The Bizz

Movie star, actress, model, and author. The only thing Alicia Silverstone doesn't do is dairy or animals. "I've been a vegan for 11 years," says the author of The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide To Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving The Planet.

Candle 79, a delectable vegan/vegetarian establishment founded by Bart Potenza and co-owned by nutritionist, Joy Pierson was home to the down-to-earth activist’s book celebration this week.


(Founder Bart Potenza and co-owner Joy Pierson of Candle 79 and Candle Cafe)

From the moment, co-owner Peirson greeted me when I walked through the front door to the interaction with the sommelier; I knew that there was something different about this plant-based lifestyle. Everyone was happy, energetic, and glowing; a vision not often seen in a city of stress, power, and struggle.

"If you want to feel your best and be free of diets, medicine, and pain or if you’re just wondering how to be kinder to the planet, this book will change your life for the better. That's my promise to you,” Silverstone said as someone handed her a purple-colored martini made from organic concord grapes. After she took a sip of the drink, she handed the glass to me to ensure that I had a taste too.


(Concord Grape Martinis)

I asked her if there were any foods that she missed eating, thinking selfishly of my own desire for medium-rare steak. “If I’m hungry, I may look at a cheese plate but if there’s something else like this there,” she said pointing to the appetizers being passed around, “I wouldn’t want that cheese plate. You get the cheesy creaminess in these dishes and all of the meat dishes just have sauces on them, so there’s really nothing that I’m missing.”

Her point was proven quickly by warm, creamy zucchini-blossoms and ravioli-shaped treats. Interviewing Silverstone was like sitting down to dinner with an old friend.


(Alicia Silverstone and Lori Bizzoco, Entertainment Editor, Pomp & Circumstance devouring vegan ravioli appetizers)

The Kind Diet, a book that she says took her, “one and a half years to write and eight years to dream,” infuses being kind to your body, the environment and animals. She explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese—the very foods we’ve been taught to regard as the cornerstones of good nutrition—are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology. “I want people to think of this as easy and delicious, you can take baby steps to get there. It will make your life better.”


(Alicia Silverstone, author of The Kind Diet at Candle 79 Book Party Celebration in NYC)


(Waterkeeper Alliance book sales table for The Kind Diet)

The vegan way seems to be more than healthy eating-it’s like some secret happy planet. Everyone is so nice. A few people I know could use a book like this.

All proceeds from the sale of the book this evening went to Waterkeeper Alliance, a global advocacy group that helps sustain fishable, swimmable and drinkable waterways worldwide.

Celebrities in attendance included Lake Bell, Giada De Laurentiis, Robin Quivers, Dan Hedaya and Dan Piraro.

- Lori Bizzoco
Photos: Amanda Segur