Koo-Zee-Doo's Veg Option #2

I had been looking forward to going to Koo-Zee-Doo, this new Portuguese BYO in NoLibs, for weeks. I was very excited to try their vegan option (only in NoLibs would a Portuguese restaurant have a vegan entree).

I called ahead to make sure that the Milho Frito, a combo of fried corn porridge, fennel, fava and green beans, was totally vegan. The woman on the phone confirmed.

Now even more looking forward to this dinner with friends over a few glasses of vinho do porto, the sweet wine produced only in Portugal, I couldn't wait to start eating:

(Me, my friend Ralph and the porto!)

Look at that excitement on my face! Well, unfortunately I was a little disappointed. When I ordered the Milho Frito, the waiter said, "Oh yea, I knew you were coming, but we actually just sold the last one." Really?! Sold the last one? Probably to a table of non-vegans, no doubt, who thought it sounded tasty, which I guess I can't argue with because it sure did sound good.

Instead, the chef made me a special dish, which was delicious but unfortunately not quite as unique as I had expected. It just didn't taste as "Portuguese" as I had hoped. The fried porridge would have been so delicious, but instead I had a meal of sauteed ramps, asparagus potatoes and leeks--very tasty but not quite what I wanted.

The chef was accommodating enough to also serve up a vegan appetizer, also not on the menu, to make up for the misunderstanding. He sent out an absolutely delicious chickpea cake with broccolini and and an olive tapenade.

We also started with Salada de Cores, which included romaine, asparagus tips, large fava beans and white beans, thin baby carrots and beets, all drenched in a sweet but light dressing. This salad was an excellent start to the meal.

Even though I was disappointed, I will definitely go back. I always appreciate a chef who is willing to experiment in the kitchen and consider special requests. Veg option #2 was actually very, very good, just not what I had hoped to eat that night. Delicious, but not as memorable as I would expect the Milho Frito to be.

And who doesn't like a BYO? Plus vegan options, plus beautiful plates (see the white and blue pattern above), an intimate setting and excellent service.

Earth Day Sale @ Arcadia

My favorite eco-chic Philly boutique Arcadia is hosting an Earth Day sale this Thursday, 4/22. Come celebrate Earth Day with exclusive deals on vintage clothing and accessories and extra sales on sale items.

Plus can't resist posting a picture of a fabulous Matt & Nat Deetron Bag from Arcadia's website:

Source: Arcadia Boutique

The bucket-style bag and zipper detail makes it a stylish option for the season. Looks like lots of compartments to keep you organized, too!

More Than a Name at Soy Cafe

I strolled into Soy Cafe with a friend a few weekends ago (well, actually, I had read about it, googled it, and tracked it down...I guess it was more of a mission than a stroll!), and I am so glad that we did.

This adorable cafe on N. 2nd in NoLibs offers vegan desserts, sandwiches and smoothies. Despite the name, I do think that they serve non-vegan snacks, but I of course I heard that the vegan stuff is the best....

We shared a pot of tea and a mint-oreo-chocolate brownie and a plain old chocolate brownie as well as a toastie with sliced bananas and almonds on top. Vegan desserts=B. The desserts at Last Drop at 13th and Pine are better. I haven't tried the smoothies here, though, and I hear they are the best! Let me know if you try one...

Mimosas, Olsen Haus, Matt & Nat @ Arcadia

Mimosas....

Vegan shoes......

Vegan handbags......

.....an amazing afternoon of eco-shopping.

Arcadia hosted a Denim Brunch this past Saturday. Many of their eco-items, including vintage, were on sale. This amazing boutique carries so many fashionable, animal-friendly brands that, I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed! Matt & Nat bags (which I just discovered at this event by the way) were the best find.

Arcadia's vintage display got me thinking...while it is great to purchase products that are made from eco- and animal-friendly materials, isn't it even better not to have to produce something at all? Why not save on the energy and all the other processes involved in manufacturing a new product and just re-use something already made? (Check out ReMade USA for a cool interpretation of re-used fashion.)

I'm not always a huge fan of vintage when it's a bit dirty, dingy and too worn-in, but, in some cases, not only can you find something fashionable, but you can reduce your impact on the environment, too, by not contributing to the production of something new. Just a thought.

Coffee + Cupcakes

Sweet Freedom, Philly's vegan bakery at Broad and South, is now coming into its own. It's starting to feel like a full-on cafe, with coffee (local La Colombe of course), tea and free wireless. Come spring there will be outdoor seating, too.

Now isn't that sweet.

NoLibs to the Rescue: Eco-Fashion Boutique Sells Vegan Shoes

Arcadia is Philly's eco-fashion boutique, and, even though Philly has no 100% vegan shoe stores, Aracadia sells my favorite Olsen Haus line of vegan shoes plus a number of other hot, vegan styles.

