Penguin.com (usa)

	You don't suddenly need to go...from McDonalds to macrobiotic
	—Moby

"We wanted a shop that was very relaxed and that had a broader appeal than your typical vegetarian restaurant," Moby explained recently over a bottle of Peach Berry Green Tea Cooler on Teany's outdoor patio. A genuine love for animals—as confirmed by his VIP treatment of a pug whose owner stopped into the shop—made him decide to go vegan twenty years ago. Moby acknowledges, though, that such radical change isn't for everybody.

"You don't suddenly need to go from McDonalds to macrobiotic," he promises. "It all comes down to making healthy choices, small things that are not really onerous but that will improve the overall quality of your life and your health."

With the publication of Teany Book, Moby and Tisdale add auteur to their ever-growing lists of credentials. Subtitled "A Blend of Stories, Food, Romance, and of Course, Tea," the book delivers as promised. In addition to honestly portraying Moby and Tisdale's romance-cum-business partnership, Teany Book is packed with recipes for Teany's delicious, healthy fare—satisfying, savory sandwiches, decadent homemade desserts, DIY herbal teas—as well as herbal remedies to common medical and cosmetic ailments. The book begins with an abridged history of Manhattan's Lower East Side as seen through the eyes of Moby and Tisdale's unmistakable ancestors: early immigrants Yetzl and Gelda Teekny, their Beat Generation offspring Simone and Jean-Luc, hippie cousins Bob and Moonbeam, and more. The myriad recipes are informative and easy to follow, and even the most esoteric of ingredients can be tracked down online.

Laura Buchwald sat down with Moby recently to talk about his book, his shop, his literary heritage and the importance of taking on healthier habits one step at a time.

 
What's the secret to working well with an ex?

Persistence. We broke up the day Teany opened, so we had no choice but to work together. It was somewhat akin to a couple breaking up when they have a child. It's difficult, but you learn to put aside your own self-interest for the interest of the baby which, in this case, is Teany. The first year was really tricky. We'd break up and get back together and it could get messy, especially when jealousy enters the picture. You're trying to run a business with your ex and your both fully aware that you're each dating other people. But now, having gone through this, we've proven that old expression that "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Now both our friendship and our business relationship are much stronger than they probably would have been had we not gone through all that.

 
Are you looking to appeal to a pre-existing audience of vegetarians and health-conscious diners or to convert people?

I would say that sixty percent—if not more—of the people who come to Teany are not vegetarians. Certainly we attract a lot of vegetarians and vegans, but they're the minority, and that's something I'm quite proud of. I've been vegan for twenty years and it's always been hard to get my non-vegan friends to go to vegetarian restaurants. And there are plenty of them in New York.

 
What sets Teany apart from the pack?

We tried to make the menu as good and satisfying as it can be. Many vegetarian places tend toward austere, monastic, macrobiotic type of food, whereas we tend to be more sybaritic. We have wine, beer, and sangria. You can smoke outside. I think that's what sets us apart.

 
What made you decide to become a vegan?

I became a vegetarian because I love animals, and then I realized that the same criterion that made me become a vegetarian necessitated my becoming a vegan. I realized that the way most animal products are produced causes suffering, and if I didn't want to cause suffering, I should become a vegan. I hope, however, that I'm a very non-judgmental vegan.

 
So you don't mind befriending leather-clad carnivores?

Honestly, I only have one or two friends who are vegans. Most of my friends are meat eaters; I have a few friends who are vegetarians. If I want people to respect my lifestyle choices, I have to respect theirs.

 
What non-vegan food do you miss?

New York, thin-crust pizza. There are those times that you're coming home at 3AM and you've been drinking all night in some divey New York bar and there is nothing better than a slice.

 
Why does most of America consider it so much easier to lead unhealthy lives than healthy ones?

You don't have to make as much of an effort to sell unhealthy food to people. I know deep-fried chicken tastes good. We are genetically programmed to respond better to things that are bad for us than we do things that are good for us.

 
Are there any vices that you miss? In the book you mention that you're in an extended period of sobriety.

That was then. I have tons of vices.

 
Why don't Americans extol tea the way the rest of the world does, for its health and other benefits? What are some of the other benefits?

