Last month I volunteered to get involved with the food blog of my local paper. Small Bites wanted to feature guest bloggers as part of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. I reached out to Liz Johnson, Small Bites producer and food editor of The Journal News and LoHud.com and told her that I wanted to review my experience at restaurants as a vegan – specifically that my non-vegan husband and I would dine at non-vegetarian restaurants and I would share my observations. I wrote the following three posts:
- Zitoune in Mamaroneck: Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2012
- Haven in Pleasantville: Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2012
- Sweet Grass Grill in Tarrytown: Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2012
When I submitted my final post I added a note to simply thank Liz for the opportunity and to tell her how much I enjoyed it. She promptly wrote back to me to say she enjoyed my posts and she would like to offer me a weekly, online column. She felt I brought a unique voice to the blog. I was thrilled!
Over the past few weeks Liz and I talked about the column and have come up with some great ideas. First, and foremost, this will be a vegan column. I will write about plant-based food finds and events as well as restaurant reviews and interviews. When she asked me to name the column I knew right away that I wanted a title that was inclusive of everyone.
Yesterday the first post in my column I Eat Plants debuted: I Eat Plants: Meet blogger JL Fields. I hope you’ll pop over to LoHud.com and check it out!
Beginning next week my column will be online each Thursday. On occasion, the column may also run in the paper edition. Speaking of the paper edition, this morning I was out for my walk and stopped by the store to pick up the paper. Are you ready for this?
The Journal News announced my online column on the front page of the print edition! I may, or may not, have been super excited about this, as evidenced here:
Okay, I was excited!
I will be writing original pieces for Small Bites and I hope you’ll read along; I will share links each week.
In other writing news, the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of VStream is now available. For only $2.99 you can download a glossy, gorgeous 69-page e-zine filled with vegan recipes and articles from business owners, bloggers, authors, and leaders in the vegan community. On page 8 you will find the piece I wrote about change and transformation post-40. Here’s a sneak-peak:
If you download the ‘zine, please let me know what you think of the article!
Saturday I shared details on a very exciting dinner event that I am working on with my friend Lee of The Vegan Version. The team at Flow Bar + Restaurant created a gorgeous poster for the occasion:
Isn’t it fabulous?
You do realize that this is a non-vegetarian restaurant, yes? The chef just happens to love pleasing his vegan diners and has now taken it to a whole, new level by offering this 10-course vegan dining experience. Jim Thorpe, PA is only a few hours drive from metro-NYC and just over an hour from Philadelphia. This is a vegan destination event if there ever was one – I hope to see you there!
Finally, I hope you will visit Stop Chasing Skinny to check out a really fabulous video and to answer a very important question: Do you feel beautiful?
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