An incredible find given the fact that ordering shoes online never works out well. You have to order three different sizes hoping one fits, and regardless you always have to ship a few pairs back! Online shopping is not ideal, so I'm very happy to find vegan shoes sold by a Philly boutique.

Olsen Haus, Open-toe Bootie

Olsen Haus, Babylon flat

Olsen Haus, Enchantment heel

Ruby Boot

Melissa Gold Flat

More about Melissa Shoes and her collaboration with Vivienne Westwood

Olsen Haus, Shortie Bootie

Arcadia is all about promoting a sustainable lifestyle, not only through fashion but through travel as well. The team at Arcadia helps plan group and individual sustainable travel through away@Arcadia.

Sidenote: NoLibs is one of the best spots in Philly to find businesses oriented toward supporting our sustainable lifestyle. Whether through food, fashion or other products, NoLibs is Philly's vegan, eco-conscious hub. Not that there aren't great spots all over Philly, but NoLibs seems to concentrate that energy. More to explore...

Gianna's Grille: Don't EVER get your hopes up with this one

I went to Gianna's Grille today at 6th and South to get a big, fat piece of cake and soft serve soy ice cream today, and what a HUGE, MAJOR disappointment! No soy ice cream (machine is broken?) and no cake...why no cake? Apparently the owners were too lazy to bake today. What a shame, I will never go back to that dirty, greasy place.

No longer will I waste my time on these silly bakeries. Why not just bake myself? Much more reliable and less expensive. First one I'll be trying is from a recipe from a blog called the Baking Bird. I can't wait to make this chocolate peanut butter cake.

Next on the list are two recipes from Post Punk Kitchen: rich chocolate cake and fudge frosting.

Coup de SEITAN Tacos!

I have waited and waited to post this because I've wanted to try the tacos for myself first so that, instead of the screenshot of Coup de Taco's website, I could post a ridiculous picture of me devouring a BBQ seitan taco! But then I realized I shouldn't be so selfish and deny the rest of Philly a chance to try a taco first, so....

If you're in University City and craving cheap vegan eats swing by Philly's only vegan taco truck on 40th between Locust and Spruce. Grab a Tikka Masala seitan taco for your bus ride back to Center City, or take a BBQ seitan rice bowl to class.

While there is chicken on the menu, I'm convinced it is only to lure the non-vegans to a source of cheap, tasty veg fare. Once they see a BBQ seitan rib taco, how could they ever order meat again?!

I'm sure Jeff (my grad school classmate!), Peter and Richie totally persuade everyone to go with the veg....in fact, Jeff was originally interested in starting a vegetarian fast food restaurant, but somehow his idea morphed into a food truck. Go figure, but lucky for us!

Follow the Coup crew's food truck start-up adventures here.

Thoreau Restaurant Was--

So good! I absolutely loved it! I dragged my poor friends out in the snow last nigh to try this new spot, and I am so happy that I did.

We started with the Green Curry Mango Summer Rolls, which were rice paper wrappers filled with carrots and parsnips, flavored just enough but not overpowered by a dipping sauce drizzled on the plate.

For dinner, I ordered the Blue Plate, which was overall very good, although the edamame and corn succotash that lined the bottom of the plate under the blue mashed potato and glazed mushrooms looked surprisingly like the frozen variety I buy at Trader Joe's. Regardless, the mushrooms were sweet, and the potatoes were slightly salty, which encouraged me to mix a bit of both every time I took a bite.

My friend ordered the Shepherd's Pie, which was actually more of a soup topped with white mashed potatoes. Beneath the potato was couscous, a mix of large chunks of vegetables, and a green sauce. The Tamarind Peanut Noodles rounded out our collection of entrees, and they were excellent, too. A lot of flavors, a lot of vegetables, and all very nicely put together.

I loved the use of vegetables in a variety of different ways: pureed, cut into large chunks (my favorite!), roasted and mashed, grilled and seasoned. Almost everything on the menu could be made vegan if it wasn't already. Even the ancho chile butter served with the bread at the beginning of dinner came in a vegan variety!

It was so delicious that I ate so much I had no room for dessert. There was one vegan dessert on the menu that I remember looked good, but, in my food coma, I just couldn't bring myself to order it nor, apparently, remember what it was.

Five stars for this new addition to the Philly gourmet veg scene. It is of the quality of Horizons but a bit different in terms of flavors, ingredients and approach to vegan food. I'm happy to have two great restaurants to choose from when I want to go out to a good dinner, and I will definitely be going back!

