Since we are forced to hold Vegan Drinks one week early because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we hope that you will join us this Thursday, November 19, at Angels & Kings bar for some drinking and turkey adopting. David from Farm Sanctuary will begin accepting your Adopt-A-Turkey sponsorships ($25 cash or check only) at 7:30pm.

DJ Lil Ray will be there to help us get rid of our tired iPod playlist.

As always, the drinks are cheap ($3 domestics, $4 imports and $1 off well drinks) and the crowd is rad. Plus, we will give away some items of nominal value. Just in time for the winter holiday season!



We'll turn down the music around 8pm and encourage people to promote themselves, their groups and/or causes for 30 seconds. If you represent a veg*n or animal rights group, come prepared with your (very short!) spiel and literature.

Check out our map of restaurants near Angels & Kings where you can grab a bite after the event. And if you haven't already, link up with Vegan Drinks on Facebook and MySpace.

Vegan Drinks is held from 7pm-9pm at Angels & Kings, 500 East 11th Street (btw Ave A & Ave B), New York, NY 10009.

The last Vegan Drinks for 2009 will be on Thursday, December 17. (Please note: This is not the last Thursday of the month; some major holiday got in the way).

The third installment of Veggie Conquest took place this past weekend and it was another smashing success.

In case you missed the introductory blog post, Veggie Conquest is an amateur cooking competition similar to Top Chef... except that it's not televised. Oh yeah, and it's ENTIRELY VEGAN! The event is held monthly, and you can buy a chef ticket in order to be part of the competition or a taster ticket for an excuse to stuff your face. There are generally about six chefs participating and sixty-five tasters in attendance. One week prior all ticket holders are notified of the "secret ingredient" and course to be prepared so that menus and taste buds can be primed.

This time around it was cranberry dessert and the submissions were incredible. Though not normally a big fan of cranberries, I was surprised to find how sweet and delicious they were incorporated into such delights as "Double Cranberry Cinnamon Oatmeal Nut Bar," "Almond Crusted Chocolate Cranberry Mousse," "Cran Velvet Cake," and the inventive (and winning) "Rice Crepe with Cran-Ginger Sauce." I was not as much of a fan of the raw submission, "Cranbanapple Parfait"; the texture was too much like a runny pudding for my taste. Neither was I impressed by the "Swedish-Style Charoset," submitted more as comedic performance art than recipe contender.

People in this town are convinced they are bagel experts. They know the best shop, the appropriate hour to stop in and what combination of toppings rounds it all out. What makes a NYC bagel better than the ones in other cities? It's not the water, it's the attitude.

The gluten-tolerant SuperVegan staff members want to help you locate the best bagels in the bagel capital of the world:

Deborah Diamant insists that Bergen Bagels (473 Bergen St., Brooklyn) toasts her whole wheat everything bagel before applying a liberal layer of scallion tofu.

Jason Das can be found eating a whole wheat sesame bagel with scallion tofu, cucumber and tomato at Bagel Bob's (51 University Pl., Manhattan).

Olivia Lane, who buys her bagels at Earthmatters (177 Ludlow St., Manhattan), thinks bagels are best nude, like all great things.

Patrick Kwan loves Bagels On the Square (7 Carmine St., Manhattan) where he orders a toasted sun-dried tomato bagel with sun-dried tomato tofu for an über tomato kick.

Tod Emko keeps it simple at Bagels & More (331 Lexington Ave., Manhattan) with plain tofu on a whole wheat bagel.

Our vegan accountant, Kim, is a fan of Terrace Bagels (224 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn) and thinks toasted plain bagels with sliced tomatoes is a tasty, economically sound meal.

What's your favorite bagel, Dear Reader?

This is one of Supervegan's posts for Vegan MoFo 2009.

Today's was, in all likelihood, my last — and I have to say, best — meal at Madras Café, the beloved East Village kosher vegetarian Indian restaurant (that beats the pants off the 6th Street cluster). Reviewer evelinemater tipped us off to the restaurant's closing, which could happen any time, says owner Manny, and could be as soon as Saturday — eep! If you're hankering for one of their dosas, a garlic paratha, or some channa saag, get thee to Madras immediately! This is your last chance!

Or maybe not. Manny says he plans to reopen Madras, with the same menu, at some unknown location on Long Island (please be in Farmingdale, please be in Farmingdale). He owns another, non-vegetarian restaurant in Flushing that will remain open.

So tonight I say a tearful Farewell, Madras. Farewell to your creamy coconut korma, your succulent soy chunks, your veggie-packed biryani, your vegan lassis, your spicy coconut chutney, and even your fluffy white rice. Goodnight, Madras. Goodnight sweet Madras!

This is one of Supervegan's posts for Vegan MoFo 2009.

UPDATE, 11/13: Madras is still open with no update on when they will close. Why do they play with us so?

You like candy? We like candy. So, join us on Thursday, October 29, for some candy and Vegan Drinks at Angels & Kings bar in the East Village. As always, the drinks are cheap ($3 domestics, $4 imports and $1 off well drinks) and the crowd is cooler than that family who passed out apples on Halloween when you were a kid.



