Choosing a restaurant in Los Angeles can be a maddening experience, simply because the city has so much wonderful food to choose from. Do you want modern or traditional? European or Asian? Familiar or exotic? Elegant or earthy?

A small handful of innovative restaurants in the city actually combine all these qualities into a single menu. It's very difficult to pull off, and most don't do so successfully. The restaurant with the best reputation in this class is Sona, on La Cienega. I have been excited to try it for some time, and Saturday night my husband and I finally did so.

Before arriving, my expectations for Sona were both high and low. They were high, because Sona is an extraordinarily well regarded restaurant. According to the Sona Web site:

Sona and [Chef] David Myers have received numerous accolades including a Michelin star and a James Beard nomination for Best Chef - Pacific Region. Previously, Angeleno named Sona “Restaurant of the Year”. The October 2005 Gourmet magazine featured David and his team. Chef Myers was a James Beard Rising Star Chef nominee and was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine Magazine. Sona is a Wine Spectator “Grand Award” winner.

But at the same time, my expectations were low. Those who sing the praises of Sona emphasize the restaurant's brilliance at wine selection and pairing. But I don't drink. The restaurant is famous for its unconventional preparations of both conventional fish and meats, and also for wild game, such as venison. But I don't eat meat. And I have been disappointed again and again by restaurants that emphasize preparation over the quality, freshness and healthfulness of ingredients.

So there I was, a teetotaler vegetarian ingredient purist entering a restaurant famous for (among other things) its wines, meats and innovation.

The exterior of Sona is nondescript, and the interior is a sophisticated LA Zen. All colors are light and muted, except for three things in the room that explode with color: The giant flower arrangement atop a center wine station; the colors of La Cienega Blvd. traffic, which are transformed into moving art by textured opaque glass windows; and the food.

Oh, the food! Sona’s brilliant and talented young chef and owner, David Myers (along with his excellent staff) don’t compromise quality, flavor or service -- they do it all, and from scratch! Their commitment to serving food that’s seasonal, local, organic and free-range made the entire culinary experience an unforgettable event that far exceeded my expectations.

Never before have I seen contradictory qualities merged into incredible dishes so masterfully. The sweet and the savory. The herbs and the produce. The French and the Japanese. The smooth and the substantive.

From their freshly and daily home-made breads to the divine and succulent entrees followed by an array of very unique desserts, the food was made with the finest and freshest ingredients. Every dish was extraordinary, and looked as beautiful as it tasted.

Knowing that our preference was vegan food, they surprised us with many vegan delights that truly burst with flavors. And since we don’t drink alcohol, we were surprised again with a wonderful non-alcoholic, freshly made raspberry spritzer.

We lost count of the courses after a while, but each brought the experience to a new level of awesomeness. Two of the many courses that stand out for me are the fresh sweet pea vegan soup and the couscous risotto with nori and mushrooms. The fresh split pea soup was delicate, smooth and full of flavor. The couscous risotto was exquisite. Made with a hint of ginger, this fusion dish was bursting with flavors from Asia and Europe.

As fast as we were devouring each course served to us, for almost three hours, we didn’t have enough time or room in the stomach to complete all the courses that had been planned for us.

This feast was made of a very large number of very small dishes, including two palate cleansers (which were more like courses in their own right) and several desert courses, the last two of which we took to go and enjoyed later.

Note that Sona is not a restaurant you go to on your way to the theater. The restaurant is the theater, and the evening. Expect to enjoy 3 to 4 hours of culinary shock-and-awe.

One of the evening's highlights was meeting Chef Myers, and going back to the kitchen for a tour to meet the rest of the gifted crew.

You should know that Sona is a very expensive restaurant, more along the lines of what you might pay for a wonderful meal in Tokyo, rather than LA (a few hundred dollars per person if you drink wine).

While the cost may seem high, in my experience you get what you pay for. Besides, the cost is roughly equivalent to what you might pay for an evening that included a lesser restaurant and a good play or good seats at a concert or basketball game. The difference is that the food is the main event, not a precursor.

Sona’s dedication to the quality of food and outstanding service is in the end a great value. Sona represents a perfect harmony between the best of what an excellent farm can produce, the best of culinary innovation and the best service and atmosphere. Sona is a one-of-a-kind experience. As a bonus, Sona will surprise your palate and delight your other senses as well.

If you live in, or ever travel to, LA, do yourself an big favor: Experience Sona.

