a low-carbon day of rest.

sacred chow's rabbi, and my dear friend, zev schwarcz, has guided me towards making sacred chow 100% observant kosher. what does that mean? well, all of our food and wine is 100% kosher certified. but there is more to this than just that, and this has to do with the jewish shabbath, shabbat, which starts every friday at sundown and ends saturday at sundown as well. that means that at a time certain, sacred chow will be following these disciplined orthodox jewish codes 100%. do you or i have to be orthodox? i think this aspect is entirely personal. but i do believe in taking a good hold of the hand of g-d, with zev's wisdom, for it is in this hand, to a large degree, that i find great peace. so i will follow as well as lead sacred chow to its promise to be a truly sacred chow.

what i am hearing from many of our observant kosher patrons is that sacred chow's low carbon vow is a vow taken by the observant, and that the observant are on a mindful search for the calm within the storms of existence. it is a thrilling practice to learn how to consciously control the amount of carbon we are putting out into creation, and it is through this observance, a portal of sorts, that we will assure the earth's survival for the generations. this is so inspiring, a kosher-sustainable dialogue that works collectively to clean-up creation. more than ever, we are creation's full-time garbage collectors!

my vision in building sacred chow is about fairness towards all beings and creation, and making some mother-delicious plant-based grub that is heart healthy and low carbon with an over-abundance of gluten free choices, and 100% kosher. in order to shape sacred chow's spirit to an observant one , i will follow the tenets of orthodox jewish law. and while sacred chow's doors will be open for the friday and saturday shabbos, it will be an experience of prayers, blessings, storytellings and meditations for the sabbath, a low-carbon day of rest. jewish law will be respected in its entirety, seats, food and drink will be pre-purchased and electricity will flow as per the law. from an observant point of view, however interpreted, sacred chow will be low-carbon from sundown to sundown. isnt that amazing! bringing to life a definate, reflective time of low carbon usage for the benefit of creation, all beings and the generations to come. amen!

she says!

ahh, the food biz!

i feel so fortunate to have been the sperm that made it to the egg that is me. and now as a somewhat developed adult human being, i can fully engage creation and listen carefully to what creation is saying. so to hear her, i point my index finger between my eyes and listen to her wisdom. she says: "life is asking you to be a leader. if you want to build and build strong, you must dig deep within, and ask of no one but yourself. the dynamic of team work to make the dream work is hard work, real hard work; sweet yes, but sweat and bones. if you hear this edict, mutual respect and safety for your fellow team members will fall into place in the time allotted. it is your duty to hear the wisdom, and distribute fairness. from the creation that is sacred chow, it shall manifest."

ahh, the "g-d" biz!

New Labels!

Cliff asked me to do some new labels for food that we'll get started sending out to universities, wholesale orders, and (maybe in the future) mail order. What do you think?

fair-trade shoplifting!

SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL
by Tao Lin

This is a true story about stealing from a corporation. American Apparel is a corporation. Therefore if they stop making a lot of profits they’ll stop existing, the fair-labor workplaces will be closed, another Circuit City or maybe Wendy’s will open, or else they’ll move their labor to Brazil or somewhere. I’m not critiquing anything right now, just stating facts. I’ll still be your friend if you drive a Hummer twice a day to Wendy’s to eat chicken nuggets. I’m just saying, don’t hate me for stealing from an independent clothing company, because then you’d be basing your hatred on something that isn’t real. The “organic vegan restaurants” I talk about in the third paragraph are Pure Food and Wine, Angelica Kitchen, and Sacred Chow. This story is labeled fiction because I left some things out, moved some things around, and I’m not sure if all the dialogue is exactly like it was in real life.

I had a reading that night in Brooklyn. I wanted a nicer shirt. American Apparel has nice shirts. I went to American Apparel. The security guard who normally stands in American Apparel wasn’t there. I held the shirt I wanted and walked around. I saw a strange man holding a book two inches from his face with his eyes over the top of the book. The man was looking at me. I thought he was just being strange. Many people are strange. I walked out of American Apparel holding the shirt. The strange man made noises behind me. I looked at him. He asked to see my shirt. “Do you work there?” I said. He said he did. “Do you really work for American Apparel?” I said. He said he did and showed me a police badge attached to a thing on a belt buckle under his oversize jersey. “Oh,” I said. We went inside. We went downstairs. They took my picture and put me in handcuffs. “Don’t steal from us,” said the manager. “Steal from some shitty corporation. We have fair-trade labor. I mean fair labor. We are subsidized by the government. We have goals that are aesthetically pleasing to the general public who wouldn’t ever use the word ‘aesthetically,’ which is part of why I think we still exist, or something.” “I spend my money on even better places,” I said. “Organic vegan restaurants.”

these are a few of my favorite things...

