Rev. Danny Fisher

The Loving Hut in downtown Palo Alto, CA.
While on my vacation in northern California, my friends Phil and Katy took me to the Loving Hut in downtown Palo Alto. An organic vegan cafe, the Loving Hut is part of a small international chain of restaurants founded by Supreme Master Ching Hai–the self-titled founder and teacher of the quasi-Buddhist “Quan Yin Method.”

The food was delicious and the staff very sweet, and I recommend a visit if you’re in the neighborhood. (It turns out there’s a Loving Hut location about four miles from my office back in southern California, and I look forward to stopping by some time when I get back.)

Inside the Loving Hut.
Try the “Namaste Plate” with the jasmine pearl tea! Photo by Katy White Miller.
The wall of “Vegetarian and Vegan Elites.” What, we wondered, are the criteria used to decide who is included and who isn’t? Why include Brad Pitt but exclude Gandhi?

Seriously. You should check her work out.

I’m currently on vacation for a week before the semester starts, staying with my friends Phil and Katy in northern California. Tonight we went to a performance of Ms. Teng’s at TheaterWorks in Palo Alto and were all knocked out. It was a great show.

Apropos to Buddhism, she performed original pieces with an a cappella group that are featured in a new musical theater piece based on the life of the Buddha. (We didn’t know this when we got our tickets–it was sort of a delightful bonus!)

My folks were in New York City this week and my mother took the shot below with her iPhone…