Author Lorna Sass donates treasured cookbooks to the Natural Gourmet Institute’s library

Author & Life Coach Lorna Sass, her partner Michael, and her donated books

On Friday, May 3, Natural Gourmet honored transformational life coach and renowned cookbook author Lorna Sass (Cooking Under Pressure, Lorna Sass’ Short-Cut Vegan, Whole Grains for Busy People, Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way) for her generous donation of 1000 books from her personal collection to NGI’s newly organized library. The dedication occurred at our weekly Friday Night Dinner.

Our founder Annemarie Colbin, PhD and our own resident author, instructor, and librarian Jay Weinstein personally and warmly thanked Lorna in a special ceremony for her valuable contribution to the school.

Jay Weinstein was duly impressed with the collection:

Lorna has donated just about 1000 books to the library, and you can see the range of books just by looking on our shelves. Everything from Larousse and Escoffier to Louisiana Bayou youth group fundraiser cookbooks. Mostly, I chose international and American regional titles from her enormous collection. Her most recent donated trove represents Eastern Europe, including Russia, Poland, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Balkans. . . . [Lorna] spoke . . . about wanting to place these books in a good home, and how she felt that NGI was the perfect place for them.

Perfect indeed. The books have been and will be put to good use. Our students use the library extensively to research menu plans for classes and design menus for their own Friday Night Dinner projects.

Lorna at the dedication with Annemarie Colbin, PhD and Instructor Jay Weinstein

Our grad/correspondent Dr. Colin Zhu reporting from WellBeingMD Center for Life

Our grad Dr. Colin Zhu serving up omega-rich food at WellBeingMD Center

“Alignment” can be defined as an “integration or harmonization of aims.” I use the term here more specifically to describe an interconnection of events that could not have happened to me otherwise, if I was not honest, open, aware and – most importantly – authentic with myself.

The series of events I refer to led up to my experience with Dr. John Principe, the creator and founder of WellBeingMD Center for Life in Palos Heights, Illinois.

Some doctors’ offices have nutritionists on board, some have chiropractors and physical therapists for rehabilitating patients, and some alternative practices work with an acupuncturist. However, few doctors’ offices, if any, boast what Dr. Principe’s office has – a professional teaching kitchen with hands-on cooking and demonstration classes, complete trainer-guided exercise programs ranging from Zumba to Tai Chi, as well as acupuncture, chiropractic and massage.

Did I mention the other side of this coin is a full medical practice? The two approaches, like Yin and Yang, form a unique recipe called the Roadmap to Wellness program, whose main goal is to help patients take back control of their health.

I had the distinct pleasure of working with Dr. Principe for four days at the end of November, after hearing about his unique practice in a New York Times article in April of this year.

Aware that I was a resident physician and a Natural Gourmet Chef’s Training graduate, Dr. Principe put me to work the very first day! I saw patients in the morning and, by the afternoon, I was making french omelets for the employee staff for lunch. This was a unique experience because I saw patients with chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, which could be prevented by preparing health-supportive meals.

By the second day, I was sautéing and roasting locally grown carrots and peppers in preparation for a Teach & Learn class on omega fatty acids. For this class, we prepared wild-caught Alaskan salmon and carrot bisque with kale-chia seed pesto on extra virgin olive oil-laced whole wheat baguette.

By the fourth night, we prepared and served a meal to the Emergency Medicine Journal Club of Christ Hospital. While it is certainly a privilege to teach patients the importance of healthy eating and living, it’s likewise an honor to share those concepts with colleagues as well. The menu:

• Dr. P’s homemade marinated black olives with fresh bruschetta
• Wild-caught, grilled Alaskan salmon with roasted whole wheat couscous on balsamic-glazed mixed greens
• Red wine-poached pears with whipped ricotta cheese

Dr. Principe’s mission at WellBeingMD is to promote and educate about healthy and sustainable living so patients can take back their health. I was very blessed and fortunate to work and learn from him for that short time, and I know his pioneering vision is shared by many and is just the beginning. To learn more about Dr. Principe’s work and related topics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtT6_1vtjzQ (Dr. Principe’s TEDx Talk)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2RNTsJpDfM (Kale-Chia Pesto Demonstration)

http://www.healthykitchens.org

Colin Zhu with Dr. Principe (left)

Natural Gourmet Founder Annemarie Colbin reaches out to Dr. Mehmet Oz on the value of organics

 

Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.