I was able to catch an early, pre-release showing of the new documentary, Food Inc., last night in the nearby town of Ojai, California. The film actually hits theaters in June, but the early showing was hosted as part of a mini festival put together by an Ojai organization called Food for Thought, which is dedicated to teaching local children about food and helping schools serve healthy lunches. The film's producer and director, Robert Kenner, was on hand to answer questions and to sign books (Food, Inc., the book, is a companion to the film.)

I'm certain you will hear this opinion more as reviewers see this documentary, so let me be the first to express it. This is a great documentary. Seriously great. Like Oscar nomination great. The cinematography is stunning. The investigative journalism impeccable. Eight years in the making, this incredibly important film grabs you in the opening frames and doesn't let go until the end.

One might expect PETA-style shock-and-awe to pound you over the head with shrill and strident anti-establishment dogma. But Food, Inc., delivers quite the opposite. Every point is presented fairly and responsibly -- understated, if anything, and never overstated.

There are heroes and villains in this film, but only because there are heroes and villains in real life. The villains (Monsanto, et al) are treated gently and fairly and given every possible consideration. This is not "gotcha" journalism. Both sides are given the opportunity to have their say, and the viewer -- no matter how skeptical or invested in the status quo -- will be convinced. The dots are connected in this film, and the inescapable truth is laid bare.

One of the reasons people don't understand what's so bad about industrial food is that the story is so complex. Food, Inc., presents that story in a way that only film can, enabling viewers to easily grasp complex realities such as how E. coli-infected spinach is caused by the feeding of corn to cows, how government food subsidies increase illegal immigration and why nearly all the soy grown in the US is the intellectual property of Monsanto.

If you're familiar with the work of Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") and Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma"), then you will be familiar also with the themes of this film. Schlosser and Pollan make their respective cases at various points in the film, which serve as the structure and foundation.

The documentary is about our broken food system, yes. But it also exposes the outrageous power of a tiny handful of food companies, power they wield to silence critics, intimidate farmers into submission and dictate public policy. This power remains unchecked by the FDA, by lawsuits, by state and federal governments.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this movie, however, is its happy ending. The most important fact in the entire movie is how much power consumers have to effect change. And it's true: We can change the entire system, right all the wrongs, save the environment, reverse the health epidemic and end demonic animal treatment by simply making informed and self-interested food choices.

By the closing credits, you'll want to jump up and go do something. The film ends with a list of exactly what you can do.

Go see this film. Tell your friends to see it. Tell your Congress person to see it. The food system must be fixed. Go here to see where it's playing, and when.

A new documentary from filmmaker Robert Kenner and co-produced by author Eric Schlosser (who wrote Fast Food Nation) hits theaters June 12. It's called Food, Inc., and it exposes the horrible reality about the foods we eat, and provides clear guidance about what we can all do about it. Check out the trailer here, and don't miss this film!

Nasturtiums not only are beautiful to look at with vibrant colors, smell like a beautiful Spril morning but they also taste surprisingly good. Ask for them at your local Farmer's Market. My favorite farmer, BD, tells me that they're really easy to grow. I purchased a bunch for $2.00. I'll be using them to make my Easter brunch salad -- a feast for the eyes and the palate.

In addition to the most common causes of death in industrialized countries -- cardiovascular disease and cancer -- red meat is now associated with a less common ailment: blindness. Researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia have found that people who eat read meat 10 or more times per week were 50% more likely to suffer age-related macular degeneration than people who do so less than five times per week.

An iPhone application called Locavore tells you which fruits and vegetables are in season at any given time in your area. Just tell it where you live, and then select the "currently in season" option for the list of foods. You can also see foods that will be in season soon, and get a listing of local farmers markets.

A new study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found that nearly half of the samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup they tested contained mercury, which is highly toxic. They also tested 55 major brand-name processed foods and beverages where high-fructose corn syrup is the first or second main ingredient, and found that about one third contained mercury.

Most foods targeted at children contain high-fructose corn syrup, which is monstrously unhealthy even without the poisonous metallic liquid.

This news doesn't change my previous ongoing advice, which is to read the labels and never, ever eat foods or drink beverages that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

The anti-inflammatory foods craze has recently given Omega-6 Fatty Acids, which you'll find in vegetables, nuts and seeds, a bad name. Now the American Heart Association is stepping forward to put such junk science to rest.

According to an article in today's Washington Post, "the debate arose because arachidonic acid, a component of omega-6 fatty acids, is a building block for some inflammation-related molecules, and there have been fears that it might increase the risk of heart disease." But according to William S. Harris, director of the Metabolism and Nutrition Research Center of the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine:

"That reflects a rather naive understanding of the biochemistry. Omega-6 fatty acids give rise to both pro-inflammatory compounds and anti-inflammatory compounds. To say that they are bad because they produce pro-inflammatory compounds ignores the fact that they give rise to anti-inflammatory compounds as well."

