a carni goes vegan in hawaii

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ASIAN POP

Viva Las Vegans

By Jeff Yang, Special to SF Gate

 

Friday, July 6, 2006

 

 

 

 

On holiday in Hawaii, confirmed carnivore Jeff Yang visits Kauai's world-famous

Blossoming Lotus vegan restaurant and meditates on diet, culture and the joys of

vegan cuisine. Who knew there were joys?

 

I have to admit that I'm not the poster child for healthy eating. I gravitate

toward foods that are fried golden brown. The thought of nitrates makes my mouth

tingle with anticipation. I'm all about red meat, white meat and the other white

meat -- preferably char-grilled to a glistening crisp.

 

A good part of the blame for my crappy dietary habits lies with American

consumer culture, which introduces kids to junk food virtually from birth. (96

percent of U.S. children recognize the red-headed clown visage of Ronald

McDonald. The only fictional personality with a higher Q rating is Santa Claus,

and that's probably because, unlike Ronald, he gives stuff away for free.)

 

But an equally large chunk of guilt can probably be assigned to my Chinese

heritage, which traditionally holds that the basic currency of love is food.

Parents shower kids with chow to demonstrate the affection they're unable to

express verbally. Kids, in turn, are expected to lick their plates clean to show

respect and piety for their elders. In China, where food habits were, up until

recently, far healthier than those of the West, this transaction led to quiet

mealtimes and happy families. Transplanted to the United States, it just leads

to fat kids.

 

I'm told by my Asian American peers -- Korean, Thai, Filipino, Indian and the

like -- that they had similar childhood experiences, with the result that they

grew up eating anything without so much as a blink. Innards and organs and guts?

Oh my! Is it preserved, fermented or just plain stinky? Pass it on down the

line. " What's in this dish? " " Don't ask, it's delicious. Have some more. " It's

as if our collective slogan were " Food: It's what's for dinner " -- we've learned

to consume what's on our plates, without restraint or self-censorship.

 

That being said, after a week in Hawaii, the only state in the union where Asian

Americans are the majority of the population, even my culinary alarm lights are

beginning to strobe. It's not what I'm eating that's the problem -- it's what

I'm not eating. The standard local meal consists of starch with fried meat on

it, and gravy on the meat, with another starch on the side (often liberally

doused with mayonnaise). Given that they live in a tropical paradise, it's

surprising how little fresh greenery Hawaiians consume. Three days into the

trip, even a committed carny like me is jonesing for veggies. And by the time we

take the short hop from Oahu to Kauai for the second part of our trip, I'm ready

to gnaw on Honolulu International Airport's neatly landscaped shrubbery.

 

As it turns out, we end up sharing our inter-island flight with someone I'd met

a few days before -- Kauai resident Lanaly Cabalo, who writes for and edits the

Arts and Lifestyle section of the Garden Island News, the isle's homegrown

paper. I figure she's the ideal person to provide us with a suitable restaurant

recommendation.

 

" Any ideas on a good place to eat? We're looking for something light and

healthy, " I say, momentarily shocked to hear the phrase tumble from my lips.

 

" Well, you have to go to the Blossoming Lotus, " she says. " Vegan restaurant.

Best food on the island. "

 

I flinch. " Not that light and healthy. "

 

" Don't worry, " she says, grinning. " It's not a dirty hippie place. Trust me --

you'll be totally happy you went. "

 

Vegging Out

 

Most of you probably already know that vegan refers to a lifestyle that eschews

human exploitation of animals -- or as many vegans put it, other animals -- for

food, clothing and other purposes. That means, besides rejecting meat, vegans

consume no dairy and no honey or other insect by-products, and will not wear

leather or wool. The vegan diet is vegetarianism kicked up a notch, and there

are numerous reasons why it's healthier, more ethical and more socially

responsible than carnivorous patterns of consumption.

 

At its heart, it's rooted in one of the most admirable precepts in the history

of human philosophy: the Hindu doctrine of ahimsa, or nonviolence and respect

for living things. (It was the concept of ahimsa that powered Mahatma Gandhi's

Satyagraha movement, which ultimately led to the end of the British Raj and the

birth of an independent India.)

 

Unfortunately, for those of us used to the ways of the flesh, the vegan path is

a difficult one to walk. I have my share of veggie friends and relatives --

Hindus, Buddhists and health junkies -- and I've tried to make the transition.

