From the Nest

I think we may have mentioned this before, but we've long been supporters of non-vegan restaurants that are willing to accommodate those of us with vegan sensibilities. Don't get us wrong, we wish every single restaurant in the world was vegan for the same reason we wish every single person in the world was vegan—as a means to the end of minimizing animal suffering at the hands of humans. But we're not the types to tell others that unless they live the lives we live, they suck. To the contrary, we wholeheartedly support and are excited by steps individuals and establishments take to bring us all closer to a kinder world. You stopped eating cheese? That's awesome—one less cow confined to a life of misery. Your family's doing Meatless Mondays? That is honestly superb—whether they stick with it or not, it's great to expose kids to less cruel, healthier eating habits early. You're adding a vegan menu at your mom-and-pop cafe? Kick ASS. When can I come by?

So when a good friend of ours and former New Yorker who now lives in Austin (yes, it is awesome that we mentioned Texas in three posts this week) suggested we all meet at a new japanese restaurant on the lower east side that featured menu items specifically marked as 'vegan,' we were 100% down. And we were not at all disappointed. The food was delectable, the atmosphere cute and cozy in a modern minimalist japanese way, and the staff was beyond welcoming of us as vegan guests. So needless to say, when we heard that they were starting up a weekend brunch, we immediately made plans for a return visit.

The endearing spot in question is Family Recipe, situated just below Houston on Eldridge. Now, if you're a vegan, even in New York City, you know a decent brunch at a non-vegan place is one of the metaphorical holy grails of our culinary world. Sure, a vegetarian can just waltz into one of the gajillion brunch joints in New York and point at any number of cheesy and/or eggy dishes and sit back entirely satisfied, chatting with their pals. But for vegans, the options are significantly more limited, making us, sadly, the reclusive lost sons and daughters of the brunching hour. I know—tragic. Why? Why is the bloody mary pre-mixed with the Worcestershire sauce already?

But Family Recipe's chef and owner, Akiko Thurnauer, has thought out her vegan options fully, making sure the dishes, rather than suffering from lack of animal ingredients, are flourishing in their combination of flavors. From the sesame burdock root + carrot rice bowl—served in a small, hot cast iron cauldron—to her spicy tofu buns, the cuisine's both unmistakably asian-inspired and fresh, modern, and uniquely conjured up. Her brunch offerings are no different.   

The rice bowl pulls double-duty, making an appearance on both the dinner and brunch menus, which we took advantage of right away, remembering how much we liked it last time. And Thurnauer's organic tofu scramble is wholly unique, combining fresh scallions and truly tasty hijiki seaweed strips with a distinct blend of spices, making it the first and only japanese-inspired scramble we've ever had. On top of that, she's come up with a great gluten-free waffle that's made from brown rice flour, coconut flour, and, by the taste of it, magical pixie dust (which is vegan, by the way). The waffle is crisp, light, and totally mind-blowing, especially for someone who rarely gets a chance to partake of such breakfast fare outside of their own home. These two highlights are then rounded out by seasonal fruit, brown rice crisps, and a kale salad that can easily be made vegan.

On top of the restaurant's culinary feats, we're also big fans of the fact that Family Recipe's obviously got some solid design in place, both in terms of interior ambiance and overall branding, as you can see with their business cards (above), which are printed on thin panels of wood. The logo is the crest of the family of Thurnauer's father, who first inspired Akiko's love of food. From the restaurant's site:

"Akiko's culinary experience started at an early age. When Akiko was a kid her father traveled all over the world for business and brought back many unique ingredients from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He took her to fine dining restaurants and street food fairs. Family Recipe is dedicated to the culinary legacy of her father, who passed away 10 years ago."

Which is what it comes down to, in our humble opinion—good restaurants and the people who run them care about what they're doing. The more that start caring about how they do it—how what they create impacts both the animals they use and the guests they serve—the closer we all get to that ideal of a compassionate world. Though Family Recipe serves animal products, they're also serving a growing community of consumers who care more and more about the impact their choices make, vegans included. The more we support that kind of thing, the better. So check them out next time you're in the lower east side or just jonesin' for a nice vegan waffle and some friendly company. Who knows, maybe they'll expand the vegan offerings ever more. We'll certainly be first in line if they do.

