the nice thing about staying with locals when traveling is that you get introduced to nice little neighborhood spots. on my last trip to ny i stayed with my friend in brooklyn and she suggested salud (in flatbush) for lunch one day. although salud serves some meat they are very knowledgeable about veganism and the menu clearly states veg and vegan options.

fiesta wrap at salud

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hey everyone! time for another field report from JL Goes Vegan. this one comes to us all the way from new york state and covers a restaurant called garden cafe on the green, near the woodstock farm animal sanctuary. if you ever wanna hang out with some sweet animals and eat some tasty food on the east coast, do yourself a favor and bookmark this page!

My husband and I recently took a “vegan day trip” from metro NYC to Woodstock, NY to tour the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary (check out this brief vlog of the farm sanctuary tour).

After a couple of hours of walking the grounds and meeting the incredible animals saved from the factory farming, I have to admit we were hungry. But not for animals!

The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary has a few restaurant suggestions on their website and I went with the one that was all vegan and offered wine and beer (natch), Garden Cafe on the Green.

So, yes, we started with adult beverages.

We decided to share a starter…

Curried Panko Crusted Fresh Green Pea Fritter, $9

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recently the husband and i took a 4 day trip to san francisco, and we ate and drank far more than any person should. in our culinary adventures, one of our favorite discoveries was the somewhat new vegetarian restaurant, source. to say that we enjoyed our meal at this place would be a severe understatement. we’re officially smitten, and i’m looking for excuses to book bay-area travel just so i can get another taste of this restaurant.

source started out on a great foot. we arrived at around 6pm and the place was somewhat busy but not uncomfortable. they have an order and pay at the counter policy, which is my favorite! no waiting around and trying to get a server’s attention, no time gap between finishing the meal and leaving. source also rules due to the fact that it’s an all vegetarian restaurant, and EVERY ITEM can be made vegan! this isn’t obvious on their website, but it’s true! all the pizzas? veganizable. the mac and cheese? that can be vegan, duh. the lasagna? vegan version available. plus, all the desserts (and there are many!) are already vegan. other than a totally vegan restaurant, this is definitely my favorite model. (just be sure to ALWAYS specify vegan when you eat at source. play it safe!)

the menu at source is massive, so we had a pretty hard time deciding what to order. we were determined to have a slap up feast though, and finally settled on the “buffalo cluck” as an appetizer. all the fake meaty menu items at source have cutesy names that echo the sounds of the emulated animal. cluck for chicken style meat, moo for fake beef, quack for duck and so on.

buffalo cluck with slaw and sweet jalapeño chutney. $5.95

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after a long day of traveling and getting by on only snacks, papacitos in greenpoint, brooklyn was the very first stop we made from jfk airport. i was so starving and tired i only took this single barely lit photo of my enchilada plate. papcito’s is incredibly vegan friendly and everything is clearly marked on the menu. for their filling options on tacos, enchiladas, etc, they have four vegan options: seitan, tempeh, grilled veggies, and soyrizo.

seitan enchiladas

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hey readers! time for a field report from sacramento by geanna of green vegan living. she shares some gluten-free goodness from sugar plum bakery, and tells us about a vegan specialty shop called never felt better. we had the pleasure of trying sugar plum’s treats when they were based in los angeles and LOVED THEM, so i can imagine this stuff is just as good, if not better. enjoy!

Sugar Plum Vegan Bakery has only been open a year, but they are a great asset to the city of Sacramento. Not only do they offer delicious vegan baked goods, they also have quite a selection of gluten-free, sugar-free and soy-free options AS WELL AS regular savory menu items (like taco Tuesdays and all-you-can-eat Sunday morning brunches).

