Vegan eating out, Wildwood, NJ

Rob and Copper and I headed up to Wildwood, NJ for the half marathon again this year. We also were celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary!

Like last year, we stopped on the way up in Newark, DE, to eat lunch at The Home Grown Cafe! Yum! This veg friendly place has lots of clearly labeled veg and vegan options! New to this year's menu were cauliflower buffalo "wings"! Wow! They were amazing! We also split an apple bacon seitan walnut wrap! 

While in Wildwood, the first night we ate on the boardwalk. Rob had pizza, and I had fries. Saturday morning, we drove down to Bella Vida cafe in Cape May. Like home grown, it had lots of clearly marked vegan options on the menu. I was super excited about the vegan waffle, which I ate topped with fruit. I also had a side of tempeh, and they were happy not only to provide me with almond milk for my coffee, but even brought over a dish of cool water for Copper.

On the way, I was very happy to see turtle crossing signs! They get me!

After we ate, I walked Copper around a bit, and found a neat house with Om stones on a table, and a sign that encouraged you to take home your favorite!

I was very lax in taking other pictures during the weekend...

But Saturday evening (I ate leftovers for lunch), we went to the Alumni Grill. There were a few vegan options there, but even with a more limited menu, I was still able to find something quite tasty! A black bean panini, called "the Mathlete"! Too perfect! The sauce was not vegan but it was great without.

Sunday morning, I woke super early so that I would have some down time before the race. It was lovely. I enjoyed my coffee, meditated a bit, and prepared myself for the day.

After the race, we once again went to my favorite eatery on the island: the Wild Burrito! Joe, the owner,  is also a runner, and hosts a post race party every year. I was pleased to see that the avocado fries were back, and he's expanded his vegan menu! I had the BBQ seitan burrito, and I can't wish hard enough for Joe to close up shop and move in next door to me so that I could eat his food all  the time!

Vegan eating out, Boston, MA

I had the opportunity to travel up to Boston, MA, earlier this month for the annual NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). Rob took a few days off work to accompany me. He wandered around sight-seeing & visiting pubs while I went to sessions each day, and we ate lovely vegan food each evening.

We took the train from DC, and I enjoyed that! It reminded me of my younger days in Europe. We stopped for a bite to eat on the way up to the station, but they mucked up my order. Luckily we arrived a little early, and I was able to pick up a lovely falafel & hummus salad from Pret a Manager. We boarded the train, and tucked into our seats for the overnight trip.

Once we arrived, it didn't take long for me to realize that I love Boston. It is such a great city, with so much history! Before my first session on Wednesday, Rob and I walked the Freedom Trail.

While we were walking, we found this great juice bar, Revolution Juice, in Back Bay. Breakfast! I got a beet & kale concoction that hit the spot.

I went to my afternoon sessions, then met Rob for dinner. Our first night, we chose My Thai, a vegan restaurant in Chinatown, which was on the way from the conference center to the hotel. My Thai is kind of a sketchy looking place from the outside. You have to climb a grungy looking stairwell, but once inside it is spacious, light, and full of live plants. The service was slow, but the food was amazing! I really loved both my summer rolls and the yellow curry. The chocolate cake looked so tempting, but I was too full to order any. 

The next morning, I woke up Rob super early to go for a run with me. Our hotel was half a mile from the Boston gardens & commons, and it was so beautiful to run there.  On top of that, the marathon finish line was just two blocks away, and we could see the preparations for that. With the marathon only a few days away  there were lots of runners out. I was wearing my Baltimore running festival shirt, and saw another runner out also wearing one. We greeted eachother like old friends, and he said "Good luck in the race!" Holy cow! He thought I was running in the Boston Marathon! That means I must look like a real runner! I mean, true, I am signed up for and training for a marathon next fall, but I never imagined someone would assume that a hack runner like me could run Boston! What a compliment!

At the conference on Thursday, I decided to see if I could find any vegan food there in the center. I was in luck! They not only had a nice-looking salad bar, they also had stir fry veggies & tofu! This dish was okay, but hell, it was vegan, and I ate it during a session on kinesthetic trigonometry. 

After many great sessions on Thursday, I met Rob at the nearby Harpoon brewery for a drink and tour. While we were waiting for the tour to start, we ate a beer-boiled pretzel (vegan!) with spicy mustard. Rob said, "Hey, this pretzel is shaped like a B for Boston!" 