Below, the glorious gluten-free brown rice waffle, organic tofu scramble, the vegan rice bowl, and the store front window.

 

The Find

"Clear eyes! Full hearts! Can't lose!"

Reader, if you're a warm-blooded, feeling human being with a soul, "Friday Night Lights" is you favorite show ever, whether you've ever watched it before or not. We were relatively late fans of the show, but we made up for that fact with sheer exuberance and cult-like zealousness.

Which is why this print, by Portland artist, Will Bryant, was an immediate purchase when we saw it on Buy Olympia. From Bryant's write-up for the design:

Friday Night Lights is hands down the greatest sports drama to ever air. If you don't feel something when Coach Taylor ignites his players with "Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose" then you're a robot.

You can see and buy more of Bryant's work over at Buy Olympia.

TEXAS FOREVER!

The Song

 Reader, we'll be frank with you—we've got one foot out the door. For the first time ever—thanks to some very kind gifting from Ms. Katie Frichtel—we'll soon be headed to Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest music festival. Hundreds of hours free shows, free beer, and free food. Some of which we really hope is vegan. If not...one can sustain oneself on beer and music, right? Before we leave town though, we wanted to share with you our top...however many bands we're über-pscyhed to see play this week, from the already profiled to the long-admired to the just formed 10 minutes ago but has a great following on Twitter. I know we're trending a little Brooklyn- and Canada-heavy...but what can you do? Those do seem to be where all the good stuff's coming from of late. Represent!Click individual tracks or start the player on the left side to play the entire playlist. And wish us luck on partying like we're not in our mid-thirties....  

Purity Ring • Ungirthed — Dub-step-ish "future pop" from Canada; live shows feature a giant light-up suspended bass drum that singer, Megan James, ceremoniously strikes in time; definitely one of our favorite acts at last year's CMJ fest.

Milagres • Here to Stay — Brooklyn-based band signed sight-unseens by the venerable label, Kill Rock Stars; beautifully varied, original music.

Grimes • Genesis — AKA, Claire Boucher, singer and musician from the same, small, insanely talented circle that brought us Purity Ring and Born Gold/Gobble Gobble; eerily catchy "witch house"; past KoR profile here.

Oberhofer • HEART — Former bedroom pop genius from Washington state, relocated to Brooklyn and outfitted with a full band and coming highly anticipated full-length; superb, high-energy live shows and jangly, fresh, catchy-as-hell pop; read our interview with Brad Oberhofer from 2010 here.

Computer Magic • Electronic Fences — ANOTHER awesome bedroom pop savant form Brooklyn, this one venturing unerringly into the simple, enjoyable electro-pop realm; Computer Magic, AKA Danielle 'Danz' Johnson, crafts increasingly catchy songs that we're excited to see replicated live; 2011 KoR profile here.

Arkells f. Kathleen Edwards • Agent Zero — Brand new to us, but much-buzzed-about,  these Ontario natives don't share much in terms of a sound with the prior Canadians on this list other than sheer awesomeness; much more straight rock sound nearing the inspiring howls of Springsteen himself, can't wait to see if their shows transit the emotiveness of their songs.

Miike Snow • Devil's Work — Okay, finally someone who's NOT from Brooklyn or Canada (AKA, Northern Brooklyn), three producers from Stockholm make up Miike Snow, an electronically based pop band that keeps traditional analog instrumentation key in their sound to give them some Ümph, as the Swedes say; we hear they've livened up their stage show and are eager to check them out.

The Big Pink • Stay Gold — Another band that bases their sound in electro-rock, The Big Pink brings their noisy hooks across the pond from England; their most recent release, Future This, presents a more cohesive, mature sound; previous profile here.

Lissy Trullie • It's Only You, Isn't It — Whether you consider her a model-esque musician or a musician-esque model, stop hatin' and admit it—she's got chops, and though some of her more retro-sounding stuff isn't exactly our bag, there's no denying that she can rock and croon with the best of her fellow New Yorkers; November 2011 profile here.

