Bay Area Vegetarians

If you’re interested, let’s talk!  Find Tammy at an upcoming event, or shoot me an email on how best to reach you.  Volunteering is a very rewarding experience and great way to support our community, and promote veganism which helps the animals and our planet.

1. Social Media Support:  Facebook is an important outlet to connect with people.  We need volunteers to write engaging posts about upcoming events, volunteer opportunities and general information relevant to our community.  Familarity with FB required, and savvy with social media.
2. Outreach Support:  Sharing informational booklets at local colleges (Mon-Wed, daytime activity) or Saturday at Farmer’s Market.  This raises awareness of veganism and introduces our group to the community.  No previous experience needed – just the ability to smile and hold out a booklet.  
3. Special Events ​Co-organizer: for fundraising event for local animal rescue/sanctuary, dual opportunity to FUNdraise to help animals while showing how awesome vegan foods are to animal lovers.

Do you enjoy reading? Do you like learning? And talking about it over vegan food with like-minded people? Then maybe we have an opportunity for you!

We’re considering starting up a book club. We would select a book to read, read it, then meetup to discuss it, every 2 months.

Here’s a selection of books that would fit in the nonfiction theme we’re targeting, animal-rights or vegan health books (science-based). If you’re interested, please contact Tammy to express interest and let us know what works best for a meeting time for you (weekday/weekend, and morning/afternoon/evening).

Update

Initial responses have led us to selecting Sunday morning as our meeting time, and the book Beyond Beliefs for our first reading selection

We will be having an “open house” meeting in March, and we can discuss future books & meeting dates, etc at that time. Note:it’s not a requirement to join us for every book we read. You can opt-in based on whatever books interest you.

3/3 Sun “Open House”/introductory meeting, 10 am to 11 am (everyone can bring different books, talk about book club, dates) – RSVP

5/19 Sun Beyond Beliefs discussion, 10 am to noon – RSVP 

Want to enjoy a delicious feast of 100% plant-based foods without travelling far?   Then host our #veganfoodparty!

They’re typically the 4th Saturday of the month, and the time is flexible (usually 5-8 pm, but it can be earlier or later depending on your preference).

Read the rest of this entry »

We are supporters of the Advocates of the Animals at Six Flags and their ongoing campaign to release the animals to certified sanctuaries and sea pens.  They have regular protests at the theme park, which we promote within our enews to encourage this worthy campaign.  We ask everyone to also send a short, handwritten letter to the CEO.    It can be short (“Send the animals to a sanctuary”), or it can be long.  You may use your own words, or copy ours.  The most important thing is to take action.

Using the text below, we collected 50 signed postcards at Vallejo’s Unity Day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vegan entrees change daily at the Taj Grill lunch buffet. Photo: Tammy Lee

Taj Grill is a leader in Vallejo’s restaurants for vegan dining.  While it’s not a vegan restaurant, they are well-known in the local vegan community as they already clearly mark which items on their menu are “VEGAN” or “with vegan option”, and their daily lunch buffet includes vegan selections (signed as vegan).

We spoke to the owner Harish Chowdhary as part of our Vegan Restaurant Campaign, he confirmed:

• All of their “vegan dishes” are 100% plant-based, no animal products whatsoever
• Fried ingredients in vegan dishes are cooked in oil used only for vegan items
• Their Wednesday lunch buffet is entirely vegan/vegetarian

So what’s vegan at Taj Grill?  For starters, their menu lists 12 entrees as vegan (Mixed Vegetables, Tarka Dal, Aloo Gobi, Aloo Chole, Aloo Methi, Jeera Aloo, Aloo Palak, Saag Channa, Channa Masala, Pindi Channa, Baingan Bhartha, Bhindi Masala), and the 13th “with vegan option”, the Dal Makhni.  Harish mentioned several of their breads are vegan, as are their pakoras.  Other appetizers, like the samosa, are likely vegan, but have not yet been marked on their menu.

But what’s really notable about the vegan dining options at Taj Grill is their daily lunch buffet.  Earlier this year, Harish made Wednesday’s buffet entirely plant-based (i.e. it is a mixture of vegan and vegetarian selections).   The buffet features 13 items, all you can eat for $9.99.  In the past, savvy vegans relied on Harish to point out to them which entrees are vegan.   At our request, each vegan dish on the buffet will now be signed with a “V”.

