From Worcester Magazine:

Vegan Dishes Put Worcester on the Map

Story Updated: Oct 13, 2010 at 6:27 PM EDT

In recent years Worcester has grown into a hot spot for the vegan food. This year PETA named Worcester among the top-10 vegan-friendly mid-sized cities in America. At the end of 2009, Worcester even had more vegetarian restaurants than Boston.
The Vegetarian Resource Group found that only 3 percent of the general U.S. population is vegetarian or vegan, but 18 percent of U.S. college students are vegan. With 13 colleges, it’s no surprise that our city has a burgeoning vegan movement. At the end of last April, more than 2,000 Worcesterites came out to the first-annual Worcester VegFest, a daylong vegan festival at Worcester State College.

Why vegan?
Vegans avoid meat, dairy and eggs, opting for plant-based foods instead. For some, eating vegan is a way to improve their health. For others, veganism is an ethical objection to the routine cruelty involved in raising animals for food. With our society’s growing ecological consciousness, many have chosen a vegan diet because it dramatically reduces our carbon footprint ­— in 2006 a United Nations commission published a study stating that livestock is the principal cause of human-made global climate change.
Bill Clinton recently appeared on Wolf Blitzer’s show to discuss why he made the switch to a vegan diet. For Clinton it was a matter of health. “I did all this research, and I saw that 82 percent of the people since 1986 who have gone on a plant-based: no meat, no dairy of any kind… 82 percent of people who have done that have begun to heal themselves. Their arterial blockage cleans up; the calcium deposit around their heart breaks up.”
Whatever your reason for choosing vegan food, Worcester has plenty to offer at its many veg-friendly restaurants.

Getting your Vegan Eats in Worcester
Worcester is a melting pot. In our little city, you can sample some of the best vegan foods from around the world. Pho Da Kao on Park Avenue offers big bowls of Vietnamese vegetable Pho, a traditional noodle soup ($7.76). Udupi in Shrewsbury offers all-vegetarian South Indian cuisine. Try the savory Chana Batura — chickpea curry with puffy fried bread ($10.25). For a meal on the go, you can pick up a couple of Jamaican curry pockets from One Love Cafe on Main for less than $5. The Sahara on Highland Street has a fattoush salad ($7.95) that makes a hearty-but-healthy lunch.
You’ll find plenty of vegan options at chain restaurants like Moe’s, but local businesses are often better at responding to local demand. So delicious vegan fare is easier to find at the mom-and-pops. While most restaurants in Worcester will have a vegan dish on the menu, there are definitely some shining stars:

• For a leisurely lunch, stop by the cafe at Bahnan’s International Market on Pleasant Street. For $7 you’ll get a falafel sandwich, steak fries crusted with Middle Eastern spices, and a soda.
• A cornerstone of the vegan scene, the second-Saturday-of-the-month buffet at Loving Hut on Chandler is a deal for $10. (Next one: [November 13].)
• Flats on Maywood Street is a new pizzeria with a stellar Neapolitan vegan cheese pizza ($14), which you get in classy 100 percent post-consumer recycled pizza box. The white sauce is also dairy-free. Flats could certainly win over Worcester’s entire vegan community by adding mock meats to their menu
• A relatively new addition to the city, Belmont Veg serves up home-style Jamaican vegan food and features a rotating menu with new items each day. Choose one of the three sizes (small, $9.91; medium, $10.09; large, $12.22) and order a “whatever” to sample a mix of everything they have that day.
• If you’re out at the Dive Bar on Water Street, step outside to Chris’s Hot Dog Cart for a vegan completo: a veggie dog topped with sliced avocado, onions and peppers
• Like to do your own cooking, but want to try some interesting new ingredients? Mekong Market on Main Street has a substantial selection of specialty mock meats. They have everything from veg pork to vegan shrimp.

Much of the credit for the ample vegan choices at local restaurants is due to Worcester’s numerous student groups. Every month, college veg groups are holding vegan potlucks or movie nights. Clark University’s Student Association of Vegetarian and Vegan Youth has its annual vegan Thanksgiving dinner coming up soon. It’s free and open to the public. WPI’s Veg Polytech is planning a trip to The Boston Vegetarian Food Festival on the weekend of October 30 and 31 in Roxbury.

Worcester has award-winning vegan food. Get out there and try it!

If you appreciate the coverage of vegan- and vegetarianism, you should send a quick note to the editor (editor@WorcesterMagazine.com) or leave a comment on Worcester Mag’s website. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear some feedback and encouragement. Who knows? She may even run your comment in the paper.

Definitely pick up a copy of this week’s Worcester Magazine. In it you’ll find the latest article in the Soy de Worcester column. The piece is online, but WoMag always looks better in print.

Valentine Treats for your Vegan Sweetie

Are you a long-time vegetarian, looking for something new to do this Valentine’s Day? Or maybe a die-hard meat-eater with a vegan sweetheart? Somewhere in between? No matter where you’re coming from, these romantic vegan Valentine’s date ideas are sure to impress:

The Bean Counter is the place in Worcester to get vegan desserts for your schnoodle. You can order a vegan cake ahead of time, either a full-sized or a small cake. Not good at planning ahead? Bean Counter is also the spot to hit up if you get a hot date at the last minute or, heaven-forbid, you forget to buy a present for your long-time love. The cafe on Highland Street always has fresh-baked vegan cupcakes, cookies and sometimes even has vegan cakes available for immediate purchase.

This year, Valentine’s Day falls on the Lunar New Year, also called Chinese New Year. Two of Worcester’s East Asian vegan restaurants are celebrating with special dishes and special hours.