But meat and dairy, like any other delightfully unhealthy addiction, are hard

habits to break, and the vegan equivalent of nicotine patches -- the meat and

dairy substitutes that vegans call analogues -- are consistent in that they

provide an experience that's almost totally unlike the products they're trying

to emulate. (In fact, the only thing that doesn't taste like chicken when you

cook it is vegan " chikken. " )

 

There are other problems with analogues. As anyone who's ever eaten at a

Buddhist-style Chinese restaurant knows, the art and science of getting things

that are not meat to look, feel and taste like meat often involves saturating

perfectly good vegetable matter with sodium, fats and nitrates. And at the end

of the day, there's something a bit dubious about going vegan but relying

excessively on the crutch of " veat. " It seems to miss some of the point of

lifestyle change. To paraphrase former President Jimmy Carter, eating " unmeats "

is like committing adultery in your heart.

 

The magical secret to popularizing veganism would seem to be finding a way to

make meat and dairy-free food that's not just good for you and good for the

world but, well, just plain good. That's a secret Mark Reinfeld, the Blossoming

Lotus's culinary maestro, has clearly unlocked with his " vegan world fusion "

cuisine -- only there isn't any real magic to it, and Reinfeld and his business

partner Gabe Zingaro have no intention of keeping it a secret.

 

" A lot of people here in the U.S. eat the way they do out of convenience, " says

Reinfeld. " If you're on the run, it's easy to get a Happy Meal at McDonald's.

But where are your vegan options? We'd like to see Blossoming Lotuses everywhere

-- wherever the soil is fertile. "

 

And beyond, for that matter. " Imagine if you're driving down the turnpike, and

right next to every one of those Popeyes Chickens you have a Blossoming Lotus, "

says Zingaro. " That's our goal. That's the vision. "

 

The Lotus Esprit

 

The restaurant itself will be just 4 years old this July 8, but the vision

behind it had been simmering for years in Zingaro's and Reinfeld's minds --

first separately, then together. Zingaro had come to Kauai exhausted and

disillusioned from San Francisco, where he'd helped lead a major grassroots

campaign for the nonprofit environmental action group Forests Forever. The

two-year-long campaign, which sought legislation to protect California parks

from old-growth logging, died after then-Governor Gray Davis vetoed the bill,

reneging on his campaign promises. Forests Forever and other environmental

groups pointed to the hundreds of thousands of dollars Davis had raised from the

timber industry as an explanation for his unexpected reversal.

 

Though still passionate about making a better world, Zingaro no longer felt that

pushing, pressing and protesting were the best means to that end. " I'd been

doing political work for so long, and I just wanted to get away from everything

and start over, " he says.

 

 

" I moved to Kauai, gave away all my money and personal possessions and started

over from scratch. I wanted to find a way to change things, but I no longer

wanted to be part of pointing fingers and telling people they were wrong -- I

wanted to stop making judgments and start setting an example and providing

solutions. "

 

Having embraced the vegan lifestyle while living in the Bay Area ( " It's not that

hard when you're living in San Francisco, because there are so many options all

around you. I went from being a poster child for the American diet, two Hostess

cupcakes a day and KFC for lunch, to vegetarian, to vegan, just like that -- no

looking back " ), he realized that what he really wanted to do was launch a

socially and environmentally concerned business that incorporated the vegan

philosophy. Hired as a manager for a small Internet cafe called The Portal, he

put together an initial menu of vegan fare and put out the word that he was

looking for a consultant to expand the concept.

 

It was then that Mark Reinfeld walked into his life. Reinfeld was a New York

University law student turned chef who'd gone vegetarian while on a kibbutz in

Israel -- " I was spending a lot of time with cows and chickens, and didn't feel

comfortable eating them anymore " -- and then, inspired in part by visits to

India and Southeast Asia, converted to veganism. " I found I was less congested,

I had more energy, " he says. " I thought, 'This is great -- I need to find out

more about this.' " While honing his culinary skills, he developed an extensive

repertoire of vegan dishes, eventually building enough of a following for his

cuisine that he was able to launch a vegan culinary consultancy, which he dubbed

Blossoming Lotus.

