one my favorite places i’ve ever been would have to be highline in seattle.

the brand new bar is located on capitol hill in an upstairs space of a former nightclub, and serves a huge menu of reasonably-priced and entirely vegan fare. we were tipped off by our friend, a seattle local, who had heard that highline had opened up in her neighborhood and supposedly served “vegan bar snacks”. we went in not expecting a whole lot, and were completely blown away by the selection and quality of the food. we loved highline so much in fact, that we dined there 2 nights in a row. have a look at what we ate…

fish and chips $8

first up from the shared plates menu, we ordered the fish and chips. the minute we saw this greasy classic was offered, we knew we had to order it—and highline did not disappoint! the “fish” was some kind of soy concoction (tofu perhaps?) lightly battered and wrapped in nori. it was beyond delicious. the fries were perfectly cooked as well, and the dish came with the most unbelievably creamy pot of tartar sauce. by far, this is the best plate of vegan fish and chips i’ve ever had.

caeser salad: romaine, red onion, croutons, and caeser dressing. with soy chicken. $10

we also shared the caeser salad with added vegan chicken, and it was excellent as well. cool and fresh romaine, all topped off with crispy little nuggets of grilled soy. again, this dish exceeded our expectations.

the reubender: house-made vegan pastrami with russian dressing, smoky provolone cheez, sauce and sauerkraut on grilled rye. with a side of coleslaw. $10

lastly, on the first night, we shared highline’s version of the vegan reuben. all the sandwiches are either $7 solo or $10 with a side. there was a really interesting vegan cottage cheez dish on the menu, so we ordered it as a side. unfortunately, highline was out of that and we wound up with a side of coleslaw. it was a happy ending though, because the coleslaw was wonderful. rich and creamy with a tasty blend of shredded vegetables.

but enough about the side, let me tell you about THE SANDWICH! OMG holy wow, this was an epic sandwich—the best reuben i’ve ever eaten. if this thing were down in LA, it would steal the reuben wars crown in 2 seconds flat. it was filled with the meatest homemade vegan pastrami that was thickly sliced and super hearty. not to mention phenomenal cheese and rich dressing. i couldn’t even finish half of it; it was so massive. honestly, i just can’t say enough good things about this sandwich.

potato skins $8

on our second night at highline, we started with the potato skins appetizer. this came with six mini potatoes loaded up with cheezy sauce, tempeh bacon, tomatoes, and onions—all with a thick creamy sauce. to say this dish was amazing would be an understatement! it was crazy good, fantastic, just like so many other dishes we tried at highline. i told the bartender/waiter that these were the best potato skins i’d ever eaten, and he was like, “yeah, we haven’t been open very long so we are still working out the recipes. they should get even better.” i am officially jealous of everyone who lives in seattle.

chiggen caesar wrap: soy chicken strips, romaine, tomato and onion with caeser dressing. with a side of cottage cheez. $10

next we split the “chiggen caesar wrap,” and much to my excitement, the cottage cheez was back in stock! the side was sooooo good. i never thought i would eat a vegan version of cottage cheese, and i loved it! they made it out of chunky crumbled tofu and some kind of thick white sauce. the texture was so close to the real thing, i couldn’t believe it. the wrap was even better than the caesar salad we’d eaten the night before. it came in an over-sized flour tortilla complete with grill marks (which i love).

philly dip: seitan strips, sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheez sauce on a toasted roll. served with aus jus. $7

we also shared a vegan philly dip grinder, but asked them to leave out the bell peppers (which i hate). another absolutely perfect sandwich, this thing was filled with grilled seitan strips, sauteed vegetables and tons of melty daiya cheese. the aus jus was flavorful and salty, the perfect dip for this beauty. SO DAMN GOOD. and a feast for just 7 bucks!

we were only in seattle for 3 nights, and i tried to convince my husband to return to highline on our last evening as well, but he said 2 times in one trip were enough. dammit. i am already plotting another visit to the pacific northwest.

i’ve got to admit, the atmosphere in highline is a little meh…but they haven’t been open very long, so hopefully they will fix it up a bit. it just seems sort of thrown together: they have a huge bar with tables and chairs scattered around, and tons of empty space. the beer selection isn’t great (think pbr), and there is a small amount of outdoor seating. the food is FANTASTIC though, and that’s what counts.

