Work lunch

When my only restriction eating out was that it had to be vegan, it really was pretty simple.  I was able concentrate on getting that one message through to the waiter.  I enjoy eating out, I love going to new restaurants, date nights, girls nights, group dinners, etc -  was I perfect all the time?  No.  Did I sometimes let a little dairy slide?  Yes.  Sorry, hardcore vegans, I am doing the best I can! 

BUT now - eating out as gluten free and vegan is harder.  Yes, there are a lot more options than there used to be, but the combination of GF/ vegan is tricky.   Trying to convince a waiter to go back and talk to the chef and relay the message, no dairy, no meat, no eggs, no gluten - is a challenge.  And, the waiters that succeed do earn a good tip.  Recently, I have realized that I am letting things slide more than I used to, because I am so focused on gluten free.  If there is a little dairy in my dish my body does not really notice, but if there is a little gluten in the dish, my stomach will hurt for days. 

Last week I had one such experience.  I was going on a work lunch.  Talk about difficult, do I really want everyone to hear my long list of eating restrictions? Ugh.  And, we were going to Houston's.  Hum, I had no idea how this was going to turn out.  I ordered a gluten free veggie plate and talked  at length about no gluten with the waiter, but I failed to focus on dairy.  For some reason, I forget that veggie plates to me mean no dairy, but to most it means veggies cooked in butter.  I do want to applaud Houston's - they were extremely creative and came up with items that were not already on the menu.  The plate was BEAUTIFUL.  They were very sensitive and respectful about the gluten.  Unfortunately it was my fault for not requesting no butter.  I did eat some of it, the veggie sushi was amazing, but I really could not eat everything because the butter was too overpowering.  I will go back to Houston's and try again though, I feel confident now that they can prepare me a gluten free / vegan meal.  Yes, Chad, did you hear that?  I am willing to try Houston's!

Rediscover Cafe Sunflower

For some reason I have not been to Cafe Sunflower in awhile.  I went about a month ago to the Sandy Springs location for lunch but I have not been to the Buckhead location for dinner in a really long time.  I guess I have been focusing on going to newer places BUT going to Cafe Sunflower tonight was like going to a new place.  I knew I was safe on the vegan front - but how would they do on the gluten free front?  Oh - they have an entire gluten free menu, thank you very much! 

It was girls night out.  S&Ry and I were greeted by Joe, our server for the evening.  He immediately won the three of us over with his enthusiasm, big smile and willingness to provide us with drawing paper.  The girls eagerly put crayon to paper to begin their masterpieces for Joe - including their signature hearts all around his name!

Joe share the gluten free menu with me but  directed me towards the VG/ GF quiche.  I am not a quiche fan (I dont like eggs) of course there are no eggs in this dish, but humm, quiche?  His accolades for the dish won me over.  I ordered it.  Ry ordered the mock chicken nuggets and S ordered the minestrone soup.  They both cleaned their plates! 

Wow - Joe was dead on - the veggie quiche was out of this world good.  It was topped with an arugula salad with a perfect balsamic vinaigrette and surrounded by a chilled butternut squash sauce.  Both added the perfect flavor to the quiche.  The quiche was filled with great veggies and an amazing curry flavor.  The texture was incredible, and all of those taste put into one dish - curry, balsamic, sweet, savory - amazing.  Oh,  I almost forgot to mention the crust - I had to call Joe over and ask again if this was truly gluten free.  The crust tasted way too good to be true.  I learned it was made from quinoa flour - go figure!

I joined the clean plate club as well....

Dessert?  Anytime there is a GF/ VG dessert on a menu I order it.  (This happens so rarely!)  They had peach cobbler.  I should have ordered two.  The girls and I were fighting over it - so good.  The girls also had GF/ VG vanilla ice cream.  And what a great touch to put them in fun "fancy" ice cream dishes. The girls LOVED it. 

So, rediscover Cafe Sunflower.  The girls and I had a fabulous evening rediscovering this veggie gem in Atlanta!

