A committed vegan for over 30 years, Linda Long has had a lifelong relationship with the food industry, starting as a waitress and short order cook at the age of 12 in her parents’ truck stop in Pennsylvania. In the early days of her career, she was a home economist, teaching high school foods. She then spent a decade in the resort hotel business.
Linda is now known food writing and photography, working for such magazines as Vegetarian Journal, American Vegan and VegNews. She photographs book covers for other authors as well. In her first book Great Chefs Cook Vegan, Linda asked some of the world’s finest chefs to create recipes for vegan meals, and the book went to win awards and garner international acclaim. Her second book Virgin Vegan: The Meatless Guide to Pleasing Your Palate is a handy guide to vegan living, with answers to such questions as “Where do you get your protein?”, “How do I travel as a vegan?” and where can I shop for vegan products?”. Virgin Vegan is also jam-packed with delicious recipes – some of which are from some of the world’s top vegan chefs – and Linda’s own mouthwatering food photography.
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CHIC VEGAN – YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING STORY ABOUT YOUR TRANSITION TO VEGETARIANISM. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT?
Linda Long – I was living at The Concord Hotel in the Catskill Mountains of NY and asked the great civil rights activist, former comedian, and self-taught nutritionist, Dick Gregory, if one could be healthy and be vegetarian. He suggested, “How about healthier?” He was traveling with Mohammed Ali while he was training for the last 6 weeks in the higher elevation before a fight. Dick was juicing for him to keep his energy and immune system up.
We sat in the hotel lobby for three hours with a book he got from the government with all the foods distributed in the USA and their nutritional breakdowns. When I got up from that session I was vegetarian. I gave up dairy a few years later when the incomparable Dr. Michael Klaper came to NYC to give a speech and some friends asked me to house him for one night. While he was here I asked about dairy and he told me the dangers that allowed me to say no to the milk in my morning coffee. (I have since done a great video interview with him on www.virginvegan.com where he talks a lot about dairy.)
CV – HOW LONG WERE YOU VEGETARIAN BEFORE YOU BECAME VEGAN?
LL – I was vegan all but a bit of milk for eight years before I gave that up. In the beginning I had some Dover sole a few times until I ordered it once and could not eat it.
CV – WAS IT DIFFICULT TO LIVE THIS LIFESTYLE IN THE EARLY DAYS OF YOUR VEGANISM?
LL – I was so committed and clear in my decision that it was not an effort. My mind was made up and it could not be changed. If this is the case then the world around you has to adjust to you not the other way around. Of course, back then, going out to eat and requesting an all plant-based meal was odd. And, there were no vegan restaurants. There were a few vegetarian ones where some vegan items were available but you were not eating in them every time, of course. I recall someone eating with me once and said they wanted to order a steak but they did not want to tempt me, as though I could be. I did have to eat creatively using a menu as a pantry of sorts. I could see what they had in the kitchen so I put foods together that I felt made a meal. Of course, pasta was usually an option in some form but I tried to make it as different as I could, asking for not only vegetables to be added but garlic and olives. If they had a side of something that could be added I asked for that as well. I have some pages in the front section of Virgin Vegan with some ideas about how to do this and also how to talk with waiters and chefs to get the best dish.
CV – AFTER BEING VEGAN FOR OVER 30 YEARS, DO PEOPLE STILL ASK YOU QUESTIONS ABOUT IT, SUCH AS “WHERE YOU DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN?”
LL – It does not matter how many years being a vegan people will always ask it. I was just asked it at my elevator last night by a very intelligent woman on my hallway, a successful Wall Street executive. People just know what they hear and the meat and dairy industry have sold quite a tale to people over many decades. I am glad they ask it as even if tiring it is inherent in the question that there must be other ways to get it. They are interested. They forget they know that there is protein in legumes, nuts and grains. It also comes from the fact that the word vegetarian and vegan suppose vegetables only to them. They are not thinking vegetal or plant foods in general. The biggest surprise is telling them that even spinach has some protein, and that we do not need the levels of protein we were always told we needed, and that many are poisoning themselves with too much protein.
CV – CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW BOOK VIRGIN VEGAN! WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WRITE IT?