For several days I have been hearing lots of commentary about an article written in Time Magazine by Dr Mehmet Oz, who I’ve known for many years.  He seems to say that choosing organically grown foods is elitist because it costs more than conventional, and he seems to assume that in a choice between more expensive foods and cheaper ones most people will choose the less pricey kind.

When I started out noticing food and its effect on health, I didn’t care how much it cost. Even when I was flat broke, I spent the money on organic and health-supportive foods.  I couldn’t have justified giving my children harmful, pesticide-laden foods because they were “cheaper.”  I would imagine there are still people out there like me, who go for good quality regardless of price.

Dr Oz does not seem to think so. He says “a lot of the foods we ate in childhood can be good for you and good to eat” – IF (note the caveat) you know how to shop.  Of course, the food that he and others of his age ate in childhood was better, less contaminated, less industrialized.

It’s true that in many neighborhoods it’s hard to find fresh produce, whole grain bread, and the like.  But why should we settle?  Why not educate people to demand fresh food from the corner bodega?  They’ll stock it if we demand it and buy it.

Dr. Oz considers frozen and canned food equivalent to fresh.  Hm.  Years ago journalist Suzanne Hamlin of the New York Times wrote about someone who was eating only frozen and canned foods, and the health problems this person encountered.  I couldn’t find the article, but I remember it was dire – also, that it disappeared quickly from the archives, for obvious reasons.  Who wants to know that such common food could kill you and, what’s more, that it could cause memory loss and mental confusion.  Frozen meats may be OK – frozen vegetables maybe not.

Go on, Dr. Oz. Try a week eating only canned and frozen vegetables. I bet not even you would be willing to do that. As a “food lover,” he ignores the subtler aspects of food: “Nutritionally, an egg is an egg. Cage free is kinder but much pricier.”   Perhaps, but it also tastes very different.  Commercial eggs taste sulfuric and, if you happen to pass some wind (forgive the indelicate reference) it smells really bad. And if you burp – forget it.  You stink yourself up.  For that reason, I only buy organic or free range eggs. They taste much better. And your whole body smells normal.

Dr. Oz points out that free-range chickens and pasture-fed meats are also kept free of hormones and antibiotics. If that is important to you and you have the money to spend, he suggests, by all means opt for pricier organic meats.  Otherwise, obviously, you’re stuck eating all those hormones and antibiotics.  Considering antibiotics are given to cattle so as to fatten them up, we need to ask what these elements contribute to the epidemic of obesity everyone is wailing about.  I wonder. The heaviest people, young and old, are the ones who eat these “cheapest” foods.  Well, as has often been said, you get what you pay for.

In Dr. Oz’s article, canned foods are considered “winners.” He considers canned salmon equivalent to fish fresh out of the water.  But that is not all that counts.  I will never order a dish in a restaurant that gives me a slab of canned salmon instead of fresh, would you? I find they taste very different, although they may have the same amount of protein. Well, if I’m in a bunker, war is coming, and there is no other food, OK, it will keep me alive, thank you very much.

I appreciate the fact that the risk of famine has pretty much disappeared from our world – but we are left with a completely different problem: How to choose foods that are good for us?   That is just as important as choosing foods that will keep us alive.  The two are not equivalent, as a heart surgeon would know.

Natural Gourmet Institute celebrates 35 years of leadership in health-supportive cooking and eating

Natural Gourmet Institute CEO and founder, Annemarie Colbin

November 9 marked another milestone for Natural Gourmet Institute – 35 years since our founder Annemarie Colbin anticipated  the current trend by starting a cooking school in her home that emphasized the connection between food and healing.

While “whole,” “local,” “seasonal,” “organic,” and “sustainable” are the watchwords of the day, they’ve been a way of life and a commitment for NGI instructors, students, and graduates for over three decades. 2500 Chef’s Training and several thousand public class students later, we’re still at it and growing stronger.

The anniversary celebration was held at the school with NGI staff, instructors, graduates, and students in attendance. Kudos and thanks go out to NGI staffers Mollie Berliss, Mark Mace, Brandon Reichert, Sue Baldassano, Jeri Rostron, and Merle Brown, who worked together to create a warm, memorable, and festive evening.

The evening kicked off with a reception featuring elegant seasonal appetizers prepared by Chefs Jay Weinstein and Olivia Roszkowski, with the help and talent of Chef’s Training Program students. While guests feasted, schmoozed, and reminisced, they were entertained by the quartet Violet (featuring our own Assistant Director of Admissions Meredith Minogue) and classical guitarist Rudolph Vernaz-Colas.