 

Reinfeld had originally come to Kauai on a spiritual retreat, deciding the

Garden Island was an ideal place to experiment with what he calls " observing

silence " in order to " cultivate his inner tranquility. "

 

 

" I'd done a few Vipassana retreats -- 10-day silent-meditation retreats that

take place all around the world -- and I'd reached a point in my life where I

wanted to try that for a longer period, " he says. " In India, people observe

verbal silence for five years, 12 years, and that inspired me -- I thought I

could just run off the edge of the world, go into silence and get a simple job

as a chef in someone's home, communicating with pen and paper. "

 

But when Zingaro shared his vision, it clicked so well with his own that he

decided to come on board as a partner. The two took over The Portal, renamed it

the Blossoming Lotus and began forming a team and building the business in

earnest.

 

" But Mark kept up his vow of silence for the next year and a half, " laughs

Zingaro. " He did this initial presentation to employees that was totally silent

-- all of his dialogue was projected on the wall using slides. "

 

" It was a little crazy once things got busier and busier, " admits Reinfeld. " I'd

tote around a laptop, typing things I wanted to say, and in the kitchen, I'd be

grabbing pieces of cardboard, scrawling things down with markers. Looking back

on it now, it was pretty amazing that people were willing to put up with it. "

 

Zingaro says that in some ways, the vow actually strengthened their partnership.

" I mean, it meant that we never had any of those knock-down, drag-out, screaming

fights. "

 

 

But both agree that the fights wouldn't have happened even if Reinfeld weren't

set on Mute: The partnership, with Zingaro as the operational guy and chief

spokesman, and Reinfeld as the creative visionary and culinary soul, has been

four years of harmony and good karma. " It all just flowed, " says Zingaro. " It

was all synchronicity. "

 

So much so that Zingaro and Reinfeld's primary angel investor, Silicon Valley

superagent Bo Rinaldi, walked into their establishment just two days after it

opened. Rinaldi, whom " A Whole New Mind " author Daniel Pink calls the " Jerry

Maguire of the free-agent economy, " had come to Kauai on a birthday trip with

his wife Star. A practicing vegan chef himself, he instantly saw the potential

in the pair's concept and offered to bankroll their expansion on the spot. Since

then, he's invested over $1 million into growing the thriving chain, as well as

in publishing and co-authoring with Reinfeld an acclaimed cookbook and wisdom

work, " Blossoming Lotus Vegan World Fusion Cuisine. " (The book went on to win

the 2005 Gourmand World Award for best vegetarian cookbook, Peta's 2005 Proggy

Award for best new cookbook and the 2005 Nautilus Award from Martha Stewart

Omnimedia's Body+Soul magazine, for best small-press cookbook.)

 

The vegan world fusion vision is poised to hit the world in a big way, but

Zingaro, Reinfeld and Rinaldi are adamant that it needs to happen in a way that

preserves the identity not only of the food but of the collectivist,

communitarian business practices behind it. The partners have already turned

down several offers that would have proliferated the Blossoming Lotus concept

across the map, fearing that some of the innovations they've put into play would

be eliminated in the service of profit -- like collective employee ownership,

extensive " seed-to-table " partnerships (not only are the bulk of menu

ingredients purchased from local organic farmers, those farmers also receive

back the composted postconsumer recyclables from each Lotus location to renew

their soil) and certified-green operating principles.

 

Ultimately, they believe that the Lotus has the potential to be a lot more than

just a great and healthy place to eat. For them, it represents a business model

that can improve, and perhaps someday replace, the unfettered capitalism that

dominates corporate America today -- a model that empowers the individual while

respecting the community and that seeks sustainability as well as growth.

 

" We could have developed our concept at a really rapid rate, if we overlooked

our commitment to quality and serving the community at large, " says Zingaro.

" One of our goals is to redefine the term 'profit' to mean benefit to everyone.

That's why we chose the lotus as our logo -- it's a symbol of enlightenment that

ripples out, that touches and infects others around you. "

 

A Lotus Grows in Kauai

 

 

Because of the partners' dedication to their ideals, the Lotus has so far

blossomed just thrice: Kauai is home to a juice bar/bakery called the Lotus Root

(the restaurant's original venue, before they moved to their spacious current

digs), as well as the flagship location in the Dragon Building in historic

downtown Kapaa. The first off-island branch is in Portland, Ore., hosted within

an " urban wellness oasis " fitness spa called Yoga in the Pearl. A fourth

location is being planned for Mountain View " sometime soon -- maybe in the next

year or so. "

 

The three existing locations have similar but not identical menus. One of the

principles behind Blossoming Lotus is the local sourcing of ingredients, so many

of the dishes served at the Kauai restaurants incorporate island-grown fruits

and vegetables, while the Portland menu includes entrees featuring ingredients

like oats, flaxseed, hemp and nuts.

