I'm Back!

I have been on a bit of a travel hiatus.  Last spring, I moved from Framingham to Northampton and I started a new job in the fall.  I spent the summer settling in and the fall/early winter transitioning to a new job.  But it's February break, and I am back on the road!  Laura and I went to Philly for three days of vegan eating, with a few other things thrown in.

We started our journey right here in NoHo, with a hearty breakfast at the Green Bean to fuel our road trip.  I enjoyed my standard favorite, Tempeh Arizona, while Laura tried the tofu triangles and the herb and onion bread with almond butter gravy - yum!  We hit the road at 8:15 and were in Philly by 1:00 - very excited that it's such an easy drive from the valley, especially after discovering so many good vegan eats in the city!

Our first Philly stop was Blackbird Pizzeria for lunch.  I was planning on just trying the pizza, until I discovered that they have "wings!"  So I stuck with just one slice, a Mexican one with avocado, caramelized onions, jalapenos, and cheddar cheese.  It was reminiscent of the Mexican (non-vegan) slice at Antonio's, which used to be my favorite.  Laura didn't want her peppers, so I spiced my slice up with her extras.  I took a bite of Laura's veggie supreme slice, loaded with three kinds of mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and green peppers.  It was good, but I liked my spicy one better.  We decided to try the root beer BBQ "wings" at the suggestion of the guy who took our order, and an excellent suggestion is was!  These wings are by no means healthy, but they are delicious!!!  We ordered a Caesar salad with capers, onions, and artichoke hearts to add a healthful element to our meal, but were sadly disappointed with that choice.  Luckily the pizza and wings made up for the lackluster green portion of our meal!

On our cold walk home, we decided to stop for a hot beverage.  We stumbled upon Bodhi Coffee, and the baristas happily made us vegan hot chocolates.  It was a perfect end to our lunch.

For our evening outing, we went to Charlie Was a Sinner, a bar serving small plates.  I will start by saying that the atmosphere in this place was totally not my scene - much too trendy for my beer-loving self!  I am pretty sure I was the only customer who ordered a beer in this land of $12 cocktails.  That being said, the food was amazing!  We ordered a variety of small plates to share.  To start, we had the vanilla citrus salad with pistachio puree and crispy quinoa.  This light dish had a delicious, unique flavor and was an excellent place to start.  Next up, house made ricotta from smoked tofu on toast.  A bit salty for my taste, but good nonetheless.  I chose the Korean style fried tofu and loved it, though it was a bit too spicy for Laura's taste - more for me!  The bonus pickles underneath were an added surprise.  Laura's choice from this section was the crab cakes with a tangy remoulade - delicious!  Our final two selections were from the pan roasted section.  The spiced cauliflower was good, but didn't hold a candle to the Brussels sprouts.  One of my favorite vegetables in any form, the grain mustard aioli and lemon parsley bread crumbs made for a superb dish.  I would get over my feelings of un-trendiness to try more of their dishes!

On Tuesday morning, we took a walk in the snow to Grindcore House, an all vegan cafe.  They have bagels and vegan cream cheese!  I was quite excited to enjoy a toasted everything with sun dried tomato and basil cream cheese, one of my pre-vegan faves.  Laura was excited to try the doughnuts, though I found them to be too sweet when I took a bite.

For lunch on Tuesday, we hit up Hip City Veg.  Mainly a takeout joint, there wasn't a lot of room to sit, but we managed to snag a table.  We went for an order of sweet potato fries, with Siracha aioli for dipping.  The fries were pretty greasy, but the dipping sauce was fantastic.  Then again, anything with Siracha is fantastic in my book.  I had the curry tofu wrap, which was reminiscent of the curry chicken salad at John Stone's another of my pre-veg faves.  We split a chocolate covered cherry shake to top things off, which was tasty and not too sweet, exactly to my liking.

Dinner was the purpose of our trip - Vedge!  I have been wanting to try this restaurant for a long time, and it did not disappoint.  We tried two small dishes from each section of the menu, as recommended.  First up was the best dish of the night, the rutabaga fondue served with soft pretzel bread.  I am not sure how they made such a tasty, cheesy dip from rutabagas, but it was amazing!  I could have just eaten that all night.  But that wouldn't have been very interesting, so instead we moved on to the stuffed avocado with pickled cauliflower, "fried rice", black salt, and Romesco sauce.  The avocado was perfectly ripe and the filling was quite good.  From the hot plate section, we chose the charcoal grilled romanesco cauliflower and the roast Maitake mushroom with a celery root fritter.  The cauliflower was good, but the mushroom, and particularly the fritter, win the prize from me in this section.  From the dirt list, we went with the crispy and creamy sunchokes and the Brussels sprouts (of course!).  The sunchokes were different and yummy, almost like potato chips on the outside.  The sprouts were good, but we both liked the ones from the night before better.  Finally, for dessert, we tried the lemon cheesecake and the chocolate uber chunk.  I didn't love the cheesecake, as I am not a huge fan of citrusy cheese, but Laura enjoyed it.  The chocolate peanut butter dessert was served in a mini mason jar with a pretzel-peanut crust, malt custard, and stout ice cream.  How can you go wrong with the chocolate peanut combo?  The stout ice cream was different and interesting - I think beer should be added to ice cream more often!  Speaking of, we walked off our dinner while heading to National Mechanics for a beer upon recommendation, one I am glad we followed - this was much more my scene as far as bars go!

