Ellary's Greens-Good Clean Food

Ellary's Greens is located where Grey Dog used to be on Carmine. They focus on vegetables in a way I wished many other places would. While not strictly veggie, all vegan and vegetarian items are clearly marked.

 I was so impressed by the freshness and quality of this food. Sure it looks simple, but this is what I want when I go out for a bite on a spring evening after work.
Broccoli Rabe panini with sun dried tomato and white bean miso spread.
Marinated beets with pistachio coulis
Escarole with smoked tofu, chic peas, olives, walnuts, nori dressed with red wine viniagrette

 Chocolate strawberry shortcake for dessert, maple strawberries and coconut cream.

Sometimes you need to get out of the city to appreciate it, view from Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island.

Portland Afternoon

I met Candy sister in the Alberta neighborhood of Portland for brunch.

 Vita Cafe: They keep the prices low and have something for everyone. I had the faux turkey florentine: housemade faux turkey, vegan hollandaise, spinach, tofu, and some bread under all that.

 We shared a NW corncake, studded with hazelnuts and topped with maple syrup.

Townshend's Kombucha

sky, air, water, friends, family, food.

Seattle Weekend

First stop after a cross country flight: St. Dames, located in Rainer Valley a vegetarian restaurant with ample brunch and evening choices.

 The darkness does not do it justice. I had the vegan mac and cheesey. Penne with cashew sauce and a side of braised tamari kale. A heaping portion of delicious comfort vegan.

 For dessert cassis chocolate cheesecake with almond crust and vegan whip. This was very rich and very good.

Brunch at Chaco Canyon. I love brunch, and am confident I made the right choice here.

Breakfast Burritio: housemade gluten free buckwheat tortilla filled with tofu scramble, black beans, cashew cheese, ranchero sauce, topped with pico and avocado. On the side is maple chia pudding. The perfect way to round off the savory. It's all organic which is nice too.

It's basically the law to visit Mighty-O Donuts when in Seattle. Especially first thing in the morning when they are super fresh.

 Subtle peanut butter frosting on this O. Clean and delicious indeed.

 Plum Cafe for lunch:  El Besito Caliente- grilled tofustrami on a patella bun with grilled onion, cucumber, avocado, and vegan lime jalapeno mayo. They know how to stack and flavor a sandwich.  I want to go back to Plum Bistro for brunch, problem is-I only want to eat brunch all the time.

Thumbs up from my non-vegan friend who loved her Fire-Roasted Yam sandwich.

Tofu Me, Tofu You

I like when places offer Tofutti, but nothing beats an in-house tofu spreadie. At Communitea I look forward to their bagel with tofu. Subtle, not waxy, tangy.   

I don't really post about my own in-house food anymore. For two reasons-one lack of excitement and two lack of light in my apartment. On "make yourself a nice breakfast day" I made a tofu benny. The Vegan Brunch recipe is pretty straight forward, though the hollandaise came out thicker than I prefer.

I love Vegan Eats World, it has all my favorite things like bi bim bop, ramen, steamed buns, jap chae noodles, and pho. The recipe for tandoori tofu and chorizo tempeh are foolproof too. I knew I had to try the cashewcotta cheesecake. This cheesecake is modeled after the traditional ricotta version.

It does include silken tofu-but it's not too tofu-y. It does include powdered sugar, but it's not too sweet. My grandmother used to make this cheesecake and truth be told I didn't like it back then because it wasn't sweet and because it was wobbly. Let's just say the cashewcotta is spot on, a proper grown up dessert, and if you are not careful you could eat an entire cheesecake on your own.

Gelato!

 When I was here last I ate alot of gelato. I mean, alot. Now the fun part, finding dairy free gelato! The best part is poking into various places and scanning for the tell tale sign. Sometimes it's fun to find things w/o the internets.

Frozen Gelaterie (Milan): Soy Vanilla and Banana Sorbetto

A small place w/o a website (Vincenza), I had the one olive oil based gelato. Just olive oil, hazelnuts, and water: amazing!

Olli Gelateria (Vincenza) Strawberry & Chocolate

Baci Gelato (Williston Park) Chocolate & Vanilla

Upon returning I went here with Kz. This gelato is also sugar-free, sweet!

Vegano Milano

 Milan: city of fashion, the Duomo, and some vegan eats. Mudra Natural Bistro is all vegan so the menu was fun to choose from.

 Tortino di tofu (tofu lasagna with rice bechamel sauce) This was a very interesting lasagna as the tofu slabs replaced the pasta. I liked the layers of pumpkin and creamy sauce.

