A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, my father came home one day and announced, “Kids, we’re going to Chicago this weekend, and we’re going to a new kind of restaurant. It has the most amazing salads on a giant buffet, and you can walk right up and take whatever you want.”
I don’t think the name “salad bar” had even been invented in those days, back in the dawn of the Baby Boom. Continue reading Grazing the salad bars at Whole Foods and Jason’s
Catching up with a bunch of items that have piled up in my critic’s notebook, let’s take a quick trip around the world on a dinner plate, stopping off at a trio of worthy spots for tastes of the Mediterranean, Korea and a Philadelphia treat — a surprisingly fetching “cheeze” “steak” that’s fully vegan.
Today let us consider the humble soybean. Those savvy Asians have been chowing down on them for 5,000 years, and making tofu for most of the last millennium. Soybeans became a major U.S. crop after World War II. We feed most of it to animals. Offer most people a bite of tofu, and they’ll go, “Eeuuww.”
Continue reading Heart & Soy gets to the heart of soy
If you’re a vegetarian who’s been pining for a nice local restaurant where you can get fancy meatless fare in an upscale setting, then your dream has come true. If you’re a guilty carnivore who claims you’d go vegetarian if only some place served meatless dishes so good that you wouldn’t even miss meat, look out. This may be put-up or shut-up time for you. And if you’re an unapologetic meat-eater who thinks vegetarian fare can only be bland and prissy, get ready to have your prejudices challenged, if you’re brave enough to try it.
Continue reading No animals were harmed for dinner at Roots
