NY Times: No Meat, No Butter, and No More Obscurity

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Long Island Dining | Vegan Fare

No Meat, No Butter, and No More Obscurity

Maxine Hicks for The New York Times

PREP Jay Astafovic prepares vegan dishes at Three Brothers Pizzeria in Rockville

Centre.

 

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LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpace BuzzPermalinkBy KARIN LIPSON

Published: November 27, 2009

ROCKVILLE CENTRE

 

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Times Topics: Long Island Dining

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Maxine Hicks for The New York Times

Stuffed baby eggplant, on white plate, and side dishes.

 

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Maxine Hicks for The New York Times

At Raga Indian Restaurant in East Setauket, vegan dishes include puffed rice

with tamarind and mint.

 

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Maxine Hicks for The New York Times

Bob and Paula Frank at Three Brothers Pizza.

JAY ASTAFOVIC, 17, has been helping out at Three Brothers Pizzeria, which is

owned by his father, since it opened here in January 2007. But when he changed

his diet from vegetarian to vegan later that year, he had a problem: “Every

time I would come here I would have nothing to eat,†he recalled.

 

As a vegan, he avoids all animal-based foods — not just meat, poultry and

seafood, but also eggs and dairy products. “I would look at all those

pizzas†topped with cheese, he said, “and wish there was a vegan option.â€

 

So he researched the possibilities. Encouraged especially by the quality of a

commercial cheese substitute derived primarily from the cassava root, the

self-described “vegan foodie†persuaded his father, Andy, to start offering

dairy-free pizzas last summer.

 

“I say, ‘You want to do it, do it,’ †said Andy Astafovic (pronounced

As-TAH-foh-vic), a native of Montenegro. “He orders it, I pay,†Mr.

Astafovic said of the faux cheeses. Now the 30-seat pizzeria offers a full vegan

Italian dinner menu, along with its traditional one, Jay Astafovic said.

 

It is one small illustration of how being a vegan on Long Island is a little

easier these days, according to members of Vegan Long Island, who met this month

at the pizzeria. Their party of nine ate nondairy pizza margherita and

faux-meatball, broccoli and spinach pie, among other varieties.

 

Vegan Long Island made its debut in April with the merger of two vegan

organizations; more than 220 people have signed on to its Web site,

meetup.com/vegan-Long-Island, according to Jennifer Greene, 42, a Bellport

resident who heads the group.

 

The restaurant outings, typically in groups of 8 to 10, are an important

activity. “One purpose of having our meet-ups is to encourage establishments

on Long Island to offer plant-based menu options,†Ms. Greene said. In

mid-November, group members went to Raga Indian Restaurant in East Setauket,

which serves meat but also has a vegetarian menu and can prepare a number of

dishes for vegans.

 

One member of Vegan Long Island, Galia Myron, 34, of Long Beach, who gave up

dairy in 2006 and has been “totally vegan†since April, said that at many

restaurants, “I don’t have to explain what ‘vegan’ is anymore.â€

 

Another function of the group is camaraderie. “Without the support of a

community, it can be lonely,†said Ms. Greene, a Sunday-school director who

has been a vegan since her mid-30s, largely out of concern over the treatment of

animals in the food industries. “But getting together with other people†who

have similar concerns, she said, “lets me know I’m not alone at all.â€

 

About 1 percent of the adult population in the United States is vegan, according

to a 2009 Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the nonprofit Vegetarian

Resource Group, based in Baltimore. In earlier decades, the number of vegans

would scarcely “register on the chart,†said Charles Stahler, 54, a

co-director of the resource group and a vegan since 1977. “For me, it’s

really an amazing change.â€

 

With celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres advocating the vegan diet, and best

sellers like Jonathan Safran Foer’s recent “Eating Animals†raising

questions about the factory farming of animals for food, “veganism has become

hipper,†Ms. Myron said. “It’s not as granola.â€

 

Martin Benavides and Casey Dalton, a vegan couple from Huntington, both 23, eat

out well beyond the granola route. “We mostly go to ethnic restaurants —

Indian, Thai, Afghan,†Mr. Benavides said. “Most of these cultures have a

huge vegetarian influence anyway. A lot of them are family owned, and the chefs

are there and will say, ‘O.K., this one has dairy, but we can cook it without

dairy.’ â€

 

Ms. Dalton said one “completely vegan†favorite was Green Melody, a Chinese

and pan-Asian restaurant in Jericho.

 

Helen Chang, 59, a co-owner of Green Melody, and her son David, 26, said

Buddhist precepts inspired its menu. “All my family is Buddhist,†said Mrs.