next time you are in seattle, go to capitol hill and climb the steps on broadway avenue up to highline. it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but there you will find food unlike anything you’ve ever eaten. i know i will visit as often as possible.

highline
210 broadway avenue east
seattle, wa 98102
206-328-7837
mon – fri 11am-2am
sat and sun 9am-2am

PS: HERE ARE THE MENUS!!!!!!!!!! read at your own risk, they will make you way hungry.
(click thumbies to enlarge)

chef brooke’s natural cafe seems to be a rarity in fort myers, where you’re more likely to find chain restaurants and fried gator tail than super fresh organic food. my mom and i wandered in one week day for lunch to sample some of chef brooke’s healthy offerings – and i must say i was pleasantly surprised to see the place with quite a few patrons. we skimmed the menu and while not a lot of the items are marked “vegan,” there are several vegan options.

house beans and brown rice burrito. $8.99

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hey everyone! time for our latest vegan field report from rachel who has been staying in london. here she reviews the delicious-sounding dessert maker, ms. cupcake! check it out:

I have tried a lot of vegan cupcakes; everything from very dry, funny tasting ones to deliciously moist ones, but none can ever come close to those baked by Ms. Cupcake. Based in London, Ms. Cupcake provides amazingly rich and decadent cupcakes in a huge variety of flavors. As a former primary school teacher, Ms. Cupcake can now officially say, “I bake cupcakes for living” because she is a hit at both the Greenwich and Brick Lane Markets where she sells at.

Decked out in adorable 1950’s attire, who wouldn’t want to buy sweets from her? I’ve tried far too many “you won’t feel guilty about these because they’re healthy” kind of cakes and those all fell under the dry and funny tasting category. But Ms. Cupcake provides vegans with a dessert so decadent that I don’t think I will ever eat another vegan cupcake unless it’s hers (so she better start shipping to the States…).

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after a nice relaxing day on sanibel island, my folks and i stopped at pizza fusion in fort myers for some grub. my adorable mom was really excited to take me there, telling me during several conversations over the last few months there was a new pizza place with vegan pizza.

i’ve been to pizza fusion here in LA, so i was interested to see how the fort myers location compared.

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time for yet another vegan field report! this one comes from operative rachel, who is stationed across the pond in london. she covers one of my favorite companies, secret society of vegans (SSOV) in this entry…so READ UP! here goes:

I walked down Euston Road, passed the beautiful St. Pancras Station and then made a left on Caledonian Road. I proceeded along the road and from a distance I saw something beautiful for my vegan eyes….Vx, home of the Secret Society of Vegans. There is nothing quite like Vx, and I’m glad I was able to go here this summer, just a few months after the store opened. Having visited SSOV’s previous Camden Town location, I was thrilled to see a larger space with more room for not only clothing, but also for food.

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westville. again, this was a place on the fly. i was headed to get my hair did at ‘seagull salon’ by the lovely shaun sure thing and this joint happened to be steps from the salon. this isn’t a hair blog so i will talk about the food.

grilled vegan hot dogs: single or 'special' (special = 2 hot dogs w/ fries, salad or 1 side from the market) this is the special with "brussels crowe" spouts, sub the honey dijon for mustard sauce.

grilled vegan hot dogs: single or ‘special’ (special = 2 hot dogs w/ fries, salad or 1 side from the market) this is the special with “brussels crowe” spouts, sub the honey dijon for mustard sauce.

pick 4 for $13 (daily market sides): Lemon Grilled Asparagus(no parm), Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic, Seared Marinated Tofu, Sweet Potato Fries.

*bullet points
-tiny yet homey
-like your own kitchen table
-delicious food, organic produce, friendly staff
-i’d compare it to a place in MOZangeles yet comparing is pretty boring
-so many options and the daily “market” menu is literally a ‘to do’ or ‘laundry list’ of amazing greens/produce
-fresh vegetables were at their best, no need for fancy presentation and plating
-i was having a 7th inning stretch flashback so i went with the 2 hot dog special with a side of ‘brussels crowe’ sprouts.
(who is fucking A-Rod anyway?)
-hot like fire, a vegan food quickie.

westville
210 W 10th Street, New York, NY 10014
Between Bleecker and West 4th Street
Phone: 212-741-7971, 212-741-4780

Lunch Monday-Friday 11:30a-4:30p
Dinner Monday-Sunday 4:30p-11p
Brunch Saturday-Sunday 10a-4p

hi quarrygirl readers, time for yet another international post from field reporter dadatamonkey! up until now his posts have been from london, england…but today’s comes all the way from barcelona, spain! check out this awesome review of maoz vegetarian, our favorite restaurant chain ever.

