Quantcast Vegetarian StarThe Vegiterranean (2)

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Have you driven down the street lately to find your favorite restaurant closed shop because of the bad economy?

Less bank money in the bank means more visits to your home kitchen, which sadly can force many businesses to make their last supper.

Luckily for Chrissie Hynde, the vegan restaurant she opened in 2007, The Vegiterranean, is still standing strong.

“We’re about breaking even, which is really good for a restaurant.,” Hynde said. “My only interest in it is the cow protection and also to bring life back into the downtown.”

Great food and word of mouth is what has kept her doors revolving and the ovens burning.

The Vegiterranean name is often dropped in the veg community for things like awesome faux chicken sandwiches, burgers that put beef to shame, and not to mention its superstar of a co-owner.

But Chrissie never intended to be a big shot.

“I always say I have no ambitions. But that is my ambition.”

via southbendtribune.com

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Image: Hello ChateauHo on Flickr

Who’s got the best veggie chicken sandwich?

Amy from the Veg Cooking Blog asked readers at peta.org to chime in and help her make that decision.

The responses chose restaurants in every corner of the United States, including the heart of the midwest at Chrissie Hynde’s vegan restaurant, The Vegiterranean.

The Vegiterranean features the Grilled Gardein Bruschetta Pomodoro Panini. You can tell from the name, this is no ordinary soy patty on a squished bun.

As Amy writes:
“The sandwich comes with balsamic basil marinated tomatoes and soy mozzarella and is accompanied by a grilled vegetable orzo salad.”

Wow. Sounds delish!

Others that made the cut include New York city’s Red Bamboo’s Chicken Parmesan Hero with “soy chicken with vegan mozzarella cheese, smothered in sweet basil marinara sauce and served on Italian bread.”

Hungry yet?

Visit peta.org to find out which other 8 restaurants serve the best veggie chicken sandwich.

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Chrissie Hynde recently interviewed with the New York Post, where she mentioned how successful her vegan restaurant, The Vegiterranean, is in her hometown of Akron, Ohio.

Located in the heart of the midwest, Chrissie couldn’t have picked a less veg friendly region-unless we’re talking about a cattle ranch town!

But two years later, The Vegiterranean is still going strong.

A few highlights from the interview:

Akron seems like a meat-eating kind of town. How has your vegan menu been received?

Everyone told me, “Don’t do it.” I had a resounding chorus of “You will go under” from all corners. But it’s been a huge success. And you’re right, it’s a real meat-eating town. I’m actually still surprised when I meet a meat eater. It makes so little sense, especially now that everybody knows the score as far as the treatment of the animals, the factory farms and the environment — not to mention the health implications. Why go to the gym every day when you can just eat right? I mean, look how gorgeous I am, and I don’t do anything.

How are people responding to what you’re doing there?

It’s funny, because yesterday I was thinking, what am I doing this for? I was feeling kind of isolated. And then I went to the restaurant, and six different groups of people walked up and said, “We’ve come in from out of town because we wanted to see the restaurant. You should put one in our city, because we really need it.” And I thought, it’s working. I was quite stunned.

Read the entire interview with Chrissie at nypost.com.

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The Vegiterranean, a vegan restaurant created and owned by The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, isn’t exactly located in the hub of vegetarianism.

But that doesn’t stop her from bringing business to her hometown of Akron, Ohio, as she says mostly meat eaters dine there.

“Ninety per cent of the people who go there are meat eaters,” Hynde said. “They just think the food’s great and there’s not a bean sprout in sight.”

Not that Chrissie isn’t into anything with the word “bean” attached to it.

“I could eat beans on toast every day for the rest of my life, no complaints at all. I’m a buffet kind of person. I’d much rather go in for a buffet, load up my plate, sit down, eat and split, or have a piece of pizza on a doorstep or something. I can’t stand fuss.”

She’s not a party person either, stating she never gets invited because “they don’t invite vegetarians.”

But that may be for the best, as she gets to dart silly questions like, “Do you eat fish?”

“I’ve been having that same conversation for 40 years!” she said.

via wrexhamchronicle.co.uk

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“I just don’t understand those meat eaters. How can they justify eating those beautiful animals? And how can they justify the fact that half the world is starving when there is enough food for everybody? We’re feeding grain to cows while people die of hunger. How can people not see that is wrong?”

—-Chrissie Hynde, in a recent interview with the Liverpool Daily Post. Chrissie likes to stay in the business of what she can get, and that’s owning her own vegan restaurant, The Vegiterranean, in her hometown of Akron, Ohio.

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Chrissie Hynde’s Chef, Scot Jones, Writing Books, Cleansing Oprah

Written by Vegetarian Star on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 in Authors, Chefs, Recipes.

Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal

Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal

Chrissie Hynde’s gotten a lot of publicity for opening a vegan Italian restaurant in her hometown of Akron, Ohio, but her Executive Chef, Scot Jones, may have been hiding in her shadow.

Not anymore.

Jones has authored a few chapters in an upcoming vegan cookbook and while he wasn’t in The Vegiterranean kitchen perfecting spaghetti with “rawmesan,” he developed recipes for Oprah’s famous 21 Day vegan cleanse.

The book’s working title, The Conscious Vegan, is written by chef Tal Ronnen, founder of Veg Advantage, a non-profit organization that helps restaurants put vegetarian items on their menus.

When Jones met Ronnen to consult on the menu for The Vegiterranean, the two hit it off well and Jones was asked to assist in providing recipes for Oprah Winfrey’s 21 day vegan cleanse.

”He used 21 of my recipes and 21 of his recipes to do Oprah’s 21 Day Cleanse in Hawaii last summer,” Jones said.

The book is scheduled to be released this fall and will feature a couple of chapters and recipes from Jones, like SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH TEMPEH BACON AND CHIPOTLE CREAM.

Jones isn’t a vegetarian yet, but he’s added more vegan foods into his diet.

via Ohio.com

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Patrick Carney, drummer for the blues-rock band The Black Keys, grew up in the same city and attended the same school as The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde.

The two have collaborated on a fundraiser and he takes people to eat at her Vegiterranean vegan restaurant frequently. He thinks the food is great, but he’s not too keen on the music.

“It’s an awesome restaurant, but it’s surprising how bad the music is that they play there. It’s straight-up new age jazz. As my uncle [saxophonist] Ralph [Carney] would say, “It’s late jazz.”

Well now…Could he be mad that he doesn’t get the hometown discount?

So if you’re not into new age jazz, bring a set a earplugs with you before you go.

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“There were no vegetarian restaurants in Akron. Plus, I wanted to do something to help destroy the mall culture of downtown.”
—-Chrissie Hynde, singer and musician of The Pretenders, on why she opened a vegan restaurant, The Vegiterranean, in her hometown of Akron, Ohio.

Guess Chrissie got tired of looking at all the corporate fast food chain restaurants that lined the streets of Akron. But hey, Chrissie, not all malls are bad. Some have veg offering Subway Restaurants, for instance.

Hynde recently made news after she participated in a protest against McDonald’s as part of the McCruelty campaign launched against the company due to how it treats its chickens before and during slaughter.

She has said she would like to remain on earth until all McDonald’s have burned to the ground.

She’ll have to work a little harder if she’s trying to demolish the malls at the same time.

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