Of Monsters and Men • Little Talks — This six-piece from Reykjavik brings the folk-inspired rock sound to a beautifully new place with their sweeping choruses and chant-along rhythms; like a Björk-infused Head and the Heart; January's profile here.

Owen Pallett • Lewis Takes Off His Shirt — Another Canadian we've been a fan of for quite some time now, Pallett—who used to work under the video-game-loving moniker, Final Fantasy—fuses together somersaulting feats of violin mastery with glitchy electronics and full symphonics to create a wholly enjoyable, wholly unique sound; never seen him live but would love to catch his show in Austin.

Big Deal • Chair — We profiled the folky duo, Big Deal, just a could months ago, and can't wait to see them bring a dreamy, intimate atmosphere to the festival; hailing from England, this young lass + lad are sure to garner praise from old-school Ida fans like us.

Savoir Adore • Dreamers — Add this to the lists of bands we've heard much about but only recently started listening to, Brooklyn's (sorry) Savoir Adore weaves pop-rich songs with heavy melodies and dueling male-female vocals to get to very listener-friendly gestalt that'll please all but the most hardened music fan.

Sean Bones • Here Now — Our neighbor in the Cobble Hill area, Mr. Bones jams a pretty clearly reggae-inspired sound that, rather than being over the top, brings in just enough island rhythms and instrumentation to make his songs enjoyable...like a weekend jaunt to sunny southern beaches; it's a bit of a commute to check out some who lives mere blocks away, but his live shows are worth it.

Poliça • Dark Star — Minneapolis' Poliça brings some much-needed new soul to the festival, with slowly steady beats from their two drummers and soaring, smooth vocals from front-woman, Channy Leaneagh; much-talked about in their native Minnesota and oft-backed by members of Bon Iver, we're anxious to see if they live up to the hype; February profile here. 

Now, Now • Little Talks — Waaaaaay back in 2009, when we still wrote music-meets-vegan-cooking features for the Discerning Brute, we compared this band from Minnesota—AKA, Mid-Western Brooklyn—to Massaman curry...for some reason; now featuring a more simplified name (used to be called Now, Now Every Children), the band still rocks out pop gems and we're excited to catch them live.

Jonquil • It's May Part — Oxford's Jonquil is fronted by Hugo Manuel, who's solo electro-bliss project, Chad Valley, was a runaway hit at last fall's CMJ fest; now both bands are playing SXSW and we intend on seeing them both, if at all humanly possible; Jonquil adds traditional rock instrumentation and calypso-like rhythms for a brit-pop, feel-good sound; last month's full profile here.

Tanlines • All of Me — Another white-boy-band that loves the island sounds, Tanlines is nothing but fun; the Brooklyn-based duo blends dance music with indie pop, clear, bouncing vocals, and strong keyboards to come up with carefree, catchy songs; again, worth the commute.

Young Prisms • Floating in Blue — San Francisco's Young Prism's bring created an unabashed retrospective of 90's style shoegazing and noise pop with their songs, and we're cool with that; their debut full-length came out in January on Kanine and this song straight up engulfs you in My Bloody Valentine nostalgia.

We Are Augustines • Chapel Song — Anyone who's followed this blog for any significant amount of time knows we're in absolute love with this band; Brooklyn's We Are Augustines channel stories of loss and longing through singer, Billy McCarthy's raspy, emotive voice and Eric Sanderson's solid song-writing; we've seen these guys many times but will do our best to see them again as many times as we can in Austin; last summer's write-up here.

The Twilight Sad • Another Bed — Scotland's ever-evolving The Twilight Sad started off their career with a discernible stylistic nods to mid-90's emo; now the band sounds more like Kraftwerk-inspired eletro outfit, but singer, James Graham's trademark heavy accent the propensity to reach crescendo still remain and make this band both unique and enjoyable for any fans of early electronic/industrial music. 

The Chain Gang of 1974 • Undercover — Kamtin Mohager's The Chain Gang of 1974 started off the new year for us with his new-new-wave dance sound; we'll be dancing away to this LA artists tunes in mere night; January write-up here.

From the Nest

We haven't done one of these in a while, Reader, but it's high time we design a lunch again! 

