Locally grown food has been an important subject for quite sometime now.  Its not only important to support local business, but also it is important to create meals that keep your health in mind.  Vincent Peterson, head chef of the vegan/vegetarian style cafe, has built a menu using locally grown products, is health conscious, and would never dare lose out on taste.  Kindle, according to Peterson, comes from the ancient Indian science of well-being, called Ayurveda.  In Ayurveda, one's health depends largely on your Agni, or “digestive fire”.  Not only is Kindle a ‘roving restaurant', but now offers cooking classes and workshops.  In our interview with Chef Vincent Peterson, he tells us a little bit about himself, his restaurant, and his travels.  To learn more, visit Kindle Cafe!

BH: How long have you been cooking?

VP: Professionally, for 13 years.

BH: What made you want to become a chef?

VP: Playing with knives and fire have always appealed to me. And women, women seem to love men who know how to cook. (ha ha ha)

BH: Tell us about one memory in your travels that really affected your cooking, the way you thought about food.

VP: Traveling through India and South East Asia I was continually struck by how resourceful everyone is, and has to be, because resources are often slim. Most of the cooking I experienced was done outdoors in a single clay pot with a small fire underneath. Once the fire was started, the cook would take a long stick and keep one end of it in the flame. It would slowly burn and the cook would continually feed it into the fire to keep it going. “Slow Food” at it’s finest. A single clay pot can cook many items at a time when stacked with bamboo steamer baskets on top. The top basket being the coolest and used in many cases just for warming. Additionally, where we were traveling, there was no refrigeration available, so everything was prepared fresh. I incorporated these concepts into my cuisine and find that my food tastes better.

BH: Are you originally from this area?  Tell us a little about your upbringing, and the places you’ve lived that have inspired you.

VP: Yes, I grew up in Titusville, New Jersey, near Washington’s Crossing State Park, where I also worked during the summer.   It seems I was immersed in nature all the time – most of my memories from growing up around here are steeped in trails, rivers, meadows and creeks. This became a trend as I would later live in Colorado and California, two of the most awe inspiring places in the world when it comes to the great outdoors. I’ve also traveled throughout New Zealand, Australia, Europe, India and South East Asia – all of these places left significant impressions on me.

BH: Do you specialize in one specific cuisine?

VP: I specialize in Vegan and Vegetarian cuisine. That being said, I have a Masters in Italian cuisine from the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners and people really love the Italian dishes I prepare. My favorite styles are Italian, Indian and South Western.

BH: What is the Kindle Café?

VP: Kindle Cafe is a catering company and roving restaurant that stages prix fixe vegan/vegetarian events in Bucks and Hunterdon counties.

BH: What are your favorite local ingredients to cook with?

VP: Stinging Nettles are at the top of the list right now, and Jersey corn, tomatoes and sweet onions are also currently blowing my mind with their flavor. The local cheeses from Pennsylvania are great, like the sheep’s milk ricotta, oh my… hellooooo ravioli. The local eggs are super with huge, brilliantly orange yolks. I’m also a huge fan of the local Buckwheat flour. I’ve been making some amazing Buckwheat pancakes recently and topping them with goat cheese and fresh cherry tomato salsa.

BH: Where do you love to shop for food?

VP: 90% of my fresh ingredients are sourced from Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms through an amazing company called Zone 7: www.freshfromzone7.com.  I supplement that order at the New Hope Farmer’s Market on Thursday afternoons.

BH: Tell us one of your “chef’s secrets.”

VP: Being known as a vegetarian chef, probably the biggest “secret” I have is that I do occasionally eat meats and fish (about once a month). Usually I’ll make this choice if my body feels particularly depleted or if I’m attending a function where that’s the only offering. I scrutinize the sources of these products with particular care. If the source is clean, i.e. fed organically and not produced on a factory farm, then it’s ok for my body. This is a highly controversial subject and I think a lot of people fall into this category of “mostly vegetarian”. This isn’t “fence sitting”, in reality, being a healthy vegetarian is extremely challenging and it’s very easy to deplete your body if you’re not on top of your diet, and if supplementing with meats or fish once in awhile helps to keep you healthy then it’s an appropriate act. In most of the “undeveloped” world meats are used more like a condiment than a main part of a meal, which as it turns out, is a much healthier way to live.

BH: A la Food Network, what’s the best thing you ever ate?

VP: Admissions abound! I guess this is another chef’s secret . . . I have never owned a television and have never watched the Food Network. But if I can glean the essence of your question  properly I will have to say that the “best thing I ever ate” was the “Tagliatelle al sugo” at Ristorante da Madelena in Costigliole di Asti, Italy. Each Friday, our Chefs/Instructors at cooking school got the night off from preparing dinner and our class would eat at this local restaurant. This dish is native to Piemonte and is comprised of fresh pasta with braised beef and pork. The last I enjoyed this dish was 1998, but I will never forget the flavor or the setting of us eating family style in this tiny restaurant in a sleepy little Italian village.

Our reception here has been tremendous. My deepest gratitude to everyone who has joined us for supper and those who will in the future. Thanks for getting what we do, for all the accolades, and crucial feedback.   We’ll be expanding our offerings a lot this year and continue moving toward an inevitable opening. Thanks for all the interest and support.

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