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Chrissie Hynde's Veggie Restaurant

September 18, 2008 1:16 PM

Photo: Hogan/Getty

The S.S. just chatted with the Pretender's lead singer Chrissie Hynde to talk about the band's new album, Break Up The Concrete (due in October). She also rapped with us about her vegan restaurant, The VegiTerranean, which she opened less than a year ago in her hometown of Akron, Ohio.

Click more to read what Chrissie has to say about VegiTerranean (she likes the gnocchi), and her fascinating trivia about the hamburger.

So what are your mandates as far as what music is played at VegiTerranean?

Ah, that's a sore point. I haven't been there enough to really put that together. It's the early days, you know, we're not even a year old. The food is just sublime. So that's the good news -- the food is just really something special.

I was checking out the menu yesterday, what's your favorite thing?

The gnocchi is really great. The pizza, the burgers... I mean, I was never really a burger fan but the Biker Burgers are amazing. Incidentally, I didn't write the menu. I don't think I would have called it the Pretenders Hot Dog.

Or the Chrissie Fries?

[Laughs] Like I said, I gotta spend more time there. The chef's a genius. It really is like an Italian restaurant but it's all vegan. It's just remarkable, if I do say so myself. I'm as surprised as anybody that it's been such a success.

I was down in Akron with the Black Keys this year, and they told me that the burger was invented in Akron.

But did you know there can be up to 100 different animals in one burger. We have nothing to do with that. Did you know that a vegetarian driving a Hummer has less impact on the environment than a meat-eater on a bicycle?

Wow.

So, you know it's a lot to address and a lot to put right. My pledge is that I will remain on this earth until the last McDonald's has been burned to the ground.

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