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    Vegging Out

    Chelsea Clinton's big fat vegan wedding? This gluten-free president's daughterstrikes a giant blow for my kind

    Joel Luks
    Aug 3, 2010 | 12:48 pm
    • Chelsea Clinton's wedding was no small step for the vegan lifestyle.
      De Manio Photography
    • A different type of wedding cake? Gluten-free and vegan, with chocolate,vanilla, marble and Italian creme
    • A hand-rolled puff pastry (Thanks, Brittany, of Sinfull Bakery). It's light andfluffy and speckled with rosemary. The box is filled with artichoke bottoms,eggplant and tomato and topped with garden cilantro-basil pesto and a simpletomato sauce.
      Photo by Ben de Soto for Radical Eats
    • Panzanella Skewers
      Photo by Ben De Soto for Radical Eats
    • Vegan chocolate cake with vegan "butter cream" for a 60th birthday
    • Deviled potatoes
      Photo by Ben De Soto for Radical Eats
    • Chocpotle Brownie Bites
      Photo by Ben De Soto for Radical Eats
    • White chocolate almond and chocolate almond - and yes, gluten free
    • Gluten-free butter cake

    Anyone who believes that vegan get-togethers require unshaven hippies chanting "ohms" in a drum circle as an homage to the moon goddess while they chew on bamboo and wear tie-dye togas needs to take a heavy whiff of the changing rules for those with different dietary preferences.

    Vegans are a diverse folk and do not always fit into the above stereotype.

    Although I do not object to those types of free spirit affairs, sometimes, while sporting a new mani-pedi, I enjoy a somewhat more sophisticated ambiance where a nice sparkling glass of prosecco rose allows my pinky to proudly stand erect in somewhat militant attention.

    I like dressing up.

    Whether formal, urban chic or white-tie penguin suit, vegan events are sneaking up into the mainstream and waved a dramatic hello thanks to Chelsea Clinton’s private nuptials. Chelsea is vegan and also has an allergy to gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats.

    Who was the caterer? The source was not released but intel points to New York locavore Chef Laura Pensiero and the St. Regis Hotel in New York. Who was the parent of the vegan gluten-free wedding cake? Gossip points to three potential bakeries with heavier leaning on La Tulipe Desserts.

    What about the menu? It has been kept secret like the most confidential White House national security intelligence with the assistance of Bryan Rafanelli, a Boston-based event planner. Combing the web for images proved unsuccessful as guests were barred from bringing any tech toy that could text, tweet or snap pictures.

    Rumors of a complete vegan menu ran wild by overeager bloggers, but a balanced approached seems in alignment with Rafanelli’s assertion that guests were offered “everything” including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

    I doubt that anyone would label an event that offered guests grass-fed beef short-ribs and grilled Atlantic char vegan, but the buzz created from the chatter will certainly pique interest among foodies and question traditional menus.

    Do they have to be meat-centric to be fabulous? No.

    There is always a little anxiety on both sides of the diet preference spectrum in attempting to please the other. But vegans, being the minority, may be tempted to diverge from their lifestyle convictions in an attempt to be inclusive or perhaps as a direct result of familial pressures.

    After all, what on earth is a vegan wedding?

    Can bone china be used? Did the bride brush her teeth with Tom’s of Maine vegan organic toothpaste or did she use the conventional equivalent? Did anyone step on a bug?

    I am not interested in arguing the vegan fundamentalist point of view, but rather highlighting the potential to celebrate a wedding while sticking to a cruelty-free living dogma.

     Moving beyond convention

    Most weddings that adopt religious conventions tend to impose practices on their guests, sometimes passively and sometimes actively. So it is silly to second guess any desires to make sustenance aligned with your own preferences as well.

    After all who is the wedding for? In theory, it's about the happy couple. In practice, that is not always the case.

    Weddings can be big and fat, vegan and fabulous. Remember? Vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli kicked omnivore’s butt in Cupcake Wars with ginger nutmeg spice with date caramel drizzle, chocolate strawberry shortcake, crème-filled chocolate orange with candied orange peel, and raspberry tiramisu.

    Indeed, VegNews' been-there-done-that recent feature showcases vegan weddings that challenge our realm of possibilities. With menus that include hibiscus flower taquitos with chipotle cream, tofu satay on rosemary skewers, rustic grilled vegan cheese panini, truffled mashed potato martinis, jerk tofu falafel with Caribbean chutney and pear-walnut-ginger empanadas, I would train with Olympic determination to become a professional vegan wedding crasher.

    I think I can pull it off.

     Vegan Cake Wars

    As Franck Eggelhoffer would say, first you have to choose the cake.

    I love Houston: You don’t have to travel far to find vegan flavors like key lime supreme cake, chocolate orange blossom cake, pink lemonade cake and Italian creme cake, some with their respective gluten-free variations.

    Give Jody Stevens of jodycakes a week or so and she can birth a moist cake that could turn any agnostic omnivore into a hardcore religious freak. Yes. They are that good. Stevens strives to “combine great taste with aesthetically pleasing designs especially for large occasions such as weddings, milestone events and anniversaries.”

    “Although I do normal everyday cakes with eggs and dairy, the bulk of my business tends to be vegan, gluten-free or a combination of both,” Stevens explains. “Whether it be for health or ethical reasons, there is no reason you can't have your cake and eat it too!”