The Charmed Monday (this week: Friday!) Minute
7:57 AM PST, January 11, 2008

Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens...

Melinda in Cincinnati wrote to say that she'd like more coaching exercises in the Charmed Monday Minute every now and then. Just for you, Melinda, here's a seasonally appropriate exercise for more self-knowledge and self-appreciation. It's called "Playing Favorites." To do it, pretend that you're Sister Maria from The Sound of Music you ask yourself, "What is my favorite...?" and list everything you can think of in every area of life. Coming up with 100 is not excessive. Remember, these are not things you want but rather things you love. For example, you can write that your favorite city is Paris without wanting to move there (or feeling glum that you won't be moving there). This is not a wish list, but instead a getting-to-know-yourself list and coming to see how amazing and magnificent you are. Here's an example (the answers are mine and they're real):

What is my favorite?... Color: Tiffany blue

Thing to do: Meet Adair at a Starbucks in NYC

Actor: Ed Harris

Actress: Diane Keaton

Season: Fall

Perfume: Trish McEvoy Vanilla Musk

Item of clothing: Dark blue corduroy DKNY dress

Poem: "Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood," Wordsworth

Restaurant: Sacred Chow, NYC

Broadway show: Phantom of the Opera

Movie: Auntie Mame (runners-up: Gone with the Wind, Moonstruck, The Birdcage, Forrest Gump, Gorillas in the Mist, Miracle of 34th St...)

Mode of travel: Train

Indulgence: The New Age Health Spa, Neversink, NY

Holiday: Christmas

Fiction book: The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

Health book: Perfect Health, Deepak Chopra

Spirituality book: The Bible (runners-up: Alcoholics Anonymous, The Games of Life & How to Play It by Florence Scovil Shinn, The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, How to Know God, Christopher Isherwood translation, The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse, A Most Surprising Song, by Louann Stahl)

Feng shui book: Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life

Dish that I cook: Vegetarian chili

getting the most out of vegetables

great ny times article!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/getting-the-most-out-of-vegetables/

what a hero! (and i dont mean a mama's soy meatball!)

http://gothamist.com/2008/05/13/35k_settlement.php


and a great, dear friend of sacred chow.

wow!

amen to ms. farmer. you are amazing ms. K!!! love, love and more love!

a sacred chow prayer: let's practice dignity and respect towards all beings and creation.

Anonymous said...

veganfriendly said... Hey anonymous, you've been leaving a new comment every 6 months or so to accuse Sacred Chow of just about every terrible thing a restaurant can be accused of. Now don't get me wrong, if any of these accusations are true we want to know. But your persistence and angry tone are making you sound more like someone with a grudge than someone with inside information. If you can't start citing some sources for all these accusations, we're going to start deleting your comments as you make them.

Anonymous said...
They have roaches!
4:09 PM, February 08, 2007
Anonymous said...
Not only have roaches but treat workers poorly, serve old food & "recycled" food & generally cut corners to save a buck. Gross.

this "Anonymous" fired for giving away/stealing hundreds and hundreds of dollars of beer and wine! loved this anonymous, but a meany pants.

9:50 PM, August 14, 2007
Anonymous said...
not only roaches, but mice. which they catch using inhumane glue traps. they treat their workers beyond poorly, like "oh, we're sorry we can't pay you all of your money this week." or they fire you by email "we know you've been a loyal employee for the last year and you have bills to pay, but since you can't work double shifts, we have to let you go." the food is almost all microwaved and if you have a wheat allergy, there's a really good chance your supposed "wheat free" dish was cross contaminated. they've accidentally served real ice cream before and soy cheese with casein in it. don't support this place.
1:19 PM, April 02, 2008

this "Anonymous" fired for never getting his work done, fired for talking endlessly on the cellphone while others worked, fired for being disrespectful and keeping his station unkept. i liked him a lot, but a meany pants too!