Are Omega-6 Fatty Acids good for you? Of course they are!

About 367,000 American children are vegetarians, according to a new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the number is reportedly rising. Part of the rise is cause by videos on YouTube that show cruelty to animals on farms, and young viewers choosing vegetarianism based on that awareness. The 1 in 200 figure, which represents .5% of the child population, counts all minors, but older teen vegetarian rates "could be four to six times" that percentage.

Today is the first day of school for Malia and Sasha Obama, daughters of President Elect Barack Obama and future first lady Michelle. The kids' new school is the prestigious Sidwell Friends school in Washington, D.C. The school, which costs $30,000 per year per child to attend, serves all-organic lunches, according to a report this morning on "Good Morning America." Michelle Obama has made it clear in interviews that she feeds her family organic foods whenever she can.

Meanwhile, at nearby Washington, D.C., public schools, the children of less wealthy, less powerful parents are being served toxic, industrial, non-organic foods. And likewise at nearly every public school across the nation.

During the campaign, all candidates, including Obama, talked endlessly about what was always categorized as "healthcare," when in fact it was all about healthcare insurance. "Health" almost never came up during the campaign, nor did the US government's massive corporate welfare program, which subsidizes the most toxic and unhealthy foods, while leaving healthy and organic food producers to fend for themselves on this uneven playing field.

Nevertheless, I and many others remain hopeful that the Obama's awareness about the superiority of organic foods will lead to actual policy changes that put organic food in every school and every home, and stop the obesity, diabetes and cancer epidemics where they start: with our diets.

Barack Obama: We applaud your good parenting, and your desire to take care of your kids. But starting January 20, you're our president. And we're counting on you to take care of our kids, too.

The blog naturopath.ca posted a fantastic writeup on turmeric, the wonderful Indian spice that gives curry its bright color. The post mentions turmeric's dual role as spice and medicine, and gives a few tips for using it.

The take-away here is that turmeric is delicious, very healthy and isn't just for Indian dishes. You'll find that many of my recipes call for this oh, so wonderful spice.

Click here to see all my recipes that use turmeric.

Having learned nothing from the harm done by factory farming (which many would argue has damaged public health, animal welfare and the environment) the USDA is now giving a green light to industrial producers to meddle with our food system, once again. Against opposition from consumers as well as consumer advocates and environmentalists, the USDA has given way to industrial aquaculture to label farmed fish that doesn't feed on 100% organic or wild feed as "organic." I guess this is just business as usual--laxed regulations designed to promote big business at the expense of public interest. What's next, "organic" genetically modified, cloned fish?

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have discovered that a molecule in both meat and dairy products can make cancer more aggressive. The molecule, called N-glycolylneuraminic acid, or Neu5Gc for short, is a sugar molecule that cows produce but that humans do not. It can, however, be incorporated into human tissues through the ingestion of meat or dairy products. When that happens, the human body develops an immune response to it that can lead to chronic inflammation. Researchers figured that the Neu5Gc molecule must somehow benefit tumors, so they tested it. Sure enough, half of the experiment's mice with tumors were introduced to the anti-Neu5Gc antibodies the human body produces, and developed far more aggressive cancer than the mice without.

An inspired blog post I read recently, shows that U.S. households spend a higher percentage of their dollars on cheap packaged junk foods than anything else. The blogger observed people's shopping carts full of foods and decided to add up some data gathered by Nielsen about Americans' grocery shopping habits. Not surprising, the data reveals the food choices behind the pandemic of lifestyle related diseases caused by the cheap calories we consume. According to the data, the average American spends $1,321 on packaged foods (snacks, soda, etc.), $309 on frozen foods, $112 on meat, $215 on alcohol but just $91 on fresh produce.

I buy the majority of my food at my local Farmer's Markets, the health food store and through my food-coop group. While the health food store sells a lot of processed and convenience foods, they carry healthier versions of what their conventional counterparts sell, even when these carry some organic options also.

In my experience, most people's carts at the health food store contain a combination of produce, grains, beans and also quite a few processed, packaged and canned items. Some time ago, I was looking for ripe avocados and found myself looking in the local conventional super market. It was a surreal experience. I was almost in tears because it was so schocking and painful to see that the majority of people, with children, had shopping carts full of cheap toxic foods that come laden with artificial additives. It was truly overwhelming for me to witness this and I was overcome with sadness because I'm sure that in most instances, these peope simply don't know how harmful these "dead" foods are. They don't know how bad what they are buying is.