When I grew up, tea was either a Japanese drink or a grandmother's drink. We stay away from such extremes at Teany. Tea is fantastic for you, it tastes good, it has a rich history. Pound for pound it is probably the healthiest thing on the planet. It has has a very unique combination of anti-oxidants, and more than any other foodstuff. Clinical studies have proven that it can help prevent many different types of maladies, cancer, heart disease. It's also affordable. If you want to be a wine connoisseur you have to spend hundreds of dollars—normally connoisseurship comes with a high price tag. At Teany you can have four cups of our most rare, most expensive tea and it will only set you back a few dollars. It's egalitarian connoisseurship.

 
Will the US ever catch up to some of the rest of the world in terms of valuing health and nutrition?

America's hard to generalize. It's a country of 300 million, and we have both the fattest people on the planet and the skinniest, healthiest. We have some of the most provincial, close-minded people and some of the most open-minded. We also probably have more health food stores per capita here than anywhere else in the world. But if you're in the suburbs in Oklahoma or Iowa, you're going to have a harder time finding healthy options. Your options will be chicken, steak or Twinkies. But really, everyone wants to be healthy and to live a longer life. But don't completely deprive yourself. Even my most health conscious friends and I aren't overly extreme. Instead of going out and getting drunk every night, we'll go out once or twice a week. It's just about being a little nicer to yourself. The moment you deny yourself something is the moment you desperately want that thing. You say, "I'm never going to drink again," and then you look at a six-pack of beer and it's the best thing you've ever seen. Be nice to yourself and be reasonable about your expectations.

 
If you could advise people to start with one healthy change, what would it be?

Honestly, it would be to walk more. If you tell someone to do aerobics every day for an hour, it's hard; it may last a week or two. The key is to try for changes that actually fit into your life, that don't become the exception, but rather the rule. Living in New York, we walk everywhere. No one thinks of it as exercise; it's just how we get around.

 
What do you think will be the next trend in health and nutrition?

I think we'll see an expansion on the Whole Foods model, where health and nutrition are not seen as burdens. Twenty or thirty years ago health food stores were depressing places—scrawny hippies trying to sell seaweed and nutritional yeast. Now, people go to Whole Foods because it's a nice experience—and they can make healthy food choices. Who wouldn't rather shop in a nice environment and buy food that looks beautiful, tastes good and is good for you? That food is out there. It's not that difficult to make, and it's not just about brown rice and blanched broccoli.

 
Let's talk about your great-great granduncle, Herman Melville, a connection that obviously resonates for you. How do you identify with him?

I don't know because I never met him. Biographically, I know the details of his life, but I don't know who he was as a person. One of the things I love about Moby Dick, which I just came to understand as I got older—and I don't know if any literary scholars would agree with this—but I see it as an ontological metaphor for the human condition. The world is a vast, unknowable, ancient place. On one hand you have Ahab, who is an incredibly controlling person, and on the other hand you have Moby Dick, who represents this vast, chaotic natural world in which we live. It drives Ahab insane that he can't control it, can't conquer the world. Ultimately he destroys himself and the lives of those around him in trying to beat the world. That resonates for me.

 
How many times have you read the book?

I've never finished it. I've tried to finish it five or six times. But I think that that basic metaphor is why Moby Dick was the first modern novel, because it dealt with issues that were a lot broader than what most of the books of that day were about. Most of them were almost provincial.

 
Your birthday is September 11; how have you spent it over the last four years?

I spend the day fairly quietly and mournfully. I now celebrate my birthday the week after, on the 16th or 17th. In my family, birthdays were never a big deal. So when New York was attacked on September 11, I was in no way troubled that I'd lost my birthday. I was deeply, deeply disturbed by what happened, but the fact that it was my birthday didn't resonate for me.

 
What are some of your favorite places to visit in New York?

A lot of my favorite places in New York are the obvious ones; I love the Cloisters and the parks—Central Park, Battery Park, Tompkins Park, East River Park, Washington Square. They provide a vantage point where you can actually see the rest of the city. The moment you walk into a park, you step outside the city, so you have a little bit of distance to literally and figuratively see it. It's nice to be able to look at the buildings instead of being in the middle of them. It's calming.

For a bit of calm right in the city, visit Teany at 90 Rivington Street between Orchard Street and Ludlow.

Laura Buchwald is a freelance writer based in New York City. She has written for Gotham Magazine, The New York Post's Page Six, and recently completed her first novel.