Hello peeps the Monkey is back! In Barcelona, Spain (BCN) for a couple of weeks and feasting like I never have here. I´ve even found a vegan bar with a classic Brit menu… Oh yeah, Barca is really rockin with vegan food… But for now, let us deal with of one of my all time faves: FALAFEL!!!

What can I say? Maoz Vegetarian BCN… I LOVE YOU! How much? 5 times in 7 days so far, so go figure. 😉 Yup. You guessed it, I´m a Maoz fan of old, and have eaten their superb Falafel in 3 different cities for years. All have been superb! This really is the ULTIMATE in (healthy) vegan fast food! QG has already sung their praises so I´ll just re-iterate how lucky I am that this venue serves the best version I´ve had the pleasure to devour…

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hi everyone, time for another vegan field report from across the pond. this one is written by rachel, who is staying in london for the next few weeks! she has lots of great reports in store, so stay tuned and enjoy this one.

The sign for Tibits you'll see when you turn onto Heddon Street

Located on a side street just off Regent Street, Tibits offers a pay-by-weight vegetarian (but MOSTLY vegan) buffet, which definitely satisfies after a busy day of shopping. When I first came here last summer, an employee happily told me how Tibits works- you simply start piling onto a plate all the items you want, bring it to the cashier counter where you place your plate on a scale. The prices are: for breakfast it is £1.50 per 100g, lunch is £1.90 per 100g, and dinner is £2.10 per 100g.

The food boat

The prepared hot and cold food are centrally located on, what Tibits like to call, a boat. Each selection has a description, and all of the vegan options (which was the majority, except the yogurt and butter I X-ed out) are marked as so. There are complimentary vegan rolls, but unfortunately there was no vegan margarine to accompany. Although I did not get any drinks, Tibits also has a bar offering cocktails, wine and beer.

My plate

Everything I tried was delicious. As shown in the photo, what I had included carrot salad, pasta with tomatoes, aubergines, green beans and quinoa- all of which were prepared and seasoned wonderfully. Inside the bowl is freshly cut fruit (and not just the boring cut melons you see most in fruit salads…it had grapes, kiwi, strawberries, and pineapple.) It was very refreshing since it was my first meal after a 9 1/2 hour flight where I didn’t eat anything because my “vegan” meal had cheese in it.

Tibits interior

The interior of Tibits is really nice, brightly colored furniture and walls give it a bohemian feel, and inside is very spacious. It was never very crowded the times I’ve been there, but I assume that around dinner time, the restaurant is packed.

The next time you are shopping on Regent Street, definitely check out Tibits.

Tibits
12-14 Heddon Street
off Regent Street
London W1B 4DA
Telephone
+44 (0)207 758 4110
Fax
+44 (0)207 734 0428

Mon – Wed
09:00 am – 10:30 pm
Thurs – Sat
09:00 am – midnight
Sun
11:30 am – 09:00 pm

vegans! a couple days ago we reported that our favorite santa barbara restaurant, pizza guru, had temporarily closed down due to some….um…legal issues.

thankfully…they have re-opened as of today, and our friend melisser from the urban housewife was even there to try the pizza on their first day back in business.

she sent us this picture, and said the pizza was delicious. whew, glad to hear they are back in action. pizza guru also posted the following message on their facebook page this morning…

let’s hope they stay open for good this time, and that all the shady issues are behind them. i don’t know about you, but i am booking a trip to santa barbara to eat at pizza guru ASAP. don’t take the fact that there is pizza this awesome just a couple hours away for granted. GO, while you still can!

pizza guru
3534 State St
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 563-3250

hey guys, qg here. today is an exciting day, because our very first field reporter is now an official quarrygirl writer. i’d like to introduce you to this.charming.man! from now on, i won’t preface his entries. so sit back and enjoy his brief, honest, and often hilarious posts…the first being this one about zen palate in nyc.

this.charming.man

zen palate. nothing cray cray to rave about this place besides how great the food was and how quick it came. convenient and true vegan “fast food.” QG has already posted one of these dishes, the tofu delight, so i chose to try that myself yet opt for the fresh moo-shu rolls instead of fried taro roll which more fits my “palate.” after walking 50 some blocks from the upper west side, exploring where we now will call home, 2 iphones in hand: one with google maps blazin and the second with QG.com screaming, we choose ZP to cure our craving for chinese food….

