BAVRT - Nov 24, 2001 - Bay Area Vegetarian Restaurant Trek

[Guest guest]

November 24, 2001 (Last Saturday of every month)

Time: 6:00 p.m.

 

Host: Melisse

 

Site: Di Lac Vegetarian

1644 Capitol Expy E

San Jose, CA

(408) 238-8686

 

Type: Fully vegetarian restaurant

Cost: Order from the menu

 

RSVP to [ *82 (925) 944-4743 ] by Tuesday, Nov 20.

BAVRT is NOT a drop-in dinner event.

 

As always, you come under your own liability for all events. Pass

the word to your friends. This is not an exclusive net-folks only

event. This is not an activist group or singles event. Note that

if you plan to attend this dinner, you can order only vegetarian

dishes, even if the restaurant serves other stuff.

 

If you have suggestions for future sites, please e-mail them to

. If you want to volunteer host a BAVRT dinner,

please let me know!!

=====================================================================

 

Contents

#1) Thanksgiving

#2) This month's trek

#3) Hosts

#4) New all veg restaurant

#5) Last month's trek

#6) News Section

#7) NON-BAVRT related stuff (feel free to skip)

 

---

#1) Thanksgiving

 

Once again, it is time for offering thanks and without batting an

eyelid, slaughter untold millions of turkeys :-( Turkeys no doubt,

consider this way of offering thanks as totally unacceptable.

Princeton University has a project called " Global Consciousness

Project " http://noosphere.princeton.edu/ that apparently tries to

scientifically measure changes in consciousness. Turkeys must

register a significant low as they contemplate their wholesale

slaughter that rolls around this time every year.

 

Happily vegetarians and vegans do not have to join this massacre.

We are blessed by the fact that there are quite a few options for

veg thanksgiving in the bay area. The Thanksgiving Potluck in

Berkeley successfully hosted for decades(!) by East Bay Veg*ans,

is widely known and very popular. Depending on your preference,

there is also the dinner at Millennium ($60/person) or a complete

vegan dinner for 4 from Whole Foods for $48 or you can come to

the BAVRT dinner for a slightly late Thanksgiving dinner :-)

There are other thanksgiving events - public, semi-public and

private - happening all over the bay area. Keep your eyes open!

 

The best thing to do is to get together with a few friends of

yours and plan how you will celebrate a vegan thanksgiving!

 

It is at times like these that the question " What does it mean

to be a vegan or vegetarian? " hits in full force. Holiday season

can be quite trying - if you feel that BAVRT can help in any way,

feel free to drop me an email.

 

---

#2) This month's trek

 

Melisse is hosting this month's dinner at Di Lac, a completely

vegetarian restaurant in San Jose. She went to a lot of trouble

considering five restaurants before settling on this. That is real

commitment, as BAVRT hosts do not even have to eat at a restaurant

before deciding to host there.

 

Considering the time of the year, it is great that it is a fully

vegetarian restaurant. The menu is supposedly Vietnamese, Thai

and Chinese. Make sure to RSVP as soon as possible.

 

---

3) Hosts

 

BAVRT is looking for hosts, particularly from Santa Cruz to East Bay

for next month's trek. Email me, if you are interested in hosting a

dinner whether it is for next month or sometime afterwards at any

other place too. Hosting can be fun and give you an insight into

what happens behind the scenes.

 

Folks who hosted a dinner are more than welcome to host again! :-)

 

---

4) New all veg restaurant

Dasaprakash, 2636 Homestead Rd., Santa Clara, CA 95051

Ph: 408-246-8292

 

A BAVRT member who ate at this place described it as " wonderful. "

The restaurant serves cuisine of south India.

 

---

#5) Last month's trek

 

Laurie hosted BAVRT's extremely successful 7th anniversary dinner

at Khan Toke in San Francisco. Going to this restaurant was like

a trek to an exotic locale. Because of the size of our crowd, we

were seated in two different but adjoining rooms.

 

28 people RSVPed and came, there were 6 cancellations (thanks

for your thoughtfulness - I was able to allocate your spots

to people on the wait list) and 2 no shows.

 

The service at the restaurant was very good. They went out of their

way not only in cheerfully addressing our innumerable questions

about vegan food, but also treating us as if we are long time repeat

customers. They did not even hurry us, when many of us in one room

just sat around talking after dinner (when we left the restaurant,

we noticed that there was a massive crowd of people waiting to be

seated and there was hardly any space in their lobby even to move).

 

The response from the folks about the food was all over the map.

Roughly the breakup was 40%/30%/30% for " Exceptionally Good/

Quite all right/Unremarkable. " Many people pointed to the lack of

vegan desserts in the menu and our waitress graciously promised an

impromptu vegan banana split (nobody took up on this offer).

 

All in all, a wonderful 7th Anniversary dinner!

