vegansaurus!

Interview: Daniel Clary of Alkemie Dairy-Free Ice Cream!

Daniel Clary is the 28-year-old mastermind behind the raw, delicious and dairy-free Alkemie Ice Cream. His story of how the ice cream begin as an idea a few years back and evolved into something tasty, edible and accessible is not only interesting, but totally inspiring.

How long have you been vegan?
Full-on about seven years now; mostly veggie all my life. My dad went to farmers market every weekend. It was always [a] local and sustainable mindset from a very young age. My mom fed us tofu very young. Carob was my first “chocolate.” I naturally gravitated toward the veggie foods early on.

Are you vegan for health, environmental, animal rights reasons, or a combination?
As much as the environmental aspect and animal rights movement are very important to me, my main reason is health. That’s my mission…to do my part in changing the health of the world. Once I went full vegan, my health improved dramatically. Not that I was ever sick or “unhealthy,” but when the full switch came, it was like my internal lightbulb went on. Huge difference. And now I try to maintain high raw foods, which only created a new level of health and clarity in my life.

How much of your diet is raw?
I would say about 65 to 70 percent on any given day; some days it’s 100 percent. I’m vegan before I’m raw for sure. But raw foods really changed my life.

What is your favorite animal?
Dogs! Just got a puppy! He’s 12 weeks old now. A springer spaniel named Winston. [Vegansaurus PSA (per usual, we always be judging you): Always rescue a dog! Even if it’s a purebred! All purebreds have rescues, including the ADORABLE springer spaniel!]

Favorite vegan food to make?
As a chef, my favorite foods/flavors to work with would have to be Thai. I spent two months last year in Southeast Asia—mostly in Thailand—and I fell in love with the food. My heritage is half-Latin, [and] my mom’s side is from Central America, so Latin/Spanish flavors would be second. Fusing the two together excites me as well.

And as a chef?
I was a personal vegan chef for four years before taking this project on full-time. I worked for families throughout the peninsula, weekly service, catering events, private dinner parties…

Favorite vegan dish at a restaurant/favorite vegan restaurant?
Favorite restaurant would be Millennium in SF, and Pure Food in NYC. Favorite dish—hmmm, so many! I would say a killer Thai curry, or my vegan paella.

How long ago did the idea for Alkemie begin, and what are its origins?
It all started when I began absorbing myself in raw foods, about 2006-07. I worked at a small raw vegan cafe part-time to really dive into the art of preparing it (versus spending an ungodly amount of money to go to a raw school). I was blown away by what I was creating: the textures, flavors, specifically the desserts. I have a HUGE sweet tooth, and these desserts were blowing my mind—better than any standard cooked vegan desserts. Initially my mission was to create a business model around that. I wanted to open my own raw vegan bakery. But the costs, overhead, labor, etc. just didn’t pan out to be a viable business.

Then I thought of just doing one thing, and doing that one thing well. I literally one day was eating some Coconut Bliss, and thought: ICE CREAM! Why not ice cream? Who doesn’t like ice cream? And at that point I had NEVER experimented or created a raw ice cream, but I have never been satisfied with ANY of the vegan ice creams out there. They just didn’t embody what classic dairy ice cream does, and I knew that with the raw foods, I could potentially come up with something stellar, so I started experimenting.

How long was it between the time you perfected the recipe to the time you were packaging and selling the product?
The formula was perfected in spring ‘08. Then I decided to take some time off, travel, do some soul searching, research…I came back from Thailand and then went straight into selling at farmers market in fall ‘08, and was doing that about a year. The response was amazing. People were floored by the ice cream. So without knowing exactly where to go next, I just kept on selling every week, until things started happening last summer.

I met my investor/business partner. I met the VP of Whole Foods. I was networking and meeting amazing connections. We then took this idea [and] started researching on how to take it to the next level. Found Boulder Ice Cream. Fell in love with the staff, did our tasting for NorCal, and got the green light a week later.

Honestly, it’s surreal. I’ve worked so hard my entire life, to finally have my dreams manifested—it’s, well, words can’t describe.

How did the name come about?
It all started in Thailand. I went there also to get inspired with a name for the company. I knew it was a beautiful land and people and surely I would come up with something. Halfway through the trip, after meeting so many people and telling them my story, vision, et cetera, I was coming up with nothing. When I was in Chiang Mai, I met a fellow traveler from London. We were talking one day about traveling, books, following your signs, et cetera. She said if I really wanted to read a book that will change [my] life, I should read The Alchemist.

