Wayfare Cheddar Spread

I REALLY enjoy finding new vegan products on grocery store shelves. Here is a discovery I made at the Linden Hills Co-op. It's a cheddar-flavored spread by a company called Wayfare. The product is called "We Can't Say It's Cheese." I can confirm that the packaging is correct in claiming that the product melts. In fact, it seems to have a more robust flavor when you melt it on chips or crackers. I paid $3.49 for the 8 oz. container. The list of ingredients is pretty impressive (i.e., not bad for you). While I'm not sure this product will take the vegan world by storm, it's pretty tasty and I'll certainly buy it again some time.

Peoples Organic Coffee & Wine Cafe

I made my first trip to Peoples Organic Coffee & Wine Cafe last night. Owned by those responsible for the French Meadow, this is a "stylish" place located in Edina's Galleria. Because we were on our our way to a movie that was scheduled to start in less than an hour, and I was the only one in the group who hadn't already eaten dinner, I ordered a cup of chili and a raspberry bar in order to make it a quick trip. They indicated that a veggie burger would take about 20 minutes. Really good chili and a decent bar. Looking forward to a veggie burger next time. 

Mill City Vegan Visits Boston

I've been fortunate to have traveled to Boston four times since the late 1990s. Three visits have been for conferences related to my profession, and a family vacation accounted for the other trip. Each visit to this wonderfully walkable city has resulted in new vegan discoveries.

My flight arrived on a Friday night.  After checking into my Back Bay hotel, I headed straight for The Other Side Cafe, located a short walk from the Sheraton. I had enjoyed this place during a previous visit, so a return trip was in order. I indulged in the vegan burrito, which is quite possibly the world's perfect food. This vegan gem is stuffed full of all of the things that one should hope for in a burrito. I also like that it includes brown rice. The Other Side is a pretty loud and happening place on a Friday night.

I didn't have a lot of time to go out for breakfast during my time in Boston, so I usually found myself walking over to a nearby Whole Foods Market for vegan muffins and juice prior to heading to my conference each day.

Saturday morning I found one of my most anticipated destinations of the trip: an all-vegan shoe store called Sudo Shoes. After a five-minute walk from the Porter T station in Cambridge, I arrived shortly after the 10:00 a.m. opening time. I settled on a pair of $116 work shoes made by Vegetarian Shoes. Because my carry-on bag was already going to be stuffed full for the flight home, I asked them if they could ship the shoes to my home. They happily obliged for an additional $14 shipping fee. I could have spent A LOT more money at this place had I not exercised a bit of restraint. This is the kind of place that I wish would be located in every major city. But we're not all that fortunate.

Sudo Shoes

Inside Sudo Shoes

We had lunch at My Thai Vegan Cafe that afternoon. Located on the edge of Chinatown, you're rewarded with a really great vegan meal after braving their scary entryway to get up to the second-floor. The mock beef with mixed vegetables is definitely a winner.

Mock beef and mixed veggies at My Thai

Later that night, we hopped on the Green Line out to Allston, where we LOVED the pizza at another all-vegan establishment, Peace o' Pie Gourmet Vegan Pizza.  I'm a pizza fanatic.  This place certainly didn't disappoint.

Peace o' Pie

I headed back to The Other Side Cafe for lunch on Sunday. This time I ordered the vegan BLT, which was stacked super high with vegan bacon, among the other good stuff found on your typical BLT, including vegan mayo.

For our final dining out experience in Boston, we were looking for something reasonably close to the hotel. The destination: Mumbai Chopstix, located on Newbury Street. Indian/Asian fusion with at least a few dishes on the menu that appeared to be vegan. Mine was a mix of tofu, eggplant and spinach, all in a tangy garlic sauce. This turned out to be a nice find.

One of the many things I love about traveling is the adventure of seeking out vegan food and vegan-friendly businesses. Given that I'm also quite fond of enjoying urban places and getting around on public transportation while seeking out great those vegan-friendly establishments, Boston has definitely become one of my favorite places to visit.

This visit was certainly made easier by the consulting Vegguide.org, which is my favorite online source for tracking down vegan food.

Trieste Cafe

The Trieste Cafe is a downtown lunch spot that should not be overlooked. This is a small Greek cafe in the historic Lumber Exchange Building, located at 5th and Hennepin. Every time I've gone there I've ordered the hummus & veggie pita. These guys do not skimp on the hummus or the veggies. For seven bucks, including tax, they fill it up with a generous amount of hummus as well as peppers, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. You'll need at least one napkin! The pita bread is appropriately soft rather than the difficult-to-bite stuff that you get at some establishments. They also give you a bag of chips with your order.

One person takes your order while the other slices the veggies right before your eyes. Friendly people providing fresh and delicious food. In addition to the pita sandwiches, some day I'll convince myself to order falafel or a wrap. There are about a dozen tables packed into the space and you can watch light rail trains glide by out the window while you enjoy your sandwich.

I think they're only open on weekdays and they close at 3:00 p.m.

ARC and Ethique Nouveau Events April 2nd

Saturday, April 2nd, will be an action-packed day for Ethique Nouveau and the Animal Rights Coalition. They'll start things off at noon with Cupcakes For Their Sake. Vegan cupcakes for $3 each.  Peanut Butter Cup and Cookie Dough.  I think it's too late to pre-order at this point, but show up early and hope for the best!  Also check out the ARC web site or facebook page for other events that day, including an author reading and signing, a vegan clothing swap, and a circus protest at the state fairgrounds.  

