Vegetarian bar owner Johnny Barounis, who owns Revision Lounge and Gallery in the East Village, the Back Room on the Lower East Side, and Auction House and Fetch on the Upper East Side, does not take kindly to customers who come in draped in furs. In fact, as DNAinfo reports, he straight-up refuses to serve them. more ›

You'd think with PETA at the helm of "Hug A Vegetarian Day," it'd be a little bit edgier. "Give a Vegetarian a Sensual Rubdown Day," or something. C'mon PETA, you are launching a porn site—let's drop the G-rated act. Anyway, "Hug A Vegetarian Day" is TODAY, and the animals rights organization declares it is "for hugging the people who love animals the most: vegetarians and vegans!" Carnivores, you can go hug a shark. more ›

Stop us if you've heard this before, but the much loved East Village restaurant Counter is closing. Someday. Though the restaurant's owner Deborah Gavito first announced she was giving up the ghost back in December and the joint is still jumping, she assures us that the restaurant will be serving its last meal soon enough. After that, looks like the space is going Mexican. more ›

Viktor Bout, the Russian national accused of terrorism by way of his alleged arms dealing, has been in the Metropolitan Correctional Center since November. And his lawyer and his wife are now complaining that Bout is, as the NY Times reports, "suffering miserably in federal custody — largely because he was not getting enough food to satisfy his vegetarian lifestyle." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] East Village vegetarian haven—and organic bar!—Counter is closing. (A moment of silence please.) Last night owner Deborah Gavito sent out an email to her hungry masses which said she sold the restaurant after 8 years in business, and she would be closing up shop sometime in February. For neighborhood vegetarians, John Norris has some tips on where to fill the void: "Dirt Candy, on E 9th St., the old standby Kate's Joint, Gobo." more ›

The Veggie Pride Parade went down in Manhattan yesterday—starting in the Meat Packing District (naturally) and ending in Union Square Park. At that point, the keynote speaker delivered a veggie pride-filled speech—this year that person was Mickey Z., who spoke with Super Vegan prior to the big event. more ›

Eating animals is apparently hip again. The ever-growing bacon trend coupled with the rising popularity of meat-loving chefs means that vegetarianism and veganism are out, according to a lengthy New York Press article. Meat is getting so popular that some formerly vegan eateries have even started serving it. more ›

Did you know Frankenstein was a vegan? (Well, he was rather pale.) In Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic horror novel, the man made monster says, “I do not destroy the lamb and kid to glut my appetite; acorns and berries afford my sufficient nourishment." What a compassionate guy! more ›

Everyone loves a good PETA ad campaign, and the latest stars a carrot-clad Lydia Guevara. Yes, Che's granddaughter. She talked about her vegetarian revolution, saying, "PETA's fight for animals was one of the reasons why I went vegetarian. Moreover, this lifestyle has become a true revolution that is attracting more people and is an alternative that is healthier for the planet and for humankind." more ›

A vegetarian Long Island man is suing the Wall Street firm where he used to work because the boss allegedly taunted him about his dietary restrictions, incessantly calling him "gay." Twenty-eight-year-old trader Ryan Pacifico says Robert Catalanello, his boss at French financial firm Calyon in the Americas, tormented him for being a "homo" who wouldn't eat steak. Pacifico tells the Daily News, "A trading floor is certainly a manly man's world. I just never expected someone to think it's gay to be a vegetarian or to constantly poke fun at me." This from a guy who's been a vegetarian since his teenage years on Long Island? more ›

Of all the ads to be blocked from running during the Superbowl, who would have thought it would be PETA's? The organization submitted the below commercial, "which features a bevy of beauties who are powerless to resist the temptation of veggie love"—but NBC came up with a laundry list of edits that would need to be made before they considered airing it. Some of their cuts included: "touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli, rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin, asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina"...PETA is making us redder than a rare steak! Here's the commercial that was deeemed too hot for TV: more ›

The curiously named Dirt Candy is a sleek and cozy new vegetarian restaurant on East Ninth Street, where chef Amanda Cohen presides over an open kitchen mere inches from her patrons. (As she tells us during our conversation, this sometimes results in some awkward involuntary eavesdropping.) About the funny name, Cohen explains that "vegetables are amazing. Made out of little more than water, sunlight, and dirt they wind up growing into a candy store full of color and flavor. And that’s what I want Dirt Candy to be: nature’s candy store." more ›

