About Alicia

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After countless readings from food writers such as Elizabeth Gilbert, MFK Fisher, and Ruth Reichl, I learned how to write about food. Yet, after traveling through Italy all summer, I learned to appreciate food, and by doing so, I learned how to live again. I learned how to live by learning how to eat. I learned to appreciate the little things in life from the ground up. In Italy, life is centered around food. It is all about getting back to the basics. Walking to school. Reading a wrist watch. Holding an actual paper book. Writing with pen and paper. Americans have become lost in the techno-savvy and fast-paced society. We say it's hard for us to find "good, healthy food." It's not. It's just looking in the right places and having the curiosity and patience to rediscover food all over again. Italians eat food religiously. They dare not break the rules. Food revives one's body from the inside out. It's emotional and social. In order to renew one's heart and learn to live again, one must learn to eat - all of which starts with getting back to the basics.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Vegan Restaurant Tests Athens' Taste Buds


ATHENS, Ga. – A new “almost-vegan” restaurant opened on West Broad Street in Athens hoping to change Athens food culture.

Vanessa Molina, owner of Broad Street Coffee and Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant, opened the “almost-vegan” restaurant with her husband Juan and hired vegan chef, Michelle Berzack, to be the head chef and manager of the restaurant.

The term “almost vegan” is used precisely because Molina serves no cheese, eggs, or other animal products; however, she does serve coffee creamers and milk for the coffee. Even the creamers and milk are only bought from farmers who treat their cows ethically. “I won’t buy it if it isn’t ethical, but I think a lot of vegans appreciate that,” Molina said in an interview with Nick Coltrain, a reporter from Online Athens. Molina said that they only buy organic. If the ingredients needed in a dish aren’t top quality (organic), then the dish will not be on the menu.

Hayden Wilson, a sophomore at the University of Georgia, said she doesn’t know how successful this new “almost-vegan” restaurant will be. “I have a lot of friends who eat very healthy – kale, brussels sprouts, bean sprouts, quinoa, lentils – the whole shebang, but they aren’t 100% vegan. I don’t know if many people in Athens are 100% vegan either. It’s nice to eat healthy, but I think sometimes the whole vegan thing is a little much. So we’ll see how they do.”

Emma Price, another sophomore student at the University of Georgia, commented on the combination of coffee and food. “I think perhaps they are trying to do too much. The title alone is confusing: a coffee and vegan restaurant? What is that? It’s intriguing, no doubt, but if they’re purpose was to go vegan, they should have done it all the way.”

Reactions to the new restaurant were mixed, but a general tread among responses was similar to Price’s last words, “Either forget the food, and focus on the coffee, or forget the coffee and stick to the food."
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