5:16 PM, April 02, 2008
Anonymous said...
I swear I am a different person than the previous "anonymous," and I have to agree completely with him/her. I used to work at Sacred Chow, and everything is true: the workers are paid below minimum wage, the food is basically all overpriced, microwaved leftovers, AND it's not organic (even though I think the menu, and the owner, will tell you that it is). I was fired BY TEXT MESSAGE (for asking when my indefinite, below-minimum-wage period of "training" would end)!!
9:16 PM, April 18, 2008

this "Anonymous" fired for being unable to do the job and behaving miserable towards everybody. she worked for less than 7 shifts, so i dont even remember her name! something felt wrong about working with her, confirmed by others. but never mind, just a meany pants!

some things work, some things just dont work out. nothing anonyomous about that, just a fact of life.

down with meany pants!

The First Annual Veganfriendly Awards

The First Annual Veganfriendly Awards

Veganfriendly.com is one year old!

We’ve decided to celebrate the occasion by throwing an impromptu awards ceremony.

Best Vegan Beverage in NYC, EV: It’s a toss-up between the Melon Cooler at Candle 79 and the Summer Thai Iced Tea at Pukk. Both are sweet and refreshing and are indicative of the delicious meals they’ll accompany. The Summer Thai Iced Tea is a milk-less version of the traditional Thai Iced Tea that has lemon added. JIM: This one is easy for me. I’m all about the Teanychino at Teany. This yerba mate latte with almond, cornflower, vanilla and sunflower is smooth, sweet and delicious. Don’t forget to specify that you want soy milk!

OTHER CONTENDERS: Mango Lassi at Madras Café, Vanilla Milkshake at Red Bamboo, Fresh Complexion at Vegetarian’s Paradise 2

Best Vegan Appetizer in NYC, JIM: What a tough call! There are so many good appetizers out there! I think I have to go with the Unchicken Nachos at Caravan of Dreams. It’s a heaping pile of nachos, guacamole, Pico de Gallo, black beans, a surprisingly good vegan sour cream, and some deliciously seasoned, shredded seitan. Yum!EV: The Satay at Blossom is a clear winner for me. It has three no-fail ingredients: house-made grilled seitan, soft, chewy noodles, and a peanutty-coconut-curry-esque sauce. Lest I need to remind you: “if I had to swim through a pile of these saucy noodles with my mouth open, yes I would drown, but I would die happy.” It comes with a fiery pepper sauce on the side that helps kick things into the stratosphere.

OTHER CONTENDERS: both the Mushroom Puffs and Spinach Toast at Pukk, Creole Soul Chicken at VP2 and Red Bamboo, Buffalo Wings at Red Bamboo, Avocado Salad at Lan Café

Best Vegan Entrée in NYC, EV: So simple yet so stellar, the Vegan Panini at 'sNice is a staple that never disappoints. Smoked Tofu, Sundried Tomatoes, and Pesto mingle inside the crusty confines of Sullivan Street Bakery’s best bread. You will savor the salty, creamy goodness of each crunchy bite. JIM: The Seitan Picatta at Candle 79 is an amazing thing. Just amazing. I'm not going to bother listing the ingrediants because that wouldn't do it justice. Just trust me that you need to try it some day. I don't care what state or country you live in. Visit NYC, visit Candle 79 and try the Seitan Picatta.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Steamboat Rice at Hangawi, Veggie Duck Pad Thai at Pukk, Vegan Quiche at Teany, Assorted Tapas at Sacred Chow, Tempeh Reuben at Angelica’s Kitchen, Seitan Baguette at Lan Café, Steamed Lotus Leaf at Vegetarian's Paradise II

Best Vegan Dessert in NYC, JIM: This is a toss up for me. On the one hand, you've got layers of banana, cream and spongecake served cold with cocoa dusted on top (that being the Banana Tiramisu at Kate's Joint). On the other hand, you've got bananas and chocolate deep fried in a tortilla and served with vanilla ice cream (that being the Banana Chocolate Chimichanga at Curly's Lunch). Both banana-y, both friggin' delicious.EV: The cheesecakes at Pukk are miniature culinary miracles. They taste like “the real thing” without being overly sweet or too heavy. Whether you go with the Thai Tea flavor, or the Blueberry, your mouth will thank you.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Ice Cream Sampler at Candle79, Pineapple Crepe at Blossom, Vegan Treats brand cakes (available at Teany, Red Bamboo, Atlas Café and other locations), Mango Tapioca at Gobo, Cheescake at Kate’s Joint, any cupcakes baked by our friends Isa and Terry