Mill City Vegan Visits Milwaukee

Mill City Vegan has just returned from a few days in Milwaukee. We've enjoyed a number of visits to the Brew City over the past decade or so, and we've seen this city become more vegan-friendly all the time. Here's a rundown of our vegan experiences on this trip.

Shortly after checking in at the downtown Hilton and visiting the Domes on Thursday afternoon, we made our way to The Classic Slice in the Bay View neighborhood. We visited this place on our last trip to Milwaukee and found it to be worth a return trip. Of the three speciality vegan pizzas listed on the menu, we chose the Mediterranean, which includes olive tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, and vegan sausage.  Yes, they have vegan cheese! After finishing the 16-inch "medium" pizza, we felt like we might not eat for another week (or that we should head straight to the health club next-door).

The Mediterranean at The Classic Slice

Friday morning we decided to go with some simple baked goods for breakfast. We headed back to Bay View, which seems to have become the center of vegan culture in Milwaukee.  Sven's Cafe had a few vegan baked items, which I think are from East Side Ovens.  More on East Side Ovens in a bit. Sven's is nice, but head elsewhere if you're looking for a full vegan breakfast.

Friday afternoon we went to the Comet Cafe on the East Side. This place always seems to be very busy, but it's worth waiting a bit for a table, in my opinion. My personal favorite is the vegan gyro. After a single bite I realized it would be far too messy to eat with my hands and proceeded with fork and knife in-hand. It's a great mix of seitan, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumber dill sauce.

We returned to the East Side for dinner at Beans & Barley, which is both a restaurant and natural foods grocery store. While they don't have a huge number of vegan options, my wife and I both really enjoyed a vegan black bean burritos. We like stocking up on a few goodies at the adjacent grocery store when we eat here.

Saturday morning we once again decided to skip a full breakfast. We had good reason this time. On Saturday mornings the wholesale bakery East Side Ovens (again in Bay View) opens their doors to the public. We went crazy here and spent 25 bucks on baked goods. We should have enough baked goods for the week. It's hard to control oneself at a completely vegan bakery. Let's see if I can remember most of what we picked up...cinnamon rolls, cookies, pie, carrot cake, and some dinner rolls! Everything we've made it through so far has been fantastic.

Before visiting Milwaukee, you must check out Vegan Milwaukee for a wide variety online resources, including a great list of vegan-friendly restaurants. And be sure to like them on facebook. While in Milwaukee I received a facebook update from Vegan Milwaukee that identified where and when to catch up with the all-vegan food truck that made the trip up from Chicago for the day. We caught it at its first stop at Kinnickinnic and California. There were at least a dozen people who lined up in the cold at the first stop. I got the Chicago Cheesesteak and my wife ordered the Carolina BBQ. Both were hot and delicious and a great way to wrap up our trip before heading back across the state.  I'm already looking forward to the next visit!

Vegan food truck!

Cake Eater Bakery

I stopped by Cake Eater Bakery yesterday. They had no vegan cupcakes on this particular day, so I settled for a strawberry chocolate scone. Not bad. They also had maple pecan brownies that were vegan.

Cake Eater often posts some of their daily featured items on their web site and/or their facebook page.

Mock Muffeleta at Pizza Luce

Dinner with the family on a Friday night. Where better to go than Pizza Luce? I've really been hooked on the Mock Muffeleta lately. I've only recently started to enjoy barbecue sauce, so this fine hoagie has overtaken the Mock Sausage Parmigiana as my favorite non-pizza menu item at this veg-friendly establishment. It's filled with mock duck, olives, peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and rinotta vegan cheese. It's messy and extremely tasty!

Pizza Luce's menu includes clearly labeled vegan items as well as indicating which items may be veganized upon request.

The Depot Tavern

My sense is that The Depot Tavern might still be flying under the radar screens of most Minneapolis-area vegans since opening within the past year. Within the same building as the legendary First Avenue & 7th Street Entry, this is a great choice for a bite to eat when you're downtown. (If you work downtown, this is a good lunch spot.) I can only imagine how many hours I've spent in this building. I don't make it here for music very often these days, but The Depot's food is going to keep me coming back.

There are several items on the menu that are marked as vegan. And one or two of the vegetarian items can be made vegan. I usually don't eat meals late at night, but I found myself there at 11:00 last night, indulging in the Three Grilled Portabello Sliders. They're small. They're square. They're delicious. You've got to order them without the aioli sauce to veganize 'em. I also love their Three Vegan Duck Tacos and V.B.L.T.  I should also note that I've found the staff to be friendly and helpful during each visit.

Check out out the variety of photos of live music on the walls. When a show is happening next door, they apparently show it live on one of their tv screens here. Otherwise, it seems that you'll typically find things like sports or the History Channel playing on the numerous screens throughout the place. As an added bonus, you can purchase tickets to upcoming First Avenue shows while you're here.

As many of you are probably aware, this establishment's name is derived from the fact that the building was originally a Greyhound bus depot.

Saturday at Ethique Nouveau

Head over to Ethique Nouveau this Saturday, March 5th, from noon to 3pm. What's the occasion, you ask? The Gourmet Vegan Heat and Eat Smorgasbord.  Just a few of the sure-to-be-delicious items to bring home for dinner or freeze for another day: 

• Ciree Linsenman's Hazelnut Watercress Pesto, Black Shiso Pesto, and Red Pepper Cheddar Dip. 
• Megan Duke's Sweet Potato Chili. 
• Sarah Slather's Vanilla Orange Cupcakes.  

Fifteen percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Animal Rights Coalition's animal advocacy programs. Ethique Nouveau is located in Minneapolis at 317 W. 48th St. (48th & Grand).