Decadent double dipped vegan chocolate apples from CorpseCakes

This weekend will be busy at Buddha Hut on Chandler Street. On Saturday it hosts its monthly vegan buffet. While not usually open on Sundays, this year the restaurant is opening its doors on Feb. 14 for special Valentine’s Day dinner hours.

Duck Yao is celebrating Valentine’s and Chinese New Year and will be offering a special item this weekend: fried, pounded rice cakes filled with veggie ham and beans. Space is limited at this underground restaurant, so make reservations early by calling 413-296-4797.

Plan to spend the Valentine’s evening at home, snuggled up with your sweetie? Stop by the Artichoke food co-op to pick up some decadent chocolate treats and non-dairy ice cream. The Artichoke’s fresh-food selection may be sparse, but there is no better place in Worcester to find vegan and fairly-traded chocolate bars. Choose from a wide selection that includes blended orange dark-chocolate, espresso bean, and almond chunk. While you are there, consider bringing home a pint of the non-dairy ice-cream. The flavors the co-op stocks vary, but if you’re lucky it will still have some coconut-chocolate available.

One Love is the perfect place to relax with your love this Valentine’s Day. Want to spend an hour or two chatting over dinner? This small Jamaican restaurant features many options for those seeking a meatless meal. Sip some water with watermelon and chat while owner Venice Fouchard prepares your food. The rasta pasta and spinach roti are perfect for sharing. The stewed akee fruit has a texture similar to scrambled eggs but a distinct flavor that sticks out from the curry dish. You won’t be let down by the creative and flavorful dishes.

Don’t want to go out this Valentine’s? What better way to impress your date than making a home-cooked, gourmet meal? In addition to a wide array of fresh, organic fruits and veggies, the Living Earth has a bulk foods section and many specialty vegan items like soycheese and mock meats. With all the interesting ingredients available at Living Earth, you’ll certainly be able to come up with a creative dish that woos your darling.

And for those of the creepy, kooky and altogether ooky nature … CorpseCakes is your choice for alternative and sub-cultured goodies for the post-mortem extracted sweet tooth. All CorpseCakes cupcakes and cakes are created to your liking, offering a variety of hand-painted/custom sweets tailored to your dietary needs including vegan tasties. For ordering information e-mail CorpseCakes@gmail.com

Today there are two neat vegan food events going on in our part of world. Aren’t we lucky? In Boston today from 4pm to 5pm there’s a seminar on vegetable oil powered cars followed by an all-you-can-eat vegan Chinese buffet at 5pm. This’ll take place at the Grasshopper restaurant located at 1 North Beacon Street in Allston, MA (map)

But if you don’t want to leave Worcester today, instead you can swing by the One Love Cafe from 11:30am to 3:30pm for a vegan brunch and live music. One Love is a cute little Jamacain place that sits right next door to the Artichoke Food Cooperative at 800 Main Street (map). It’s a vegetarian joint, but it has a good amount of veg options. See the facebook event for more info about the brunch.

Rumor has it that the One Love Cafe now also has vegan cakes and pastries from Worcester’s suavest vegan baking company, Barely Legal Treats.

RealWorcester.com now has a list of their Top 5 Vegan-Friendly Restaurants in Worcester. Check it out.

This week’s issue of Worcester Magazine (Oct 23-29, 2008) has a number of pleasant surprises. Mike Benedetti from PieandCoffee.org (and occasional VegWorcester.com blogger) criticized this week’s issue of being ignorant of internet culture, but I think he might agree with me that the WoMag staff may have redeemed themselves by doing such a great job of featuring vegetarianism in this issue.

Let’s see. Where to start…

In the Eat Beat section, Gina Salvadori features a ton of veg-friendly restaurants, including VegWorcester.com favs: Tortilla Sam’s, Buddha Hut, Nancy Chang’s, One Love, and Shiraz. When I came to the end of that section, she had me convinced me to check out a couple of places that I haven’t tried yet, like Morocco Restaurant & Bar at 172 Shrewsbury Street (map) and El Basha at 424 Belmont Street (map). Maybe I’ll post a review in a few days.

Definitely the best part of this week’s WoMag is the 2008 Food Book that they have inserted into every copy. The very first article is entitled, “Vegetarian Options Abound if Meat’s not your Treat” and profiles a number of choice dining options for vegetarians in the Worcester area. Sweet! In the article, Tim O’Keefe lists his top 10 “dining destinations that will satisfy your hunger as well as your lifestyle choice.” Looks like they haven’t posted the 2008 Food Book online yet, but they do have last year’s up. That seems to indicate that they’ll put up this year’s eventually.

So definitely pick up a copy of the paper and check out the article in the Food Book. In the meantime, here’s restaurants listed in it:

• The Boynton – 117 Highland Ave (map)
• The Q Cafe 362 Chandler Ave (map)
• The Flying Rhino 268 Shrewsbury Street (map)
• Tortilla Sam’s – 107 Highland Street (map)
• Bocado Tapas and Wine Bar – 82 Winter Street (map)
• Da Lat – 425 Park Avenue (map)
• Piccolo’s – 157 Shrewsbury Street (map)
• Baba Sushi – 209 Park Avenue (map)
• El Basha – 424 Belmont Street (map)

I’m pysched that vegetarian dining in Worcester is getting so much play. The praise is long overdue. Man, I love Worcester.

By no means does this list cover every single place to get quality veg food in Worcester. In fact, you can get good veg food at nearly every restaurant in Worcester (even Burger King has a veggie burger). This mini-guide lists local places that are either all-vegetarian or who have a very good vegetarian selection. Leave a comment if you think I left out a really good one.

So print it out. And hang this baby on your fridge!