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发帖数: 23737 | 1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/nyregion/29dineli.html?ref=veganism
JAY ASTAFOVIC, 17, has been helping out at Three Brothers Pizzeria, which is
owned by his father, since it opened here in January 2007. But when he
changed his diet from vegetarian to vegan later that year, he had a problem:
“Every time I would come here I would have nothing to eat,” he recalled.
As a vegan, he avoids all animal-based foods — not just meat, poultry and
seafood, but also eggs and dairy products. “I would look at all those
pizzas” topped with cheese, he said, “and wish there was a vegan option.”
So he researched the possibilities. Encouraged especially by the quality of
a commercial cheese substitute derived primarily from the cassava root, the
self-described “vegan foodie” persuaded his father, Andy, to start
offering dairy-free pizzas last summer.
“I say, ‘You want to do it, do it,’ ” said Andy Astafovic (pronounced As
-TAH-foh-vic), a native of Montenegro. “He orders it, I pay,” Mr.
Astafovic said of the faux cheeses. Now the 30-seat pizzeria offers a full
vegan Italian dinner menu, along with its traditional one, Jay Astafovic
said.
It is one small illustration of how being a vegan on Long Island is a little
easier these days, according to members of Vegan Long Island, who met this
month at the pizzeria. Their party of nine ate nondairy pizza margherita and
faux-meatball, broccoli and spinach pie, among other varieties.
Vegan Long Island made its debut in April with the merger of two vegan
organizations; more than 220 people have signed on to its Web site, meetup.
com/vegan-Long-Island, according to Jennifer Greene, 42, a Bellport resident
who heads the group.
The restaurant outings, typically in groups of 8 to 10, are an important
activity. “One purpose of having our meet-ups is to encourage
establishments on Long Island to offer plant-based menu options,” Ms.
Greene said. In mid-November, group members went to Raga Indian Restaurant
in East Setauket, which serves meat but also has a vegetarian menu and can
prepare a number of dishes for vegans.
One member of Vegan Long Island, Galia Myron, 34, of Long Beach, who gave up
dairy in 2006 and has been “totally vegan” since April, said that at many
restaurants, “I don’t have to explain what ‘vegan’ is anymore.”
Another function of the group is camaraderie. “Without the support of a
community, it can be lonely,” said Ms. Greene, a Sunday-school director who
has been a vegan since her mid-30s, largely out of concern over the
treatment of animals in the food industries. “But getting together with
other people” who have similar concerns, she said, “lets me know I’m not
alone at all.”
About 1 percent of the adult population in the United States is vegan,
according to a 2009 Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the nonprofit
Vegetarian Resource Group, based in Baltimore. In earlier decades, the
number of vegans would scarcely “register on the chart,” said Charles
Stahler, 54, a co-director of the resource group and a vegan since 1977. “
For me, it’s really an amazing change.”
With celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres advocating the vegan diet, and best
sellers like Jonathan Safran Foer’s recent “Eating Animals” raising
questions about the factory farming of animals for food, “veganism has
become hipper,” Ms. Myron said. “It’s not as granola.”
Martin Benavides and Casey Dalton, a vegan couple from Huntington, both 23,
eat out well beyond the granola route. “We mostly go to ethnic restaurants
— Indian, Thai, Afghan,” Mr. Benavides said. “Most of these cultures have
a huge vegetarian influence anyway. A lot of them are family owned, and the
chefs are there and will say, ‘O.K., this one has dairy, but we can cook
it without dairy.’ ”
Ms. Dalton said one “completely vegan” favorite was Green Melody, a
Chinese and pan-Asian restaurant in Jericho.
Helen Chang, 59, a co-owner of Green Melody, and her son David, 26, said
Buddhist precepts inspired its menu. “All my family is Buddhist,” said Mrs
. Chang. Her own mother, she said, cooked strictly vegan — there was “no
meat, no dairy” in her childhood home — and now Green Melody is following
suit.
Among the restaurant’s specialties are its faux meats: The “chicken” in
the Sizzling Delight entree, for example, is soy-based; the “beef” strips,
served in a brown sauce over sautéed watercress in a dish called Temple of
the Green, are derived from wheat gluten, a protein, Mr. Chang said.