So I bought the book when I was in Bangkok, [and] brought it down to the islands with me. One day, I had nothing to do; decided to pull the book out, head to the beach in the morning and start reading. I didn’t put the book down.

The message had such an impact on me. It was very simplistic in what it was saying: follow your dreams; trust your heart; follow the signs. But it was like that “a-ha!” moment for me.

So, after putting the book down, the name stuck in my head. I knew what alchemy meant literally: a transmutation of metal into gold. But I wanted to know more. So I went straight to the computer and looked the word up. The very first definition I found was: “any seemingly magical process of transforming ordinary ingredients into something of true merit.” The name of the company was born.

Do you see yourself dedicating yourself 100 percent to this, or do you still eventually want to open that bakery?
Good question! I do eventually want to venture out, and take on other projects, whether its the bakery, a small restaurant, an actual ice cream shop…still not sure yet. Once this business takes off and I can focus on other things, then I’ll decide.

Anything else you wanted to add or share?
We will be coming out with new flavors soon. Also, a little insider info: one of the flavors had a small error in production—the dark chocolate. The end product had too much free water added, which made it less creamy and more icy than the other two stellar flavors. It’s still good, just not perfect. It has since been corrected on the most recent production run and should be in the stock as the others are sold and rotated out. Just one of the inevitable growing pains small businesses go through.

If you want to stay in the loop about this product (because, let’s face it, ice cream is the best food ever), you can become a fan on Facebook, download the iPhone application, and even follow Alkemie on Twitter. Also, be sure to check out the blog for dates and information on in-store appearances.

Natalye just started graduate school studying creative writing, which means that she no longer has a social life, and her drinking has increased exponentially. She has a shiny but relatively useless college degree in journalism and music, and does freelance work, sometimes writing about indie music in Oakland. When she has down time, she’s usually sleeping, but rides her road bike when she can and makes both a killer vegan pizza and the most amazing mixtapes ever. Her updates are private, but you can follow her on Twitter and she’ll probably accept your request if you’re cute enough.

Free shit, Peta’s non-crazy iphone app and WOODY HARRELSON’S WEBSITE O’CRAZY! All this and more in Friday Link-o-rama!

Hey, we’re nothing if we’re not inconsistent. And attractive. And very inconsistent. But whatevs, here we go.

Want to win a free copy of The Vegan Scoop and make really delicious vegan ice cream all summer long? Yeah you do, fatty. Head on over to VegWeb giveaway thread and let them know your favorite vegan ice cream flavor is for a chance to win! Speaking of ice cream because I CAN’T SEEM TO STOP HELP ME, Vegan Dad has a delicious-looking recipe for Strawberry Ice Cream up. Do want!

“Put the Lime in the Coconut” Vegan-themed potluck over at Notes from the Vegan Feast/21st Century Table. Jonas really loves that song, it’s his favorite, so this is up here for him.

Fancy Nancy just sent us a recipe for Rhubarb Puff Pie along with the words, “even I would eat this.” Strong endorsement! Speaking of delicious looking vegan pie things, the kitchn has up a photo of the most amazing looking plum and fig tart i want to eat it all night long, luckily they link to the recipe too! It’s no surprise they are from Vegan Feast…everything she makes looks to be made of magic!

Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto executive, had joined the FDA as “senior advisor to the commissioner.” Essentially, that means that he has tons and tons of power. This is the same dude who approved the use of Monsanto’s genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows. OBAMA WTF? (link)

Peta’s done something useful! That involves neither fake blood nor (nearly) nude ladies! Yes, everyone is surprised. Be Nice to Bunnies is a fancy new iPhone app that, among other things: gives you access to Peta’s Cruelty-Free Database; provides multiple search options; and is regularly updated to coincide with the actual CFD. With regular use, this will change your shopping habits, starting with its purchase for $1.99.

Are you aware of Voice Yourself, Woody Harrelson’s insanator website? I’ve been exploring it for hours and have yet to determine its reason for existing. Pertinently, I did learn that Woody and his wife, Laura Louie, consider themselves to be “raw food, vegans [sic] who flow with the ever-changing aspects of [their] lives. [They] eat predominantly raw food, consume honey and enjoy a balanced diet.” I did not understand their “Mission Statement,” like, at all, so here is a description for you instead: Voice Yourself is: another half-baked celebrity vanity project an impenetrable hodgepodge of neo-hippie crap a nice-enough effort to built a socially conscious online community.

