Description:
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based ink, The Tofu Tollbooth came about when a vegetarian folk singer (Dar Williams, in this case) hit the road and faced the dilemma of eating meatless in America. Teaming up with Elizabeth Zipern (author of Grateful Dead cookbook Cooking with the Dead), Williams put together a compendium of handpicked natural-food stores and eating spots across the USA. More than merely an organic food resource, The Tofu Tollbooth emanates charm and congeniality as well as details and addresses. The key to amenities (including deli, bakery, café, juice bar, salad bar, filtered water machine, wheelchair access, co-op, beer/wine, and coffee to go) is characterized by appealing hand-drawn icons, and the authors mention other useful tidbits of information as well, such as what's nearby that's worth a visit. The guide contains more than 1,000 health-food options, and for each site, the concise write-ups contain address and phone number, directions from the highways (a wonderful addition), hours of operation, and the parade of cute icons that let you know what to expect to find there (once you memorize that the face with beret stands for café, the carrot in a glass denotes juice bar, and the hot pepper means an especially hot tip). Whether you're performing on tour, traveling with the family, or road tripping on business, it's nice to link up museums, romantic lookouts, night life, and hiking trails with locations that sell soy milk, fresh produce, and organic chocolate. You might not eat another McDonald's desperation dinner ever again. --Stephanie Gold
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