Morning Glory Banana/Chocolate Chip muffin. $3

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hey everyone! time for a quick bite from patricia’s recent trip to the east coast. since she’s such a regular blogger around here, i’ve set her up with her own user name. check it out above, the author of this entry is “trishells”! hope you enjoy all her posts in the future, and this one about atlas cafe in nyc!

when i walked into atlas cafe i thought my brain was going to explode. look at that menu:

LOOK AT IT! and that was only one wall. on the opposite wall was another chalk board filled with just as many different items. i didn’t even allow myself to look at the whole menu i just found the thing that seemed least typical for me to get in la and stuck with it: vegan pepper steak panini. it was pretty good but not amazing.

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san diego is a beautiful place to visit, and when in town its worth organizing your trip around a weekend breakfast in ocean beach at people’s organic foods market. the all vegetarian co-operative store has been around since the 70s, and houses a small vegan cafe upstairs with a morning spread that can’t be beat. we’ve reviewed brunch at people’s co-op before, and i’m happy to report that when we visited again a few weeks ago, it was just as good as we remembered.

vegan biscuits and gravy, rice and beans. $3.99 per pound

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hey peeps! time for yet another field report! this one comes to us from our dear friend patricia (an awesome certified massage therapist and yoga instructor!), who recently went on a trip to the east coast. here is one tasty installment from her journey, that’s making me think i need to book at trip to washington dc just to eat and drink. a foodie field trip, or eat-cation, if you will! enjoy:

i recently took a trip to the east coast and was so happy to have some awesome guidance from @kmudrick on where to eat and drink. one of the places he suggested when visiting dc was Busboys and Poets. this place blew my mind. i mean, just look at the sign “food, books, film, coffee, stage, internet, bar”. woah.

la desperately needs a place like this. a place where you can sit and work, read a book, enjoy a show, have some grub, or relax with a coffee or beer. it’s so cozy with a great feeling of community and super cool art.

we loved this place so much we went to the 14th street location (there are three) two days in a row.

enough chatter, let’s get to the grub!

Tempeh with vegan mayonnaise, arugula, roasted red peppers, saute'ed onions on rosemary sun-dried tomato loaf

the restaurant is not entirely vegan but the menu is about half vegan. they clearly mark gluten free, veg, and vegan to make ordering less complicated. on the first visit i had the tempeh panini ($8.95). this was literally THE BEST SANDWICH I HAVE EVER EATEN. hands down.

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hey peeps, time for a field report from one of our favorite people! kevin from veganbrew.com brings us this awesome post regarding vegan thai food that doesn’t suck (a rarity to angelenos!) enjoy…

Living in South Philly for the past decade, I don’t know how I didn’t check out Circles sooner – even though several people I know have raved about it. It took a “Hey, wanna check out Circles tonight?” text from one of my friends yesterday to finally get over there.

Circles has been around for a few years for takeout & delivery, but only recently opened up a “dining” room restaurant extension. It’s not really an extension so much as another building across the street, where food gets shuffled back and forth over a small, slightly-larger-than-an-alley South Philly street. I love Thai food, but I’m always suspicious of places that are overly vegan-friendly – I hate playing a game of 20 questions (fish sauce? shrimp? oysters? etc) which has been my experience.

Circles clearly marks everything on their menu that is vegan, and most of the menu is able to be made vegan. Yay!

My friend and I started out with some appetizers:

Seitan Satay: Grilled thinly sliced marinated seitan served with peanut sauce and cucumber relish. ($6.95). Vegetable dumplings: Sauteed leeks with an Asian ginger seasoning and a vinaigrette soy sauce. ($5.95)

Seitan satay, which are yummy grilled thin strips of seitan on skewers served with a peanut sauce. Awesome! And Pan Fried Dumplings, which had a nice spicy kick to them.

Then we ordered two gigantic entrees as well:

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hey dudes, we’ve got yet another awesome field report for you today. it comes to us all the way from allison ritto in orange county, where she checks out the vegan options at matador cantina in fullerton. i love vegan mexican food, and this place is dangerously close to bootlegger’s brewery…tacos and beer this weekend, anyone?

