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Uploaded: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 12:13 PM
Shop Talk: Vegan variety in Palo Alto
School of Rock opens in Midtown and other tidbits
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by Daryl Savage
Palo Alto Weekly Staff
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 | PALO ALTO GOING VEGAN? ... In many cases, yes, according to a few chefs with restaurants in Palo Alto. "Eating vegan is a growing trend," said Calafia restaurant owner and chef Charlie Ayers, who has readjusted his offerings to reflect the changing trends. "We've launched a whole new menu and converted some of our dishes into vegan entrees. I look at my sales, I look at the trends and I respond to what the community requests." The menu at Calafia, in Town & Country Village, now lists at least a dozen vegan items, including Brussels-sprouts fricassee and a spinach dragon-noodle bowl.
Over at the First Baptist Church at 305 N. California Ave., where the nonprofit Peninsula Macrobiotic Community has been serving vegan meals on Monday nights for 25 years, demand is also growing. Palo Alto resident and Monday-night dinner manager Jay Whitcraft said the six-course meals, created by two macrobiotic vegan chefs, have become increasingly popular. "We serve about 100 dinners now on Mondays. A year ago, it was maybe 60 to 70," Whitcraft said.
Several other restaurants are also responding to the vegan trend, including Loving Hut at 165 University Ave., which has only vegan items on its menu. It has more than 200 locations globally, 40 of which are in the U.S. At 460 Ramona St., Garden Fresh serves Asian vegan dishes including mock versions of lemon chicken, pineapple ham and cashew shrimp. Curry Up Now at 321 Hamilton Ave. offers vegan food, Indian-style, on a separate menu. Lyfe Kitchen at 167 Hamilton Ave. has also noticed a big demand for vegan food and has begun offering a separate menu with vegan items. And Reposado, an upscale Mexican restaurant at 236 Hamilton Ave., offers a vegetarian menu with a handful of vegan options.
SCHOOL OF ROCK OPENS ... A new music studio in the Midtown neighborhood of Palo Alto has scheduled its grand opening for Jan. 26. School of Rock at 2645 Middlefield Road teaches young musicians to perform like rock stars, with students working together to create a rock show. The event is planned from 1 to 4 p.m. and will include giveaways and tours of the facility.
YOGURT AND PRETZELS AT THE MALL ... The Zagat-rated Red Mango Frozen Yogurt, with nearly 200 locations, and Auntie Anne's Pretzels, which recently introduced its first whole-grain pretzel, are both planning to open in the Stanford Shopping Center.
LISA'S TEA TO STAY ... Lisa's Tea Treasures in Menlo Park is taking a line from Mark Twain, who once wrote: "Reports of my death are an exaggeration." Contrary to an earlier report, Lisa's Tea Treasures, at 1175 Merrill St., continues to host its high teas and private parties and to offer catering. "Lisa's Tea Treasures in Menlo Park is open for business, and we do take reservations. We are looking forward to serving customers as always," Thao Nguyen, manager and co-owner, said. Neighboring Crepes Cafe also remains open for business. A new restaurant operated by celebrity chef Bradley Ogden is expected to debut later this summer in the space formerly occupied by Gambardella's, which closed in December, a spokesman for Ogden has announced. It will be called. B.F.D. (Bradley's Fine Diner).Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Sarah Creighton, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 6:55 am I LOVE that PA is going more vegan. My three kids and I are vegan and I run a vegan blog called "Veggie-Kids.com" which has grown immensely, proving that the vegan audience is thriving and growing. The restaurants mentioned in this article are fantastic and I always love taking my non-veg friends there to show them how great vegan can be!
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Posted by Longtime veg, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 7:18 am I have been a vegetarian, mostly vegan since 1973, with the exception of during a pregnancy. I have been to Calafia several times. The food is great. Though the service and seating are not too hot. Those chairs are painful!
A lot of the earth's ills could be lessened greatly if more people stopped eating animals! People who eat too much meat are often more aggressive than they would be otherwise. Plus, look at the waste of food that goes into feeding meat animals... it could feed millions of people. The meat industry as a whole cause a lot of pollution, erosion, etc.
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Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 7:29 am Good food is good food. I have lunched here and enjoyed it. I am not veggie but can enjoy an occasional veggie meal as I don't see the need to eat meat at every meal.
I just don't like veggies (or greenies) preaching to me.
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Posted by Patricia, a resident of the University South neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 7:45 am Hooray for Palo Alto. I've been a vegan since 2003. It's been very hard to find restaurants that serve vegan food. I can't wait to try these places. Thank you!
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Posted by local gurl, a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 10:41 am Longtime Veg, you lost me at meat eaters "are more aggressive than they would otherwise be" . . . seriously?
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Posted by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 1:47 pm The only problem with eating vegan in a restaurant is that you will pay even more for food that costs less to the restaurant. Seems like of unfair to me. I usually try to eat vegan or dishes with just a little meat in them. When I do this I usually look and feel better, but my years of programming to eat the American diet still has me craving junk food and meat.
We are a long way away from fixing our American factory food system.
I would like to mention Whole Foods & Piazzi's for their prepared food and salad bars and Sprouts Cafe as being big helps for me to eat right conveniently and for a reasonable cost.
One thing the city might do is to find some land and either pay or take volunteers for planting and growing vegetables on it and sell it to restaurants. Once it gets going and proves successful maybe it could be privatized, but why should not all localities try to source some of their own food? I started growing veggies in my yard and the difference really opens your eyes to how much we have gotten used to food that is made for transporting and shelf life as opposed to food that is made to eat. If this understanding is offered to more people I think they will see, notice and demand a difference.
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Posted by Longtime veg, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 2:07 pm Too much protein causes aggression in mammals, including humans. Vets will often prescribe a low protein diet for aggressive dogs ( I have worked for horse and small animal vets as a technician).
Also, in ancient China, Buddhist priests cooked for Mandarins. to make them less warlike, they often made tofu into meat and fish-like dishes, seasoned to taste like the real thing.
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