    Reluctantly, I will agree that there is more to life than cake: A leap of faith made easier with the help of vegan caterers like Radical Eats.

    “Although not all of my bride and grooms are entirely vegan, I find that they want to make a statement and tell a story with their weddings,” owner Staci Davis explains. “The statement is about their commitment to the environment as well as to each other, and the story is about the local farmers, bakers and craftsmen that build their weddings. A huge part of my business is my connection to these local growers and vendors.”

    A blooming trend? “Vegan and vegetarian foods (as well as gluten-free foods) represent one of the fastest growing segments in the prepared foods market,” Davis says.

     Meat options at a vegan wedding?

    Given that it is customary to have vegetarian options at most formal events, some may argue that vegans must reciprocate and satisfy omnivores by offering meat and dairy dishes. However, no one would expect a kosher wedding to allow bacon-wrapped shrimp as an option as the practice extends beyond taste and personal choice.

    Vegan diets and lifestyles are rooted in beliefs and lifestyle whether spiritual, personal, and for some, religious.

    As long as you provide delicious good eats, why would anyone care?

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    roll out

    Self-taught chef slices into Houston with high-quality sushi to go

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 17, 2025 | 5:57 pm
    Kaisen Sushi Houston nigiri
    Courtesy of Kaisen Sushi Houston
    Each order of nigiri comes with a house made sushi sauce.

    The ghost kitchen phenomenon may have diminished somewhat since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the idea of a delivery and to-go-only restaurant still draws talented chefs who want to focus on food at a lower overhead than a traditional brick-and-mortar. One of those chefs is Sunny Bertsch, whose restaurant Kaisen Sushi Houston is already drawing buzz from inner loopers looking for a more affordable, at-home sushi experience.

    Located at the Blodgett Food Hall in Third Ward, Kaisen Sushi serves typical nigiri, maki, and temaki (hand rolls), along with a steak bowl. Prices are a little lower than what someone would find at a typical sushi restaurant, with an eight-piece nigiri set priced at $18.99 when ordered through the Blodgett Food Hall website (expect to pay more if ordering via a third-party delivery service such as Uber Eats or DoorDash).

    While Bertsch’s food may be familiar, his story is not. The diners who’ve rated Kaisen with 4.9 stars on Google may be surprised to learn that he’s only been cooking professionally for two years. As Bertsch tells CultureMap, prior to becoming a professional chef, he worked in fields as varied as aerospace and dog walking.

    “I’d always been interested in cooking,” he says. “I was blessed to be born into a great Korean American family. My dad and my grandparents always cooked great food. I learned by osmosis.”

    Bertsch began his career as a private chef by working for friends. He built his business by catering lunches to powerhouse law firm Vinson & Elkins. Eventually, his clients asked for private sushi dinners, and he had to figure things out.

    “I got an opportunity to do a sushi omakase. It was brutal. It was messy. But I knew once I did that, I wanted to dedicate my life to sushi,” he says. “Since then, I have studied and practiced. I threw a lot of money and time and fish at it.”

    Bertsch improved his speed and knife skills by taking a $13-per-hour job at Japanese grocery store Seiwa Market. While there, he says he made thousands of pieces of nigiri, rolls, and sushi bowls. That experience, along with meals from similar to-go-only concepts in New York and San Francisco, convinced him to open Kaisen as a ghost kitchen.

    “So far, I’ve spent $90,000. That’s more than the average investment for a food hall kitchen,” Bertsch explains. “I’m a clean freak. I’m a technology freak. I’m an authenticity freak. I outfitted my kitchen in the way I thought was necessary for long-term success.”

    Just as he spared no expense in specing out his kitchen, Bertsch puts thoughtful touches into his food, too. For example, every order of nigiri comes with a dipping sauce Bertsch makes himself from low sodium soy sauce, kombu, vinegar, and sake.

    “It’s a complex sauce that’s less salty and tastes good,” he says. “You know when you don’t have it and you’re given cheap soy sauce.”

    Similarly, his California rolls use imitation crab (as do most restaurants), but it’s seasoned with a housemade, Japanese-style kewpie mayo, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and sesame oil for more umami and less sweetness. Since the chef uses more crab mix than other restaurants do in their rolls, Kaisen’s California roll not only tastes better — at $11.99, it’s a better value, too.

    The chef showcases Japanese techniques and Korean influences with his $25 steak bowl. A USDA Choice ribeye or strip is cooked sous vide with a marinade made from garlic, tamari, and seasoning salt. Once a diner orders the entree, the steak is seared in a pan, basted with Kerrygold butter, seasoned with furikake and sesame oil, and served with short-grain sushi rice and microgreens from local farm Zero Point Organics.

    Word of mouth has been building. Even though it’s only been open for a month, Kaisen already has over 2,000 followers on Instagram. Once he’s able to hire a full roster of cooks, Bertsch plans to expand the menu and offer lunch service. Despite some challenges, he’s pleased with the restaurant’s progress.

    “The support I've gotten on social media has blown me away,” he says. “It’s been amazing. I could not have done it without Instagram. It blows my mind.”

    Kaisen Sushi Houston nigiri
      

    Courtesy of Kaisen Sushi Houston

    Each order of nigiri comes with a house made sushi sauce.

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