Green Melody will be the setting for a lunch and lecture on Jan. 24 held by
HealthyPlanet, a Long Island health and environmental education group, said
Bob DiBenedetto, one of its co-founders. HealthyPlanet also holds frequent
potluck dinners, with guest speakers, where all the dishes must be vegan;
that “allows everyone who’s attending to eat everything that’s there,”
Mr. DiBenedetto said. That means desserts, too, which must be free of eggs,
milk, honey and certain sugars.
One source for vegan sweets on Long Island is Moo-Cluck, a largely wholesale
bakery in Babylon that sells to retail customers as well.
Moo-Cluck’s baker, Micheline Cummings, 36, had been running a nonvegan
custom bake shop, Madame Butterfly Cakes, with her partner, Terry Haughey.
But both are vegans, so, Ms. Cummings said, “I started developing the vegan
recipes just for me.”
But soon, others were asking for her egg- and dairy-free items, like “un-
cheesecake,” chocolate cake and cupcakes. So Moo-Cluck was born in 2005.
Relatives of Ms. Cummings who viewed veganism with a certain suspicion
initially resisted her desserts, she said. But times change: She and Mr.
Haughey took a box of several dozen Moo-Cluck cookies to a family Christmas
party of 30 people last year, intending it for a vegan relative.
The vegan arrived too late to enjoy the gift. Half an hour after Ms.
Cummings brought them into the house, the cookies were gone, she said. “All
the nonvegans ate them.”
Following is a sampling of places that offer vegan food, usually in addition
to nonvegan fare, with a few examples.
BABYLON Moo-Cluck, bakery, 22 Fire Island Avenue; moocluck.com; (631) 669-
4201. Chocolate or vanilla cake, $11; un-cheesecake, $13; “creme-filled”
chocolate cupcakes, two for $5. Call ahead with orders.
BAY SHORE Tula Kitchen, 41 East Main Street; tulakitchen.com; (631) 539-7183
. Tempeh teriyaki with vegetables, $16; mock-crab cakes made with tofu and
served with dairy-free tartar sauce, $16.
EAST SETAUKET Raga Indian Restaurant, 130 Old Town Road; (631) 689-7242;
ragali.com. Baingan bhurta (roasted eggplant sautéed with onions, tomatoes
and peas), $10; bhindi masala (fried okra sautéed with onions, tomatoes,
cumin, turmeric and cilantro), $10. Specify vegan requirements.
Curry Club, 10 Woods Corner Road; (631) 751-4845; curryclubli.com. Alu
mutter (peas with potato chunks and ground spices), $10.99; masala dosa (
rice and lentil crepe wrapped around spiced potatoes), $9.99. Another
location, with a different menu, at 2811 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove; (
631) 580-1777.
HUNTINGTON Ariana Restaurant and Cafe, 255 Main Street; (631) 421-2933;
arianacafe.com. Afghan and Mediterranean fare. A number of entrees can be
ordered vegan-style, including vegetarian kechri (risotto with mung beans
topped with falafel balls and chickpeas), $19.95.
JERICHO Green Melody, 519 North Broadway; greenmelody.com; (516) 681-5715.
All-vegan Chinese and pan-Asian cuisine, including Temple of the Green (
wheat gluten-based mock-beef strips in sweet brown sauce over watercress), $
18; Sizzling Delight, soy-based mock-chicken, vegetables and pineapple in
brown sauce, $16.50.
OCEANSIDE Jandi’s Natural Market and Organic Cafe, 3000 Long Beach Road; (
516) 536-5535; jandis.com. Includes deli and juice bar with a small seating
area. Deli soups, salads and desserts are vegan; other vegan foods are
specially marked.
PATCHOGUE Del Fiore Pizza Company, 55 North Ocean Avenue; (631) 475-3663.
Specify vegan version of the Lorenzo veggie pie, $29.50 for a 16-inch pie.
ROCKVILLE CENTRE Three Brothers Pizzeria, 212 North Long Beach Road; (516)
766-3939. Vegan pizzas: 12-inch pie, $7; 18-inch, $13.90. Toppings are extra
. Seitan scaloppine piccata, $15.95. |
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