Day 17

Saturday I went to the Santa Monica Organic Farmers' Market, at 3rd & Arizona. This is the same location as the famous and popular Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers' Market, but its not nearly as big. Well, the past couple weeks anyway all the farmers' markets I've been to have shrunk a bit as the summer harvest has waned. I got some beautiful Japanese and Italian eggplants and basil and the best vegan snack I've tried yet: sun-dried strawberries. They're these sweet, chewy gems that tend to have the consistency of a gummy bear. Ahhh! So good! They were expensive though, so I don't know if this is a good habit for me to be picking up.

On my way to work from the farmers' market I decided to stop for lunch at Seed, a vegan macrobiotic restaurant at Windward and Pacific. This was my second time at Seed, but my first as a vegan and I was really excited for a really hearty sandwich. I ordered the southwest burger: a bean and grain patty with guacamole, soy cheese, and some sort of yummy sauce that tied it all together on a wheat bun. Let me say, this was an AMAZING sandwich and completely worth the 9 bucks. The bun was soft, the patty delicately spiced, the "cheese" not fake tasting at all. I was so satisfied after eating just half that I saved the rest for dinner. And ya know what? That second half was even good cold.

While waiting for my food I picked up one of the cookbooks on the counter entitled Love, Eric and sat down to read it at one end of the communal table opposite from a couple of ladies deep in conversation. The book was penned by the owner of Seed, Eric Lechasseur and his wife Sanae Suzuki. Flipping through the pages I came upon a picture of Eric and Sanae. I glanced at the picture, then at the talking at the other end of the table. One of them was definitely Sanae! As I self-consciously ate my food I debated over whether I should approach the women. Their conversation seemed so intimate, but I had a good pretext for interrupting. We’re hoping to organize a lecture series on cooking at the gallery where I work, and I am, of course, pushing the vegan agenda (as well as the slow food agenda, the local food agenda, and the organic food agenda. Hi Sarah! Sarah is our events coordinator.) Anyway, I finally summoned my courage and approached Sanae and her companion. They were both very warm and receptive and didn’t mind being interrupted at all. As it turned out, her lunch mate was Whitney Lauritsen, of the eco vegan gal blog. We talked about my new found veganism and the possibility of Sanae and/or Eric speaking at my gallery! We’ll see what happens, but either way it was a fortuitous encounter, and I’m so happy to have met them both.