I claimed before that “Food and stories form the easiest and most common way to share culture." For Buddhism and proximate ways of life, the first manifests in veganism.

In between Civic Center and Tenderloin in San Francisco lies Golden Era Vegan Restaurant. Followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai run the restaurant, so as Eater warns, “while the food is indeed delicious, folks uncomfortable with religious propaganda should probably steer clear.”

Raised Roman Catholic, Hai followed a Buddhist monk for a few years. Then denied entrance to his monastery on the basis of gender, she moved to India to study different religions. This explains why Hai's “way of the Light and Sound through the Quan Yin Method” mixes Christian, Buddhist (from which it takes veganism), and Hindu ideas. Christians mad, Buddhists mad, Hindus not clear.

Of note Hai and the Quan Yin Method come off especially modern:

1. Hai, a woman, #girlboss
2. recruiting heavily through the internet (as a “transnational cybersect”)
3. and running the Loving Hut vegan restaurant chain with hundreds of locations across tens of countries.

Interpretations of vegan restaurants under Hai range from “insidious vehicles to proselytize and recruit for a cult abusing its members” to “passionate vegans spreading peace.” The reality lies somewhere in between.