"This isn’t about ‘veganism,’" writes Mark Bittman in an essay published today on the website of the Purple Carrot, the food startup he's joined as Chief Innovation Officer. Moving on from his post at the New York Times, the Berkeley-dwelling, Cal-teaching Bittman is completing a transformation of sorts, if not to strict vegan status, then to full-time Bay Area residency.
The Purple Carrot is based in Boston and has now expanded to the West Coast to send subscribing members meal kits with Bittman-developed vegan recipes the Blue Apron for the veg set, if you will. But that's "about all of us eating better," the Chief Innovation Officer writes. If it happens to overlap with eating plants — and it does — Bittman, who spoke with SFist, seems to suggest it's some kind of vegan coincidence.
SFist: You touched on this in your final piece for the Times, but what convinced you to leave such an influential post, in the end?
Mark Bittman: I always thought a five-year run [at the Times] would be good, and the last year I've had my ears open for interesting things. When [the Purple Carrot CEO and Founder] Andy Levitt contacted me, I thought, this is a perfect fit, it exactly personifies what I've been talking about for the last ten years.
SFist: How, so far, does startup life and its challenges compare with your past job?
Bittman: For me it's not that much different, because I've worked on many things with steep learning curves. Not really having worked in business, I don't have that much to compare it to. But I feel like my whole life has been a startup.
SFist: As there are many, many food startups, and just one Mark Bittman: Why did you choose to lend your voice — and name, and recipes — to this one?
Bittman: This is the thing I believe in. I'm interested in getting people in the kitchen, and I'm interesting in having people eat good food. All of those qualities are met by different food kits. Our mission at the Purple Carrot is to understand and enjoy plant-based food.
SFist: [vague allusions to Seamless, Caviar, Munchery, others]
Bittman: I'm not that interested in glorified pizza delivery, or glorified Thai take-out. We are talking about having restaurants cook for you, but it's still just takeout. Purple Carrot is going to be shipping real ingredients and having people cook real food.
SFist:Any places you like to go to eat vegan food in the Bay?
Bittman: I like very much Udupi Palace for dosa, and I'm sure they call themselves vegetarian, but I've never had even raita there. But mostly when I'm home, I try to cook, and you know, I go to whatever farmers' market is open. There are so many that I still haven't been to. I do like very much the Sunday one in Temescal and the Thursday one in South Berkeley.
SFist: Nervous to ask this, but the Purple Carrot is based in Boston — which is weird because only the Bay Area is allowed to have startups, I thought. Nonetheless, will you be moving, or do you plan to stay here?
Bittman: I'm staying here for the foreseeable future. I'm basically living out of a suitcase, but I want to spend time in Berkeley, and my lawyer says it's my domicile.
Previously: In Total Bay Area Move, Food Writer Mark Bittman Leaves NYT For Food Startup
