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In our experimental tastings in the "raw" arena, chocolate has usually proven an elusive product: often adequate but seldom sublime. But the raw treats from Oakland-based Fearless consistently come pretty close to the latter, delivering the best raw chocolate we've had to date.

While they make a variety of flavors ranging from Super Seeds (containing hemp, chia and flax) to Sweet & Hot ( hibiscus and ginger), our favorite is the straightforward Dark as Midnight, with its promise of being 75% cacao. Having tasted raw cacao on its own, we can attest that Fearless has done an amazing job developing serious flavor from just two ingredients: raw cacao and rapadura (unrefined whole cane sugar).

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​It smells like a Japanese restaurant, looks like a loaf of foie, and delivers a taste reminiscent of foie lathered in mayonnaise. Rau Om's Tofu Misozuke, made in Belmont, is about as close to foie gras as a vegan can ever taste without violating principle.

Tofu Misozuke uses Miso-Cured Tofu, made locally with non-GMO ingredients and cured in fermented soybean paste (miso) for a minimum of two months. The resulting block is similar in consistency to a thick chevre and eminently spreadable. Bread makes a fine companion.More >>

Erin Stubblefield/Concord Monitor

Tim O'Shea eats his last vegan meal

​We confess that until yesterday we had never read the Concord Monitor.

But our omnivorous attention was attracted by the column "My so-called vegan life" by Tim O'Shea, who basically writes what our headline states.

O'Shea's girlfriend suggests he try the vegan lifestyle. We're not sure why, or whether his girlfriend is herself a vegan. But just three paragraphs later, O'Shea reveals that he also has a wife. Dude! We didn't know New Hampshire was the France of the Northeast. You see, meat does raise your energy level.

Anyway, O'Shea is a great candidate for a vegan intervention, because he announces "salads without bacon bits, buffalo chicken strips and ladles of bleu cheese dressing are nothing more than piles of wimpy lettuce." This is a man who needs two weeks without meat. (BTW, what is a buffalo chicken strip? Is it fake buffalo made from chicken? Is it chicken processed in Buffalo?)

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Maybe these two can help in the lab?

​I saw this article on Swedish scientists synthesizing meat in a lab, and have a bit of a different take on it than my omnivorous colleague Jonathan Kauffman.

Where Kauffman sees grossness, I see opportunity. And a little grossness. But have you SEEN where meat from dead animals comes from? It's far less pleasant than a lab.

While the particular meat the Swedish scientists are synthesizing is not something I'd consider vegetarian (WTF is horse fetal serum? Because, eww) and I don't think I'd eat vat meat even if it were, I absolutely love the idea and very much hope that edible flesh comes out of it.

I don't think vegans and vegetarians would be the main market: I think it would be meat eaters who want an option that doesn't involve the taking of a life. I believe that science can bring to market a product that IS meat, and that people will see as a viable option.

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Santa Cruz area raw-milk proponents are tired of the government getting up in their dairy.

In response to "cease and desist" letters from the Santa Clara County DA's office sent to small, herd-share businesses that contract out milk from a goat or cow, the Santa Cruz Food Rights Coalition formed and is hoping to rally support for a "right to eat" cause -- with animal guests.
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edmdusty/Flickr

Goats at Milk Mama Goat Farm

​Next Wednesday, Sept. 7, the coalition will hold a "milk-in" where local farmers will bring goats downtown to milk them publicly and distribute the raw milk as a calcium-rich protest.

This comes on the heels of a SWAT-like crackdown on a health-food market in Venice, Calif.

Those who support an individual's right to contract with a herd share for raw milk -- sidestepping food regulations designed to keep down the risks associated with dairy -- say that the government shouldn't interfere with an individual's private right to contract and consume.

"The CDFA wants control over every drop of milk in the state," said Kimberly Hartke, a publicist for the Campaign for Real Milk.

Because entering the milk-distribution market with licenses and inspection fees can be pricey and cost-prohibitive, small farmers often "herd-share" their dairy animals, collecting fees from those who want to have access to the animal's milk, often for consumption without pasteurization. They maintain it's a private contract and not an unlicensed public retailer.

"Consumers want this," Hartke added.

And with demand for locally sourced, raw foods only growing, the raw-milk issue is unlikely to stop getting tugged.

takver / flickr

​Last month, SFoodie discovered that if you're vegan and you go to jail in S.F., you can get vegan meals. Eileen Hirst, chief of staff at the Sheriff's Department, told us that vegan food in S.F. county jails came about because of vegan PETA protesters who were arrested in antifur protests in the '90s.

We're sure that news prompted celebrations all over the Bay Area, but at least one person was infuriated: activist Anita Carswell, who called up SFoodie to set the record straight. PETA had nothing to do with getting vegan food in jails, she says; the credit belongs to her and her organization, In Defense of Animals.

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Mmm ... living kale

​As Californians become more and more health-conscious (and proud that we are not as fat as the rest of America), the latest trend in healthy living is eating "raw". So SF Weekly wasn't surprised when a new raw-food stand, Pachamama Raw, turned up at Ferry Plaza. Since Pachamama is the Mother Earth deity in Incan mythology, it's an appropriate name.

The first thing you see when you approach the Pachamama stand is samples of "living kale chips," which look like bits of moss or leaves. The word "living" conjures up images of kale sprouting in your stomach, but standkeeper Guojian Rao assured SF Weekly that's not going to happen.

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my_southborough

​If you're vegan and you go to jail, do you get vegan meals? In a city with a substantial vegan population, this is no trivial question. It turns out that, while the law does not require jails to provide vegan options, San Francisco County jails do serve vegan meals on request, and we have PETA activists to thank for it.

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Tamara Palmer

​Hodo Soy Beanery opened a kiosk in San Francisco's Ferry Building last week, bringing a number of items it will exclusively carry there. One such category: Hodo's excellent soy milks (original, chocolate, and Thai tea) and smoothies (strawberry banana and kale avocado). The difference between them is that the smoothies are enriched with Hodo's silken tofu for a thicker product.

We sampled all but the kale avocado, since we're trying to work up to the idea of a savory smoothie and haven't quite gotten there yet. The winner in our book? Hodo's Thai tea soymilk, which has none of the cloying sweetness of a typical Thai iced tea and allows the flavor of the tea to really shine through. Though these all have a short shelf life, we hope to see them stocked at other spots around town soon.

Vegan Soul Power

Veganize your pierogi!

​Tomorrow: Free Vegan Pierogi Workshop Where: Noisebridge, 2169 Mission (at 17th St.) When: Tues., April 26, 7-9 p.m. Cost: Free

The rundown: Fresh on the heels of Polish Easter, where many a plate runneth over with kielbasa, the deconstructionists at Vegan Hacker are ready to take back the pierogi. Typically made with egg and milk-based dough, often stuffed with cheese, these pillowy Eastern European delicacies aren't just for omnivores anymore. Vegan Hacker will vegan-ify this recipe at the Noisebridge kitchen, and you can take part in the cooking or just watch and munch. Oh, and it's not too late to vote on what kind of pierogi should be featured: potato, faux sausage, mushroom, cabbage, or "something crazy." Email Vegan Hacker with your choice.

New York refugee Jesse Hirsch tweets at @Jesse_Hirsch. Follow SFoodie at @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook.