| |
By many popular standards, greater Boston’s restaurant scene is hot. From appearances on popular cooking shows to high national rankings, our chefs, their restaurants and individual dishes have put our region on the culinary map. Thanks to them—and to diners who increasingly care about what they eat, where it comes from and its effects on their bodies and the environment, our local cuisine is no longer defined by Yankee pot roast, baked beans and clam chowder. Lots of times it doesn’t even involve animals. Or cooking.
As the general restaurant community has been gaining prestige, its vegetarian, vegan and raw segment has been experiencing parallel growth. In the last 18 months, a vegan pizzeria, high-end vegan restaurant, raw vegan and second location of a much-loved, established vegetarian restaurant have opened in and around Boston. According to Evelyn Kimber, president of the Boston Vegetarian Society, there has been a “great burgeoning of interest in vegetarianism” in this area in recent years. “There’s much greater availability of vegetarian and vegan options on restaurant menus,” she says. (In the simplest terms, vegetarians do not eat animal flesh; vegans do not use or consume animal products of any kind.)
Life Alive, which has had a cult following since it opened in Lowell’s historic downtown arts district six years ago, now has a sibling in Cambridge’s Central Square. Owner Heidi Feinstein, an expressive arts therapist, nutritionist and massage therapist, says she started the first restaurant, serving fresh, organic, wholesome foods—with no meat—because “People needed a place to go that was about pleasure and wellness.”
With no related experience or culinary training, Feinstein developed every recipe on the menu, which she says is based on macrobiotics. Meals are “therapeutic; each one is complete. The body gets everything it needs, so your body is naturally satisfied,” she says.
The food is delicious and enticing, as are the restaurants themselves—both richly hued, comfy spaces. “I want it to look like you’re stepping into your house,” Feinstein says. And it does. Or maybe like your funky friend’s colorful cottage with mismatched furniture that goes together perfectly. The combination keeps people coming back. Feinstein uses only premium ingredients, including local, organic vegetables whenever possible. Everything is “thoughtfully put in for nutrient value but also flavor,” she says.
In the beginning, Feinstein used to change the menu seasonally, but she stopped because customers missed their favorite items. “I believe we could be the next McDonald’s,” she says. “This is quick service, with love. The Goddess [the signature dish] is our BigMac.” Maybe—if Big Macs had carrots, beets, broccoli, dark greens and tofu over short-grain brown rice, topped with ginger Nama Shoyu sauce.
The 39-year-old mother of a 1-year-old daughter, Feinstein gets upset when people refer to Life Alive as a vegetarian restaurant. “It’s comfort food,” she says. “Ninety percent of our customers aren’t vegetarian or vegan or health conscious.” Nor is she (though she only eats humanely raised, grass-fed meat). She doesn’t serve meat because “our meals are so satisfying without [it]. It’s a great choice for people.” This open attitude, she believes, allows people to feel comfortable in her restaurants. And she finds that once people start eating food that’s good for them, they eat less food that’s not.
In addition to running Life Alive, Feinstein offers cooking classes and workshops on pleasure, health and wellness. She plans to open more locations, and hopes to start a garden—or even buy a farm—to provide produce for the restaurants.
See original article here |