Inspired by Lauren Willhite's blog, Color Collective, where she pulls color schemes from high fashion—which...yes, is probably a lot cooler...but we like food—we pull this lovely scheme from the salad we scarfed up the other day. It struck us as a bright, lively palette, that just beckons to not-so-far-off days of warmer weather.

Oh, and it tasted awesome. Thank you for asking. Said scenic salad features some really tasty watercress from Long Island's Satur Farms, sliced farmers' market beets, cut green beans, shelled sunflower seeds, sliced carrots, and a nice homemade curried mustard vinaigrette.

Eat that art!

The Find

This week's Find is following the format of our previous Find to a T—artsy science video followed by some hilarity from our friends at The Big Honkin.

First, a pretty trippy video I heard about whilst driving to DC a couple weekends ago. I was listening to Science Friday, which I don't normally do as I find host, Ira Flatow a bit grating. But you know. Long drive. NPR. But my sensitivities toward Mr. Flatow seem potentially flawed as I actually totally dug the show, which ended with a fascinating description of the video above. From the site—

Look at frozen water through cross-polarized light, and zoom in with a macro lens, and you'll find a colorful and intricate landscape. Edward Aites submitted this video to Science Friday. Aites, a photographer and videographer specializing in time-lapse, said he was looking for something to explore in his studio during the winter months and started playing around with ice. The results are mesmerizing.

Pretty awesome. Aites narrates the above video to explain a little but of what's going on, but feel free to mute that and kick the Pink Floyd instead. 

Then, our second video Find is again from our friend, Meredith Bragg and The Big Honkin. You may recall from our previous Find that Bragg + co. created and pretty great video spoofing Game of Thrones creator, George R.R. Martin. Well, now they've moved on to politics, bringing to task Hank the Cat, who is evidently running for Senate in the great state of Virginia...which is actually a commonwealth. We were never clear on the difference though, and we were raised there, so we'll stick with 'state.' Take a look at the inspiring video for the soon-to-be-elected statescat, created by his feline Super Pac, and then the answering attack ad from The Big Honkin. It's getting rough out there, Reader, be you a dog- or a cat-person. Reached for comment, Bragg claims his team is "just asking questions." Just don't make that cat cry, Bragg. Don't make that cat cry.

The story's been picked up by NPR, NBC's The Today Show, many other news outlets who rightly think it's hilarious. So congrats, TBH!

The Song

Grimes • Genesis

First off, yeah I know—super-Salander. But, no, Reader, the young lass pictured above isn't some dark, edgy, fictional defender of women dreamt up by a Swedish author, she's Claire Boucher, the dark, edgy, real-life defender of all sounds spookily melodic—AKA, Grimes. 

Grimes is yet another mind-blowingly original electronic-based band that hails from Canada—see the theatrical glitch-operatic Born Gold +  the similarly eerily catchy Purity Ring—and, though you can definitely draw some comparisons with all of their instrumentation, these bands are all striking out in refreshingly distinct ways, Boucher included. Skirting the line between atmospherically spooky 'Witch House' and a strange marriage between retro-soul-pop and glitchy electronics, Grimes' sound most often grounds itself in sparse, melodic, electronically generated tones with pitter-pattering percussion and delicate vocals to weave subtly addictive soundscapes. 

This week's Song, "Genesis," provides some pretty solid backing this assessment, but check it out and decide for yourself. If you like it, definitely give a listen to Boucher's most recent full-length, Visions, released a couple weeks ago and available on vinyl with two extra tracks via their label, Arbutus.

As with all the bands we've been featuring these past weeks, they'll also be playing Austin's South by Southwest festival in a couple weeks, and we're psyched to see them for the first time as well as catching Purity Ring again, who puts on a SUPERB show. 

Below, a video for Grimes' rather dancier—but don't worry, still slightly creepy—non-album track, "Vanessa," from her 2011 album with d'Eon. Love it? Download it over on los iTunes. It is pretty tight.

