the thing about The Foundation though is that i know it's all vegetarian but wheni ordered the tahini maple dish i got it because from what i could tell on the menu it was vegan...but then when i got it was very creamy and i really don't see how it was dairy free...i'm always skeptical of things like that, and i really should have asked when i ordered, but i didn't. i need to get better about specifying vegan, especially when i'm somewhere i haven't been before.

Hm, FWIW I think the only dairy option there is the goat cheese on one particular salad and I think in the chocolate fondue. However, I have a good friend who I kind of use as my balls in this arena...I'm kind of feeble about confirming vegan ingredients but if SHE eats it I know it's good enough for me because she's been doing it for years. [Isn't that feeble! I know.] And there is nothing other than that salad and the fondue that she won't eat. And I KNOW she asked and probably had a big in depth semi-paranoid conversation about it. So I hope that makes you feel a bit better about that meal. But yes, I should be more proactive in that regard as well. I had a magnificent burrito the other day that didn't have any dairy in its description but that came with what I believe to be yogurt sauce. Boo.

Hm, FWIW I think the only dairy option there is the goat cheese on one particular salad and I think in the chocolate fondue. However, I have a good friend who I kind of use as my balls in this arena...I'm kind of feeble about confirming vegan ingredients but if SHE eats it I know it's good enough for me because she's been doing it for years. [Isn't that feeble! I know.] And there is nothing other than that salad and the fondue that she won't eat. And I KNOW she asked and probably had a big in depth semi-paranoid conversation about it. So I hope that makes you feel a bit better about that meal. But yes, I should be more proactive in that regard as well. I had a magnificent burrito the other day that didn't have any dairy in its description but that came with what I believe to be yogurt sauce. Boo.

Well thank you (again!) for passing on the info (via your friend or not, it's still info! :)) but if the fondue (which i know is specified on the menu has having a vegan alternative if asked for) and goat cheese are the only non-vegan things then i wonder what they put on their nachos. if that stuff was vegan cheese then it was the best melted vegan cheese i've ever seen in my life. my sister (she's vegetarian) ordered it thinking it wasn't going to have cheese on it and that she and i could share, but then it came heaped with cheese (that i assumed was real cheese) so i wouldn't eat it. This forced her to basically eat the whole plate of nachos AND her peanut pasta!

But yes, proactiveness is key. we'll both get better at it eventually. or maybe we won't have to because by then vegan stuff will be more clearly marked. :up:

i wonder what they put on their nachos. if that stuff was vegan cheese then it was the best melted vegan cheese i've ever seen in my life.

Crap, the nachos. Forgot about them. I guess I never order them because they're not really my fave and I refuse to pay so much for something I can make at home better. You're right though.

Speaking of cheese, another recommendation I have for you is Rebellious Tomato. Find them in the Yellow Pages. Dude, so good. So very very good. The "Friend" swears by them and their soy cheese.

Speaking of cheese, another recommendation I have for you is Rebellious Tomato. Find them in the Yellow Pages. Dude, so good. So very very good. The "Friend" swears by them and their soy cheese.


noted! it's fairly out of the way from where i am (in north burnaby) but next time i'm ever over there i'll definitely check it out.

I remember asking what was vegan on the menu at the Foundation and she pointed out that everything but the nachos was vegan (and one other thing...can't remember what it was now).

Speaking of cheese, another recommendation I have for you is Rebellious Tomato. Find them in the Yellow Pages. Dude, so good. So very very good. The "Friend" swears by them and their soy cheese.

is this a veg*n restaurant that i have never heard of???

i had a terrible time at the foundation the last time i went. so bad i am not sure i want to support them with our hard earned dollars anymore. we were treated so poorly, the service was SO bad, and when we complained, we were basically told that it was "our problem" and that the most they could do for us was give my husband the beer he ordered free. i was so angry and disgusted. no apologies were offered, no regret on the behalf of the servers responsible for such ****ty service was displayed.

it made me so sad, too, because i am IN LOVE with the yam dip. oh god. so good.

i had a terrible time at the foundation the last time i went. so bad i am not sure i want to support them with our hard earned dollars anymore. we were treated so poorly, the service was SO bad, and when we complained, we were basically told that it was "our problem" and that the most they could do for us was give my husband the beer he ordered free. i was so angry and disgusted. no apologies were offered, no regret on the behalf of the servers responsible for such ****ty service was displayed.

it made me so sad, too, because i am IN LOVE with the yam dip. oh god. so good.

was that the only time you've received such bad service though? doesn't it deserve at least one second chance?!

is this a veg*n restaurant that i have never heard of???