On Wednesday we went to PS and Company for breakfast, a vegan, gluten free, organic establishment.  I went with the house made sprouted Mueseli with Brazil nut milk and a sweet potato muffin - both were excellent!  Laura tried the quinoa pancakes, which were okay, and the mushroom "bacon," which was delicious!  For lunch, we tried the vegan cheesesteaks at Govinda's.  I don't really remember what a non-vegan cheesesteak tastes like, but these were some darn good sandwiches!

On our way home, we stopped at the Papa Ganache bakery in New Jersey at Laura's request.  I bought two cupcakes that I haven't tried yet, as I was too full to eat anything.  Plus, I was saving room for It's Only Natural in Middletown, CT, our final eating stop and one of my favorite restaurants.  We both started with the soup special, parsnip and corn chowder, which has inspired me to make some corn chowder at home this weekend.  I insisted that we oder the old standby, sweet potato fries with smoked ketchup, as Laura hadn't tried them before.  We split the pesto special, made with mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar, and served over crispy polenta cakes.  This was a recommendation from the couple sitting next to us, and we are happy they interrupted our discussion to give us this tip!  Laura got the vanilla mousse for dessert, but I was too stuffed to order anything.  I did try a bite, but it was too sweet for me.  I was excited to find that ION is only a little over an hour away from NoHo!  Road trip soon...

And now I must run many miles a day in the cold and eat only salads for the next week to counterbalance all of this eating...

Key West

I am little late in writing this, as I was in Key West two weekends ago, but life has been a bit hectic.  I'm currently living in Northampton, but working in Ashland during the week, so time has been precious.  But I am taking advantage of a gray rainy day and I'm updating from my new favorite hangout spot in NoHo, Woodstar Cafe, where I am enjoying a decaf coffee and a vegan, gluten free doughnut with coconut on top.  Life is good!

I was in Key West May 8-11 for the beautiful wedding of my good friends Jen and Lauren.  We stayed at the resort where the wedding was being held, Casa Marina, which included its own private beach with hammocks and excellent poolside service.  We had breakfast outdoors at the resort the first two mornings we were there, where I enjoyed some excellent steel cut vanilla oatmeal with mangoes, bananas, and dried apricots.  After putting in a good showing at the pool the first day, I ventured downtown to try the vegan Sugar Apple Cafe.  The Cafe is attached to a natural foods store, which I explored while waiting for my lunch.  I had lots of time to do this, as the young man who took my order became quite busy flirting with some ladies who came into the cafe and therefore forgot to put my order in.  When it was finally ready, I enjoyed a smoked tempeh sandwich and a salad with key lime vinaigrette at a small table in the shade outside of the cade.  I also decided to try a raspberry banana smoothie, which was fabulous.  Well worth the wait, in my opinion.

On Saturday, after enjoying my oatmeal for breakfast and some time by the pool, I made my way to The Cafe for lunch.  The Cafe is a sit down, casual restaurant with significantly better service than Sugar Apple.  I went with one of the specials, which was a chick pea "tuna" sandwich with onions and a bit of seaweed, which I'm guessing was supposed to give it the "tuna" flavor.  It didn't really taste like tuna, which I was happy about, and I couldn't really taste the seaweed.  It was quite delicious!  It came with some yummy sweet potato fries and an amazing curry dipping sauce.  They had some pretty good looking vegan desserts, but I was full and decided against trying one.

Finally, the wedding!  The ceremony was one of the most beautiful I have ever been to, right on the beach with the waves lapping the shore just feet from where Jen and Lauren said their vows.  The weather was perfect, sunny and in the eighties with a breeze (the "relentless breezes" as my brother referred to them).  Dinner was a buffet with many vegan options.  I enjoyed seaweed salad, a variety of raw and cooked veggies, and a delicious quinoa dish.  For dessert, I got to toast vegan marshmallows.  Well done, Casa Marina!

