From the monthly archives: March 2011
Endless Summer Tacos is a cart stationed on Williamsburg’s Bedford avenue. I’ve seen it countless times but always in passing. Chances are if I am on Bedford avenue, I am likely wanting to get to the next block quickly. [Narrow-hipped males in tight, skinny jeans induce a sort of gag reflex.] This particular sunny day, after volunteering at BARC‘s cat loft, I decided to treat myself, finally, with a taste of their seitan burrito. The burrito was fresh–packed with rice, beans, spicy seitan & double shots of red and green hot sauces. I devoured it on the curb in the dying sunlight, satisfied with its flavor, the convenience… Pitfalls are its location, the service, and the very limited selection for me… plus $7 is steep for a food truck burrito.
Following a lead from veg-partner CandyPenny, a stop at a new neighborhood Mexican eatery was set into motion. Calexico, New York’s best new Mexican restaurant according to Time Out’s readers’ choice poll, has got a cart in SoHo, a restuarant in Red Hook and a brand new location in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. On a Tuesday night we visited to find the place swarmed with people. After a brief wait, we ordered our food and began to experience the draw that had the place stuffed with strollers, dates, and happy hours.
CandyPenny‘s choices: a scrumptious cocktail with blended celery and some adult infusions and a Tofu Asado torta, grilled chile-lime tofu on grilled ciabatta bread with avocado, tomato, and a black bean spread (Their chipotle “crack” sauce isn’t vegan. The waiters understand “vegan”).
Having had that seitan burrito a few hours earlier, I went light: the watercress salad with fresh watercress, jicama, grapefruit, and a pumpkin seed vinaigrette. Very tasty but could use some more texture than the pumpkin seeds and stray and few jicama strips. We also chomped their complimentary plantain chips in a glorious ground peanut, chili and oil salsa. Everything was flavorful and fresh. It’s a nice neighborhood pairing with Papacitos‘ Mexican street food vibe up the street. As you can tell by the Calexico’s lightening, the place has ambiance up the wazoo. This is quite the feat for the spatial lay-out of the place. I hope to soon return!
Not really but there is a pretty good vegan option at Denny’s. Never you mind that they’re in the middle of a slovenly celebration of Bacon. Never you mind that separate menu with the bacon ice cream sundae and bacon pancakes. And never you mind that ‘People of Denny’s’ would make an appropriate sister-site to People of Wal-mart. They have got a fully vegan Amy’s veggie burger on their menu, field tested by many veggie reporters and now me.
So there it is, their Veggie Burger, minus the cheese and grilled onion (for fear of what they are grilled near, with, on [and other propositions]). My burger arrived looking dry and not greasy, likely nuked. And, in this case, I am relieved about that. It certainly was not grilled on the hot plate The Electrician‘s bacon cheeseburger was on. I had read that their bun was also vegan with no creepy animal-derived dough conditioners to worry about. However, I have learned now that this bun, their whole wheat bun, does have honey in it unfortunately. The burger was topped with fresh spinach and tomato. The fries were salty and tasty, not greasy or reeking of chicken fingers like I have experienced before in similar eateries’ dirty oil. It was a good, hearty bite that gave me my veggie burger fix. Sure, I won’t likely return but it is good to know that this popular roadside establishment can offer me some sustenance.
Sometimes I love Brooklyn. Lying in bed sick knowing vegan macaroni and cheese was being bicycled to me is one of those times. Yes, Brooklyn Mac in Greenpoint, with its fully veganizable menu, delivers. Their menu is simple and effective, like most of the world’s wonders. Select a mac n’ cheese dish named for Brooklyn locales or opt to create your own. They have a gluten free option. They have vegan cheddar or mozzarella options and can sub any meat with its vegan kind. I had the medium with vegan cheddar with hot dog. Perusing the menu I realize this combination exists on their kids menu.
What comes is a little box of creamy deliciousness. Baked to perfection, your mac is straight up comfort food done right.
I dug in without restraint.
In Brooklyn Mac I have found a new neighborhood option that is darn delicious.
My dear friend Artsparrow knows her medium. As a food lover, an illustrator, aspiring photographer and all around artist, she knows color equates emotion, the visual evidence of a feeling. Gathering with her near and dear, we celebrated her birthday at Nahm Thai Kitchen in Park Slope, Brooklyn with vibrant, colorful and tasty Thai cuisine.
The amazing Vegetarian Combo appetizer had so much to choose from: summer rolls, pan-fried veggie dumplings, fried tofu and chive pancake (one of my favorite bites of street food when I was in Thailand).
Of course the steamed veggie dumpling, my cryptonite, was also on the table… and spring rolls in the background.
Since I was sick and congested, I need a dish that would break through my compromised senses. The sweet sauce from my sweet & sour did the trick.
On a spring day that brought us hail, snow, snow again and huge thrashes of thunder, Artsparrow’s dutiful man brought the cupcakes! Yes we were all surprised when our friendly servers brought out the plate of CowGirl‘s cupcakes… a gesture that raised TimX‘s stocks sky high.
Andrea Sparacio, queen of the zombies, with her cupcakes.
I feel like March is my least favorite month of the year. At this point, I am through with winter and impatient for April, when warmer and brighter weather is more consistent. March’s sunny teases leave me annoyed. And it’s a loooong month. Somehow, it is almost over. Bringing us into the second quarter of the year. Seems like yesterday I was nodding off on the couch waiting for the ball to drop. Before this year sweeps me up, let’s stop and savor the little details that begin to make up your life.
The toasted everything bagel from The Bagel Dock.
Early happy hour on one of the first warm days in months.
Kate’s Joint is like visiting an old friend, one in which you’ve grown apart from
Godspeed You! Black Emperor changed where the exclamation point falls in their name. Whoopie. Here they are at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple.
