The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant

BOOK REVIEW The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant By Eric Tucker with Bruce Enloe. Dessert by Amy Pearce. ISNB: 1-58008-207-6 www.tenspeed.com Reviewed by Claudette Vaughan

The Artful Vegan is a fabulous book. Geared for the sophisticated palate, and/or the adventurous cook – whatever comes first -The Artful Vegan is a culmination of 4 years work from the kitchen of The Millennium restaurant. This restaurant is situated on the bottom floor of San Francisco’s Savoy Hotel, at 580 Geary Street, San Francisco. The Artful Vegan is an artwork in itself. Here’s a taste of exquisite vegan cuisine. Appetizers: Be bold and try your hand at Blue Corn Empanadas Filled with Smoked Tempeh – Root Vegetable Picadillo, Mint Mojo, and Strawberry-Papaya Salsa or how about Miso-Broiled Japanese Eggplant over Noodle Cakes with Walnut-Miso Sauce and Wasabi Cream. For Starters, you’ll never feel the same way about salads again. How about Heirloom Tomato Stack with Bitter Greens, Avocado, Basil, and Curried Hazelnut Mojo Dressing. Or Spanish Marble Potato Salad with Grilled Frisee, and Creamy Sherry Vinaigrette.

A soup can be a satisfying meal in itself when you try Saffron, Sweet Potato, Fennel, and Roasted Garlic Bisque with Meyer Lemon Cream or how about something with an ethnic-style feel to it? Asian Matsutake Tonic with Spaghetti Squash and Aromatics fits the bill. For succulent home-made and fresh pasta, try Chanterlle and Stinging Nettle Ravioli with Sorrel Puree, Saffron Aioli, and Candy Cap Mushroom –Balsamic Reduction. As an aside the herb Stinging Nettle is a herb packed full of iron and minerals. Not to be missed. I think one of the biggest misconceptions people have about a vegan lifestyle is that it used to translate into giving up all those marvelous goodies which make life worth living. We need cruelty-free cookbooks like this to show the wider community how versatile and authentic (and complex) vegan cooking can be, especially for the sophisticated diner.

A selection of dishes from the Entrée section includes: African Teff Cakes with Fava – Wild Mushroom Wat and Carrot-Chile Chutney or Fauxlet au Poivre with Syrah Jus, Chicory and Smoked Cherries, and Roasted Potatoes and Roots. A question often asked of vegan cooks is we don’t do desserts well. Not so here. My recommendation for a truly inspired dessert is the Caramelised Fig Cake with Lemon Anglaise or Jasmine Tea Poached Pears with Pomegranate Sauce.

This cookbook is about enjoying imaginative, creative vegan food showing us appetizing ways of living. It’s unrestrictive approach to eating is at last becoming firmly established in the wider community. People now have well-defined tastes, and they loathe to give them up with they know. The Artful Vegan shows the way forward. Infact as vegans, we insist nobody should be missing a thing. Vegan cooking has come of age with this cookbook.