The evening was also an occasion for recognition. The Natural Gourmet Institute Award for Excellence in Health-Supportive Education went to two outstanding people in our field – NGI grad, chef and author Louisa Shafia and whole foods chef, author, teacher, and media personality Andrea Beaman.

Our founder, Annemarie Colbin, of course, was our other honoree. Check out our tribute video where colleagues, students, and instructors share their thoughts and feelings about Annemarie’s contribution,  foresight and leadership in the field of health-supportive eating.

The evening’s festivities were capped by raffle prizes, courtesy of our friends at Maimonide of Brooklyn, Dirt Candy, Pure Food and Wine/Lucky Duck, Fort Reno, Palo Santo, and Chef Rich LaMarita. A gong ritual finished the ceremonial portion of the evening, followed by champagne and celebratory cupcakes topped with the stunning fondant creations of our graduate Sachiko Windbeil of Mimicafe Union. All in all, a good way to kick off the next 35 years.

Natural Gourmet puts Hurricane Sandy behind it

The fly guys of our Stewarding Dept.

The effects of Hurricane Sandy continue to be far-reaching for everyone in the Tri-State area. Our thoughts are with those who still have no home, power, food, or heat.

In our case, we were lucky, even though the storm closed the school for a full week. We returned yesterday, and everything’s back in full swing, thanks to our dedicated staff, students and adminstration.

NGI was without electricity after the storm, so a lot of food had to be re-purchased before we could resume our programs. Still, everything’s running smoothly now. You can almost tell from these pictures how happy everyone is to be back again.

Natural Gourmet partners with doctors from Lenox Hill Hospital to promote wellness through cooking

doctor-chefs-in-training

On October 15, Natural Gourmet Institute had the privilege to host Dr. Robert Graham, his wife Julie Graham (a certified holistic health coach), and 13 residents from New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital for a special, hands-on evening of healthy vegetarian cooking. The Grahams and NGI created the event to draw attention to the Meatless Mondays campaign and give doctors the knowledge and tools to treat common lifestyle illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity with healthy food choices and cooking techniques.

The evening kicked off with hors d’oeuvres and a meet-and-greet between the doctors and NGI staff. Then it was into the kitchen for the doctors to prepare a healthy, balanced vegetarian meal under the direction of NGI instructor Richard LaMarita, who designed the Italian-inspired menu.

Colin Zhu, a recent graduate of NGI’s Chef’s Training Program and first-year resident at CentraState Health Care System, introduced the evening’s recipes and talked about their health benefits and nutritional highlights. Chef Rich followed with a quick knife skills tutorial, and then the doctors teamed up to make a healthy, seasonal four-course meal.

The class was a resounding success and the first in a series where these internists, each committed to promoting the role food choices make in our health, will learn basic vegetarian cooking techniques they can share with patients.

 

 

Who knew? Crowd-sourced Natural Gourmet student and grad page goes gangbusters

So, just a few weeks ago, our grad Nancy Ligouri asked me – NGI’s social media guy – if she could start a Facebook page for grads and current students. I told her that it was a great idea. Several people had offered to do it before, but never got around to it. It seemed like a project that should come from a student or grad, so I never interfered.

To my surprise, Nancy had the page up and running in about 2 seconds flat. Within a day, it had about 1,000 members (at current, 1,037). I could put an exclamation point following that, but I never use them.

More to my surprise: the page rapidly took on a life of its own – or maybe more accurate to say the life of its members. Dialogue of all kinds proliferated, and members were talking about all sorts of things I’d never imagined the page would host.

To me the page is very exciting. You could almost say “organic.” It truly expresses what our students do, think, want.

Some members use it for sharing tech info . . .

Some for braggin’ rights . . .

Some share their own social media . . .

 

Members have been sharing news about upcoming events . . .

 

 

Have a question about culinary zeitgeist?

 

How about advice for upcoming exams . . .

 

Did ya hear about that field trip with Chef Rich?

 

 

 

 

and JOBS . . .

 

This is just a sampling of what the page is doing. If you’re a future, current, or former student, join up. You’ll learn something.

 

Chef’s Training Group 214 Turns Buffet Up a Notch

One of the important rites of passage in Chef’s Training is each group’s buffet class. In one day (part-time) or two days (full-time), students with their instructor prepare a lavish and healthy buffet for friends, family, and staff.

CTP 214 with their instructor Jay Weinstein

The spread usually includes whole poached wild salmon, tempeh kebabs, and curried or garlic chicken at its center surrounded by a colorful, copious and seasonal array of salads, vegetables, grains, beans, and desserts – all made from scratch right down to the bread. There are always a generous amount of vegetarian and vegan options. Frequently, there are also improvised dishes made from seasonal, organic vegetables we have in-house.

