Raven's Restaurant - Vegan Cuisine

Hello everyone....my name is Sid Hillman. Jeff Stanford has handed me this blog, and I am honored to continue it. I will use this entry to simply introduce myself, and then I'll go from there.

I am currently the general manager of Ravens Restaurant in the Stanford Inn. I also co-own Clo Mor Press, a letterpress printing company, with my wife Lisa. We have a daughter, Luna, who is 4 years old this month. We moved to Fort Bragg in 2006 from Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, I was a working actor and musician, and Lisa was a graphic designer. We met while students at UCLA. I graduated in 1991 with a B.A. in philosophy (she in 1992--B.A. in English).

My family is vegan. My wife and I have been vegan since 2002, and my daughter since conception. She is one of the healthiest children I have ever seen, and while I get looks of disbelief and horror when people find out she is vegan (how does she get her protein?), her disposition, health, and beauty is proof enough of the profound choice we have made for our family.

When we arrived to Fort Bragg after 'escaping' Los Angeles (that's still how I see it), we were focused on developing the printing business. As vegans, one of our first acts in any new place is to find restaurants that at least have something to offer vegans. Enter Ravens at the Stanford Inn. We went there for our 12 year anniversary in April 2006 and were blown away. At the time I said, "man I need to work here." What I was thinking I have no idea :) . Needing some supplemental income, I had a short stint as a bartender at another local hotel, but began working part-time at Ravens as well. Shortly after beginning there a couple of nights a week, I was offered the manager position and I took it. I worked for a while, took some time off when the printing business got busy, and returned last February to work part-time again, and again, as manager.

Simply put, it is important to me that Ravens and the Stanford Inn succeed. I believe that institutions such as these are as important to society as a whole as any other. Jeff and Joan run a business, and try to make money at that business. But here is the key difference between them and most other businesses: They do not place money above or outside or at the expense of the environment, health, or fair and respectful treatment of their employees. It is this whole picture that I think is an honorable and heroic model for the world at large: To approach capitalism in a supremely rational way. That to create a business that contributes positively to world is good for everyone, and and in turn can show a profit because people (like me) want to support it and feel great about working there. And trust me, veganism is crucial to this picture.

In future blogs, I will explore veganism in the largest possible context, for I believe that it is the single greatest personal decision any of us can make to positively affect the environment, our health, and, as I will argue, our relationships with other human beings.

Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on these writings. Argue with me, agree with me...either way, bring it on.

sid hillman

I've been thinking about the vegetarian/vegan question...Namely, how are the two related and if so, how closely. I have concluded that essentially there is no difference between vegetarianism (i.e. eating dairy products, and in some cases eggs) and omnivorism (eating anything and everything). In other words I have come to look at it like this: There are Vegans who do not consume anything from an animal, and there is everyone else.

A response to this might be that at least vegetarians, like vegans, do not eat dead animals (i.e. only animal products that can be extracted without killing the animal). And this is true. But here we are entering the ethical domain of veganism, and the treatment of dairy cows, and egg producing chickens etc. has been shown conclusively to be as horrific if not more horrific than the treatment of animals raised for slaughter. For instance, Dairy cows are hooked up to tubes and confined to spaces too small to turn around in. That is just the beginning and I will not go further with these descriptions. Suffice it to say that it is simply torture of defenseless creatures who want to live in open space and without pain and suffering just as we human animals do.

As for the nutritional aspect, the consumption of animal protein doesn't change whether you are eating flesh or the by-product of an animal. The protein still causes the same damage to the body--acidic in nature, and very difficult for our bodies to process, thereby producing increased oxidation and wear. The only way to avoid this damage to our bodies is to remove animal protein from our diet entirely. To go all the way.

However, as I further thought about this subject, I also came to the conclusion that vegetarianism, as a life decision, at least heads in the right direction. And, while I feel that it is not nearly enough of a choice to affect real change in the world and on our personal health, it represents an awareness of what we are consuming on a daily basis. Many times it leads to Veganism, and is, at that point, a more gentle transition than from omnivore to vegan by going cold turkey. Hmmm, I couldn't resist that phrase.

Live well and I'll write again soon. By the way, I'm not a hippy.
Sid Hillman

Just a quick post to connect readers to San Francisco's ABC affiliate KGO's View From the Bay which featured Chef Barry Horton's Cherry Cobbler this afternoon. Just click on the link http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=view_from_the_bay/food_wine&id=6279886#bodyText

Below is is the recipe:

½ cup walnuts
½ cup coconut flakes
4 - 6 dates, pitted
Pinch of salt

Procedure

1. In a food processor, blend walnuts until finely chopped, then add coconut
2. While processing, add dates one at a time until mixture becomes crumbly.
3. Mix in salt. Set aside.

Filling:
Ingredients

3 cups fresh cherries, pitted
6 - 8 dates, pitted
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Procedure

1. In a blender process 1 cup cherries with enough dates to create a thick sauce. We recommend a VitaMix - which you can buy on line at http://www.vitamix.com/ or at the Stanford Inn by the Sea
2. Transfer to bowl.
3. Fold in remaining ingredients.

Assembly

Using a fancy glass of your choice, place 1/4 - 1/3 cup filling in bottom, and top with thin layer of crumble. Refrigerate and serve cold.