I really enjoy this brewery's UFO (unfiltered) series.

Late that evening, we took the T out to Cambridge Squre, and met our young friend, Courtney, who is a vegan and goes to Boston University. We met at Veggie Galaxy, an all vegetarian diner, where everything on the menu could be made vegan. Since I never get to order vegan breakfasts, thats what I was craving. I got a vegan breakfast sandwich, with scrambled tofu, seitan bacon, and dayia cheese. I also ordered a side pancake, because pancakes. The food here was served with abundance. Typical of diner food, it was a little heavy and very decadent. We weren't able to even dent our servings, and took our leftovers for the next day.

It was great fun talking with Courtney. No matter how supportive your family and friends are of your vegan lifestyle, there's nothing like sharing food with another vegan.

Friday morning we went for another run, even though it was raining. This time we stopped at Flour bakery on the way back to the hotel, where they have a smattering of vegan baked goods available each day. I bought a banana muffin, and a chocolate cake muffin. Sorry no pictures. I ate the banana muffin as soon as we got to the hotel, and the chocolate one was in crumbles when I ate it on the train, but trust me, both were delicious!

On the way to my last session, we walked by Cheers (reruns of which we've been watching on Netflix in anticipation of this trip. We're still in the Diane/Coach episodes), but it wasn't open yet. I promised Rob we could go next time we visit, in June.

Outside the train station, there were a number of food trucks, one of which was a Clover Food Labs truck. Clover haas a string af veg trucks around the Boston area. I picked up a chickpea frittata for the train, which was essentially a pita with hummus, falafels, and red cabbage. This was very tasty, and not too messy to eat on the train.

I just loved Boston, and can't wait to go back in June, for my friend Kristin's book release party!

Vegan Eating Out: Yuan Fu's Vegetarian Restaurant, Rockville, MD

Rob and I were up visiting his mom over the weekend, and on our way up, we stopped into Yuan Fu's in Rockville, for dinner. This is a fantastic little Chinese vegan restaurant!

At Yuan Fu's, everything here is vegan and plant based. They state clearly in their menu that though the titles of their dishes have meat names, these are in reference to the styles of the dishes. One thing I really like about this restaurant is that each protein is made from a different base. For instance, beef and pork are seitan, chicken is soy, duck is pressed tofu, fish is soy and seaweed, and shrimp and squid are made with Japanese yam!

We started with an appetizer of Taro Root balls.

I ordered the crispy sesame beef with walnuts and broccoli. The walnuts in my dish were really amazing, and my favorite part of this dish.

Rob had one of the chef's specials: the veggie "duck" with Chinese broccoli, it wasn't listed as a spicy dish, but he ordered it extra spicy. It didn't seem spicy at first, but once you got into the sauce it got hot! Rob said the "duck" may have had too meaty of a texture for some vegans, but he really loved it.

Modern Love: Restaurant review

When my family invited me out to Omaha, I asked them if we could go to Isa Moskowitz's restaurant, Modern Love. Modern Love just opened up earlier this year, and I've been a long-time fan of Isa's.

my fam is awesome about going and trying out vegan restaurants, and the staff at Modern Love was great about working with me to set up a table got our large party of 10 adults, 2 children, and a newborn baby!

We started with drinks, some teas and ginger sodas. The kids loved the orange and clove hot cocoa. They make their own tea bags in house.

For an appetizer, we ordered latkes served with a coconut sour cream and apple raisin compote with eggplant bacon.

(We actually ordered two plates of these, and we devoured them so quickly, we had to order a third so I could get a picture!) These were my Aunt Penny's favorite.

When reading the menu, I stopped immediately when I saw this item, and I knew this is what I needed to order. Lentil chili with butternut squash served with coconut sour cream and a cinnamon roll. Apparently this is a midwest traditional pairing, and wow, delicious. I actually chopped up my roll and ate it with the chilli, which was spicy and very delicious.

Mia ordered the Bimbibap, tempeh served over kimchi with brussels sprouts!

Another popular dish with the family was the seitan schnitzel! Most everyone agreed that they preferred seitan over a traditional pork schnitzel. It was served over a bed of delicious mashed potatoes with roasted broccoli. My dad said this was the best vegan food he'd ever eaten!