Taj Grill Daily Lunch Buffet, 11 am to 2:30 pm: All You Can Eat $9.99

• 8 Entrees daily, described as 4 “dry” entrees and 4 curries
  • Wednesday, between 6 and 8 entrees are typically vegan, remaining are vegetarian.
  • All other days, it’s split between vegan/vegetarian and non-vegan/vegetarian.  It is typically 3 vegan, 1 vegetarian or all 4 vegan.
• Rice (vegan)
• Bread (usually vegan)
• Pakoras (vegan)
• Salad, with 2 salad dressings (vegan)
• Pudding (vegetarian, not vegan)

Harish  mentioned the possibility of having a vegan dessert option in the future.

We’d love to see the vegan/vegetarian theme on Wednesday carry forward to additional days of the week.  Please check ’em out.

Taj Grill, 758 Admiral Callaghan Ln , Vallejo 94591, (707) 644-4902 (by Safeway)

After you’ve dined there, please add your review of them to TAJ GRILL in the Ultimate Guide, and these hashtags elsewhere in the Internet!

#tajgrillvegan #vrcns #VallejoVeganRestaurantCampaign
#EatVeganVallejo #NapaSolanoVegans #WhatVegansEat #baveg

We dine out for a variety of reasons, the primary ones being hunger and convenience.  For me, enjoying a dining experience at a mixed restaurant serving both vegan and non-vegan foods means trusting that my vegan meal was prepared without contact with animal-based foods. Regardless of whether the underlying reason may be ethical concerns, food safety & handling practices, or health concerns, there are California state laws regarding food handling to avoid allergens.

For the many of us who have never worked in a restaurant kitchen and are unfamiliar with how it’s run, I’ve summarized a conversation I had with Anthony Jackson, a chef as well as a vegan who worked at a Vallejo restaurant handling both vegan and non-vegan foods:

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been polling our members in the Napa Solano Vegans group on Facebook and whether there’s interest for a special event for families & kids, which would provide kids with a unique opportunity to socialize with their peers at an all-vegan event.

With April approaching, a (vegan) egg hunt has been proposed.   We’d like your interest and availability for an egg hunt vs an outdoor park event, with date considerations as follows

1. Outdoor kids event, Sat Apr 14
2. Outdoor kids event, Sat Apr 7
3. Egg hunt, Sat Mar 31

If you’re a member of our Facebook group, Napa Solano Vegans, please vote in the poll to make it easy to record your preference.   If you’re not a Facebook user, you may leave a comment below with your preference or email us directly.

If you’d like to share your kid(s) ages and city, that’d be great to help us plan event logistics.  We also welcome your help with the organizing and implementation (and/or hosting) of this event.

There are so many of us who have been working in various ways to promote veganism and vegan foods locally.   Yet, there is not a single vegan restaurant in the entire Napa and Solano county; many of us regularly drive 30 to 60 minutes plus to dine at a vegan restaurant.  Collaborating together will magnify our individual efforts, and hopefully, one day, we’ll have a vegan restaurant.

Some may ask, why do we want to dine at an all-vegan restaurant when there are nearby restaurants with vegan choices?

1. A vegan or entirely plant-based restaurant can be a better dining experience
   1. Provides a a larger selection to choose from, versus the single vegan item available, or choosing an item and having to order it without meat/dairy
   2. There’s no risk of allergen contamination from non-vegan foods
   3. There’s no cues (visual or aromatic) of animal flesh or animal products
2. Our dining dollars are not supporting an establishment that profits from the suffering & slaughter of sentient beings

Yet, given the lack of vegetarian restaurants in the county, or even a smaller endeavors like food trucks, it’s a big move for a vegan restaurant to open.

To lay the groundwork for a vegan restaurant to open, we need to create a business climate where vegan foods are seen as profitable.  Once we demonstrate that there IS a demand for vegan foods, then someone will eventually exploit that opportunity and open an all-vegan restaurant. (We’re already seeing that explosion with prepared foods.  Ben & Jerry’s now has 9 vegan flavors, Haagen Daz and Breyers have vegan flavors too.)

Read the rest of this entry »

The intent of the Ultimate Guide is to make it easier for folks new to the Bay Area or new to veganism to find businesses that support their lifestyle. We welcome your reviews and feedback on businesses and services listed within.

We are in progress of updating the Guide to include North Bay restaurants that are mixed (i.e. they offer both vegan and non-vegan selections).  We recognize that an entirely vegan restaurant is the preference for many, but until that time comes, we need to identify and support the ones that are offering vegan choices.

If you know of a  restaurant offering vegan selections, or a vegan-owned business (of any type) that should be included, you are welcome to add it.

Read the rest of this entry »