In an Orange County city of over 100,000 you’d think vegetarian and vegan restaurants would be in abundance. But the only time a completely vegan restaurant can be found in Fullerton is when the Seabirds Truck rolls into town. My hometown, full of college students, health food stores and not one but two Farmer’s Markets, does not have a single dedicated vegan eatery- yet. There are paltry options at a few places if you have the patience to research, quiz the staff, and cross your fingers. I was completely skeptical when I heard that Matador Cantina, in the heart of Downtown Fullerton’s restaurants and bars, was advertising vegan tacos. Mexican food usually falls into two categories: unsafe but “authentic” (lardy beans, rice made with chicken broth) or safe but quickly tiresome fast food (sorry, Chipotle). When eating at most sit-down Mexican restaurants I am lucky if I get a bean and veggie burrito and chips without cow grease to soak up the tequila and quell my salty tears of disappointment. Many places will shrug and try to sell you tortillas with manteca, sauce made with chicken stock, and veggies cooked on a meat juice-soaked grill and insist that your burrito is vegetarian because there isn’t a big chunk of pork in it. Yes I’m talking about you, Super Mex! It’s not because they hate us vegans, they probably just don’t understand, so I resist the urge to vandalize those poor ignorant businesses. So when a restaurant DOES care, and goes out of their way to call an item vegan in black and white on the menu for the world to see, my heart does a little hippity-hop.

From Matador's Facebook page: "The Vegan Street Tacos are made with seasoned “soyrizo,” a house-made meat alternative with sautéed Poblano peppers and grilled onions. This offering is also available as a meat substitute for any menu items at no additional cost."

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update 5/18/11: turns out the “soy bacon” on the village natural burger isn’t vegan! the restaurant is aware of this and is supposedly changing the menu. full update at the bottom of the post. meanwhile: beware.

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hey guys! i’m happy to announce we have a field report today from a legit writer—can you believe it? simon goddard, music journalist extraordinaire and author of the mozipedia (one of our favorite books, look!), penned us this post about his culinary adventures in manhattan. from pizza and burgers to vegan fish and chips…i want it all. enjoy!

Oh, New York! It’s a bit of a temptress. I’m a fiercely loyal Londoner and still every time I set foot in Manhattan I have my doubts as to which is the greatest city on earth. As the song goes, I like the sight, the sound and even the stink of it. In London we have signs which read “No parking, clamping in operation.” In Manhattan they have signs which read “Don’t even THINK of parking here.” Therein lies the singular genius of New York, a masterpiece of concrete, clay and invincible human character.

I digress. I was lucky enough to be working there again this month so promised the estimable Quarrygirl I’d scribble some words for her blog about a few of the nicer things I put in my mouth. And here they are. Whenever in New York, I almost always end up in Greenwich Village at some point, if only for a sneaky stroke of the Bleecker Street Records cat (irresistible) or to marvel at the 300 year-old English Elm in Washington Square (unbelievable). So for all similarly besotted cat-botherers and tree-huggers who may find themselves in the area hankering for impeccable death-free nibbles, here are three personal recommendations.

Village Natural

For years this has been my favourite vegetarian spot in New York, even if I’ve always been in the daytime when it’s fairly quiet and “vibes” are minimal (it’s a bit “yoga” if you know what I mean) but the food seldom disappoints. It’s Vietnamese-owned though the menu ranges from Asian to salads, burgers and Mexican dishes. I’ve tried various mains here, but you can’t beat the burgers.

Black Bean Bacon Burger: Vegan. A delightfully unique veggie burger topped with guacamole, crispy soy bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and onion. $9.50

My favourite is this black-bean burger. It comes open with a dollop of guacamole, a generous fresh salad topped with a strip of crispy veggie bacon***(read update below) brought vigorously to life by a side of orange and ginger dressing. As a meal it strikes a perfect balance between guilty “bad” burger food (and it is a glorious big, flat, more-ish monster of a burger) and enriching “good” healthy salad: you definitely don’t miss fries.