 

But the culinary foundation is consistent: It's all market-fresh fare prepared

according to strict vegan principles, incorporating a diverse and

cross-pollinated variety of cooking styles and flavors. The vegan world fusion

palette intersperses Asian ingredients from Indian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese

food traditions with those of Greek, Italian and Tex-Mex cuisine. Though the

names of the dishes are familiar (spanakopita, burritos, pasta and spring rolls

all make an appearance), the focus is on flavor rather than verisimilitude:

Analogues are used sparingly, though the occasional references to " cheez " and

" mylk " still pop up on occasion.

 

The results are delicious. My order of a grilled tempeh Reuben with Russian

dressing, raw unsalted sauerkraut and island greens on homemade focaccia is

shockingly flavorful, the crisp, nutty bread neatly offsetting the meaty, but

not meatlike, slices of tempeh (which, like tofu, is a fermented soy product).

Both are well accented by the zingy bite of the sauerkraut and dairy-free

dressing. Plus, there's a damn good kosher dill pickle on the side. It tastes

like a Reuben, but it doesn't taste like it's trying to fake a Reuben. Bad vegan

food is like bad drag -- it's veggies in unconvincing meat costume, lip-synching

" I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener. "

 

Good vegan food is something totally different -- inspired by carnivore cuisine

but in a category unto itself, a bold variation on the theme. And that,

ultimately, is Blossoming Lotus's big magical secret.

 

" Only about five or 10 percent of our guests are vegetarians, " says Reinfeld.

" The rest just come here because they like the food. I knew what you were

thinking when you sat down: 'I'm not in the mood to eat a head of iceberg

lettuce, a bunch of sprouts and a baked potato.' That's what most of our

first-timers are thinking. "

 

Says Gabe: " We get a lot of guys who come in here with their arms crossed and

angry expressions on their face, pulled in by wives or girlfriends. Then after

they eat the food, you see them back the next day for dinner, on their own. "

 

I don't have a sweet tooth, but when " live " chocolate fudge is presented -- a

tantalizing confection of raw blended cacao beans and natural flavorings that

has all of the fullness and flavor of baked milk chocolate fudge, only, of

course, without the milk and without the baking -- I dig in like the others in

my party. I let my belt out another notch to eat a slice of Tropical Bliss Out

Pie. It is testimony to the surprising richness of the food that I feel kind of

guilty to be eating dessert at lunch -- even a raw, fruit-and-nuts-based dessert

without cheese or cream, or transfats to speak of.

 

I wish I could say that I came home a transformed man, having sworn off animal

products forever. Unfortunately, our return to the mainland coincided with the

Fourth of July, so I sit here typing, heavier by what feels like several pounds

of charred pig and cow flesh. Fortunately, I've been pre-assured by Reinfeld and

Zingaro that I'm not going to food hell for doing so.

 

 

" At the end of the day, we want to offer this option as just another

alternative, " says Zingaro. " We're not asking you to 'convert.' We're not

preaching to you. It's really great food -- enjoy it! And maybe if you enjoy it

enough, you'll make the decision to go vegan on your own. "

 

" That's the best way, " says Reinfeld. " We just want to make good cuisine that's

good for you, and you can sort it out for yourself. If we're doing any preaching

to you, it's at the cellular level. "

 

Jeff Yang forecasts new Asian and Asian American consumer trends for the market

research company Iconoculture www.iconoculture.com. He is the author of " Once

Upon a Time in China: A Guide to the Cinemas of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland

China " (Atria Books) and co-author of " I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action "

(Ballantine) and " Eastern Standard Time " (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin). He lives in

New York City. Go to www.ouatic.com/mojomail/mojo.pl to join Jeff Yang's

biweekly mailing list offering updates on this column and alerts about other

breaking Asian and Asian American pop-culture news.

 

 

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