Bay Area Vegetarians Events

02/09/10 - Happy Bamboo Dinner - canceled (to be rescheduled)

Canceled - to be rescheduled

Please join us for Bay Area Vegetarian's "Happy Bamboo dinner" in San Jose at 7pm every 2nd Tuesday of the month. The dinner is open to both veg*ns and non-veg*ns, but if you will be sitting with the group, only VEGAN food can be ordered. Happy Bamboo is a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant, which is about 90-95% vegan, so there are lots of vegan choices.

They also have vegan desserts, such as cake from Black China Bakery and Vegan Carmel Flan.

Happy Bamboo is located at 1711 Branham Lane, just off the 85 freeway at Camden in San Jose. (Once you exit at Camden, it's right there as soon as you turn onto Branham.)

To take a look at their website, click here

To read the outstanding reviews in the Ultimate Guide, click here

I like to get a reliable estimate of how many people will be attending, so that the staff can be prepared to accommodate us. Please RSVP by 12 noon on the day of the dinner, so that we can avoid re-arranging furniture during the dinner. But, if it is a last-minute decision, we'd still love to have you join us.

Also, if you would like to bring home leftovers (though we never seem to have any) or order food to-go, please try to bring a re-usable container.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Please support dining at exclusively vegetarian and vegan restaurants. (If you need a list, please visit the Ultimate Guide. You can also purchase "Vegetarian Bay Area: The Ultimate Guide", a handy vegetarian travel guide for locals and tourists.)
..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

02/14/10 - Plant-Powered Hikers Mt Tam Steep Ravine Hike

Featured Hike: Matt Davis-Steep Ravine Loop (Stinson Beach Trailhead) in Mill Valley.

According to bahiker.com, "This popular hike departing from the town of Stinson, strung together from Matt Davis, Steep Ravine, and Dipsea trails, is probably my favorite Mount Tam hike, and is right up there on my bay area top ten list. The 7 mile loop features a bit of everything, with waterfalls, redwood, Douglas fir, and oak forests, grassland, canyons, and views galore. These three trails are some of Tam's best, and combining them into one hike intensifies their pleasures. Matt Davis is a masterpiece of trail construction -- the perfect trail through a spectacular landscape. The entire experience, from Stinson Beach to Pantoll (and back), is a joy."

Distance & Hiking Time: 7.3 mile loop hike, 4 hours, but ours will probably be longer as we stop to eat or linger to look.

Gather: by 10:15 am -- please make every effort to arrive on time (if you typically run late or are travelling from a distance, please allow yourself extra time)
Meeting location: Stinson Beach's Belvedere Avenue, just up the street from the fire station
Depart: 10:30 am
Park Map PDF

Please bring your own water, vegan snacks/lunch, as we will stop to refuel along the way.

Rain or snow cancels! If in doubt, check this event listing by the morning of the hike at 8:30 am

Getting there:: From US 101 in Marin County, exit CA 1/Mill Valley/Stinson Beach and drive on Shoreline Highway to the junction with Almonte, about 1 mile. Turn left, remaining on Shoreline, and drive about 2.5 miles to the junction with Panoramic Highway. Turn right on Panoramic and drive about 1 mile to the junction with Muir Woods Road; stay straight on Panoramic (right lane). Continue about 7.5 miles (past Pantoll) to the junction with CA 1, just before the town of Stinson Beach. Turn right, drive about 0.2 mile, then turn right (at the fire station) onto Belvedere Avenue. Look for parking on the left side of the road before the "do not enter/wrong way" signs..

02/24/10 - End of the Month Vegan Dinner

Join us for the Bay Area Vegetarians' Vegan Dinner, held at 7PM at Merit Restaurant in Sunnyvale on the last Wednesday of the month. Yes, it's moving back to Wednesdays

The all-vegan fare at Merit is made with expert loving attention by vegans for vegans (and non-vegans alike). A wide range of gourmet vegan cuisine awaits. Their crepes are a MUST to experience. SO yummy. And the desserts are amazing as well. Merit was voted as 2009 Silicon Valley's Best Vegetarian Restaurant by readers of The Wave Magazine.