Vegan spinster aunt explains her guilt for accidentally killing a centipede in a glue trap meant for spiders, and how she, a true insect-loving person, came to commit such a foul deed.

That’s it for today. Next week maybe we will have more links. Definitely, if you send us some.

Can I get a what-what for $1 Wednesdays at Maggie Mudd!?

Just wanted to inform/remind yall that Wednesdays are $1 cone days at Maggie Mudd. If that won’t get your fat ass up Cortland, MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL.

Other Avenues! Also, FAT PEOPLE RULE!

Other Avenues co-op grocery is second only to Rainbow and that’s just because Rainbow is a lot bigger and a lot less in the middle of fucking nowhere. Other Avenues is an all-vegetarian (yay!), all-organic (yay!) grocery store in the Outer Sunset. It’s a pain the ass to get to but if you happen to be out near Ocean Beach soaking in the rays (read: getting high) then you should definitely stop in. Highlights include: Maggie Mudd soy & coconut ice creams by the pint, Black China Bakery brownies and cupcakes (and lots of other vegan baked goods) and an intense bulk foods section including lots of varieties of chocolate-covered nuts. Delicious.

Man, if left to my own devices, I would eat directly from a trough of dark-chocolate-covered almonds until I died. Which brings me to my next point. Here at Vegansaurus, we (read: Laura) are (read: is) proud to be fat and awesome. I’m tired of reading that an answer to a mean case of the fats is simply to go vegan. I’ve been vegan for years and years and didn’t lose any weight and I’m not a total junk food vegan either. I also have insanely good blood work and am in great health, you can ask my doctor who was on my case for being vegan until he saw my test results. We’re all born with a pretty much pre-determined weight (or range of weights, fluctuating between like 10-20 pounds) that we live comfortably at. For a few of us it’s 100 and for a few of us it’s 300 and for most of us, it’s somewhere in between. And THAT’S OKAY. As long as you’re eating in accordance with what feels right to your body (being vegan helps with that A LOT) then you’ll probably be pretty damn healthy. This book, Rethinking Thin, helped me come to terms with this fact. It’s written by a SCIENTIST with FACTS, not a skinny bitch with, ummm….

So for people who are looking at veganism as a get-thin-quick scheme, that might not be what happens. You’ll find your cholesterol will go down and your blood pressure will thank you and you’ll most likely be able to control your diabetes without medication and get serious relief from other health issues. Oh and you’re also doing the right thing for the planet and animals and other humans but no, you will not drop five dress sizes in two minutes. And you shouldn’t do that anyway. Because people who diet themselves super-skinny look FUH-REAKY (in other news, BOW DOWN to LFB. Love that crazy anorexic psychopath!) and you’re probably already super-hot and don’t need to lose those last 10 pounds. They’re on your ass for a reason, so that people will want to have sex with you, moron.

And let’s face it, fat people are simply the greatest. We RULE both in size and in general fabulousness. Move over skinnies, we’re comin to getcha! And by getcha, I mean eatcha.

I wrote this list, “Things About Fat People That Skinny People Don’t Know!” (along with two fabulous friends, Joy & Erica) years ago because we wanted to get out some facts about fat people. I now must post this list wherever I write because that’s how I do AND YOU CANNOT STOP ME, SKINNY.

And with that, I present:
Things About Fat People That Skinny People Don’t Know. A list.