Rachel ordered a black bean tamale that was listed as an appetizer. It was savory and the jalapeno guacamole had a smoky flavor. She really enjoyed it, and said that this smaller dish was the perfect size plate!

My mom and Aunt Penny ordered the soup of the day, a roasted cauliflower. It had a very creamy flavor and texture. The cauliflower on top was nice and crunchy. 

The kids ordered the Mac & Shews. This is served on the traditional menu with tofu, kale, and sprouts. 

Ryan has chocolate on his face from the hot cocoa, but he wanted to be in the picture with his dinner!

For dessert, we ordered four different pies to share. I forgot to take pictures of them until we'd pretty much demolished them. Here's a picture of a bite of each....

Pumpkin cheesecake, Apple Pie, Cranberry Pear Pie, and Mocha Almond Torte.

The pumpkin and the cranberry pies were the favorites!

Vegan MoFo Vegan Eating Out: Naked Lunch, Amsterdam Falafelshop

I was super excited to receive a special invitation to the secret soft opening of Native Foods in DC. I've eaten at Native Foods before in Boulder, CO, and really love this vegan cafe. There are multiple locations opening in DC this fall. The location on Conn. Ave NW is slated to officially open on the 30th, and another at Navy Memorial in mid-October.

When we arrived, however, there was a line out the door. It didn't look like we'd be able to eat there and make it to the club we were going to in time, so we didn't go in. The manager, though, did hook us up with gift cards to use the next time we came back.

We ended up eating at Amsterdam Falafelshop on 14th near the club. Everything here is at least vegetarian (some of the sauces have dairy). This restaurant has a number of locations in the DC area, most of which are located near bars and other late-night venues. They also have a good sense of humor about themselves. For instance, there's a sign next to the order counter instructing customers how to order a falafel bowl: "Say:'I want a bowl with ____ balls' " and underneath, there is an arrow pointing to the blank that says "This is a number, NOT an adjective!"

I ordered a small falafel (3 balls), a small pommes frites, and a Heineken. You add your own toppings to your falafel. I chose beets, cabbage, hummus, pickled cauliflower, and cucumber salad.

Ohhhh, curry ketchup. You glorious condiment, you.

Mia and I were hungry, especially after having ridden 9 miles on our bicycles and walked over a mile in DC. Poor girl got some blisters from her shoes, too.

It was so much fun having my girl home for the weekend! I've missed her!

We did make it to the Black Cat on time! And saw Pomplamoose! They put on a great show! Nataly was adorable and so talented,  and Jack I'm convinced is both a musical genius and a muppet!

Vegan MoFo - Vegan eating out

Sometimes my friends or colleagues want to go out. Happy Hour, out for lunch, just a bite, etc. Most of the time, if I go, I try to pre-eat. I don't know about where you live, but in my immediate vicinity, there aren't a ton of vegan options as far as restaurants go. I mean, sure, I can make a meal happen anywhere. Salads can be modified, plain baked potatoes with vinaigrette, fruit cup-sure, I've had more than one meal consist of an order of french fries. But when those are my choices, I pre-eat, because what I can do at home will be cheaper, tastier, and healthier.

Side note, there are a growing number of vegan options in my area, so I am NOT complaining! And, I'm fortunate enough to live about an hour away from DC, where you can find some really amazing vegan food...

Anyway, I do love to go out to eat when I have CHOICES. And when there is something there for me that is tasty and healthy! I find I have the best luck at locally, independently owned restaurants. When the chef is on site, and willing to come out and talk to you, you know you're in for something good. 

One of these locally and independently owned restaurants is SaPoDilla's Caribbean Restaurant in Fort Washington, MD. Rob and I happened on it one day this summer when we were taking a back road home.

The first thing we saw on the sign was that they had a juice bar. That sold me. Then I spoke with the owner, and she was super knowledgeable about veganism. HOORAY!

Today, my friend, Cari, and I had a lunch date. I really enjoy the fact that she is such a good friend! Lunch dates are hours of talking, and it is awesome. We've tried different places in the area, and today went to SaPoDillas. I ordered the "vegan platter" and was pleased to get garbanzo beans, curried potatoes, rice, and cabbage.

On top of the great food, I loved catching up on all of our various adventures! Cari and I also sing in the college choir together, and we're also taking a Bahngra class together! Fun!

Today, I am really thankful not only for good vegan food, but for also good friends!