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UPDATE 6/19/20: pizza guru has re-opened as of today!

we just received a dose of WTF news from a santa barbara tipster, alerting us to the fact that our favorite pizzeria ever, pizza guru, has been raided and shut down by the police. whaaaaaat?!

scandal after the jump…

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hey everyone, time for another vegan field report! it comes to us from our very first correspondent ever, who is now stationed in manhattan. in this post, he reviews one of our favorite restaurants in the world, candle 79. here goes!

where to start besides, where have you been all my life candle 79. we had 8:30pm reservations and the place was packed, we waited at the bar an extra 15 minutes but no complaints a beverage was definitely in order.

we were seated, drinks ordered, and then it all started.

the server brought us out some complimentary radish starters and all i can say is they were more then RAD_ish, they were excellent. mango, cucumber, onion murdered in seconds flat.

we chose to order a few things seeing neither one of us could make up our minds.

smoked hummus: grilled paratha bread, olives, roasted garlic bulb, red pepper oil. $13

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happy weekend, folks! it’s time for another vegan field report by brittany from the sick of lettuce blog. this time she takes on our FAVORITE cult ever (read more about them here) with her review of loving hut’s cape coral location. we are huge fans of the food at loving hut here in LA, so let’s see how the florida restaurant stacks up.

as i’ve said before, the city my parents live in is pretty thin on vegan options. so imagine my surprise when i found out there was a 100% vegan restaurant in cape coral, fl! cape coral neighbors fort myers and loving hut is just a hop, skip, and a toll bridge away.

i’ve never been to the loving hut here in LA but i have heard good things. it’s not one of those crappy vegan thai places! so one day my mom and i drove over the bridge to check it out.

fried wonton: shiitake mushroom, cabbage, carrots. $2.75

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Portland, Oregon is an is insanely vegan-friendly city. It is therefore perhaps the best place for West Coast and Midwest vegans to go on vacation for a long weekend, and is an especially good place to get away from the dry heat of a Southern California summer. It’s worth noting that just about every restaurant has several vegan options on the menu and there’s a big emphasis here on sustainability, environmental responsibility and liberal, yet fiscally responsible politics. A vegan heaven, right?

Right on. So, it was with glee that, on our recent visit, we discovered the Hopworks Urban Brewery (or HUB as they like to be called) which not only uses no animal products in the manufacture of its beer, but also has a very, very vegan-friendly menu including a vegan cheese offering on its vegan NY-style pizzas. This, to me, is heaven.

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hey everyone, time for another vegan field report all the way from fort lauderdale, florida! this one is by brittany (from sick of lettuce), and covers the gourmet vegan restaurant sublime. we ate one of our favorite meals EVER at sublime, so it’s always nice to get a second opinion. here ya go:

i recently took a jaunt down to southwest florida to visit my folks and eat. a lot. unfortunately, the city they live in doesn’t have many restaurants with vegan options (more on those at later dates). FORTUNATELY, my mom is awesome and was willing to drive me 2 hours through the everglades for a day trip to miami, followed up by dinner at SUBLIME in fort lauderdale.

since we had a two hour drive back home, we got there promptly at 5:30 and opened the place up. i wasn’t sure what to expect when i got there. it is a LOT bigger than i thought it’d be – way bigger than any of the vegan restaurants here in LA. very upscale and while the dress code is casual, i felt like kind of a bum in my cutoffs. whoops.

after ordering my mom and i were quickly presented with some pesto polenta.

this was absolutely delicious. super strong basil/pesto flavor and a great polenta texture. these lasted about 15 seconds before they were completely devoured.

maryland style cakes with whole grain mustard sauce $11

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