From the Nest

Reader, if you're anything like us, you've been virtually on the edge of your seat for the last four years, waiting with breath abated to see what this extra day—this Leap Day, as they call it—holds in store for you. Turns out, all we've been missing the last 3,670 days was grey skies and a dreary, wintry mix. We shake our fist at thee, Leap Day! Shake our FIST!!! (picture us making that upset turtle face the dude from "New Girl" makes and shaking our collective fist at the sky)

Always the ones to find the silver lining, though, we'll take this opportunity to tell you about a favorite grey-day, winter-weather warming food—SOBA NOODLES! More specifically, we'd like to tell you about a new soba shop on the lower east side that we absolutely LOVE—Cocoron.

Situated on Delancey between Allen + Eldridge, this tiny noodle shop embodies everything kawaii—for the record, that's 'kawaii' being the japanese concept of tiny, cute things, not Kawaii, being the still tiny, still cute island in Hawaii. Back on course though, the shop is remarkably small—it was packed when we were last there and had only a few table tops and then a string of people eating at the bar—but its diminutive nature is matched evenly by it's cozy atmosphere, japanese-tea-house-like decor, and ultra-nice wait staff.

 From Cocoron's site—"Through soba, I want people to discover that being healthy isn't an alternative to taste," (shop-woner, Yoshihito) Kida states firmly. "In the US, the concept of health is almost like a choice or a sacrifice you have to make, but in Japan, health and taste somehow co-exist together, and I want to deliver that through my store." The store decor is "casual and friendly, with custom made stools and tables to recreate an atmosphere true to the concept of cocoron," comments art dir. Takeori Motohashi. "We wanted to incorporate our taste and flavor, not just through our food but through this place as a whole."

And of course we wouldn't be writing about the place if they didn't have a significant vegetarian/vegan area of the menu, which they do. We partook of the Vege Tororo Wakame Soba (pictured in the bowl below), which was a brothy, warm soup filled with buckwheat soba, japanese yam, and wakame seaweed; an assortment of exciting vegetarian appetizers; and the Vege Yuba Dip Soba, which was exciting—dipping soba noodles, greens, and tofu skins into a hot vegetable broth and soy milk mixture—but a little less satisfying than their straight up soba noodle dishes.

The menu online gives you a glimpse of what they have to offer at Cocoron—which appropriately means, "heartwarming" in japanese—but they've got a more extensive explanatory menu int he shop, complete with culturally appropriate, crazy soba-centric characters that help you along, like Yamji San up there or Master Seiro, the wise...bamboo steaming basket.

So next time you find yourself wandering around the lower east side in search of a dry, cozy escape from the harsh elements of New York and in need of release from the harrowing pangs of hunger, step into the world of kawaii at Cocoron. Hurry up though—it'll probably be 80° out tomorrow given the bizarro winter so far.

The Song

Jonquil • It's My Part

Reader, first off, our most sincere apologies for leaving you high and dry last week. We initially thought we were only excited enough about Presidents day for day's worth of celebration. Turns out, we needed a whole week for that shit.

Now, as you may or may not recall, last fall we learned many lessons from the 2011 CMJ Music Marathon, prime among them—don't miss Chad Valley, AKA Oxford's Hugo Manuel (second from the right, above). Sadly, we failed to take our own advice, but this year, with Austin's South by Southwest nearly upon us, we intend to learn from past mistakes and catch the electro aficionado as he smoothly rocks that town to its core. 

But, after checking out their brand new full-length last week, we're even more excited about catching Manuel's full band, Jonquil, who's happily also playing SXSW. The new release, Point of Go (out this week), pulls in Manuel's catchy, plucky electronic melodies but builds off them using solid traditional instrumentation and some pleasingly upbeat rhythms, some of which veer surprisingly sonically close to a calypso feel, more in a Tanlines way than a Vampire Weekend way. Add to all that some smooth, brit-y, not-quite-as-crooney-as-Morrisey vocals and you end up with a seriously pleasant, pretty-pop start-to-finish album.

Check out "It's My Part," this week's Song and then, if you like it, head over to Paste to stream the album while you can. It's well-worth a full listen. If not two. Below, the video for the same song, featuring female models mouthing lyrics; strange, animal-headed beings playing in alleys; and *shudder* letters cut out of school-cafeteria-style pepperoni pizza rotating on turntables. We DO NOT condone this....