Buffet Class is a great opportunity for Chef’s Training students to show off what they do, and for guests to experience – for a mere $10 – a delicious, balanced, health-supportive meal Natural-Gourmet-style.

Here we have pictures of the sumptuous buffet prepared by the small but mighty Chef’s Training Group 214. While the group has only six members, they’ve learned to do the same work in the same time as groups with the customary 16 students. You go, 214.

Word is: innovative vegan eats coming to Asbury Park

The future home (tall building in background) of vegan restaurant Marcus in Asbury Park, NJ

Recently, I had a chat with our grad Mark Hinchcliffe about some exciting news: the firm he works for will be opening a vegan restaurant named Marcus in Asbury Park, New Jersey, early in 2013. There’s a vibrant dining scene developing over the past few years in Asbury Park, and Mark’s firm has a lot to do with it. Here he gives us some details of what’s to come:

Tell us something about the firm or collective behind this project and what you have to do with it.

I work for a firm called Knockout as a copywriter and overall strategist. We all wear many hats at Knockout, so we don’t have official titles. We’re basically a collective of creators, movers, and thinkers intent on razing old conversations and raising new ones. Our home is Asbury Park. Our work is everywhere. We believe that great design cannot happen without integrity, great ideas do not necessarily require time, and greatness isn’t always so great.

It’s very familial. We share office space with Watt Architects, an architectural firm led by Jim Watt. His brother, Jason, is a partner in Knockout, along with founders Meg Brunette and Kyle LePree. Together we are known simply as Smith. Smith is behind all of the big visions we are currently creating.

What other notable projects is your firm the creative force behind?

In terms of projects that we’ve birthed, funded and designed on our own, there are several. Brickwall was our first project of this kind. It was the first bar to open up in the slowly-getting-back-on-its-feet Asbury. That was in 2006. We just celebrated our 6th anniversary. It’s that place where everyone knows your name; where you can find the best beers on tap anywhere around here – rare stuff that no one else is pouring. And the food is comfort food. Quality fare at really reasonable prices.

Then there’s Porta, our authentic Neapolitan pizza restaurant. The story behind Porta would take up your entire blog, but I’ll make it short.

We decided we wanted to build this amazing pizza place. Fredrica Vilardi (our creative director at Knockout), decided she would learn how to make pizza. Like I said, we wear many hats. So she went and got trained by Roberto Caporuscio, who you may know as the man behind NYC’s Kesté and most recently, Don Antonio. Then we ordered two wood-fired ovens from Italy. They took months to build and ship over here.

We opened at the end of July last year. Somehow between then and now, Porta has become a food and dance hall mecca. We’ve got lines around the block to eat our pizza and party. Come check it out!

What is the property in question? I know it’s the tallest building in Asbury Park. Does it have any other significance?

It’s the tallest in the downtown, and one of the oldest, built in 1927. A beautiful, 11-story Art Deco building with sweeping views of the Atlantic and downtown Asbury.

What or who was the genesis of this idea to open a vegan restaurant?

I can’t say it was any one person. Everything is collaboration here. We don’t take personal credit for creation.

Is Asbury Park ripe for a vegan restaurant? How did you determine that?

We believe it is ripe for a vegan restaurant. But it’s not like we’re doing focus groups. Everything for us starts with a vision. We look at what we want to create, and then we create it. Our projects come from something very passionate and personal within all of us.

But you’ve got to design on a high level. Communication is everything. Because it’s one thing to have a great idea. It’s quite another to say, “This will be so by this time.” We put something at stake. We get our skin in the game. That’s how we go about making things happen. It’s about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Getting outside of our comfort zones to create things that we didn’t know we could create.

Is Asbury Park ripe for a vegan restaurant? Yes. Because we say it is.

How big will the restaurant be? How many seats?

We’re still in the design phase of all of this, so I can’t tell you for sure. But it’s not a hole in the wall. Probably around 25 seats. We want this to be a very immersive experience for the diner.

What elements do you think this concept will need to make it, as you say, the “most well-known vegan restaurant on the East Coast and to take away some vegan bragging rights from our West Coast counterparts?”

It’s all about approaching things differently.

 What do you think, if anything, is missing from the East Coast vegan scene?

I’m not sure anything is missing from the East Coast vegan scene. It is its own thing, humming along. We’re more interested in creating a new context, rather than shuffling around the pieces or bringing that “missing” piece into the current context.

