By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer
Published on Wednesday, Nov 04, 2009
Chef Scot Jones from VegiTerranean is a busy man these days.
He's teaching classes on cooking vegan for the holidays, he's hosting several vegan Thanksgiving dinners at the restaurant, and he's featured prominently in a new vegan cookbook, The Conscious Cook, by Tal Ronnen (William Morrow, $29.99 hardcover).
Ronnen came to widespread fame in 2008 when he prepared vegan meals for Oprah Winfrey's 21-day cleanse. His new book is on eating vegan, and includes many chapters from guest chefs, including Jones. It debuted this week at No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list (hardcover advice).
When we chatted over coffee at VegiTerranean, Jones laughed at his own transformation from classically trained chef specializing in French and northern Italian cuisine to vegan expert. ''If you would have asked me about this five years ago, I would have said, 'I don't know what you are talking about,' '' he said.
Jones is following a mostly vegetarian diet these days, but still eats fish and cooks with meat at Fedeli, the Italian restaurant in Canton where he also is executive chef.
Other than for work, he no longer eats red meat and chicken. Jones said his focus is on humane practices for raising or harvesting animals and sustainable agriculture.
Earlier this week, Jones taught a class on how to cook a vegan Thanksgiving at the Western Reserve School of Cooking in Hudson. Every Thursday in November except the holiday, and on Nov. 27 and 28, Jones will be serving up a vegan Thanksgiving dinner at VegiTerranean.
The dinner is $28 and includes an appetizer, soup or salad, entree, dessert and wine pairings. Call 330-374-5550 for a reservation. VegiTerranean is at 21 Furnace St., near downtown Akron.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