My kids won brought in the most Box Tops and earned themselves an ice cream party. That spread included a vegan ice cream treat for me! Thanks parents.
I got this adorable new Bento lunch system that appeals to space efficiency as well as my wish to cut portions. This first week it is filled with a scrumptious Panang curry, seeded sticky rice and dried Mission figs. The curry is everything you want in a curry: lots of heat (garlic, shallots and grated ginger, as well as chili paste), lots of creamy (peanut butter, coconut milk and soft, supple tofu) and some sweet (brown sugar and crimson raisins). Here’s hoping for a quick and tasty week!
There’s a new all-vegan bakery in New York City. I repeat, there’s a new all-vegan bakery in New York City. Cowgirl’s Bakery in Manhattan’s East Village. And they are pretty impressive.
What would have two proud Brooklyn gals brave the bar-laden East Village during one of the drinkiest nights of the year? The prospect of better vegan options in our dear metropolis, that’s what! After Em sent the veg-crew Cowgirl‘s menu, I have been confused. (Why wasn’t I told about this? Who’s in charge? Eckhardt, Sir.) I was skeptical it was yet another location acting as a depot of vegan baked deliveries. But no, no, no. Cowgirl kicks vegan cupcake butt. More decadent than Babycakes and far better than any other local option. And I’ve tried ‘em all. For this first visit, I got the Cotton candy cupcakes and a green donut for St. Patty’s Day. Of important note is how good Cowgirl‘s frosting is… it’s sweet, very creamy yet light…. not a porous whipped buttercream that coats your mouth in shortening, not a overly-sweet and overly-piped headdress of grainy sugar, no. It was truly impressive. My cotton candy cupcake was not just pink, it tasted like cotton candy. Infused with organic flavorings, it captured the taste of nostalgia.
Cowgirl’s has a slew of creative and fun cupcake options, including the Coffee & Donuts cupcake that Ms. CP got. It is a coffee-flavored cake topped with a real mini vegan donut. Real donut, as in fried and greasy but clean at the same time. We were in heaven and happy that there was plenty of traffic in the bakery, which open a week or so ago. Besides cupcakes, donuts and cookies, Cowgirl’s serves hot food on the cheap. I am so glad there is a new option for homegrown vegan delights. I look forward to sampling other cupcakes and spreading word about this new fantastic bakery.
It was time to find more vegan options in Queens. With a good friend moving to Woodside, we took occasion to explore a vegan lead for dinner… Woodside’s De Mole. As we entered the dimly lit restaurant, I was eager to sit down. For squeezed between the ton of authentic Mexican dishes on menu was a seitan burrito stuffed with garlic spinach, red rice, black beans, Pico de Gallo and tofu sour cream. 
Some scrumptious tortilla longs were shared mid-anticipation of the burrito coming. The salsa served to strengthen the anticipation as a delicious and flavorful housemade salsa is indicative of the quality of the forthcoming meal. Savor your chips slowly as additional bags are not complimentary.
There she is. A girthy giant, a wide-wrapped wonder, the de Mole seitan burrito. Besides ease in ordering (there is no need to exclude any of the burrito’s ingredients), this burrito satisfies in all departments. It was so good. Tender seitan, a thoughtful blend of internal vegetables and a tofu sour cream that was not from a tub. I would definitely return for it or, better yet, to inquire on substituting their succulent seitan in one of the menu’s other creative dishes.
When I was a kid there was a local pizza place where the neighborhood kids and I hung around. On Long Island there is a ma-and-pop’s pizza parlor in every cluster of stores, red, green and white variations on the same theme: real, Italian food. Much like bagels and Chinese take-out, Long Island did these things right. Being just outside New York City, it had to. Pizza is a big part of Long Island’s family culture. A big warm box on your lap for the 3-minute car ride away brought the corners of together. On their own, pizzerias serve a different function to the suburban kid. They had an arcade game or two. They had off hours and rarely were there groups dining in, save for few utilitarian eaters. And they had pizza guys, family men who took on mediator/babysitter in many youths’ unofficial after-school program. I remember Vinnie, the busy proprietor of Vinnie’s Pizzeria and his partner, slightly less ambitious and slightly more entertained by the packs of tweens and teens loitering the front and back, using the parlor as hallway, dining room and game room. I forget his name but remember the pieces of raw pizza dough; I remember watching the stand-up mixer spinning round and round; I remember paying for my white slice with broccoli with coins… which he pushed away after the complicated task of sorting through it, expelling the candy wrappers and determining its value registered. Thanks for all the slices.
So drinks don’t photograph quite like a dish of food does but Pine Box Rock Shop, a bar in {wait for it}… Morganville, Brooklyn is a unique place owned and operated by vegans. “Morganville”, a neighborhood following the crosstown L-line path of gentrification, is the 2 blocks around the Morgan L subway stop alive with a thrifty hipster pulse. (Of course the streets beyond these two blocks feel much like the backdrop to Renegade.)
Of course a vegan bar must have vegan nosh! Pine Box Rock Shop offers three varieties of V-Spot’s yummy empenadas: Jerk seitan, black bean and Philly cheesesteak. Yuuumm-mmy. Perfect with a pint. All served with quality salsa. Quality is any salsa that doesn’t taste like Tostitos.
The bar has enormously high ceilings and lots of space– at least on a Thursday– and tables and bar top is covered with tons of old concert ticket stubs. The music is good, barkeeps are friendly and they take card, which is one of my requirements in bar. The ironic icing on the cake, this vegan bar has Big Buck Hunter Safari, which gets less confusing on the second drink or so. Check them out for a good time.
If you can’t make it to the bar, check out Barnivore, Pine Box’s recommended vegan beer and wine guide.
Vegan Reporting By Location