LL – The publisher called me and suggested it! What was interesting is that I was thinking about such a book for a few years since there seemed to be no book that I could give to people who would never buy a book-book, so to speak. They all have too many words and one has to plow through a ton of pages to get the bare facts. I wanted a book that would be an intro, almost to all other books. Break-in the reader and encourage them to start their journey and then move on to many of the other books available. My protein is one page not a chapter, and so on. To start, one only wants to know what it is, how much they need and where to get it. Period. Done. On to calcium and so on.
CV – IN YOUR FIRST BOOK GREAT CHEFS COOK VEGAN YOU ASKED 25 TOP CHEFS TO CREATE RECIPES FOR VEGAN MEALS. WHAT TYPE OF REACTIONS DID YOU GET FROM THE CHEFS WHEN YOU ASKED THEM TO PARTICIPATE? DID ANYONE TURN YOU DOWN?
LL – Only a few chefs turned me down as they were producing their own books and opening new restaurants, sometimes on the other side of the world. The chefs are among the best in the world, the highest awarded in mainstream culinary circles. There were six that I had on the top of my list and I got the entire top six. I am still shocked by the fact! So, anyone who turned me down does not really matter.
I made it easy for them. Coming from the restaurant business I understood their day and their terribly busy schedules. When I approached them I said up front that it would take about 2 hours for 3-4 dishes, between service, basically 2p.m.- 4p.m or less, and the staff could make the food, and as long as they kept the dishes coming I could shoot them. They felt comfortable with me since I showed I understood their time constraints.
None of them thought vegan dishes were limiting. Mostly, they liked that they could be creative as that is who they are. They saw the ingredient possibilities much greater than the regular diet. One chef said that they get tired cooking the menu and that there are only so many ways to cook animal products, but thinking of creating from any fruit, vegetable, grain, nut, seed and legume was exciting.
CV – YOU OFTEN TALK WITH RESTAURATEURS ABOUT OFFERING VEGAN OPTIONS. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? DO YOU FIND A LOT OF RESISTANCE FROM RESTAURANT OWNERS OR ARE THEY OPEN TO IT?
LL – I mostly talk to those who come to a talk so they are already interested. It is rather exhilarating though to see the interest. I try to get them to realize that vegans eat with non-vegans and if that one person at the table does not get a nice meal they lose that table-top forever. This is usually something they do not consider. It destroys the argument that there are not enough vegans to worry about it. It is a rather new day in this regard. Restaurateurs know that they get a lot of vegan requests now. But, for some reason it is an effort to get them to put dishes on the menu and not in their back pocket in the kitchen in case someone asks. This is still an issue. I find that once I tell the table-top lost forever story, and that many customers look at the menu and walk on and not ask, they begin to understand the importance of dishes being on the menu.
EKB Restaurant Consulting, by Master Chef Erik Blauberg, told me that one of the first suggestions he makes to clients is to put an appetizer and an entrée on the menu and he talks them into to trying it for a month. In all occasions they sell about 150 of each in a night in a busy restaurant. And, there are not 150 vegans there. A good dish is a good dish. It is an eye-opener to many owners.
CV – YOU LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST VEGAN FRIENDLY CITIES IN THE COUNTRY. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT?
LL – Like most NYC vegans we all love any of the Candle restaurants. We all grew-up with them from Candle Café over 20 years go to the very upscale Candle 79 and now Candle Café West. The other one is Blossom who also has a variety of places about town, from high end to take out. Peacefoods is a favorite, for sure, and they just opened a second location. It is casual and organic. A good take-out is Terri. Gobo seems to often be on my list if downtown. If desiring raw vegan, none compares to Pure Food & Wine. There are so many now that I have not been able to visit them all. But, no matter how many come I am sure these will always be among my favorites.
CV – WHAT DO YOU PREDICT FOR THE FUTURE OF VEGANISM?
LL – It will continue to grow and not for health reasons as much as for the animal abuse and environmental destruction as it is the young people who are driving it from behind. They think they will live forever so health is not on their mind. But, the animals and environment is high on their minds and in their school lessons. It is more of a commitment than for health. It is easier to change if only thinking of oneself and health. But, to be committed otherwise is stronger and more permanent. However, health reasons are more important to the older population and as the baby-boomers get older, who have always been pioneers of many movements, more and more are making this choice. It is the trend of the future; no doubt, even some top mainstream chefs have said it to me. Fingers crossed!