1. FAT PEOPLE CAN BREAKDANCE HELLA GOOD. You don’t know because we only do it around other fat people, but you have not lived ‘til you’ve been to a fat dance party!
2. FAT PEOPLE ARE INDESTRUCTIBLE. The fat, in essence, acts as padding. We’re keeping it secret for right now, but someday we’re going to rise up, unite, and put you Skinny Bitches in your place in a conflict that we have titled Fat War One, or World War Fat (the exact name is yet to be determined).
3. FAT PEOPLE CAN LEVITATE. Just cause we’re heavy doesn’t mean we can’t float. Ever notice how you never see fat people taking the elevator?
4. FAT PEOPLE CAUSE HURRICANES. We all get together and run in a clockwise direction, then in a counter-clockwise direction.
5. OUR NATIONAL FLOWER: The Cake.
6. OUR NATIONAL BIRD: Fried Chicken. Vegan, of course.
7. DO NOT CHALLENGE A FAT PERSON. Especially DO NOT CHALLENGE a fat person if there is a candy prize involved.
8. FAT PEOPLE DON’T CRAP! All the materials you Skinnies waste as feces, we efficiently recycle as lard.
9. FAT PEOPLE ARE FASTER THAN CHEETAHS.
10. FAT PEOPLE DON’T WEAR SHOES. We just spray paint our feet so we can get into restaurants.
11. ALL FAT PEOPLE ARE ALCOHOLICS. But not in a bad way.
12. FAT PEOPLE DON’T SLEEP IN BEDS. We sleep on huge sticks of Earth Balance.
13. FAT PEOPLE NEVER ACTUALLY EAT. It’s a common misconception.
14. MAHATMA GHANDI WEIGHED 600 POUNDS. We know, we were there. Which brings us to our next point…
15. FAT PEOPLE LIVE FOREVER.
16. FAT WOMEN HATE THE UBIQUITOUS “CHUBBY CHASER.” He is a harasser, and always at least two feet shorter than she is.
17. FAT PEOPLE LOVE BABIES. Especially deep fried.
18. OUR FAVORITE SKINNY PERSON IS: Fuck you, we don’t like any skinny people.
19. MAKE NO MISTAKE: Hitler was never fat.
20. FAT PEOPLE OFTEN WONDER IF PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE THEM OR IF THEY ONLY LOVE THEM FOR THEIR FAT.
21. FAT PEOPLE DON’T PROCREATE, THEY DIVIDE. We do however have a lot of sex…for pleasure and sport.
22. THE INTERNATIONAL FAT CONFERENCE IS HELD ON JANUARY 26 OF EACH YEAR. It’s held in the sky…we all levitate up really high…I mean where else would we fit? We decide the events of the upcoming year, such as whether you Skinnies get Christmas (Don’t forget Santa is a very fat man).
23. SOME OF THE ONLY THINGS FAT PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH:
    1. Fix the Oscars (Why do you think Gwyneth Paltrow won?)
    2. Telekinesis (So we don’t have to move. Ever.)
    3. Time travel.
    4. Infiltrate Hollywood…at all.
24. FRANCE WAS ONCE A FATOPOLIS BUT IT WAS EXCOMMUNICATED IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY AND THUS THEY ARE ALLOWED NO FAT PEOPLE. (The Statue Of Liberty: way too skinny.)
25. FAT PEOPLE TAKE BATHS IN WASHING MACHINES!
26. A LIST OF THINGS INVENTED BY FAT PEOPLE:
    1. Water
    2. The 12-month calendar.
    3. The telegraph (Samuel P. Morse was freaking enormous)
    4. The Spanish language.
    5. Van Gogh.
    6. Hammer Pants (I know…even we make mistakes.)
    7. The popular situation comedy “Who’s the Boss?” (Tony Danza is a skinny android created by the Fat Nation.)
    8. We wrote the song “Respect” in 1692 but it didn’t get made for 350 years because of Skinny Politics (they are skinny, but they are strong).
27. 27. ALL FAT PEOPLE ARE FUNNY. It’s simple genetics.
28. LITTLE FAT KIDS LEARN TO READ EARLIER THAN LITTLE SKINNY KIDS. And it’s not just because they have no friends so they have to sit at home and read all the time.
29. BARRY WHITE: fat.
30. PUPPIES: fat by their very nature. And who doesn’t love puppies?
31. WE OWN ALASKA, TEXAS, CALIFORNIA, AND THREE OF THE FOUR OCEANS.
32. OUR CAPITAL IS FATOPOLIS AND IS LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. (We can’t give everything away.)
33. FAT PEOPLE CAN RUN HELLA FAST. You just can’t see us because it is SO fast. And if you see a fat person walking really slow, it’s just because they are trying really hard to walk at a normal pace.
34. JESUS: THE FATTEST MAN TO EVER WALK THE EARTH. The crucifixion story as you know it is not exactly what happened. It was actually attempted twice because the cross broke the first time.
35. FAT PEOPLE LOVE TO FAN DANCE. It is unfortunately the only thing we do not do well.

Humphry Slocombe!

Yes. This is the place with foie gras ice cream on the menu. And that is super duper fucking disgusting. I mean, it’s the grossest. So far as I can tell, it’s only on the online menu and not being sold in the store but still, the grossest. Everyone should write Humphry Slocombe and ask nicely for it to be taken off the menu because again, THE GROSSEST.

HOWEVER. I will say that dairy is also THE GROSSEST. Oh and there’s also this.

So if you’re going to buy soy cream or sorbet at a place that doesn’t also manufacture crappy-ass dairy products then you’ll only support the most wonderful of companies like Turtle Mountain and Chicago Soy Dairy. And if you do, that’s really great.

