Bay Area Vegetarians

Two new veg restaurant openings to report:

Royal Indian Cuisine – Dublin

Welcome to the first vegetarian restaurant in Dublin, especially notable since they switched from being a mixed restaurant.  Check ’em out.

Cafe Gratitude – Healdsburg

Cafe Gratitude continues to expand, adding a location in the “Olive Leaf” in Healdsburg, to its family of locations in San Francisco, San Rafael and Berkeley.

Join Veganauts to explore, celebrate and share vegan food with new and old friends at vegetarian restaurants throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.   Hosts are needed for the 2009 mission series.  As you can see from the 2008 schedule below, we like to travel to different parts of the Bay Area, with different types of food.

So, Indian, Asian, raw, East Bay, South Bay, SF, etc — pick your favorite and let me know when you’d like to host!  Eating out at Asian style restaurants is particularly fun because it means getting to try a wider variety of dishes than just eating out on your own.

Expedition 200802 : Leap Year Mission : Golden Buddha, SF
Expedition 200803 : Mission to Cafe Soulstice: San Mateo
Expedition 200804 : Mission to Souley Vegan: Oakland
Expedition 200805 : Mission to Udupi Palace : Sunnyvale
Expedition 200806 : Mission to Ital Calabash, Berkeley
Expedition 200807 : Mission to Manzanita, Oakland
Expedition 200808 : Mission to Cafe Gratitude: SF
Expedition 200809 : Mission to the New World: Oakland
Expedition 200810 : Mission to Planet Herbivore: San Francisco
Expedition 200811 : Mission to Fragrance Land : Cupertino

Responsibilities as an organizer:  Pick restaurant, date/time and coordinate that with me (it can be weekday evening, weekend — make it work for your schedule); send announcement to the SFBAVeg list.  Track RSVPs, reserve space at restaurant, greet guests as they arrive, and enjoy good food & fellowship over a delicious vegan meal!

We are fortunate to live in a geographic area that provides a variety of vegan flora throughout the Bay Area, so let’s take advantage of it and start planning our 2009 missions!

Veganauts was started in 2006 by Tammy & Chris, BAVeg co-founders, and they continue to lead vegan missions alongside guest mission commanders.

Veganauts is the perfect opportunity to host on an occasional basis while supporting BAVeg and your local vegetarian community.

To submit a Mission proposal, please email Tammy directly

Read it online or subscribe to have it delivered directly to your inbox.

* Community Thanksgiving Events
* Carol and The Chicken Man Protest KFC
* News Bites
* Spotlight: Vegan Food Report
* Ultimate Guide Updates
* Heart Smart Cooking
* Event Calendar

Reporter Richgail Enriquez takes a bite out of the Vegan/Vegetarian movement in the Bay Area. Watch this video news report as she explores local vegetarian restaurants. Runtime 4:43.

For more information on vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the SF Bay Area, visit the Ultimate Guide

Seed of Life is a new vegan restaurant in Berkeley.  Inspired by world cuisine, the menu currently features soups, green and grain salads, entrees including noodle dishes, wraps, and burgers.

Seed of Life shares the location with Vital Ital Calabash; they open when Vital Ital closes.

Thanks to Greg for the update.

Ultimate Guide – Seed of Life: read it, rate it, review it!

Tammy and I tried a new tactic this month.  Instead of a busy Saturday location or a busy college, we went to downtown San Francisco and leafleted commuters as they entered the BART stations.  Tammy and I handed out PETA Vegetarian Starter Kits and Jack handed out Vegan Outreach’s Compassionate Choices.  We gave out just under 600 in one hour!

Read the rest of this entry »

Ann and Cheryl distributed 200 Guides promoting vegan foods in Pacifica on 9/27.  This brings our yearly distribution count to 23,652.  Thank you Ann & Cheryl!

Carol organizes the monthly KFC Cruelty Protest in San Jose.  She shares how this started.

“After receiving disturbing information from PETA, during March 2003, about how cruelly KFC treated the chickens they serve, I decided to arrange a protest–my first! Only one person showed up! It was Mike Borg. Read the rest of this entry »

Vegi Garden, an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Sunnyvale, is now closed. This was one of the few veg restaurants serving dim sum.

Sunnyvale currently has 10 vegetarian restaurants now.

The Ultimate Guide Top Ten is based on user ratings from BAVeg members and the general public.  Merit Vegetarian (Sunnyvale) and Happy Bamboo (San Jose) are the newest additions to the Ultimate Guide Top Ten.

The South Bay now dominates with 70% of the Top Ten restaurants to the East Bay’s 30% with 0% to San Francisco, which has 20 vegetarian restaurants within its city limits. Read the rest of this entry »