Customer Reviews

The Artichoke Trail: A Guide to Vegetarian Restaurants, Organic Food Stores & Farmer's Markets in the US (Hunter Travel Guides)

5 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

A unique book offering complete coverage of where to turn for healthy food state-by-state, city-by-city throughout the US. Travelers with a mind for health will delight in this handy reference book that allows them to find good, healthful food no matter which state they are in.

Organized by town/city and state, the book details fruit and veggie markets, restaurants, health food stores and more, including useful Websites and mail order sources. In-margin symbols indicate meatless options, places serving organic foods, macrobiotic options and vegan choices. Hundreds of descriptions based on personal visits by the author. All details - price range, location, atmosphere, service - are given.

I found this book to be much below my expectations. The listings were very oudated, and way too many of the restaurants reviewed or listed were not vegetarian restaurants, but what the author considered "natural". The listings did not indicate if a restaurant was vegan, vegetarian, or if it served Meat of Fish, and the natural food stores listings was very incomplete,with no directions or indications of facilities offered as in The Tofu Tollbooth by Dar Williams. I retuned the book.

I was highly pleased with the content and organization of this book. I travel a lot so I have so far been able to visit at least 5 of these restaurants and have been quite pleased and not too surprised with the service, atmosphere, and food, that I received. My favorite part of the book however is how it really marks our culture and brings out such an important and often overlooked factor: hunger! Vegetarianism in the United States is growing and is truly transforming us--teaching us to look at food differently which is so needed where still so many people go hungry because of such impoverished food politics. At any rate, the book to me is likened to a good movie review-it doubles the excitement of a film which can be experienced on so many levels--yes i'm an aesthete. Good book! I'll look for more from Frost.

Vegetarian travelers will find The Artichoke Trail an excellent take-along tote: it review restaurants, natural foods markets and farmers markets across the country, describing over 1,000 restaurants and assessing the vegetarian-friendly potentials of all the states. An excellent gift choice for the vegetarian traveler who 'has everything', too.