Attract devotees and omnivores alike with these recipes completely free of animal by-products. by Joanna Pruess Claire Criscuolo, along with her late husband Frank, co-founded the highly successful Claire’s Corner Copia, a then radical vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, Conn., in 1975. “I remember when we first wrote vegan on a food sign. No one would order it,” the cookbook author recalls. Health claims, such as no cholesterol, helped warm skeptics to the cuisine, as it still does today. For retailers just starting to offer vegan food, Criscuolo suggests simply finding out what customers are asking for. “Also, a good supply of beans and whole grains, quinoa, wheat berries, rice [and] millet would be lovely,” she notes. Vegan offerings don’t have to ostracize non-vegan customers. Chealsea Conroy, a programmer with a passion for vegan cooking for more than 20 years, is happily married to a meat-and-potatoes Irishman. “When I first started cooking vegan for my husband, Ronan, I would do things that seemed familiar to him,” she explains, such as sauteed seitan with vegetables. Ethnic recipes, many of which are already naturally vegetarian or vegan, such as Indian and Thai cuisine, can also offer inspiration. Try the Recipes: Joanna Pruess […]

I’ve worshipped at the altar of bread for most of my life. Early into eating solids, my family considered changing my middle name to “breadandbutter.” I needed to be monitored around baguettes. I felt sheer joy around bread baskets. Our Sunday mornings were spent not at church but at Bageland in Gainesville, Florida, where I grew up. At Bageland, I went through phases with favorite flavors and pairings: pumpernickel with butter, everything with cream cheese, cinnamon raisin with butter or cream cheese. Photo by Alex Lau The fateful loaf of cinnamon raisin bread So it came as no surprise that, when I moved away from home to go to college in Baltimore, one of the first places I found comfort was the tiny corner of OK Natural Food Store that shelved all the bread. I’d spend peaceful moments in this nook, poking at the various shapes and sizes of wholesome loaves. One day, I picked a loaf of Vermont Bread Company Cinnamon Raisin bread—the purple packaging called and then the scent swayed me. I grabbed a jar of Once Again peanut butter and a bunch of bananas too, and trekked back to my dorm. That’s how the “CB+PB+B” was born. […]

At this point, Netflix’s Chef’s Table‘s meticulous approach to cinematography and storytelling feels like a slap in the face. After four seasons (and a spin-off), why does this show continue to be so intensely detail-oriented about everything except diversity? Chef’s Table: Pastry premiered last week and featured a 100% white cast, with 75% of that cast also men. Ever since the trailer revealed how little they care about changing their diversity problems, I wondered how they would tell the story of their only woman pastry chef. Corrado Assenza, Jordi Roca, and Will Goldfarb star in three episodes with big heroic tales about saving local ingredients, triumphantly fighting for a place in a family, and finding professional redemption in Bali. The kickoff episode, starring Momofuku Milk Bar creator Christina Tosi, feels distinctly different. (Image credit: K C Bailey/Netflix) What Was Left Out from Christina Tosi’s Episode Tosi is the only person this season whom they repeatedly shoot baking in her home and her family’s kitchen. After the opening credits, there are a lot of lengthy shots of Tosi eating junk food at a county fair, baking in her mom’s kitchen with her family, and going for a run. After the snippet […]