The Unvegan

10/7/2009 Reviews Boston

Dinner with Dunkin’ Donuts

While there is no shortage of donut shops in LA, in Boston you can’t walk for more than five minutes without seeing a Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s like the city runs on this doughnut franchise. So, before I parted ways with Boston, I made sure to stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Boston’s Logan Airport to grab something to eat.

I was expecting to be stuck eating a doughnut for dinner, but instead I found that Dunkin’s had started offering flatbread sandwiches, and for pretty cheap. None of them really had vegetables, but I ordered the Chicken Parmesan flatbread one thinking it was the most dinner-like of all.

Airports Boston Boston Logan Airport Chains Chicken Parmesan Dunkin' Donuts Fast Food Food Massachusetts Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Travel

10/6/2009 Heroes and Villains

Richard Wrangham: Unvegan Hero

Richard Rangham, author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, has developed a theory that may very well change the way we look at the world and ourselves. Looking back at human evolutionary history, he has realized that with the onset of the discovery of fire and the likely-accidental dropping of raw meat into the fire, our ancestors stumbled upon something that would change human history.

Gorillas Heroes and Villains Meat Richard Wrangham

10/6/2009 Reviews Boston

Eat at Joe’s (American Bar & Grill)

Veggie-free since '84 — Veggie-free since ’84

On day final of my sojourn into Boston, I lunched at Joe’s American Bar & Grill, a casual restaurant with a nice outdoor seating area. We took a table outside to enjoy one of the last remaining nice days in Boston’s summer season and then got down to menu business.

We arrived around that strange hour where you’re not sure if you want breakfast or lunch, so we were given both the Brunch menu and the lunch menu. After long deliberation between the menus, I settled upon lunch and the Blackened Chicken Sandwich. This sandwich was made with Cajun spices, cheddar and sauteed onions. It also came with all the typical sandwich fixing, like lettuce, tomato and pickles. I ordered mine without any of those, and also no fancy onions.

American Back Bay Boston Cajun Chicken Massachusetts Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Travel

10/5/2009 Rants and Raves

Vegans: Unvegan Heroes?

Not quite, but it’s definitely a fun idea to toy with. One aspect of veganism that I have always found entertaining is the general discord among vegans. From whether they can eat honey to whether they agree with radical PETA’s tactics, they seem to almost have as many schisms as Christianity. But I digress. Today I read an article, entitled “Vegans Against Veganism,” that blew my mind about vegans. Perhaps they aren’t the holier than thou radicals I have always thought.

Food Heroes and Villains Meat Vegans

10/5/2009 Reviews Boston

Experiencing the New Bella Luna

While in Boston, we were told the sad tale of a place called the Milky Way in Jamaica Plain. Apparently the Milky Way had taken moved into JP in worse times and brought good food, a fun bar and even a bowling alley. The Milky Way paved the way for JP to become a desirable place to live again. Then, an evil landlord decided to raise the rent, essentially pushing the Milky Way out. It didn’t take long for the Milky Way to find a new location, but instant karma hit the landlord, who has since been unable to fill the void left by the Milky Way.

So off we went to try the new place out. The new Milky Way is divided into a restaurant known as Bella Luna and a lounge area called Milky Way. We stuck to Bella Luna, which had a pretty cool and classy astronomical design, for some dinner.

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10/2/2009 Reviews Boston

A Perfect Sandwich at Ula Cafe

While waiting for a tour of the Sam Adams brewery in the Jamaica Plain are of Boston, we took a short walk to Ula Cafe to grab lunch. Both the brewery and Ula Cafe are located in a strange complex that formerly housed some other, now-defunct brewery.

That brewery’s loss was my gain, for as I perused the menu on the wall of Ula Cafe, I came across a sandwich of dreams. No, this wasn’t some meat-filled cardiac-arresting behemoth, but it seemed to good to be true. The name was Roast Turkey, but that didn’t begin to tell the tale of what would lie beneath the slices of bread. This sandwich was composed of turkey, guacamole, bacon and provolone. Not a vegetable in sight. I had to ask the woman at the counter just to be sure that my eyes didn’t deceive me. She told me it came as noted on the menu, with nary a tomato or lettuce leaf thrown in. I ordered it immediately.

Then came the hard part.

Bacon Boston Jamaica Plain Massachusetts Meat Restaurants Sam Adams Brewery Sandwiches Travel Ula Cafe

10/1/2009 Rants and Raves

World Vegetarian Day

According to a bunch of crazy people, today is World Vegetarian Day. I’m not sure who came up with this mad idea, but it is extremely misleading. So few people in the world are actually vegetarians that designating a “World Vegetarian Day” is similar to having the World Series of baseball only include teams from North America. Ludicrous.

It’s not like it really matters anyway, the only people that will be celebrating are actual vegetarians, and no one really pays attention to what they’re doing unless they’re half-naked.

Meat Vegetarians World Vegetarian Day

10/1/2009 Reviews Boston

Tasting the Coast at Legal Sea Foods

After hearing so much about seafood in Boston, we finally got the chance to test it out with a visit to Legal Sea Foods. We were told it was a “very Boston” thing to do, and that was really all we had to hear.

When we arrived and saw that there are Legal Sea Foods restaurants located all over the East Coast, we a were a little disappointed. I guess it wasn’t simply a Boston thing. Still, I could not penalize the restaurant for someone else leading me on.

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9/30/2009 Heroes and Villains

Buddha: Unvegan Hero

Many practitioners of Buddhism follow a strict vegetarian diet. They do this in an attempt to follow the way of Buddha, who is believed to have lived a vegetarian life that shunned killing. It seems, however, that this may not be the whole truth.

According to research, Buddha accepted all foods given to him as long as he wasn’t the sole reason for the killing and the killing wasn’t done in front of him. This probably helps explain why many depictions of him are of a relatively fat guy, who could never have gained so much weight on eating vegetables alone.

Buddha Buddhism Meat Religion

9/30/2009 Reviews Boston

Making My Way in the World at the Cheers Bar

Where nobody knew my name... — Where nobody knew my name…

One of the most important places for my seemingly elderly girlfriend to visit while we were in Boston was the Cheers Bar, which is exactly what it sounds like; the bar that the TV show Cheers was based on. Never mind the fact that she wasn’t yet born when the show began, it has remained one of her favorite shows.

Upon entering, the bar looks exactly like it did in the show, except it wasn’t filled the characters we know and love. The menu wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, although I didn’t expect it to be.

Boston Buffalo Wings Cheers Cheers Bar Massachusetts Meat Restaurants Travel

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