Finally, on our way back to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, we stopped at Help Yourself, a natural food store and cafe.  I had a vegan breakfast wrap with tempeh, salsa, and lettuce, and an iced chai tea latte with homemade coconut milk.  A great way to fuel the long drive back to the mainland!  Though the trip was short, I left feeling refreshed, relaxed, and full of good vegan eats!

NYC, Days Two and Three

Tuesday started off snowy in the Big Apple, so we crowded onto a packed 5 train and headed to Brooklyn.  As we emerged from the depths of the city, the snow stopped and the loveliness that is Dun Well Donuts appeared before us.  A coconut glazed and vanilla dipped with sprinkles accompanied by a hot cup of coffee was all I needed to start the day.  Since it had stopped snowing, we decided to walk the two miles to TKTS where we scooped up half price tickets to "Beautiful", the Carole King musical.  We then made our way to MOB where I had a fantastic flatbread covered in chick peas, veggies, and Moroccan spices.  I tried a bit of Laura's "bacon" made from carrots, which mostly just tasted of liquid smoke to me.  However, her corn chowder was fantastic and the crispy fries were delicious!

After heading back to Manhattan and resting for a bit at the hotel, we made our way across town to an early dinner reservation at Cafe Blossom.  I had been there in November and really enjoyed it, but I wanted to try the famous soy bacon cheeseburger.  I started with a small cup of spicy vegetable tempeh soup which was good, but not very spicy.  The burger was amazing though!  Somehow they managed to get the "cheese" and "bacon" tasting pretty darn close to the real thing.  The sauteed mushrooms added even more to an already delicious burger.  The sweet potato fries and homemade ketchup were the perfect accompaniment.

We walked off our dinner in Times Square before heading to the theater.  "Beautiful" was excellent, and my favorite part of the trip.  We considered dessert afterwards, but there weren't any options in the theater district, and to be honest, I was still pretty full from my burger, so we called it a night.

On Wednesday, we checked out of the hotel early and had some coffee and tea before heading downtown.  (I may have had a chocolate peanut butter donut from the day before...)  Our first stop was Lush to check out their second generation perfume line.  We then headed to E.L.F. for inexpensive vegan makeup.  We refueled at Babycakes where I enjoyed a banana cinnamon cupcake before checking out Moo Shoes.  I finally found a good, vegan black belt!  We ended our time in the city with another stop at Peacefood Cafe, where we tried the Caesar salad, the veggie panini, and the chick pea fries.  The salad was good, the sandwich was excellent, and the fries were too salty.

We got back to New Haven just in time for dinner, so we went a little out of our way to have dinner at It's Only Natural in Middletown.  There we tried the smothered spicy cornbread, covered in cheese and hot peppers.  I had the coconut curry which was delicious, but I could only eat half - leftovers!  Laura tried the Portobello loaf which was yummy and covered in an excellent gravy.  Their new location is much bigger and easier to find, which I appreciated!

All in all, not a very healthy trip, but a very satisfying one in terms of vegan eats.  :)

Candle 79

Laura and I are taking a mini-vacation in New York, mainly to eat and shop. Tonight we ate at Candle 79, which I have been wanting to try for quite some time. It did not disappoint!  We started off with the house made ginger ale, which was great - lots of ginger and not too sweet. Our server sold us on the special appetizer, which was a trio of artichokes - fried, sauteed, and grilled. All three were excellent!  After much deliberation, we decided on the tempeh with Mole sauce and the chick pea cake with red curry. The Mole sauce was fantastic, just the right amount of spice. The dish included some excellent Brussels sprouts. The chick pea cake was served over kale and broccoli with just a bit of red curry. We split each dish so that we could both enjoy. For dessert, we tried the Mexican brownie sundae, which was  just okay. The brownie bottom was burnt, which was not appealing. Overall, it was a great dining experience!

On a side note, we visited Peacefood Cafe for hot drinks and snacks. Laura had a delicious ginger soy latte, and I tried the Brazilian nut Chai. It was not nearly as sweet as most Chai, which I enjoyed. We tried a magic cookie, which contained nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, and carrots. It was good, but definitely not as good as the raspberry bar that we split. We are definitely going back for lunch on Wednesday to try their savory food!