Chang. Her own mother, she said, cooked strictly vegan — there was “no meat,

no dairy†in her childhood home — and now Green Melody is following suit.

 

Among the restaurant’s specialties are its faux meats: The “chicken†in

the Sizzling Delight entree, for example, is soy-based; the “beef†strips,

served in a brown sauce over sautéed watercress in a dish called Temple of the

Green, are derived from wheat gluten, a protein, Mr. Chang said.

 

Green Melody will be the setting for a lunch and lecture on Jan. 24 held by

HealthyPlanet, a Long Island health and environmental education group, said Bob

DiBenedetto, one of its co-founders. HealthyPlanet also holds frequent potluck

dinners, with guest speakers, where all the dishes must be vegan; that “allows

everyone who’s attending to eat everything that’s there,†Mr. DiBenedetto

said. That means desserts, too, which must be free of eggs, milk, honey and

certain sugars.

 

One source for vegan sweets on Long Island is Moo-Cluck, a largely wholesale

bakery in Babylon that sells to retail customers as well.

 

Moo-Cluck’s baker, Micheline Cummings, 36, had been running a nonvegan custom

bake shop, Madame Butterfly Cakes, with her partner, Terry Haughey. But both are

vegans, so, Ms. Cummings said, “I started developing the vegan recipes just

for me.â€

 

But soon, others were asking for her egg- and dairy-free items, like

“un-cheesecake,†chocolate cake and cupcakes. So Moo-Cluck was born in 2005.

Relatives of Ms. Cummings who viewed veganism with a certain suspicion initially

resisted her desserts, she said. But times change: She and Mr. Haughey took a

box of several dozen Moo-Cluck cookies to a family Christmas party of 30 people

last year, intending it for a vegan relative.

 

The vegan arrived too late to enjoy the gift. Half an hour after Ms. Cummings

brought them into the house, the cookies were gone, she said. “All the

nonvegans ate them.â€

 

 

 

Following is a sampling of places that offer vegan food, usually in addition to

nonvegan fare, with a few examples.

 

BABYLON Moo-Cluck, bakery, 22 Fire Island Avenue; moocluck.com; (631) 669-4201.

Chocolate or vanilla cake, $11; un-cheesecake, $13; “creme-filled†chocolate

cupcakes, two for $5. Call ahead with orders.

 

BAY SHORE Tula Kitchen, 41 East Main Street; tulakitchen.com; (631) 539-7183.

Tempeh teriyaki with vegetables, $16; mock-crab cakes made with tofu and served

with dairy-free tartar sauce, $16.

 

EAST SETAUKET Raga Indian Restaurant, 130 Old Town Road; (631) 689-7242;

ragali.com. Baingan bhurta (roasted eggplant sautéed with onions, tomatoes and

peas), $10; bhindi masala (fried okra sautéed with onions, tomatoes, cumin,

turmeric and cilantro), $10. Specify vegan requirements.

 

Curry Club, 10 Woods Corner Road; (631) 751-4845; curryclubli.com. Alu mutter

(peas with potato chunks and ground spices), $10.99; masala dosa (rice and

lentil crepe wrapped around spiced potatoes), $9.99. Another location, with a

different menu, at 2811 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove; (631) 580-1777.

 

HUNTINGTON Ariana Restaurant and Cafe, 255 Main Street; (631) 421-2933;

arianacafe.com. Afghan and Mediterranean fare. A number of entrees can be

ordered vegan-style, including vegetarian kechri (risotto with mung beans topped

with falafel balls and chickpeas), $19.95.

 

JERICHO Green Melody, 519 North Broadway; greenmelody.com; (516) 681-5715.

All-vegan Chinese and pan-Asian cuisine, including Temple of the Green (wheat

gluten-based mock-beef strips in sweet brown sauce over watercress), $18;

Sizzling Delight, soy-based mock-chicken, vegetables and pineapple in brown

sauce, $16.50.

 

OCEANSIDE Jandi’s Natural Market and Organic Cafe, 3000 Long Beach Road; (516)

536-5535; jandis.com. Includes deli and juice bar with a small seating area.

Deli soups, salads and desserts are vegan; other vegan foods are specially

marked.

 

PATCHOGUE Del Fiore Pizza Company, 55 North Ocean Avenue; (631) 475-3663.

Specify vegan version of the Lorenzo veggie pie, $29.50 for a 16-inch pie.

 

ROCKVILLE CENTRE Three Brothers Pizzeria, 212 North Long Beach Road; (516)

766-3939. Vegan pizzas: 12-inch pie, $7; 18-inch, $13.90. Toppings are extra.

Seitan scaloppine piccata, $15.95.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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