Denver Day 2 - Good friends

Day 2: Denver (wow it is taking me a long time to post blogs these days!).
We woke up early, still on East coast time, and decided to drive up to Boulder.  Chad went to school at University of Colorado so it is always fun for him to reminisce.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was hot, but not like in the South - no humidity.  If you are in the shade it is perfectly pleasant.  We got to Boulder so early that most of the brunch places were not even open.  We walked around for awhile and found Foolish Craigs.  Very fun atmosphere. I told our waiter that I needed a vegan / gluten free breakfast - and once again was greeted with "no problem."  I had a delicious tofu scramble with spinach, tomatoes, onions, etc in a GF sauce and a side of potatoes.


Walking around Boulder was so uplifting.  Everyone seemed so healthy.  People were biking everywhere.  Most of the shops were geared towards outdoor activities.  A great life indeed!

That afternoon we meet up with Chad's good friends from college and hung out by a pool for awhile then headed to dinner. 

This weekend I was around Chad's friends whom some I had just met, but after about 5 minutes, I felt like I knew all of them for a long time.  It was really nice to be in a different city with new people but to not feel like an outsider.  They were incredible to talk with and very interested in and accepting of the way I eat.  I enjoyed going to dinner in Denver at Little Ollie's a sushi place.  http://littleolliescherrycreek.com/
Usually, sushi isnt too difficult, you can always order veggie sushi rolls.  But with the new GF restriction, it is harder because soy sauce has gluten.  When I ordered, I asked the waiter to make sure none of the sauce on the veggie roll I ordered had gluten.  She said no problem and without me asking, brought  GF soy sauce to our table!  And, they had a creative selection of veggie rolls, not just the plain cucumber or avocado rolls I end up ordering at other places.  Our table had a thought provoking conversation about food, and there was no judgement (I hope they didn't feel any frm me!) or anyone saying, well you SHOULD eat this way or you are not eating enough protein!  And, even better that we indulged in more conversation topics than just food. 

Thanks Denver for being so accepting and for offering so many selections!

Good weekend, great food finds!

My dessert for the week

I had an exciting weekend, filled with great friends and good chocolate.  Friday night we met friends at The Shed in Glenwood Park.  It was our first experience there.  I enjoyed the butter bean hummus and their veggie plate.  To the best of mine and the waitress' knowledge, it was gluten free and vegan (except for the grits!)  The squash salad and succotash were my favorites on the veggie plate.  Then we headed down to the Sweet Auburn Curb Market for Atlanta Underground's Chocolate Market.  Inside were dozens of confectioners selling their delicious unique chocolate creations.  We saw (but did not try) chocolate chicken wings, chocolate covered potato chips, etc.  I was most thrilled to find several gluten free / vegan chocolate treats.  Jake's Ice Cream is now serving vegan ice cream made from coconut milk!  Dr. Sweets had a delicious gluten free brownie.  And, my all time favorite Sugar Coated Radical had vegan chocolate covered cherries.  Speaking of Sugar Coated Radical, you must check them out.  The chocolate is out of this world - seriously, unreal, but beyond that, the people are so genuine, caring and devoted to their craft.  I also saw them on Sunday morning when we joined them for Bakery Sunday.  The family enjoyed their pastries, and Taria greeted me with vegan chocolate to try, it had coconut and a few other amazing ingredients, that I devoured on the spot.

Their website is: http://www.sugarcoatedradical.org/
And one article (there are many more):
http://clatl.com/omnivore/archives/2011/02/15/sugar-coated-radical-already-expanding

We then went to the Grant Park Farmers Market - bought peach gazpacho from Grace's Goodness, and the girls took part in a scavenger hunt!  Worn out, we headed to the pool.

LottaFrutta Again

S in the window - she loves this place

My veggin hold the cheese

Mothers Day - Some want a fancy brunch - I want a vegan sandwich from Lotta Frutta on Auburn Avenue.  I know I posted about this restaurant before, but I cant stop thinking about their amazing vegan sandwich.  It is such a fun place.  I held my breath as I finally asked if the bread was vegan and to my surprise it was.  So, the Veggin, without cheese is vegan.  Chad enjoyed his turkey and havarti sandwich (more like a panni) - S ordered the veggin without cheese but added hummus and I had the veggin no cheese.  Great way to spend my mothers day, sitting in the sun enjoying my veggin.  (And, I havent even begun to tell you about their smoothies & fruit cups)

Chad's turkey / havarti

"Best Day EVER" as my youngest would say

Beautiful weather, early morning workout, husband took the girls to school, had my haircut (by an amazing hairstylist, Ritchie at Lather) and then met a friend for lunch.  Cant think of a better way to start the day.

