"We'll be open two years in June, and many restaurants don't make it through the first year," Cerreta said. "But we're vision-driven, so it's the incentive that keeps us going."

Based on her success, Cerreta is setting up a nonprofit foundation with a goal to put a similar eatery in other cities.

"Supposedly we're the only ones in the country doing something like this, and my hope is it will catch on," she said. "Part of the reason I'm on the planet is to eliminate world hunger."

Although organic food costs more, she can get a better price on it by buying in season. When customers choose the portions and price, "there's no psychological incentive to take more than they need, so we can serve another portion of that food to someone else. That eliminates waste. All our kitchen scraps are composted."

A house favorite is The Everything Cookie, made daily with available ingredients — cranberries, coconut, cashews, raisins.

Jennifer Russell-Fenus, a vegan and chairperson of the local EarthSave, agrees that local vegan and vegetarian options have expanded in the past few years. "Ten years ago, you could only have a baked potato or a salad," she said. "Even with pasta, a lot of it has eggs in it."

While a guidebook is helpful, Russell-Fenus warns that restaurants often change their recipes. "Something what was once vegan, now might have egg whites in it, so it's good to ask every time," she said.

A 2003 survey done by the Vegetarian Resource Group showed that 4 percent to 10 percent of the population call themselves vegetarians. Over half of those could be classified as vegan. But Mathers said there's a growing number of "flexatarians," who eat meatless meals part of the time, and this has helped to bring items like soy milk and veggie burgers mainstream. "Even Burger King has a veggie burger," she notes. "When I first worked for Vegetarian Times, we used to beg Starbucks to carry soy milk. Now it's a no-brainer."

EVERYTHING COOKIE

Part I:

1 pound (4 sticks) organic butter, softened

2 cups organic sugar

2 cups organic brown sugar

5 cage-free eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 cups organic flour (any kind)

5 cups oats (instant or raw)

Mix softened butter, sugar, and eggs together until creamy. Add soda, powder, flour and oats

Part II:

Add a few handfuls of 3-4 of these ingredients to your cookie dough:

Natural chocolate chips

Organic coconut

Dried sweetened cranberries

Organic pumpkin seeds

Organic cashews

Organic pecans

Organic walnuts