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I've recently become a Jonathan Safran Foer addict. His writing is exhilarating, personal and touching. Although I had seen the film of Everything Is Illuminated, I think he really came to my attention in NY Mag by bagging conceited dipshit Anthony Bourdain. His latest book, Eating Animals is one of the most incredible books I've read. As a vegan, it's always hard not to be a crank spouting facts at meat eating friends, which usually is only helpful in starting religious wars. But when one of our times' great story-tellers approaches the difficult subject of modern day animal agriculture from anew with an open and honest investigation, the result is a much more enjoyable read, yet an astonishingly important and comprehensive work. A must read for everyone.

Foer opens the book with 'Storytelling' - a binding and familiar tale about his Grandmother's cooking. The way we eat is such a large part of our culture, our family traditions and habits, our identity, that it overshadows what may normally be easy, clear-cut decisions. After years of coyly courting vegetarianism, Foer is jolted by the vastly more significant responsibility of making decisions for his soon-to-arrive son.

So rather than cranky veganism or environmentatlism is instead the story of Foer's conflicted but philosophical journey. A journey which sees him sneaking into a factory farm, visiting family farmers striving to provide "ethically raised" meat products, including a vegetarian rancher (not to mention the vegan slaughterhouse architect), talking with the employees of factory farming operations and slaughterhouses, and not least of all distilling the ocean of data and statistics to provide us with frightening glimpses of the scale of it all.

Given the gravity of the topic, most reviews easily forget to mention the brilliance of Foer's penmanship. The book resonates so deeply and is so successful because of Foer's storytelling ability, relating us all through our common experiences with food and tradition, and the decisions, queries and self-doubt we've all encountered. Foer is not here to beat you up, instead he wants to discuss the difficult topics, get past the convenient excuses, look into our traditions, look at the discrepancies between what we believe and what's real, our ethics and our actions, what is visible and what is hidden.

Eating Animals is one the most utterly important conversations we need to have right now, you need to take part. Read this book.

A useful video interview with Foer is here on Amazon.

Added 31-Dec-2009

• JSF on The Ellen Degeneres Show
• http://eatinganimals.com/

It's great to see first class vegan eatery Kajitsu representing New York in the Michelin Guide.

Well deserved... congratulations Chef Masato Nishihara San!

http://www.kajitsunyc.com/

I spent last week at Burning Man, which was totally WOW. It was also my first time. Since Burning Man is held in the desert, there is no water supply, and no water drainage, so you must literally take everything in and take everything out with you, including your water. It is forbidden to dump grey water anywhere - it would be damaging to the environment, and not to mention quite muddy and gross if people did so!

I was camping in a tent, so I needed a way to take food in, that wouldn't require a lot of water to wash up, since I really had no way to take the waste water out with me.

To the rescue comes Lipsmackin' Vegetarian Backpackin' by Christine and Tim Conners. This cookbook has lots of dehydrated recipes for the trail, including a lot of freezer bag meals. For the uninitiated, FBC (Freezer Bag Cooking^TM) involves putting a cup of boiling water into a freezer bag of prepared food, squishing it up to mix and waiting a little while for it to 'cook', and then consuming it straight from the bag! Excellent! Now I have a simple, efficient way of cooking with no cleanup, and minor waste to take out with me.

Some of my favourites:

1. Pine Valley Couscous - simple and delicious, with sun-dried tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, pinenuts and basil.
2. Green Dragon Pad Thai - superb! With raw peanuts and shredded coconut. I omitted the suggested Kool-Aid for flavour and instead put in lemongrass.
3. Soul Food - rice with beans, imitation bacon bits, and a cajun blend of my own making... spicy!
4. Leahi Trail Rice - with walnuts and cranberries, mm-mmm!

I take particular exception to bottled water in general (please see the film Flow), and I shudder to think about the waste produced by the regular 'burner' in terms of plastic bottles. I took in my lovely Sigg bottle, a hydration pack, and about 9 gallons of water in trusty, collapsible Reliance Fold-A-Carriers. (BPA free!)