As much as I am a vegan, I don’t believe in the word. It’s just another way to create separation, to say to someone else, “I’m not like you.” When you start calling yourself “vegan” or “meat-eater” or whatever, you’re just judging others. You’re removing yourself from their circle. It’s all very righteous and a load of bullshit. The sooner we can all give up our stories about who’s right and who’s wrong about their eating habits, the sooner we can solve our problems of obesity and diabetes and environmental destruction.

I know you’re searching for a chef. Have you found one yet?

Not yet. We’re still in the creation stage of the project. We have an executive chef team that will be overseeing all of our restaurants, but we’ll be looking for a Chef de Cuisine and all other positions. Both BOH and FOH.

If you haven’t found a chef yet, what skill set do you envision this person having?

Someone who’s an experimenter. Someone who might not come from the vegan world. We’re looking to do something different, which means that we’re not necessarily looking for someone from the vegan scene. Maybe they have a background in charcuterie or molecular gastronomy. It’s about someone approaching this food from a very humble place, a place where they know nothing. We’re daring to be naive.

Does the restaurant have a name? Can you share it yet?

Marcus. It’s going to be a dark, cave-like place. Very sexy. Very carnal. To juxtapose the non-meat dishes. Early-60s inspired – a time of decadence in all things.

When are you planning to open?

February 2013.

Will this be a place where Natural Gourmet students can intern?

Sure. Let’s see what they’ve got.

Food in your face: It’s the wilderness, stupid.

the solar dome with its unassuming herb garden

Greetings from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, specifically a tiny hamlet called Albany. I’m here vacationing for 2 1/2 weeks while Natural Gourmet is closed for summer renovations.

I’m staying at a place known as the “Albany Solar Dome,” a completely isolated, solar-powered house in the hills. As if that weren’t Vermont-y enough, there’s recycling and composting here. But I wanted to commune with nature, albeit in an enhanced environment with WiFi, flat screen TV, a washer and dryer, and a dishwasher.

I arrived yesterday in a panic and bluster typical of any New Yorker. I won’t bore you with the details. So at 4 pm, I suddenly realized I needed to get food in the house before the sun went down. The roads leading up to this place are crazy challenging.

I went first to the “market” in Albany, which turned out to be a convenience store. The healthiest thing I could find was Magic Hat beer (which I promptly purchased). I then drove to the next town, Irasberg, where there was a typical country supermarket. You know the kind: only trucked-in, conventional produce in a state drowning (ironically) in small, local farms. I let purism go; I had to eat, and I was grateful for what I could get.

I woke up this morning, and the day was so beautiful. I was inspired to get some “real” food. I had to go to St. Johnsbury on an errand, so I was hoping to find local produce there. Somehow, on arrival, I got enticed into a store called “Cost Cutters.” Damn. They had a mountain of organic fruits and vegetables. I know I should have eschewed them for a farmers market, but instant gratification got the better of me and I bought everything in sight.

I did do a little better in Hardwick, a little town with a great co-op called the Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op and Cafe. They had beautiful local produce, and I did some more damage.

I came back to the Solar Dome, proudly, with the kind of swag that in Brooklyn would have cost me a fortune. I was pretty chuffed with myself, as I put everything in the fridge.

To celebrate, I went on the deck to watch the sunset while I ate my organic arugula salad with fresh corn, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil and lemon juice. It was then I noticed for the first time the elaborate garden just below me that somehow failed to captivate my attention on my arrival.

In all my city slicker haste (and yes, ignorance), I had only registered that there was some kind of garden with flowers and stuff growing. You would think a natural foods culinary instructor would be more sentient when it comes to food growing before his eyes.

I jumped down from the deck to discover that many of the herbs I purchased were growing right there – in great profusion no less – along with blackberries and raspberries (which I had also purchased). Hell, for all I know, there’s arugula and corn growing out there too. Then the guy renting me the house called and told me to stop at his greenhouse down the hill for all the heirloom tomatoes I could eat.

This experience was humbling, to say the least. I prepare fresh food all the time, I teach its preparation, but I didn’t even see it growing before my eyes.  Check out what I missed:

Thyme is growing EVERYWHERE like gangbusters, but I have to use up the 1 ounce package I bought first.

 

at least I didn’t buy sage

 

rosemary (bought it)

oregano, anyone?

I can make tea out of thistle, right?

 

I’ve eaten my pint of berries from the market. These are on tomorrow’s agenda.

 

I’m not gonna eat him, even though he was in the garden.