It is not veg*n. Their claim to fame is organic ingredients whenever seasonal/possible and a casein free [again, according to Very Thorough and Knowledgeable Friend] soy cheese that rocks and rolls. We had the "Arti Zucchi" [pine nuts, thinly sliced zucchini etc.] and the "Rustica" [black and green olives, spinach, garlic etc.]. It's one of those places that is a great choice if omnis are about as they serve an excellent version of everything...choice for all. Their house salad is above the usual standard, as well.

Yeah, the foundation can definitely be troublesome. To be honest, I've never been there when they haven't a) messed up my order b) mischarged me c) ran out of something I wanted [not the end of the world, but you know what I mean] d) took for freakin' ever and e) had an enormous sweaty line. [Oh, and I've been there about four times all told]. Apparently though, the Friend mentioned above has never had such an experience and her ex is there almost every day, so I dunno. Maybe I don't look cool enough.

was that the only time you've received such bad service though? doesn't it deserve at least one second chance?!

the service there has pretty much always been atrociously slow. but when we showed up with our two kids one monday night, we certainly didn't expect it to take 2 hours for them to tell us that our children just weren't going to get the food we ordered for them.

we have been thinking we might give it another shot but i'm still pretty mad, and this happened back in march.

It is not veg*n. Their claim to fame is organic ingredients whenever seasonal/possible and a casein free [again, according to Very Thorough and Knowledgeable Friend] soy cheese that rocks and rolls. We had the "Arti Zucchi" [pine nuts, thinly sliced zucchini etc.] and the "Rustica" [black and green olives, spinach, garlic etc.]. It's one of those places that is a great choice if omnis are about as they serve an excellent version of everything...choice for all. Their house salad is above the usual standard, as well.

actually that sounds great, but i looked it up and saw it is north van, a bit far for our surrey butts to go for a pizza. :) there is a new pizza joint in delta, though, called "veggie king" that serves only veg*n pizza, and i keep meaning to call and see if they have vegan cheez options.


Yeah, the foundation can definitely be troublesome. To be honest, I've never been there when they haven't a) messed up my order b) mischarged me c) ran out of something I wanted [not the end of the world, but you know what I mean] d) took for freakin' ever and e) had an enormous sweaty line. [Oh, and I've been there about four times all told]. Apparently though, the Friend mentioned above has never had such an experience and her ex is there almost every day, so I dunno. Maybe I don't look cool enough.

that is exactly what we figured the problem was - either we're not "scene" enough (and i'm too fat), or they don't like kids to be seen there. either way, major piss off. someone else said that they think this is due to the employees and not so much the owners or management and that we should complain to the "higher ups" about it. i just really don't know. i miss the yam dip. :(

actually that sounds great, but i looked it up and saw it is north van, a bit far for our surrey butts to go for a pizza. :) there is a new pizza joint in delta, though, called "veggie king" that serves only veg*n pizza, and i keep meaning to call and see if they have vegan cheez options.

that is exactly what we figured the problem was - either we're not "scene" enough (and i'm too fat), or they don't like kids to be seen there. either way, major piss off. someone else said that they think this is due to the employees and not so much the owners or management and that we should complain to the "higher ups" about it. i just really don't know. i miss the yam dip. :(

I think they have another location on West 16th somewhere, which doesn't help you guys in Surrey but I'm on East 6th and they deliver to us. You'll just have to come visit. I'm closer to Surrey than the Foundation and I promise not to keep you waiting on your food.

The kids that were throwing nachos at us the second-to-last time we were there were encouraged, so it probably wasn't your kids. Lord knows I'm not "scene" enough for the Foundation although I was wearing my vintage cat-eye frames, so that's pretty much all I've got. I expect it is just plain ol' server apathy, which I have suffered from in the past as a server, so maybe a follow-up call to mgmt would not go amiss. Maybe if I give them feedback too they'll acknowledge that that end needs some work.

Kreeli, you could make yam dip that good with both hands tied behind your back and substandard yams. I have faith in you. I think it's probably got maple syrup in it. I'll keep my ear to the ground.

hey BC people...

I'm going to school next year in New West, and would like to live in a small house/apartment (just 2 people) and was wondering if any vegans in the area are doing the same

I'm going to a professional school so it would be great if the person were willing to live at this place for at least a couple of years (as I will be there for 4). PM me or respond to this thread if interested!