The Last Supper

My final day in Paris was fairly uneventful (though my suitcase finally showed up - that was exciting!). After a leisurely morning, we headed out around noon.  I set off on my own to tour Sainte Chappelle and wander the streets of Paris.  What I had been looking forward to most, however, was dinner.  There was one restaurant I had been wanting to try, Le Potager du Marais, where they do vegan versions of classic French dishes.  My mom and Peter joined me, and we were lucky to get a table right away (the restaurant is extremely small).  I started with the vegan French onion soup, which was delicious!  Full of croutons and topped with a surprisingly yummy vegan cheese.  Mom and Peter split a baked potato with an olive tapenade that was also quite tasty (I snagged a bite, of course!).  For dinner, we split two entrees, the hazelnut loaf and the pink lentil balls.  We got the almond rice for one side, and the mashed potatoes for the other.  We all agreed that the lentil balls were the tastiest item, but everything was delicious. For dessert, we shared ginger creme brulee, something that is hard to come by as a vegan version.  I have to say, they did a pretty good job!  It wasn't overly sweet, which I appreciated.

Thankfully, my trip home was not nearly as eventful as my trip out.  There was a minor glitch with my ticket, and I had to rush to catch my connecting flight, but otherwise, all was well.  The food was not as good as United's, but Lufthansa was awesome about checking in with me and making sure everything they gave me was vegan.  Plus, they give you free wine with dinner.  Lufthansa definitely wins in terms of customer service!

Christmas in Paris

Christmas in Paris is very different from Christmas in the states. Many businesses are open and it's much more low key (other than the revellers at midnight).  We got up at 7:45 and Amelie and Sira opened their presents (the ones that Santa brought to Paris, at least).  Our morning was relaxed, with pancakes and French pastries for breakfast. We ventured out around noon and meandered up to Sacre Couer for some excellent views of the city. Dinner was beef/tofu bourginion before our trip to the ballet to see Sleeping Beauty.

Today was a gorgeous day in Paris - sunny and close to 50 degrees. A perfect day to tour the sculpture garden at the Rodin Museum. We had a late lunch at the Saint Germaine. I was convinced that I would only be able to have vegetable soup. But I asked for a vegan salad to go along with it in my halting French and was quite pleasantly surprised!  First of all, the happiness delicious - pureed with lots of greens and eaten with lots of bread. But the salad was the gem of the meal. Steamed green beans, carrots, peas, and other veggies over lettuce and cabbage, dressed perfectly with a mustard vinaigrette. It was amazing!

After lunch, we headed to the Musee D'Orsay. What a wonderful place!  Created from an old train station, the building alone is worth the trip. But the art is pretty good too. The girls had had enough museum time for the day, so they headed home while Mom, Peter, and I took in some more of the museum. We bought some fresh veggies for dinner on the way home (I love all of the fruit and vegetable stands here!) and cooked up some pasta with garlic, olive oil, and veggies. We had dinner with the kids while Melissa and Darren went out for some adult time. Dessert was hot chocolate, and now it's story time!

In other news, I think my suitcase is lost and gone forever....

Pay Phone

I've spent a lot of time on a pay phone trying to locate my suitcase. Not how I wanted to spend my vacation.  In between, however, the trip ha  been great!

Yesterday was a lazy morning, as we all continued to adjust to the time difference. Hence began the ongoing saga with United Airlines. I spent some quality time at the pay phone while the rest of the family ate pancakes. I made up for my lack of breakfast with a big bowl of Mueseli. It's so much better here!

We finally headed out in the early afternoon. Melissa and I visited a few thrift shops while Didi and Grandpa went ahead to the ice skating rink. The lines was really long, and the ice really wet, so we rode the carousel instead. We then walked to Notre Dame, but admired it from the outside as the line to  get in was ridiculously long. We'll see the inside tonight when we go for Christmas carols before midnight mass. Instead, we went into a warm cafe for hot chocolate and other warm beverages.

Didi, Grandpa, and I had an adult dinner at Le Passage Oblige, chosen for having several vegan opt up options. We had onion fritters for an appetizer. I thought they would taste like onion rings, but they were totally different and delicious. For my main meal, I ordered the platter so that could try a few different things. The best was a the veggie party with an amazing olive tapenade in top. The mushroom ragu was also pretty amazing.  This was a good choice for a vegan friendly place with meat options.

This morning we headed out early to check out the catacombs. We got there early enough that we were near the front of the line. We waited about half an hour for them to open - totally worth the wait!  For lunch, I wanted to try the Ginger Cafe, but they were closed. So I went around the corner  to Grand Appetit.  The owner was very friendly and helpful. I ordered the bowl, which came with veggies, brown rice, lentils, and seitan. It was fantastic!  Upon the owner's recommendation, I tried the apple pear tart for dessert. Yum!

My afternoon was spent at H&M buying clothes, since my suitcase still hasn't been delivered. The one helpful United employee that I talked to today told me to put a claim in for 200 Euro, rather than the $100 I spent. More shopping???

Christmas eve was spent with homemade dinner, bread, and wine. At ten we head to Notre Dame for carols. Merry Christmas everyone!