I decided to take a walking tour through the isles of the grocery store and noticed that the food prices, in many instances, are even higher than, for example, Whole Foods Market's 365 Organic Everyday Value® brand foods. Conventional grocery stores teamed up with industrial food manufacturers really stick it to uninformed consumers who pay a higher price -- both in food costs and in poor health.

I spent 5 hours yesterday making a 10-dish, 100 percent plant-base, farm fresh, homemade Thanksgiving meal from scratch in honor of my sister-in-law and her family who will be departing for an African adventure Saturday. They won't be back until after Thanksgiving and I really wanted them to enjoy a Thanksgiving celebration in advance.

I've also had clients asking me about preparing a vegetarian or vegan Thanksgiving, so I took this opportunity to develop and test new holiday recipes I’ve been working on. And I must say, they turned out really well. My guests, who are not vegetarians, absolutely loved the food and were raving about it.

This delicious and out-of-this-world butternut squash and chickpea stew with wonderful and healthful Indian spices will definitely spice up your day. Rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, this meal will give you a nice boost to your immune system and loads of energy! It's in the latest issue of my Vegetarian Organic Life newsletter!

According to research by the Centers fro Disease Control, the rate of new cases of diagnosed diabetes among adults has increased by more than 90 percent in the last decade. The alarming increase of new cases went from 4.8 per 1000 people from 1995 to 1997 to 9.1 cases per 1000 from 2005 to 2007 in 33 states. Lead data analyst, Karen Kirtland, Ph.D. stated that, "this study demonstrates that we must continue to promote effective diabetes prevention efforts that include lifestyle interventions for people at risk for diabetes. changes such as weight loss combined with moderate physical activity are important steps that individuals can take to reduce their risk for developing diabetes."

I couldn't have said it better myself. We call diabetes a preventable disease because it is caused by the absence of healthy foods and daily exercise, which what our bodies are designed for. And it doesn't happen overnight. Our bodies resist for many years, but there is only so much abuse they can take. It's a disease of choice. We choose it every time we decide to eat processed industrial food laden with unhealthy pesticides, fats and additives, void of real nutrients and cooked in a way that is toxic.

The good news is that even people who have diabetes can control it and even reverse it by adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle. The body is an amazing machine and very rewarding when given what it needs to do its job as it's meant to do.

Despite the frightening economic woes we're facing, and although not as vibrant as I hope some day it will be, the organic movement is alive and well. Pursuing organic is not a fad, a luxury or a practice reserved for the elite, like some claim, but rather a matter of health for consumers and sustainability for the environment. More than a matter of health, it’s a matter of survival. I feel optimistic when I see that, despite efforts of big conventional corporations, government agencies who cater to corporate America and our broken food system that's dependent on fossil fuel, organic is more relevant, and to some extend, more prominent than ever before.

With just about one week left to the presidential election, the issue of the U.S. Farm Bill has not been discussed by either candidate. But sometimes the actions of a presidential candidate's wife can provide important insight. I was pleased to learn that Michelle Obama mentioned in an interview that she buys organic foods and fresh fruit for her family. This might be an indication that her husband may share her same value system. And, the fact that Barack Obama drinks organic tea might be further hint that he is aware of the superiority of organic food. Having any other new president will be a step in the right direction. But having a president that at least knows that organic is better gives me hope.

Recently, Michael Pollan, author of the best selling book, "the Omnivore's Dilemma," wrote an open letter called, "Farmer in Chief," to the next President of the U.S. in, which he eloquently and articulately outlines a proposal with strategies for sustainable agriculture. Pollan effectively makes the point that food policy is in many ways the underlying cause of what's wrong with all the challenges that the next administration will face, not unlike how processed foods are the underlying cause of the top four killer diseases in the U.S. Pollan systematically shows the connection between the outdated farm bill (providing subsidies to rich corporation in the food commodity industry), the food policy (responsible for our broken food system responsible for cheap toxic calories), the dependency on oil for the entire industrial food system (from growing methods to production and transportation), the crisis in health care (unaffordable and focused on treatment rather than prevention) and national security (how terrorists could easily attack us using our food supplies).

Pollan proposes what he calls the Sun-food diet, food that's grown with sunlight rather than fossil fuel. His insightful solutions include using the power of the sun to grow food, decentralizing the food system and changing America's food culture through education about why and how to grow and cook food. I applaud Pollan’s efforts to plant seeds.

Ten Surprising Ways Food Affects Health; How to choose and care for healthy cookware; Grow food instead of a lawn; and the Vegetarian Organic Life recipe of the Week: Morning Muesli! (If you'd like to get this free newsletter in your e-mail inbox, click here to subscribe!