While I was there, I also caught up with some of the crew from the Vegan Camp, which was good fun.

Time wears on, and my Chuck Taylors are wearing out. I headed off to Moo Shoes to see what I could replace them with for my daily office duties.

Again, some of the bog standard (and some fairly ugly) faux leather shoes. Meh. Some cool Bourgeois Boheme casuals, and some funky Macbeths, but nothing that quite fit the bill, at least not in my size.

From the top shelf, some Ethletic sneakers had been peering at me the whole time. They are designed very much in the classic Chuck Taylor high-top style, save for some noticeable differences:

• They are fair-trade,
• They are sourced from FSC certified rubber plantations, aiming to source sustainable materials,
• They are socially responsible, aiming to provide opportunities for the disadvantaged.
• Did I mention they are 'suitable for the dance floor'?

Oops... and I just figured out Converse is owned by the sweatshop-troubled Nike empire... It will definitely be Ethletics from here on in!

Link: http://nymag.com/restaurants/openings/55483/

I normally breeze past the 'Food/Openings' section of NY mag, but somehow this week I looked, and the words 'Japanese' and 'vegetarian' caught my eye. Woah... what was that? "In the Shojin, or Japanese vegetarian kaiseki tradition, devised centuries ago by Buddhist monks..." By this point I had stopped reading and was running around in circles looking for my phone.

I immediately made a booking for the missus and I, and a couple of friends. Friend #1 is Japanese, from Kyoto, and if you've ever been to Kyoto, you'll know the best food on the planet is to be found here. Delectable, refined, pure and infused with artisanship. Friend #2 is a reject from a torturous vegetarian upbringing. When I've dragged him to vegetarian restaurants before, he will stand in the doorway smelling the air, seeking out the 'health food odor' he so detests (yes you know the one) deciding whether or not he dare venture further. Two greater critics could not have been chosen to attend the opening of this new fine dining establishment!

The restaurant is beautifully decorated in minimal Japanese style, with heavyset tables and a counter made from solid blocks of zelkova wood, offering a gentle, soothing fragrance. The walls are treated with what seems to be a combination of sands, clays and other organic matters, apparently changing in color as it matures. The staff were calm, friendly and courteous. Already the stresses of my week had been politely asked to wait outside.

The menu offers two set courses, and reading through it only serves to tantalize you as to what is yet to come. Naturally a selection of fine sakes and wines offers accompaniment for your meal.

The meal itself? A taste sensation. No, in fact, it was the full sensory journey that only the Japanese can execute so flawlessly. The fragrances and smells invite you towards each bite, delicate, complex and intriguing. The presentation, exquisite. Each course a display of pure craftsmanship, expertly packaged and assembled to guide you through the meal at a pace guaranteed to maximize your enjoyment. The textures all expertly combined with the flavors to produce a seemingly limitless palette of tastes in this masterpiece. The only time I have eaten this well was in a particularly expensive Kyoto ryokan. This is the real deal!

I was in vegan heaven the whole time. Emitting uncontrollable 'mm-mm's as my eyes rolled about in ecstasy. All of us, shaking our heads not quite able to believe what our tongues were telling us. By the time I got to the roasted artichoke with grated apple and celery root in the third course I was purring like a cat. The zaru soba (made fresh in house daily) was unadulterated joy. And as I bit into the most sublime piece of tempura cauliflower in the fifth course, I shed a tear - I kid you not. Particular interest points in the menu include the grilled nama-fu, yuba in wasabi soy, burdock root and miso paste grilled onto a cedar paddle. Joy, total and complete.

The service was superb, polite and informative. Attentive yet non-invasive, and most importantly, no clearling of plates until all guests were done - an annoyingly rude trait all too common in New York restaurants and over-eager busboys. An overall refined dining experience.

Candle 79, Hangawi and Blossom are now accompanied by a new high-end vegan eatery in New York city. Kajitsu has raised the bar to a new high, again showing that vegan food is far from bland. Critics #1 and #2 enjoyed it beyond measure. I'm glad. I plan to go often.

Kajitsu - 414 E9th St (near 1st Ave) 212 228 4873