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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/

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

I work in the financial district in New York, which is a desolate place when you're a vegan. I usually take leftovers for lunch, but on the off days I rotate between Chipotle, salad or curry. Kind of sick of them all. A colleague told me of a vegan health food restaurant on Broadway nearby. Hurray! It's a quirky little place in the basement of 120 Broadway called Little Lad's Basket. Take away is measured by the pound, or if you eat in, a plate and bowl (stack to your heart's content!) is under 6 bucks! The first time I went I had to grab take away and run back to the office. Today I wanted to avoid the landfill, so decided to eat in. Unfortunately, this entails Styrofoam plates and bowls, and plastic cutlery. Negative points there, Little Lad!

The food however, is pretty good. It's very home-style, old-school, health food kind of vegetarian. But I think it's predominantly organic, and it tastes better than it looks :) Simple, homely, comfort food. And filling. I think it may be run by the church over the road (or maybe another nearby church), it has a nice air, and all the staff are very friendly and very much into what they are doing. I get a kick out of it when other religions also promote compassion for our furry/scaly/other brethren. Propaganda informational videos and pamphlets also promise to rid you of cancer if you eat a vegan diet. Solid!

Today was frikkin' weird though. I'm sitting there chowing down in a vegan restaurant, and a woman sits down next to me... in a FUR COAT! WHAT - THE - FUCK!? Full length, and broad enough to house a full-bodied woman. Or a fat, heartless wench, take your pick. Very strange. Perhaps if I should tell her fur coats cause cancer and she'd get rid of it. No idea what the hell is up with rancid fur this season.

While walking around this evening, I saw an ad for some vegan fair from Fresh Direct, using the good ol' seitan/satan pun. Nice one!

I also made chocolate pudding tonight. I adapted from the Vegan With a Vengeance recipe, using agave syrup instead of sugar. I also used Green & Blacks cocoa powder, which maybe a little strong. Regular sugar probably would've offset the bitterness of the cocoa better than agave.

It wasn't particularly sweet. Which at first was a little disappointing. But I enjoyed it more the more I ate it - I can't eat much of sweet stuff. So all in all, not a bad first attempt. But I really need to figure out how Candle Cafe make their orgasmic chocolate mouse! :oP~~

Last night I think I cooked the best dish I've ever made, thanks to the Candle Cafe Cookbook and the Vegan With A Vengeance cookbook.

I should have presented it a little better but I was hungry!

I'm too time-poor (okay disorganized) to make seitan the traditional way, so I followed the shortcut steps to make seitan from Vegan With A Vengeance using wheat gluten. One you have your seitan at hand, Candle Cafe's recipe for Seitan Piccata is actually very straightforward and quick to make, and easily one of the most delish things you can make. If you don't live in NY, and thus can't visit Candle 79 at a whim, get these books!