 

---

#6) News Section

( If you come across news items, veg or otherwise, in the

mainstream media that may be of potential interest to

BAVRT members, please forward me the URL. )

 

a) Reading menus

Have you had dinner at a restaurant where the ambiance is

" romantic? " It was probably so dark that it was impossible

to read the menu, let alone try to figure out what is vegan.

At the last trek, a BAVRT member had a solution. It is a

battery powered white L.E.D., small enough to hang off a key

chain. It was in big demand at the last dinner!!

 

The gizmo, PrincetonTec Pulsar, is sold in REI (probably

other places too).

 

 

b) Veg Radio Program on Sunday

Location: KYCY 1550 AM - 11AM to Noon

http://www.goveganradio.com/

 

c) Supporting veg restaurants

Recently received few emails about supporting veg restaurants.

As all of you know, this is something BAVRT members have been

heartily doing for years and years. Even then it is worth

repeating - if you have a choice, please consider supporting

all vegan places first, followed by all veg places and then

other restaurants. A local restaurant that I frequent tells

me that their business has gone down by 40 to 60% :-(

 

d) Rich Countries Leave Deep " Eco-Footprints " , Says Report

http://dailynews./h/oneworld/20011107/wl/rich_countries_leave_deep_eco-\

footprints_says_report_1.html

" A child born today in an industrialized country will add more

pollution to the world over his or her lifetime than up to

50 children born in developing countries, the United Nations

Population Fund (UNFPA) says in a report today. "

 

e) Ecological Footprints of Nations

http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/rio/focus/report/english/footprint/

 

f) Hospital study on CJD 'was stifled'

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/11/11/stinwenws01013.html

 

g) CJD cases hit 1,078; watch gets boosted

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011110b5.htm

 

h) 165 Countries Approve Kyoto Rules

http://dailynews./h/ap/20011110/sc/climate_talks_16.html

" MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) - From insulation hidden behind walls

at home to highly visible power plants outdoors, the first

international treaty to fight global warming is poised to

change landscapes, and lives, around the world -

except in the United States. "

 

i) Carbon Dioxide Emissions Up 3.1 Percent in 2000

http://dailynews./h/nm/20011109/sc/energy_emissions_dc_1.html

" WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Carbon dioxide emissions spewed by the

United States and its territories jumped 3.1 percent last year,

one of the biggest annual increases in a decade, a government

report said on Friday. "

 

j) U.N. Says Planetary Plundering Threatens Earth

http://dailynews./h/nm/20011107/sc/un_population_dc_2.html

" LONDON (Reuters) - The human race is plundering Earth at an

unprecedented rate, but the growing power of women over their

own futures could save the planet from destruction,

the United Nations said Wednesday. "

 

k) FAO Votes for Broad Limits on Crop Patents

http://dailynews./h/oneworld/20011106/wl/fao_votes_for_broad_limits_on_\

crop_patents_1.html

" The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

Conference has approved an international treaty that largely

bans the patenting of non-genetically modified crops, a step

aimed at protecting plant diversity as a tool for eradicating

world hunger. "

 

l) County animal shelters propose reduced hours

http://www.contracostatimes.com/partners/ns/shelter_20011104.htm

" Shortage of clerks cited as the reason to close Martinez and

Pinole locations two days a week "

 

m) Exxon Says It Is Taking Action on Climate Change

http://dailynews./h/nm/20011030/sc/energy_environment_exxon_dc_1.html

" LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil defended its

decision not to invest in renewable energy at an industry

conference in London on Tuesday, and said it was focusing on

energy efficiency instead. "

 

(hmmm, no investment in renewable energy sources - wonder why?)

 

---

#7) NON-BAVRT related stuff (feel free to skip)

 

a) Bay Are Veg Fair

http://www.vegfair.com/

 

Coming to Santa Clara Convention Center in Feb 2002!

 

(Please note that even though veginfo.com is a sponsor of this

event, it does not receive any proceeds from this conference.)

 

b) Drawing for a free book

http://www.geocities.com//freedrawing.html

If you like posting veg messages to a public email list, you may be

interested in the above offer by list.

 

c) Nine-To-Five Is a Grind for Workers

http://dailynews./h/nm/20011026/sc/britain_sleep_dc_1.html

" LONDON (Reuters) - Forget bonuses and incentives -- what would

really pump up the pulse of worker productivity is a nice

afternoon nap. "

 

d) No Butts About It Litter Campaign

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/teamstein/myhomepage/index.html?mtbrand=AOL_US

" We are three kids who started a campaign about six years ago

called No Butts About It to help rid the earth of cigarette

butt litter. "

 

e) A robot dog with attitude

http://dailynews./h/p/nm/20011107/tc/mdf81506.html

 

f) King Midas's meaty diet destroyed his tomb

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991461

" King Midas's high-meat diet helped fuel the destruction of his

tomb, say US archaeologists. "

 

(hmmm, meat is NOT safe even after dying!)