More Upscale Veg Options for Philly Veggies

While Philly has its share of all kinds of vegetarian and vegan restaurants, not all of them are consistently tasty, inspired, interesting places to dine. Govinda's is ok, MiLah is good, Farmicia is really good but not totally vegetarian, and Horizons is excellent. This week, we might have another excellent to add to our weekend dining rotation here in Philly. Chef Mike Jackson opens his new Loft District vegetarian grille, Thoreau Restaurant, this Tuesday night.

While I've never eaten at his first restaurant in the suburbs, Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille, I've heard a lot about it. If Thoreau lives up to the reputation of its predecessor, than I think we will see our options begin to expand.

The menu looks delicious, inspired by a range of cuisines like Malaysian, all ranges of Latin American and more with plenty of avocado and interesting vegetable dishes. Jackson certainly doesn't rely on tofu and seitan to fill out the "meat" portion of the plate but instead looks to create vegetable-based meals with layered flavors. Vegans beware--looks like cheese plays a role at times, but fortunately most meals don't appear to rely on dairy.

Looking forward to writing a review soon!

Skip fine dining, stick to the cafe at Govinda's

Last weekend I went to Govinda's. A small, vegan, fast-food-like cafe on Broad and South Street, Govinda's opens up the back room for sit-down dining on the weekends. Well, let's just say that next time I'm just going to stick to the cafe.

The most disappointing thing about Govinda's menu was that it was all based on faux meat. No pure tofu, seitan or vegetable dishes but only "scallops," "chicken," etc. The best part of the meal were the veg samosas we had for appetizers, and those actually were on display in the cafe.

The cakes looked excellent, though, so next time just the cafe and dessert for me.

Mission: Vegan Dessert

How annoying is it to go out with your friends for ice cream, gelato, etc. etc.? Well, I for one am sick of it! Never a non-dairy dessert to be found from your average seller of sweets. For as long as I have been vegan I have wondered why ice cream parlours don't offer at least one non-dairy option beyond your boring, flavorless sorbet. What about the rich desserts? Why can't we eat them, too?

My favorite dessert after dark chocolate covered pretzels and maybe my mom's tofu pumpkin pie is vegan ice cream. I like it all: soy-based, rice-based, coconut-milk based. As long as it is not a fruit flavor, I'm all about it. Well, now our vegan dreams (or potentially just mine) have been answered! A purely vegan ice cream store. In my vegan eats reading I came across a review of Stogo, a non-dairy organic ice cream shop in the East Village. (Of course New York City has everything a vegan could want to eat--on the East Coast at least--and that includes ice cream.) Flavors include chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, toasted almond joy, oatmeal raisin cookie, and of course some fruit flavors for those of you who are not all about decadent, sweet 'n savory tastes like me. I envision a delicious bowl of chocolate, chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter fudge with some kind of vegan chocolate topping to polish it off. So delish!

When not in NYC and without any soy-based ice cream outside of the pint variety to be found (except I have heard Gianna's down near South Street has vegan soft serve, though I've yet to try it), I'm a pretty big fan of Turtle Mountain's Purely Decadent Peanut Butter Zig Zag.

If you are as big a fan as I am of the choco-peanut butter combo, then you might want to try out this recipe for chocolate peanut butter pie.

In my laziness, though, I usually just head over to Last Drop Cafe at 13th and Pine and pick up a peanut butter cup brownie made by Vegan Treats. The actual bakery is in Bethlehem, PA but thank goodness they sell their decadent cakes, doughnuts, brownies and cookies throughout Philly.

Stogo, here I come. But please, when will you come to Philly?

Nothing glorious about this morning

Last weekend I went out to brunch to celebrate one of my good friend's finish of the Philly marathon. In Philly, brunch is big...maybe not as big as New York, but there are some neighborhoods where you just for brunch. Not much else there but good brekkie food.

Morning Glory is not one of those places, at least not for vegans. The only vegan option on the menu was a tofu scramble, which looked deceptively good...


until I ate it. The tofu was bland, soft, watery--undercooked! Overall, it was completely lacking in spices, and they definitely were stingy with the vegetables. We all know that tofu is what you flavor it. It can be spicy, sweet, sour and, of course, bland if you don't season it enough. The best part of the meal was the grits, which isnt' saying much considering their bland reputation.

I'm usually pretty good about eating out. I don't drag all my friends to vegan restaurants (although I do always suggest it!) but rather manage to find something mildy interesting on the menu. Lately, though, I've been really frustrated with the vegan options. Please, give me more than salad, pasta and flavorless tofu.

To make up for this awful brunch experience last weekend, I decided to make my own tofu scramble for a few friends this weekend. I'd love to be able to post a picture, but we finished it all before I even had a chance to take out the camera!