The only disappointment this visit was dessert. In the past they’ve done the most amazing vegan tiramisu, probably the best I’ve ever tasted and one that I’ve all but sadistically enthused about to Quarrygirl to jealousy-inducing extremes. Alas, for whatever reason it wasn’t an option on the blackboard this time. To compensate, I ordered the vegan mocha pie which looked like this:

Mocha Pie. $4.95

It had a porridgy-base, a chalky texture and altogether tasted like somebody had dropped a triangle of brown shoe polish on some oatmeal, then tried to make it smell better by administering a few extra squirts of Tweed by Lentheric. That is, it was cloggy with a wretched perfumed hue and not remotely mocha-ish. If their tiramisu was a 10, the mocha pie just scraped a 2. But despite this Hindenburg of sweet catastrophes, the sometimes slow-to-react zombiefied waiters and the sad fact they serve a handful of fish options, I still rate this place highly. I just pray they get that tiramisu back on their menu before I next darken its door.

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manna in london really does offer vegan fine dining at its best. located at the end of a quiet street in primrose hill, the small restaurant boasts elegant surroundings, friendly service, and absolutely exceptional food. it’s the perfect spot for a romantic evening or a slap up sunday roast, just be sure to arrive with a full wallet and an empty stomach.

homemade organic bread and hummus: a selection of breads fresh from our kitchen daily with extra virgin olive oil and homemade hummus. ₤5

we hit up manna in february when we visited the UK, and as usual, we started with a basket of bread. it sounds simple enough, but this dish is phenomenal. soft warm dough straight from the oven to our table, served with a pot of cool chunky hummus. the perfect beginning to a perfect meal.

organic bangers and mash: organic fennel and pumpkin seed sausages on a bed of parsnip & carrot mash served with cavalo nero on a red wine, leek & thyme jus topped with our onion rings. ₤14

though we’ve been to manna several times and we love to try new things, we NEVER stray from the bangers and mash. we order these without fail on every visit to share, because they are so damn irresistible. the plate comes with a huge mound of fluffy whipped parsnips and carrots, topped with seasoned greens, seed-based vegan sausages, and two massive battered onion rings, all in a red wine sauce. the sausages and onion rings especially are just unbelievable—like a fancy gourmet vegan version of junk food. i would kill to have this meal available in los angeles.

build your own meal (choice of any 4 sides): crispy marinated tofu, sauteed seasonal greens & garlic, grain of the day, bean of the day ₤14

we also split the “build your own meal” combo, which comes with the choice of any four side dishes arranged on a plate.

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if you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you may remember that candle 79 in NYC is one of our favorite restaurants ever. well as it turns out, the fancy uptown restaurant has a casual little brother located just a few blocks away called candle cafe. we visited the 3rd avenue eatery on our most recent trip to manhattan, and found that while ambiance is a bit dressed down compared to candle 79, the food is incredible and indistinguishable.

seitan chimichurri: citrus herb marinated seitan skewers. $8

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oooooooh, this is gonna be epic. we’ve already blogged about love like beer’s upcoming vegan dinner this thursday in san diego, and the menu they released today is making us really wish we didn’t have to work on friday. the taps and food all look amazing.

check it out for yourself…

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when in london, one place i always make sure to visit is the massive whole foods on kensington high street. the store really is something to behold—it’s 3 stories high with a bakery, a prepared foods room, and a vegan section the size of my house. as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve opened a branch of saf (an amazing and entirely vegan restaurant) in the food court upstairs. london, i am in love.

vietnamese pho: mange tout, cabbage, cherry tomatoes, baby sweetcorn and rice noodles served with fresh mint. ₤8.50

we hit up saf in whole foods on our most recent uk trip for a light lunch and were quite impressed. we’d already been fans of the shoreditch location, and the new outlet was just as good. in fact, i totally forgot i was eating in a glorified grocery store.

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