An opportunity to expand your knowledge, eat healthy and delicious foods while relaxing in the beautiful Caribbean. A week’s holiday at sea aboard the Costa Fortuna with non-dairy, vegan food prepared by an internationally known natural foods chef and lectures by leading experts in macrobiotics and natural health. What more could you ask for.





Yoga and Pilate classes are offered every morning on the cruise

Vegetarian version of traditional Vietnamese fare inspired by Chef Ito’s culinary vision.  This restaurant has been recommended to me but I have not been there yet.  The menu looks great. Authentic dishes created without the use of meat, eggs or alcohol.  There is also a separate raw vegan menu with highly unusual salads, entrees and desserts.  I noticed items like cactus juice and jacon syrup and plenty of nori wraps.  Check it out for a healthy treat.

A great market & cafe.  Since its origin over 30 years ago, the founders chose not to sell meat, poultry or fish in keeping with their vegetarian philosophy.  The market does carry produce, groceries and natural body care as well as an extensive selection of gifts and interesting books.  The restaurant is tucked away at the back of the market and it has been a vegetarian landmark in Southern California since 1970.  Follow Your Heart also makes our favorite vegenaise - a vegan mayonnaise that we use all the time…..made at a 100% solar-powered facility a few minutes away.  If you’re in the LA area check it out.

A very minimalist Japanese restaurant with bare walls and simple seating.  Very relaxed and quiet.  Organic and macrobiotic with incredibly fresh food.  The Chilean Sea Bass is highly recommended as are the Japanese hot pots and the chocolate tofu mousse dessert. You can get lotus root here and interesting cleansing drinks like “ume sho”.  If you have never tried macrobiotic food this is the place to go.  You will leave feeling very healthy and energized.

Fast Food in LA. The Green Truck is a Culver City based meal truck that delivers healthy food for a reasonable price. All ingredients are certified organic and locally grown whenever possible. Menus are in season with vegan, vegetarian and raw options

How about an Israeli Falafel Wrap with homemade falafel and a cool cucumber tzatziki, along with fresh cut tomatoes, all wrapped in warm flat bread... and maybe sweet potato chips on the side. Yum Yum!

All food containers are made from biodegradable products and the trucks run off vegetable oil previously used by food service companies... go green...

Hey, If you forgot your lunch or just need a quick snack you can even check on the trucks location via GPS.

This is a really interesting small restaurant about an hour out of Sacramento, two hours out of San Francisco. Everything is vegetarian but can also be made vegan. Very small place where you can talk to the chef and actually see the food being prepared.  CREATIVE FOOD; listen to this. Olive oil ice cream with balsamic sauce, Indian spiced fried chocolate.. etc… etc… etc. 

If you have made any of the great recipes in “Love Eric” the macrobiotic dessert cookbook by Eric Lechasseur you will be glad to know that he has opened a vegan, macrobiotic retreat at North Fork in the Sierra National Forest.  Close to Yosemite National Park and Bass Lake it sounds like the perfect getaway; a quiet weekend and some great food,  Nothing like a quick boost to your immune system. By the way Eric and his wife Sanae are animal lovers and you can bring your pet and they provide classes on pet care and massage. There is an extra charge for pets and if, like me, you have four it can get expensive but well worth it.  After all, pets deserve a vacation too.

If you cannot stay for a few days you can also stop by just for a meal and/or classes in cooking.

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This restaurant does have a couple of meat items on the menu but we have included them here because of their decision to remove all non-sustainable seafood from their menu.  They have also made an effort to educate guests and the public about the importance of sustainable seafood choices.  They also use organic, pesticide-free produce and low-impact or biodegradable restaurant supplies.  Great food too.

Great review from the New York Times  and the food is relatively inexpensive - most dishes are less than $15.  Very eco-friendly restaurant   Employees are encouraged to walk or bike to work.  The furniture is made from salvaged redwood, fir trees and other reclaimed materials.  Majority of wine is sourced from biodynamic and sustainable vineyards.  Fresh food harvested from a local biodynamic garden and orchard.

Natural Import Company offers a complete selection of medicinal quality Japanese natural foods.  They help preserve the time-honored traditions of the skilled craftspeople who produce the highest quality foods for individual and environmental health.  They support the Japanese families who prepare these foods, many of whom are artisans struggling to survive in the face of competition from large companies using mass prodution.  Here you can buy everthing from miso, kuzu, amazake, mochi, ume, wasabi, as well as books and dvds.  They also sell their products on their website where you will also find interesting articles, recipes on macrobiotic Japanese cuisine and home remedies. 

On their website the menu looks really interesting and I liked the following comment   “Thanks for joining us….because a vegan driving a Hummer has less impact on the environment than a meat eater on a bicycle!”  AND an upscale vegan restaurant in Akron, Ohio needs our support AND in case you are a Chrissie Hynde fan (leader of the rockband The Pretenders) she opened this restaurant in 2007 so she would have a place to eat in her hometown.  It is still difficult to find good vegan food away from the big cities, so if you are traveling in Akron, go eat there.  Anyway here is a link to veggiegirl vegan’s review of this restaurant with lots of good info.  Reservations recommended

Casa de Luz is a vegan restaurant in Austin.  In their own words

“it is a gathering place for people seeking wholeness and integration in diet, exercise and experiences. Casa’s campus participants offer activities, services and meetings to nourish the mind, body and soul. At our core lies the Casa de Luz Dining Room where we prepare organic food using principles that bring balance to the body.  Our intention is to nourish, learn and share. We seek to leave things better than we found them”.

We all need more of the above so check it out.

Vegetarian and organic this restaurant has been named best vegetarian restaurant in Utah for eight years in a row by City Weekly Magazine.  They support local suppliers and producer’s, recycle, compost and 40% of their electricity is from Green Wind Power.  They describe their philosophy much better than I ever could;

We produce fresh foods, often prepared moments before they reach your table. Please have patience with our traditional cooking techniques, which do not include microwaves, fryers, or heat lamps. This technique creates a little more preparation time; the results are well worth it! If you are in a hurry, please let your server know. There are plenty of menu items that can be prepared very quickly!
We love buying organic and are currently purchasing at least 90% organic. In order to bring you the freshest foods, variations may occur based on nature’s seasonal cycle. Our food is free from any preservatives. The only canned foods we use are tomatoes and coconut milk. Our sea salt is harvested underground in Redmond, Utah. We love to use locally grown produce goods when they are available. Many of the products we use have won national and international awards for exceptional levels of quality. We purchase teas and coffees that are certified organic, shade grown and fair trade. These high quality products are generally twice as expensive, sometimes, ten times as expensive as conventional products. It is our hope that you will feel as good as we do about supporting high quality, healthy products and healthy communities world-wide.

By the way the food is great too. 

Vegetarian and eco-friendly.  Many of the items on the menu are vegan and gluten-free or can be made vegan if requested. All the produce used comes directly from local farmers.  They also have a kid’s menu and lot’s of desserts.  A great vegan chocolate bread pudding.  I love bread pudding and finding a vegan version is not easy..  A great gift is the Cafe Flora cookbook which includes many of the popular items’s on the menu.

A recent renovation used recycled wood and the floor is soy-stained concrete.  All restaurant waste goes into two huge dumpster-sized bins and is made into compost.  Eco-consciousness is a priority here.