hey everyone! today we have a guest post from the makers of one of our favorite vegan products, upton’s naturals seitan. they hosted a “vegan chef showdown” over the weekend in chicago and they sent us a rundown and pictures from the event. i think we definitely need to organize something like this in los angeles. enjoy!

This past weekend Chicago was the proud home of the first ever Chicago Vegan Chef Showdown hosted by animal heroes, Mercy for Animals and local seitan producers, Upton’s Naturals. The event worked like this: 12 teams of chefs cooked their butts off in advance of the Saturday afternoon competition, arriving with food prepared and ready to be served to the hungry line of vegans waiting outside. The only rules were that the food had to be vegan and had to use one of the four available types of Upton’s Naturals seitan (Traditional, Ground, Italian, or Chorizo). Beyond that, the chefs, a mix of professionals, culinary students, and amateurs, were allowed to be completely creative with their dishes.

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with 7 locations and counting, a commitment to house-made ingredients, an impressive bottled craft beer selection, and a rotating menu of ridiculously appetizing specials, it’s no wonder that native foods is our favorite fast-casual vegan restaurant in southern california.

well now it looks like midwesterners can get into the fun, because native foods is expanding to chicago with THREE locations opening up over the next few months…and the first one is scheduled for august 8th! to celebrate this joyous event, native foods is offering up a FREE TRIP TO CHICAGO for you and a friend with FREE FOOD, A FREE HOTEL ROOM, BONUS SPENDING $$$, and LOLLAPALOOZA TICKETS! all you gotta do is…

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time for another edition of quick bites: where quarrygirl readers send in quick snaps and descriptions of their vegan meals. today’s quick bite comes to us from dana aka the broke-ass bride. she recently spent some time in the windy city and sent us a drool-worthy review of the chicago diner. the all vegetarian-restaurant is legendary in the vegan community, and after dana’s review i am dying to go there!

As a greek gal, the loss of gyros has been one of my biggest woes of being a vegan. Until I went to Chicago Diner. HOLY OPA! Thinly sliced strips of delicious and juicy seitan, crunchy lettuce, tomato and onion, all atop a buttery, griddled pita… with a side of the most creamy-licious tzaziki sauce imaginable. I ate these way too many times while I was in town. It was like crack. I ate it. It was good. I needed more. MORE! MOOOOORE! It comes with your choice of a side, and I got the “chicken/rice soup” which was equally to die for. I’m definitely going to start experimenting with my seitan recipe at home to try and make something gyro-y like this. Its crazy comforting and delicious. The best part is how they’ve managed to get the edges so crispy, like the kind of gyros that come from a spit. It was incredibly authentic, in the best (and least creepy) way possible…

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if you read this blog a lot, you probably know that we have a bad-ass field operative who travels around and sends us pictures of his various vegan exploits. so far he has conquered seattle, vegas, san diego and huntington beach…but tonight’s episode comes to you all the way from the windy city. that’s right, we bring you an undercover report of karyn’s cooked, a gourmet vegan restaurant located in chicago. i will let our very terse and no bullshit informant take it away (his words are in quotes):

sloppy jo: slow cooked soy protein on a toasted whole wheat bun with special sauce. includes potato wedges and coleslaw. $8.95

“sloppy jos were off the charts. perfect potato wedges and slaw as your sides.” ’nuff said!

green enchiladas: Corn tortillas stuffed with garlic mashed potatoes, smothered in a green tomatillo sauce and drizzled with soy cheese. Served with a side of spanish brown rice and refried black beans. $10.95

“the enchiladas were something i would never have imagined….

“garlic mashed potato as filling. epic.” —what?!?!? mashed potato filling? fuck yeah!

southern greens as a side. $4

“southern greens i could eat every day and not get sick of.” (i think we can all agree w/ that!)

mac and cheese as a side. $4

“mac and cheese, well duh. its like cold pizza. even when its bad–it’s good. and this was delicious. the waitress said that she had ‘checked with the mac and cheese’ when she got in and it was ‘having a good day’ -she was right.”

and of course, there were drinks with lunch…

“champagne with our campaign, doin the damn thang.”

dunno about you, but this sounds like a pretty stellar meal to me! i can personally vouch for this karyn’s cooked, as the one time i ate there many years ago it was tip top. so definitely check this place out when in chicago. i have a feeling our informant is onto something.

he closes his document with even more praise:

“always the best service, food and atmosphere…”

“i’m more of a karyn’s snob vs. the chicago diner hipster… “

and

“the perfect sunday lunch and my favorite place to eat when i visit back home to chicago. i think r. kelly was sitting next to us…”

karyn’s cooked
738 N. Wells St.
Chicago, IL 312-587-1050
(312) 587-1050