Amici’s pizza joined us again and for BOTH nights at this place.  He is what you might call a “proud” carnivore and absolutely loved his food here.  I think that speaks for itself.  They are cash only, but do have an ATM on the premises.

Dinosaurs in the Castro district serves up traditional banh-mi, Vietnamese sandwiches.  And they offer a vegan tofu version!  And it was YUMMY.  We love the banh-mi at Banh Mi Zon here in Manhattan, and this was just as delicious.  Typically I would get it spicy, but after a bad run in with another banh-mi joint and jalapeno seeds on it, I stayed away from the spicy this time.  Yes, the sandwich was as delicious as it looks.  Plus, it was cheap.  Can’t beat it.

Love & Haight (Lower Haight) offers vegetarian & vegan sandwiches.  Last time we were in SF we hit up this joint, and it was also deemed good enough for a second visit.  We stopped in before heading down to Santa Cruz to pick up sandwiches for the ride.  I recommend the vegan chicken sandwich.  I only wish they’d offer veganaise (offer a selection of mustards for vegans).

Once in Santa Cruz, we hit up one of my all-time favorite restaurants – Cafe Gratitude.  They mainly focus on raw food, but also offer cooked dishes as well.  I simply die for their nori wrap – called I am Transparent – and dream about it quite often.  All of their dishes are titled after affirmations – “I am _____ ” – which is how you order the item.  When the server brings you your food, they say it back to you “You are _____ “.  I find it incredibly heart-warming, though some might find it hokey.  They also ask a question of the day, and practice what they call “Sacred Commerce” which you can read more about on their website.  All of that aside, their food really is something to behold.  Raw or cooked, I’ve yet to have something I didn’t like there after my total of four visits, and neither has Melissa.  Their desserts are also a-ma-zing!  I am a fiend for their “I am Nurtured” ice cream sundae.  Melissa loves their “I am Devoted” coconut cream pie.  Our friend gifted us with their cookbook this time around, proclaiming “this is a cookbook you two need to have!” – I couldn’t agree more.  I’m excited to share our experience and journey through this cookbook with you all!

We used Happy Cow one day for lunch to see if we couldn’t find a taco joint.  Success!  Salsa’s Taco Bar (formerly Leo’s) offers an ENTIRE vegan menu!  We gobbled down some vegan crunchy tacos, flautas, and enchiladas.  Yum.

I also included some photographs of our home-cooked vegan meals while visiting our friend in Santa Cruz.  Tofu scramble, vegan sandwiches and a delicious vegan BBQ night.

I am now so inspired to make this a tradition – this being traveling for vegan food!  I think it would be super fun to travel to awesome cities around the USA that I haven’t been to in search of the best vegan food.  Kind of like how Anthony Bordain does, except without all the crazy slaughter and meat that he often will feature.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Vegan Pizza in Point Pleasant?!

We travel down to Point Pleasant, NJ on a regular basis to visit my partner’s mother and husband. When we travel to either of our families, we usually always travel with a goody bag of our basics: a carton of soy milk, package of tofu, Earth Balance butter and then whatever else we might want to prepare ourselves to eat. It saves our families a little bit of stress when we visit, because they tend to get a little nervous about what to feed us.

We arrived today mid-afternoon… Too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But we were hungry. So, Melissa does as we always do when traveling to a city or town we aren’t familiar with – she Happy Cow’d Point Pleasant. (Happy Cow is a vegan/veg food finder that basically works globally… You start up the app, it locates you, and tells you where the closest vegan/veg friendly places to eat). Our eyes about bugged out of our heads when it returned the result of Jason’s Organic Pizza Cafe. Could this really be true?! Vegan pizza in Point Pleasant?! Indeed, vegan pizza in Point Pleasant.

My mother in law took a ride with us over to their location at 1314 Richmond Ave, a short ride over the bridge in a cute plaza full of Italian specialty stores and a random taco joint. Not only do they cater to vegans, but offer gluten-free options as well. And, of course, everything is organic. Their brochure states, “We believe that all natural foods help you feel better. At Jason’s our wish for you is to eat good and feel good.” I couldn’t agree more!

We took a look at the menu, which is full of wonderful options for vegans and omnivores alike. Specialty pizzas, salads, appetizers, and sandwiches, I felt like they really made a conscious effort to include the vegan and gluten-free crowd, which was worlds away from your typical pizza parlor. I opted for a “Create Your Own” pizza, selecting a whole wheat crust, organic spicy tomato sauce, Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese, topped with organic crimini mushrooms and Field Roast sausage. Melissa got the same crust and cheese, topped with basil, red pepper and crimini mushrooms.

While we waited, the owner, Jason himself, treated us to a sample of his homemade vegan meatballs. I thought this was extremely kind and generous, and before I even had told him about Jerseycityvegan.com! The meatballs were delicious, made from veggie protein, had a perfectly seasoned Italian flavor exactly like what you’d expect from a meatball! My mother in law even gave them a taste, and she was thoroughly impressed. That’s kind of a big deal, in my book – An omnivore giving a seal of approval on a vegan meatball.

And I’m sure you’re wondering how the pizzas were? Well, have a look…

The cheese was perfectly melted, toppings were full of flavor, and the crust was crispy. I was absolutely delighted. I would love it if Jason’s opened a location in Jersey City, but for now I will settle for it being my Jersey Shore go-to for pizza. Summer is coming, so trips to the shore will be plentiful very soon… As will my visits to Jason’s Organic Pizza Cafe!