Best Vegan Food on a Budget in NYC, EV: Vegetarian Dim Sum- where else can you order a zillion things that will thoroughly stuff you and rarely cost more than $10 per person?JIM: While it’s not a vegetarian-specific restaurant, Dojo is vegan-friendly and super cheap. For less than $4, the Soy Burger Dinner is a huge plate of food that’s very yummy. For about a buck more, I recommend getting it with avocado and extra tahini dressing on the side.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Chickpea, Pukk, Lan Café

Best Vegan Brunch in NYC, JIM: Kate’s Joint recently changed their brunch menu, but I’m pretty sure they still have their classics like vegan pancakes, waffles, and their tasty Kate’s Benedict. Kate’s brunch is decently priced and served with your choice of coffee or tea and your choice of juice or a cocktail. EV: With goodies like Better than Biscuits n’ Gravy, and Savory Tempeh Sweet Potato Hash it’s hard to beat the scrumptious weekend brunch fare at Sacred Chow.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Quantum Leap, Bouldin Creek in Austin TX (Worth the airfare to Austin!)

Best Vegan Comfort Food in NYC, EV: Fried Chicken, Fishsticks, Buffalo Wings, Mashed Potatoes, French Fries, Milkshakes, Cheescakes, Ice Cream and Heroes galore! Whatever wicked, fried, fatty, vegan fantasy you need fulfilled—Red Bamboo’s got it covered. Of course they offer steamed veggies and salads too. But when in Rome… eat like a piggy. JIM: I’ve heard a lot of different opinions about Foodswings in Brooklyn. Some people love it, others hate it. But I often find myself craving their chicken sandwiches, barbecue wings, perfectly crispy french fries and creamy milk shakes. So they are my choice for vegan comfort food in NYC.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch, Kate’s Joint, Vegetarian's Paradise II

Best Vegan Healthy Food in NYC JIM: We just went to Hangawi recently and it was like zen for your belly. Everything was so fresh, wholesome and earthy. I think if you ate there every day you might live to be 150 years old.EV: Angelica’s kitchen serves up wholesome meals that are gentle on your belly and make you feel great. They have soups, sandwiches, tons of “basics” to mix and match, and even sweets to truly do a body good.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Sacred Chow, Caravan of Dreams

Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurant to go to on a Date in NYC, EV: If you want a special night out with a certain vegan cutie there are two places I can not recommend highly enough: Candle 79 and Hangawi. Both restaurants are beautiful on the inside (hopefully like your date) and will serve up the tastiest goods imaginable (also, hopefully like your date).JIM: Ev’s choices are great for a fancy romantic date, but if you’re in the mood for something more laid back, I recommend a lunch date at Teany. Teany does a great job of balancing trendy and hip with relaxed and comfortable. The food, desserts and drinks are all great and their outside seating area is cute.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Blossom, 'sNice, Sacred Chow, Angelica’s Kitchen

Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurant in NYC, JIM: I should point out that for this category our decisions aren't based solely on the food, they're based based on the overall package. That being said, my pick is a restaurant where the food is consistently delicious, beautifully-plated and inventive, but it's also cheap and the atmosphere and location are hip and cool. My 2007 pick for best vegan-friendly restaurant is New York's only 100% vegetarian Thai restaurant, Pukk.EV: You know when there’s a whole table fighting over who gets the last brussel sprout, you’re at a good place to eat. Especially when there are a ton of different vegan meals on their way to said table, and there will be a ton of good desserts to follow, and a ton of tasty beverages to wash it all down. To know me is to know I love 'sNice, which is my pick for best vegan-friendly restaurant of 2007. From the vegan panini to their amazing daily sides, from the best cupcakes in NYC to their new quinoa avocado salad, 'sNice has great food in a cute space that you can linger in with your friends.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Candle 79, Sacred Chow, Hangawi, Teany, Lan Café

Favorite things in 2008!

your favorite places to eat this year? The wine from Lupa, the burgers from Lucky Strike, the sushi at Tomoe, the vegan sensations of Sacred Chow & the lunches from Bully’s.

your favorite announcment this year? Eating vegan sensations at Sacred Chow and announcing a new event for The New York City Social Justice System.

posted by: fuck that shit