A mostly vegetarian take-out restaurant named Salud—specializing in fresh juices, soups-from-scratch, and sandwiches—is now open in Midwood. Owner Eduardo Larios (an Art Director during the week) and family opened up the small shop a few weeks ago on a mostly gloomy dead end stretch of Avenue H, just off Coney Island Avenue, and Salud has quickly become one of the neighborhood's brightest spots. more ›

Vero Midtown: The little amber-hued nook seen here is nestled inside this warm and inviting wine bar on East 53rd Street that boasts a 2,200-bottle wine cellar. This is the second Vero location, and while the uptown original emphasizes panini, this iteration has a full kitchen serving dishes such as short rib tacos, gnocchi with foie gras and truffle sauce, and pan-roasted quail. The romantic scene is set by raw wood tables, Edison bulbs encased in pewter and antique glass pendants, mid-century inspired monochromatic art-work featuring '60s and '70s film stars, and lots of natural wood-framed mirrors. Vero also has its own in-house sommelier, Storme Woode, who has attained the elite "second level" of certified sommelier status. Also, per the publicist, "She is cute! And Storme can choose a wine for you by just looking at you." 1004 2nd Avenue at 53rd Street, (212) 935-3530. more ›

Candle 79, the fancy vegan restaurant on the Upper East Side, "takes a limited larder and stages an impressive show, reminding the pork-stuffed, duck-spoiled diner how much else is out there, and how much of it has never relied on animals or fish in the first place," according to Frank Bruni at the Times. He's no vegetarian, so he's thrilled to discover that the place is "largely satisfying, leaving an omnivorous interloper with a sense not of deprivation but of relief. Can an experience this meatless really be this painless?" Could they speak, most animals would say, "Yes!" more ›

Everyone's least favorite Paul McCartney ex, Heather Mills, is trying to earn points by doing some good...and right here in New York, no less (where she resides part-time). NYMag reports that after cashing in on her divorce with the Beatle to the tune of $50 million, she is now donating $1 million in vegetarian food products to the children of Hunts Point (Mills is a honorary chairperson of the Hunts Point Alliance for Children). The South Bronx neighborhood, where more than half the population is below poverty level, will now be stocked up with soy products from the vegan--and she'll be on hand tomorrow, grilling up some of the goods, at a ceremony with Congressman José Serrano. more ›

Midtown Lunch has a revolting review of the "spiciest sandwich in midtown": the “off the menu” Special Vegetarian at Blimpie on 46th Street. The madness starts with a standard Blimpie roll topped with crushed Doritos and American cheese. After that, “the whole thing is put in the microwave (yes, you heard me right) to melt the cheese (naturally) and then topped with almost every vegetable Blimpie offers (lettuce, tomato, carrots, onions, green bell peppers, pickled hot peppers) before getting finished off with this neon green spicy “chutney” which is fancy code for jarred habanero sauce… This sandwich need not answer to anyone!” more ›

With all the alarming facts about catastrophic climate change at our fingertips, most of us know by now that every day needs to be Earth Day. And one of the easiest ways to start minimizing environmental impact is by considering what goes into our own mouths. Here in New York, Broadway East, a new “plant-based” (but not strictly vegetarian) restaurant, has made sustainability a top priority. more ›

Moving can take a real toll on the environment. Think of all the cardboard boxes, the truck(s), the frequent opening of doors to climate-controlled rooms and the products and solutions you use to clean the whole place down for the next tenants because you're an awesome person bucking for canonization. Step one on reducing your impact -- the easiest step -- is recycling. And it's not too hard to find earth-friendly cleaning products. But... more ›

The folks over at the all delicious, all the time site Serious Eats rounded up and presented a bumper crop of recipes from the newly released Mark Bittman cookbook last week, the 996-page How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food. The latest in Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” series, this giant book is exactly what those omnibus, fried-shallot-and-butternut-squash glossy vegetarian porn books strategically posed on chain bookstore discount tables purport to... more ›