Boston Area News & Reviews on Vegetarian and Vegan Dining
Boston Herald, "Boston Vegetarian Food Festival gives fresh look at meat-free eating" (10/10/07)
"Just because something is labeled 'vegan' doesn’t mean it’s health food,” insisted Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in a telephone interview from her San Francisco home... She’ll be in Boston with scores of other vegetarian vendors on Oct. 20 for the 12th annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival at the Reggie Lewis Center."
MetroWest Daily News Front Page, "A taste for change at vegan potluck" (7/16/07)
"Sherborn Mass - The Boston Vegetarian Society held its annual potluck yesterday at the Peace Abbey, where guests enjoyed more than 200 dishes of lush vegan cuisine displayed on tables outside and in various rooms throughout the center."
Boston Globe, "A place to rustle up some vegan grub" (6/17/07)
"Order a pizza or a sub at T.J. Scallywaggle's in Allston, and you'll get soy-based cheese, or mock meat made with soy protein, but no animal products... 'This looks like a small business, but deep down, it's really a social project,' said Karian." This article, subtitled "Slaughterhouse site gives way to 'cruelty-free' fare," outlines the sad past of the neighborhood that has been enlivened by the presence of two thriving vegan eateries.
stuffatnight, "Veggies delight: You don't have to be a meat eater to enjoy fine dining" (6/1/07)
"Incompatible palates can put surprising strain on a relationship. I learned this the hard way when I, a fine-dining fanatic and wannabe foodie, found myself smack dab in love with a vegan... Thankfully, some of the best chefs in Boston find vegetarian and vegan cooking to be fresh, exciting, and challenging — and they offer menus to prove it."
Boston Globe Calendar Cover Story, "Easy as v-e-g-a-n" (5/17/07)
An interview with BVS. "If you think you need to go to great lengths to follow a vegan diet, think again. Being vegan doesn't require unusual or hard-to-find products. In many cases, you only need to tweak recipes or menu items slightly to create a vegan meal... There are really no obstacles or sacrifices involved in being vegan... We have a wide range of fabulous vegan foods that are healthy, delicious, and don't cause any harm to the environment or to animals. So what more could we want?"
Boston Globe Calendar Cover Story, "What vegan looks like" (5/17/07)
"Going without meat and dairy products no longer means you have to go without great taste. Like yoga and vegetarianism, vegan eating has moved more into the mainstream in recent years."
Boston Globe, Life Alive Review (5/9/07)
"In Lowell, they're lining up for Life Alive cafe's raw deal. In the city's renovated arts district here, Heidi Feinstein has set up shop making vegetarian dishes with healthful ingredients and some Asian overtones. At her spot, Life Alive Urban Oasis and Organic Cafe, she is offering unprocessed, mostly organic, preservative-free food, all made from scratch."
Boston Phoenix, Buddhist Tea House Review (3/14/07)
"At the International Buddhist Progress Society’s kitschy café, your server will likely wear prayer robes; after all, the space itself is decked in fresh flowers and filled with the scent of incense wafting from the adjoining meditation room and library. Serving simple but tasty vegetarian fare, the IBPS brings monastery food into modern times... always appealing."
Boston Herald, "Living on the veg: Boston's restaurants embrace meat-free options" (2/21/07)
"Boston is a 'very vegetarian-friendly city.' That's the assessment of Samir and Mona Sanghani. The couple (he manages an investment fund and she's a doctor) should know -- they're both lifelong vegetarians, and Samir is treasurer of the Boston Vegetarian Society."
Weekly Dig Magazine, "Rabbit Foodies, Rejoice!" (1/17/07) (PDF)
A WEEKLY DIG writer digs out some very tasty vegan dishes in unexpected places. "Behold these untraditional, local, upscale-yet-still-vegan-friendly stops where herbivores and bloodhounds alike can share a menu; where resourceful chefs celebrate produce and vibrant seasonings; and where bees, we hope, buzz happily unexploited outside."
Boston Phoenix, My Thai Cafe Vegetarian Review (12/27/06)
"Thai-food connoisseurs are plenty familiar with tofu- and vegetable-heavy menus, but Coolidge Corner’s latest window into Southeast Asia takes that theme one step farther. Instead of noodles, curries, and stir-fries peppered with beef, poultry, and seafood, My Thai serves everything from veggie-chicken, veggie-duck, veggie-shrimp, veggie-scallops, and veggie-squid, to — you guessed it — barbecued gluten. And tofu, of course... After a gulp of the slurpee-like Thai bubble tea, I was already planning my next visit."
Boston Globe Magazine, "Green Plate Specials" (6/3/06)
"Fine vegetarian dishes can now be had at some of the toniest spots in town, with fixed-price menus that let chefs be inventive and offer diners surprising variety... more and more of those restaurants are vying for our attention, most notably by offering fixed-price multicourse vegetarian dinners. They usually feature dishes that don't appear on the regular menu, they can often be made egg- and dairy-free, and they change from night to night."
Weekly Dig, Veggie Planet Review (2/4/04) <linked page has been removed>
"Comfort foods are one thing, conscience foods are quite another. That's the lesson at Veggie Planet, where every ingredient of every meal is selected by chef Didi Emmons to reflect the restaurant's social commitment to organic, locally grown foods. The result is a dinner that leaves your belly full but your consciousness wracked with guilt over the veal chop you had two years ago... these are no ordinary tomato pies - these are organic flatbreads topped with fresh, inventive ingredients."
Weekly Dig, Buddha's Delight Review (4/17/02) <linked page has been removed>
[Update: location at 3 Beach St., Chinatown] "As a vegetarian for almost eight years, I’ve become used to having my choices limited. Since most menus usually have only two or three meatless options, ... even these could not have prepared me for the Buddha’s Delight menu, which offers over 100 vegetarian meals, an abundance of karma-free eating so astonishing ... Which brings us to the restaurant’s specialty: making fake meat look and taste like the real thing."
Boston Phoenix, Grasshopper Review (4/23/98)
"Who needs meat when you've got wheat-gluten pork? My usual line of questioning about restaurant names -- how come there aren't any grasshoppers on the menu? -- doesn't apply here. Grasshopper is about eating like a grasshopper, if one can imagine an Asian vegan grasshopper who lusts for spring rolls made with taro root... diners will be pleasantly surprised by the elegance and excellence of this place."