But some of us choose to support both vegan-only businesses and businesses that offer vegan options. By doing that, we are creating a demand. And by creating a demand on the vegan products, that clues companies into the fact that we vegans are here, we are growing in population every day, and it would be smart to include us in their big picture. And the more vegan options are available, the more often people who aren’t vegan will choose them and like them and see that vegan isn’t so bad and maybe is actually kinda good and in turn, the message of veganism is spread by someone other than this fool. You dig?

Now I’ll shut up and write a review.

Humphry Slocombe has some damn delicious vegan creations. I’ve been three times. I’ve tried the Valhrona Fudgesicle which tastes like a Tootsie roll but more expensive and it’s vegan. Next, we tried the Thai Chili Lime. Jonas describes it, “like a Thai chile with lime. I don’t know, it was green.” It was spicy and tangy, if you’re into that. Finally, we tried the Carrot Mango. That was THE BEST. It was all super creamy and smooth and carrot and mango?! Who knew!? They have a bunch of flavors that I want to try too. I love fancy shit. Every time I go, I let the people working know that I’m vegan and I am excited that they offer vegan options and I hope that there will be more in the future. I think that’s an important thing, when you go somewhere to be clear that you are vegan, you are not crazy and you are there to DO BUSINESS. The counter people are always friendly and quick to point out what I can eat a lot of. I will say, they don’t seem especially concerned with attracting vegans. It kinda sucks that a bunch of people have written letters about the foie gras and not gotten even a polite response telling them to fuck off. It’s like, come on. We are people too. Some of us are very much in like with your adorable tiny storefront in our neighborhood. If you cater to us, we will shout it from the rooftops. Trust me, Maggie Mudd basically makes a living off us. You don’t have to go that far but with a few little things (like maybe signs on what flavors are vegan? Or posting it on your website? Or offering a vegan fudge for sundaes?) would go a long way to making a lot of vegans (and people who love vegans) more all about you. And you want us to be all about you. Because we are AWESOME and also SUPER ATTRACTIVE and also HAVE BIG-ASS MOUTHS. It’s true.

UPDATE: After reading Melisser’s and Howard’s postings below (and the 7x7 article), I am officially done with this place. Makes no sense to patronize a business that is willfully shitty towards vegans. Sucks because the ice cream was pretty good. Oh well, I can get better up the hill at Maggie Mudd.

St. Francis Fountain!

I pity the toe-fool who doesn’t enjoy the delicious tofu scrambles at St. Francis Fountain!

I don’t know. But I really like this place. They have an entire section of the menu dedicated to “veg-heads” that includes tofu scrambles, a toasted vegan sandwich (roasted veggies and some sort of a delicious sauce that’s put in some sort of a marvelous panini machine) and boring boca burgers. They also have a vegetarian rueben but the sauce isn’t vegan so what’s the fun? Also, it’s just grilled veggies, throw some tempeh up in that mother! Let’s do this!

But perhaps the most marvelous thing about St. Francis Fountain is the fact that you can get VEGAN MILKSHAKES. That is correct, sir. They’re made with the soy gelato from Copa Loca and they are magnificent. The best and only way to do this is to get it made with fresh banana and strawberry OMGYGWTF!! It’s SO GOOD. It’s like a berry-banana blizzard (BBB) from DQ* but not filled with death, chemicals and diabetes.

The other most fun thing to do at St. Francis is to see how many people you can fit in a mini-booth. Our record is seven normals or two really awesome fat people.

EXPERT TIP: On a nice day, you can bring your dog and sit outside! As long as your dog isn’t my dog and wants to eat other dogs! Also, this place is pretty tiny so it’s best for groups of 2-4. It gets ultrasuper crowded on the weekends so prepare for a wait unless you come ungodly early or starving late. Oh and they also have a fresh candy stand inside that sells stuff like Dallas and 90210 trading cards and bubblegum and my personal favorite, MJ. Just look at that marvelous/terrifying mug. It never ceases to amaze/disgust. Listen, I’m pretty sure he did it to those boys but he also brought us, “Beat It” which brought us, “Eat It”, so I guess all I’m saying is, GLASS HOUSES.

*aka, “THE BEST BEVERAGE KNOWN TO MAN OR BEAST”. I could live off the BBB. There was a point in my life that I would drink that instead of water during workouts. AND I WAS SKINNIER THAN I AM NOW. Take that, science!