Vegetarian Traditions
Stories • Recipes • Travel • Farms • Traditions
A Culinary Journal by Chef George Vutetakis
For more than fifty years, I’ve explored the people, places, and traditions behind remarkable plant-based food—from
San Diego and Michigan farmers’ markets and the Inn Season Café to villages in India and tropical farms in Peru.
I invite you to discover recipes, culinary travel, farming traditions, ingredient histories,
and the joy of cooking with nature’s abundance.
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Latest Stories
New recipes, culinary journeys, farmers, traditions
and stories from my kitchen.
Harvest Vegetable Kofta: A Gathering of Detroit Chefs
Harvest Vegetable Kofta is a celebration of the season—a marvelous way to make use of the abundance and variety of vegetables available at the height of the harvest. For a gathering devoted to honoring the past while considering what we might pass on to the next generation of chefs, it seemed like exactly the right dish to bring to the table.
Bengali Charchari Sabzi: The Art of the Caramelized Crust
“Iconic cuisine” is an apt description for the food of Bengal. Bengali sweets may be among the region’s most famous contributions to Indian cuisine, but its extraordinary vegetable dishes deserve equal attention. Among my favorites is charchari, a uniquely Bengali style of cooking that transforms simple vegetables through a combination of simmering, steaming and, finally, controlled caramelization.
Black Pepper Tofu: The Art of the Sauté
At Inn Season Cafe, sautéing tofu was an art form. A hot steel pan, careful timing and a little patience transformed simple tofu into something deeply savory and satisfying. This Black Pepper Tofu recipe uses just four ingredients, with easy air fryer and oven options for the home cook.
Detroit City of Chefs III Dinner
When filmmaker and chef Keith Famie called to share his vision for Detroit City of Chefs III, his excitement was contagious. This new chapter, he explained, would spotlight Michigan’s growing movement toward vegetarian and plant-based cuisine. ChefJimmy Schmidt, renowned chef and three time James Beard Award recipient, was already on board, and Keith invited me to join in shaping the story.
Farm To Table With Don Cinzori
He didn’t just follow trends—he set them. Don dove deep into peppers and chiles, and I remember clearly when he was the first to grow Jimmy Nardello sweet frying peppers in our region. His tomatoes were unrivaled, his Sicilian purple eggplants practically glowed, and come fall, his squash selection was the stuff of legend. From kombucha and red kuri to specially selected sweet butternuts and buttercups—not to mention the enormous “sidewalk” Hubbard squash—his produce was always the best and most flavorful.
Detroit City of Chefs I
During my interview with filmmaker Keith Famie for the "Detroit City of Chefs", I had the pleasure of preparing several dishes that exemplify my culinary philosophy and journey. Here’s a glimpse into the dishes I crafted, mostly from my cookbook Vegetarian Traditions, Favorite Recipes From My Years At The Legendary Inn Season Cafe, highlighting my commitment to healthful, flavorful, and culturally rich vegetarian cuisine