Lunch - one of my favorite places - Super Pan.  I so enjoy their vegan BBQ tofu sandwich on a coconut bun with cabbage and cilantro.  The BBQ sauce is out of this world, spicy with a touch of sweet, accompanied by crystallized sugar on top.  Put that together with cilantro and a soft gooey bread and you have one hell of a sandwich.  Each bite melts in your mouth with a taste that is perfectly balanced between sweet and spicy.  I ate there a couple of times but never asked if the sandwich was officially "vegan".  But I got my nerve up after starting this blog.  I had reasoned with myself, that I would enjoy and eat it either way, but it would be nice to report on my blog that it was vegan.  I almost hugged the guy who was taking my order and who informed me that it was INDEED vegan.  Sweet!  This is another place that a vegan can get an outstanding, satisfying meal and any accompanying meat eater will be equally satisfied with their meal - the rest of the menu has plenty of meat options.
http://www.superpanlatinosandwichshop.com/

After Lunch-  Atlanta Food Trucks at Sweet Auburn Curb Market (will be there every last Friday of the month).  I have been reading about the Atlanta Food Truck movement in Atlanta and could not wait to check them out.  These creative entrepreneurs are trying to bring a concept to Atlanta that many other cities already get to experience.  For some reason, our city laws are not conducive to this business.  To learn more go to http://www.atlantastreetfood.com/.  (I wont pretend to understand it.)  But in the meantime you can check these food trucks out at certain times and locations.  On to my experience - really fun, happy energy as everyone lined up to try exciting food.  The first sign I saw was inspiring, they were selling tamales, and the first type to sell out was the vegetarian.  Go veggie!

Farm Mobile was another cool concept - a truck filled with local farmer's good.  I walked into the truck to do my shopping - organic bok choy and H&F Bread company loaf of bread.
www.grassfedcow.com/farmmobile.html

One food truck I was most interested in finding was Grace's Goodness.  I stumbled upon her site and immediately was drawn to her philosophy: "Grace’s Goodness was founded on the notion that honest, healthy, local food should be accessible to all."  Love it.  And, I found her.  She was full of goodness and fun energy - she had amazing vegan hummus, and homemade pimento cheese (not vegan).  I will be tracking her down again soon to refill my mason jars.  http://www.gracesgoodness.com/  Husband and both girls enjoyed the pimento cheese.

Good Food was another truck that I cant wait to try out.  We had already eaten lunch, but I cant wait to find them again and try one of their waffle cones filled with indian fare.

BEST day EVER!!

http://goodfoodtruckatl.com/

Fast Food Find

I may have won the best wife award today.  As we were driving back from Birmingham, after seeing our favorite band (WSP), I asked my husband to keep driving and get off on the Moreland exit.  He was in for a surprise.  I directed him to Glenwood and Moreland and asked him to pull into a CHICKEN SAUSAGE fast food stand called Delias.  He thought I had lost my mind.  Delia's is fast food, but made with fresh, handcrafted locally sourced ingredients including the chicken, and buns from H&F bread company.  But, the real reason I checked out a fast food place is that every biscuit and slinger has a vegetarian or VEGAN option.  Seriously!  My husband was in heaven, and I had great options too. He said his chicken biscuit was amazing.  I ordered the Gunn Slinger with outstanding guacamole, salsa, jalapeno slices and vegan sausage.  The bread and toppings were amazing, truly "handcrafted".  I tried the vegan sausage, and for vegan sausage it was good, but for me, I really just dont like any of the "vegan" meats.  I took the sausage off and enjoyed the guacamole and salsa sandwich.  So if you are a vegan and want to make a meat eater really, really happy - Take them to Delias and you can enjoy your meal too. 

Score - a fast food restaurant with healthy options in ATLANTA!!