Food: February 2008 Archives

Unfortunately the world of vegan gourmet dining is a small one, with most restaurants concentrated in the Veg-friendly cities of New York, San Francisco, and Portland.

The days are getting longer. The nights are getting shorter. Layers of clothing are slowly coming off and you're getting thirsty.

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to The Food Monkey's contact page.

When a fast-food restaurant has a name like UBurger, the first choice is, obviously, to order a hamburger. And UBurger definitely has plenty of choices when it comes to burger toppings. But the hidden delicacy on the menu is the chicken.

Wait--can you hear that? No? Close your eyes and listen carefully: A warm breeze gently rustles the palm trees and drifts over your tan skin. Sparkling blue waves crash into stark white sand; in the distance you hear hula music and laughter.

Bostonist tips its hat to one of our food contributors, Mike Prereau, aka the Food Monkey, who has written of his adventures in cuisine on this site in the past.

Like your beer with chocolate? We like beer IN our chocolate. With its natural chocolate notes, Guinness stout is the perfect fit for these chocolate cupcakes, lending them a light texture and rich flavor. And here's the icing on the cake: With their thick dollops of cream-cheese frosting, the cupcakes look like little frothy pints.Important: Make sure to follow the recipe in the order it's presented.Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
• 1 12 oz bottle Guinness stout
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

The Brookline location is small, with only a handful of tables, so service is quick. Hot and fresh tortilla chips and a bright salsa verde are brought out for free as you peruse the menu. There are tons of choices, so it might take you a while to make a decision.

Typically, a nice dinner out does not translate into being served raw meat and cooking it yourself--but at Shabu Zen it's a different story. Shabu-Shabu, the Asian hot pot cuisine, is said to have originated with Genghis Khan to feed his massive army. Today, it translates into good, healthy food served relatively cheap.

-- Happy Valentine's Day! For us being vegan is all about the love. We love our bodies and want to keep them healthy and strong and free of animal products. We love the environment and want to protect it from the extremely destructive practices of factory farming. We love animals and don't want to see them mistreated. You'll most certainly be doing your heart a favor. Heart disease is still one of the biggest killers in the United States, and is due in large part to the S.A.D.'s (standard American diet) focus on meat products. So as you can see, you can add a little love to your life but cutting down on your consumption of meat and dairy products.

Valentine's Day: a time for sweets and sweet sentiments. Unless, of course, you visit Flour Bakery on 12 Farnsworth Street in Fort Point, where they've cooked up some pervy pastries especially for the holiday. Flour's delicious X-rated cookies are so true to the spirit of adult film that they aren't on display; customers must ask to see them.

Gary Vaynerchuk has a message for Bay Staters: Rise up against your oppressors.

This Valentine's Day, there's no shortage of options for those whose preferred wining & dining is beering & dining.

Unfortunately National Pancake Day is not a federal holiday--yet! National Pancake Day just commemorates all the pancakes gave their lives 20 years ago today at John Candy's house.

Sometimes you want something nicer than a counter-service type of place but you don't want to spend a ton of money. Pub food is always a good choice in that situation. Many bars, though, have only standard (i.e. greasy) food to go with the drinks. Silvertone Bar & Grill, located on Bromfield Street near the Park Street T stop, serves up just what you need.

Meet our new food columnist, Lisa Dacundo of "Transplanted Tastebuds." She'll bring you food ideas for the weekend, such as this comforting pasta meal.

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to the Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page.

While in San Francisco this past week Veggiest was able to take a trip to the beautiful headquarters of VegNews magazine. For those of you unfamiliar, VegNews is the premier (and only completely vegan) vegetarian publication on the shelves right now. What sets VegNews apart, aside from their fabulous staff of course, is that they seek to promote the entire vegetarian lifestyle and offer informative stories on a wide variety of veg topics.

Gordon's Fine Wine and Culinary Center is slated to host "Sip, Shop, and Support" at their Waltham store Feb. 12 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.