Peace

Hi I'm new and have been really enjoying reading through this thread. I'm a long-time vegetarian, recently turned vegan (and feeling wonderful because of it) living in Victoria. Just thought I'd introduce myself!

CanadianSKA: I can't think offhand of anybody who needs a place in New West but I will of course keep you in mind if I do. Nice to see you here!

yoginigabe: I PMed you, welcome! :up:

i've quizzed the lj vancouver community about this already, but i figured i'd ask for all you helpful people's advice as well...

where can i find some organic cotton clothing in the vancouver area? i've already been pointed towards the direction of MEC (which i totally would not have considered) but can you think of anywhere else?

i'm also looking for some good hemp clothing locations...

but the organic cotton is really want i want.

any help is greatly appreciated!

I'm from Victoria, so I could point you in the direction of many places on the island, but for Vancouver I know of Hemp BC (324 W Hastings) and Kitsilano Hemp (2936 W 4th Ave.) . Both have organic cotton (and hemp obviously), as do most outdoors stores which sell Patagonia and Timberland (both have an organic cotton line). There's a cute kids store called Kidlets (I believe) in kits which sells locally made children's clothes made from organic fibres.

Also, (I'm new and therefore not allowed to post a link but the site is ecoeverything(dot)(com)] is awesome. It's a (canadian!) site for Fiber Options, which has stores in Whistler, Victoria and Tofino, but also sells a lot online.

And check out www.rawganique.com


They are on Denmen Island and they deliver stuff for $5 and they are environmental and organic and all that.

:)

For hemp, there is Sativa in southern New Westminster near either the Columbia skytrain station or the New Westminster skytrain station, and they also have another location on northern Commercial Drive in eastern Vancouver. There are many other stores along Commercial Drive that sell hemp products as well, such as Paranada.

For all you SFU students, there is going to be a course on the history of the animal protection movement during the Fall 2005 semester. It's History 485: Temporary: Special Topics: History of Animal Protection Movement, the instructor is David Delafenetre, it's a 4-credit course, and the textbook will probably be "Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Towards Speciesism" by Richard Ryder. The prerequisites are 45 credits including 9 credits in lower-division History.

Hello,

I am from Ontario, but am planning to move to Vancouver mainly cause of how highly a friend of mine who lives there speaks of the place (also cause it seems like my type of city). Tell me what is great about Vancouver and try to convince me to move there.

Lol. You won't need convincing once you are here. :) There's the beach, the ocean, the mountains, Stanley Park, an abundance of vegetarian and vegan restaurants and bakeries and cafés, vegan community programs, Caper's organic groceries, Choices, Whole Foods, and the people generally rock. The weather is mild, we have all four seasons, though not too much snow (but Whistler is an hour away); people can tend to be a little too image-conscious out here, but at the same time there are many people that are nature and environmentally conscious. Big variety. I love it. Where in Ontario are you?

i'm moving to new west from toronto on the 25th! yay!

Some interesting websites for Vancouverites concerning fairtrade :

www.vancouver.ca/sustainability/learn.htm
www.transfair.ca
www.fairtradevancouver.ca
www.tenthousandvillages.com
www.ethicalbean.com
www.saltspringcoffee.com
www.capersmarkets.com
www.choicemarkets.ca
www.spud.ca
www.lasiembra.com

From an article in SharedVision, a free publication in Vancouver.

The Vancouver Vegetarian Association is having a BBQ at 7pm tonight (Sat the 13th) at Jericho beach. I think I might actually stop by. :D

http://www.vancouverveg.com/event.php?id=433

Come join the Vancouver Vegetarian Association and some of Vancouver's crazy vegans & vegetarians for a Beach BBQ Party at Jericho Beach! Veggie burgers, veggie dogs, BBQ tofu... all vegan!

Attendance is FREE, food is by donation (suggested $2 for a veggie dog, $3 for a veggie burger). Bring Your Own Beverage, but please don't bring food, we have that covered! All ages welcome.

I can't tell you yet exactly where we'll be on the beach... just look for the crazy people who are oddly respectful of the wildlife. =)

Special Bonus for Members: Show your Vancouver Vegetarian Association membership card and get a free veggie dog or veggie burger!

i just got a place in new westminster!!!

anybody know of any good places to buy vegan goodies/ good restaurants that cater to veg*ns?