We'll turn down the music around 8pm and encourage people to promote themselves, their groups and/or causes for 30 seconds. If you represent a veg*n or animal rights group, come prepared with your (very short!) spiel and literature.

Check out our map of restaurants near Angels & Kings where you can grab a bite after the event. And if you haven't already, link up with Vegan Drinks on Facebook and MySpace.

Vegan Drinks is held from 7pm-9pm at Angels & Kings, 500 East 11th Street (btw Ave A & Ave B), New York, NY 10009.

The last two Vegan Drinks for 2009 will be on Thursday, November 19, and Thursday, December 17. (Please note: These are not the last Thursdays of the month; some holidays got in the way).

That's Oh My Gosh Cupcakes, and yes, they will make you shout their namesake phrase. This afternoon I sat down with a couple of friends to enjoy the goodies Andie and her crew baked and delivered (on time and beautifully packaged in corn-based plastic cupcake holders). Let's meet the edibles!

Carrot Cake
The first cupcake we tried, the carrot cake concoction, is my favorite, and I'll tell you why: it is perfect. I know you can barely stand superlatives so I have to explain myself the only way I know how -- with a list.
1. The carrot flavor is king to the raisin and vanilla peasantry.
2. It has a tight crumb without being too dense.
3. The sweet, decadent icing complements a cake that could knock a man down on its own.
4. Extra points for mini carrot decoration on top.
My only complaint is that it contains raisins, but I can't criticize it for that since most people like raisins and wouldn't call this carrot cake without them. If you like raisins, or even if you aren't hot on them, take it from a woman who usually can't stand 'em: you will love this cake.

Big tent. Friendly critters. Funny emcee. Yummy food. Cool music. No, it wasn't the circus, it was the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary's annual ThanksLiving.

Over 250 people came for this sold out event Sunday to visit with rescued farm animals and enjoy a fabulous sit-down all-vegan meal. ThanksLiving rather than Thanksgiving is a celebration of turkeys and other farmed animals during a season traditionally centered on meals of dead animals. This is the third year I have volunteered for this event, and here's my "take" on it:

The weather report promised a 100 percent chance of precipitation, but we were lucky. The cold schvitz of the morning gave way to light banks of clouds by the afternoon. The sanctuary is nestled between two Catskill mountains, which were resplendent in fall foliage. A giant heated tent was set up in the goat pasture, with elegant light fixtures, dozens of white-clothed tables, and a stage.

A recent announcement on the Brooklynian message boards that a Franklin Avenue "holistic and organic" coffee shop would soon open sans cow's milk sent folks in a typing frenzy that the shop was destined to fail. Within two weeks, far in advance of the shop's opening, the owners posted on Brooklynian that they would offer organic cow's milk after all.

But, for a few days, I was able to bask in the thought of my corner coffee shop as a truly vegan-friendly establishment. I wasn't surprised to learn that cow's milk would be offered, and I'm still thrilled that such a wide variety of non-dairy milk and vegan pastries will be available. Franklin Avenue is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, so one more reoccupied storefront is a good thing. (I would be remiss not to acknowledge that gentrification is driving up prices in the few local grocery options, but there's not enough room here to do that type of unpacking.)

Before I moved to Crown Heights, I did not expect much in the way of vegan eating beyond the options available in the neighborhood's many fine West Indian restaurants. Since my arrival, I've amassed a diverse handful of go-to options when I need a quick vegan fix near my new home.

Lantern Books is turning ten! Celebrate a decade of fantastic vegetarian and animal advocacy books (and the new release, An Offering of Leaves) at Lantern's tenth anniversary party, this Thursday at Jivamukti Yoga Center.

The essential info: it's 1) free and 2) catered with delicious vegan food from Jivamukti's cafe. What more could you ask?

When: Thursday, October 8, 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Where: Jivamukti Yoga
841 Broadway, 2nd Floor
(at Union Square, just below 14th St.)

Lantern was instrumental in getting SuperVegan off the ground (and is still my day job). We're grateful for the support and wish them a happy anniversary.

Find this and other awesome vegan events on SuperVegan's NYC Events Calendar.

A couple of weeks ago The Village Voice pitted Baby Cakes against Doughnut Plant in a Doughnut throwdown (Babycakes won!) Yesterday they issued a veggie dog challenge in which LES' Crif Dogs and Park Slope's Bark went head to head.

We would care if either of these two options were actually vegan.

You see, while it's nice that Bark uses Field Roast, they also happen to slather their dog in butter and mayo and serve it a non-vegan bun. Crif Dogs gets points for having both a vegan dog and toppings but falls a little short with their non-vegan bun* (And really, what's a hotdog without a bun?)

According to our handy-dandy restaurant guide Foodswings is the only place serving up all-vegan hotdogs. (although, to be fair, Kate's Joint should probably get a mention).

Any SV readers out there know of a good places to get an all-vegan hotdog? If you do, dump em' in the comments section below!

*I've called Crif Dogs various times to confirm if their bun was vegan and have gotten mixed answers over various tries

This is one of Supervegan's posts for Vegan MoFo 2009.