 

 Soya Panna Cotta

 My last supper at Ristorante Joia: I love all things small and Joia focuses not only on the food but the presentation. For instance this little carrot stick with mint, flax, and lemon cream. This was one of three little complimentary bites they brought out. I want to come back to this Michelin rated restaurant dressed appropriately and able to order more courses.

 The navel of the world: asparagus risotto with broad beans and creamed beet and cashew foam. I never order risotto because it is so rarely vegan. This food forces you to concentrate on each and every nuance.

 

 Mother Earth: soft carrot cake, pumpkin sorbet, vegetable mousse. This is a lesson in subtlety, a certified grown up dessert. A dessert I will be remembering for a long time.

Al Gande Cerchio- That darn siesta can interrupt your eating plans. Bummer!

La Locanda Del Gusto

You can't visit Vincenza and not go to La Locanda Del Gusto, Casa Fogazzaro. I was welcomed in by Laura before opening time and guided through the menu to ensure my meal was tutto vegano. It is people like her who make places like this truly memorable. They serve traditional Venetian food as well as vegetarian/vegan in a cozy environment.

 Pasticcio vegano with zucchini & eggplant (delicious lasagna)

 Seitan alla Veneziana con polenta (Venetian seitan and polenta)

 Budino al cioccolato (Chocolate pudding) Soy pudding topped with fresh hazelnuts and some soy ice-cream too. For starters there was fresh baked bread with nutritional yeast.

Proprietress Laura with a fellow diner (and New Yorker!)

Vegan in Vincenza

I had one of those rare opportunities to travel to northern Italy for work.

For lunch I ate at the host venue's cantina: pasta & salad, who could ask for anything more?

For dinner I wined and dined myself at the hotel. I grew up eating alot of spaghetti, and this perfect al dente pasta with pomodoro sauce hit the spot after a long day.

When the work was done I went to Ada B&B in Vincenza. This is one of Europe's only vegan b&b's. The space was so charming, I loved my room, the hospitality, and proximity to Vincenza's sights. For breakfast I had a soy cappucinco and toast with vegan pate and wild foraged jam.

 This was my lovely place setting. There was a number of cookies, yogurt, and crackers to choose from. I was honored to be a guest here!

Floriana, the fantastic host at Ada B&B.

Hungry Ghosts

                              

Working so close to Port Authority, I often get the urge to stowaway on a    northbound bus. In need of space and air I went to visit Hungry Ghost Guest House in New Paltz. Sweet hosts, interesting guests, and vegan bites make this b&b a nice refuge from the city bustle. Have I ever blogged about water? Their well water is downright guzzleable! Not shown here soaking in the hot tub under the stars.

 Delicious raw cheesecake

 Gluten free banana chocolate chip pancakes

You can't go to New Paltz and not visit Lagusta's Luscious. I had their drinking chocolate: ganache thinned with almond milk topped with artisnal mini marshmallows and coco whipped cream. I also had their almond croissant. I'm going to admit, I'm pretty judge-y when it comes to vegan croissants-but this one was heavenly. Not seen here: Toffee Matzo.

Out like a lamb

It's a good day when you get a hot tip from your dad. A guy unaware of the world wide webs, he likes to save the "NY Eats" section from the Daily News and the most recent one featured Selamat Pagi. Brooklyn Balinese, I'd just finished reading that book about Barack Obama's mother and was excited imagining all those snacks described in Bali.

Tamarind Tempeh, hearty chunks of tempeh flecked with crunchy shallots and coconut. This was nice and light with interesting hot points. The best part is eating it for breakfast (they open at 10AM).

How pretty is this presentation? Kyotofu Soymilk Softserve Sundae. White sesame and chocolate swirl with brownie crumble, mochi, and chocolate sauce to mix in.

It's seems like NYC's vegan mainstays (Peace Food, Terri) are multiplying. Blossom Du Jour just opened up in Hells Kitchen (!) I started my morning off right with their benedict wrap. It was pretty simple but kept me full for hours which is always important.

When was the last time you bought a fresh baked chocolate cupcake topped with melting ganache? I can't stress enough how much I love Bis.Co. Latte and their honor of vegan food.

I just want to be able to go to a bar and have a veggie burger. Please, boca burgers need not apply. Not too far from me I read about Thistle Hill Tavern and their lone vegan burger made of white bean, cracked wheat, and mushroom. It was tasty and gets extra stars for being blatantly vegan.

Yok Jade Vegetarian Soup from Aura Zoob Zib in Hells Kitchen. Like a salad, soup must have flavor and texture diversity (unless its pumpkin). Topped with fried wonton, taro slices, and enoki, this bowl is packed and satisfying to get you through the last days of winter (spring?).