Merit Restaurant is located at 548 Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale. 408.245.8988

For more info on Merit Restaurant and to read the great reviews in the Ultimate Guide, or to add your own, go to:

Ultimate Guide | Merit website

Our gatherings are friendly and open to people of all ages and persuasions - vegan, vegetarian, omnivore.

Looking forward to seeing you!
..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Please support dining at our exclusively vegan/vegetarian restaurants. (If you need a list, please visit the Ultimate Guide. You can also purchase "Vegetarian Bay Area: The Ultimate Guide", a handy travel guide for locals and tourists.)
..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

02/28/10 - Vegan Food Party plus Secrets of Vegan Baking Presentation

Join us for one of our favorite types of events -- Bay Area Vegetarians' classic Vegan Food Party!!

Never been to a VFP before? It's a community event where people bring their favorite vegan foods to share. A great way to try a variety of new dishes and meet and mingle with people of a like-mind.

This month's VFP will also include a presentation/discussion on the secret ingredients of vegan baking with Christine Dickson at 1 pm. Includes chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookie samples and a cookie mix giveaway. You don't want to miss out!

Vegan Food: Bring your favorite homemade vegan food -- appetizers, entrees, salads, side dishes, desserts -- you name it! As long as it's vegan (strictly vegetarian, entirely plant-based, no animal or insect by-products). You're also welcome to taste-test new recipes on hungry volunteers, too! Please see VFP guidelines for more details on what to bring.

Everyone is welcome, both veg & non-veg, as long as each person is open-minded and brings vegan food to share :-) If you have non-veg friends who always wonder what you eat, volunteer to make a vegan dish for them, and bring them along to enjoy our community feast!

A few important notes:
1. Please bring re-useable cups/plates, etc. It's better for the environment that we all share.
2. Each person should plan to bring a vegan dish with 6 to 8 servings, ingredient list, and everything you need to eat and serve your dish with. Please read the VFP Guidelines about what to bring. Seriously, this could mean the difference between eating and not eating.
3. Gather at noon pm, start eating at 12:20 pm :-)

Location: Pacifica - Sharp Park Library, 104 Hilton Way at Palmetto, Pacifica (15 minutes south of SF) (directions)
The library is closed at this time so we will have full access to their parking and there is also ample free street parking.

Volunteers needed! I need volunteers who can arrive early at 11:30 to help setup (must be reliable and prompt, as we have 30 minutes to set-up tables, chairs, and samples/literature. Also need volunteers after the event to help clean-up.

The Presentation: Secret Ingredients of Vegan Baking at 1 pm : Christine will share her "secret" ingredients for making delicious vegan cookies, give specific product recommendations for vegan baking, address common questions about vegan baking, and cookie samples! She'll share her recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and explain how a couple of substitutions transform the recipe into snickerdoodles. Both we'll be available for sampling. After the presentation, we'll giveaway a cookie mix for Christine's delicious vegan cookies.

Secrets of Vegan Baking Class Review: "After we tasted the cookies and cake at class we knew we found something special. It seems to me that you have a rare gift and I hope that you continue to experiment and find ever more wonderful desserts that vegans can enjoy and feel proud to serve their non-vegan friends."

Upcoming Secrets of Vegan Baking classes include 3/27 The Chocolate Trio and 4/24 Berry Sweets

03/04/10 - Monthly Vegan Dinner at Loving Hut

Loving Hut is the only vegan restaurant in Palo Alto. With many of the items from San Jose's Vegetarian House, it has wonderful soups, salads, sandwiches, muffins, desserts and fair trade coffee (no decaf).

A monthly BAV dinner would be great support by fellow vegans! I'm starting out with the first Thursday of every month. Just email me to RSVP for this so we can all sit together. Walk-ins accommodated as space permits.

Location: Loving Hut, 165 University Av, Palo Alto
Ultimate Guide Information & Reviews