Full Tilt

Full Tilt Ice Cream has opened a sistership to its White Center shop in beautiful Columbia City. It took a little bit of searching to find its location, which is just about a half block outside (to the south) of the "cute" section of the stretch, and is located in a worn looking stripmall on the west side of the street.

There it is! With the yellow sign behind the white SUV. I suspect there will be an awning soon.

The concept is the same at the white center location: homemade, high quality ice cream, pin ball machines, and all ages music shows. They have a rotating list of flavors, and some of the notables on my visit were: Blue Moon (a fruit loop flavor popular in the mid-west), Mexican Chocolate, Horchata, Birthday Cake, Ube (purple yam), Swiss Chocolate Orange, and blueberry. They also had three different vegan flavors: Chocolate Oreo, Lime Lavendar Sorbet, and Lemon Peppermint Sorbet.

I ordered the Horchata, which tasted exactly as you'd expect: sweet, creamy, cinnamony and delicious. My dining companion ordered the Birthday Cake, which tasted more like what actually happens in the bottom of the bowl at a birthday party than like artificial cake flavor.

Horchata up front, party in the back

There were a few flavors that I wish were on the menu that weren't (at least not during this visit): a good simple chocolate, and some sort of caramel/dulce de leche flavor, both of which are some of my personal favorites.

Something that I really love is that these guys offer "kids" cones, meaning a nice round single scoop that is non-taboo for adults to order, that costs just around $1.75. To my sensibilities, this makes a world of sense because I don't need or want a skyscraper of an ice cream cone that costs me a fortune. Bravo for figuring that out!

They also sell sparkling water and inexpensive beer.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Full Tilt
5101 Rainier Ave S, #105
Seattle, Wa 98118
http://twitter.com/FTicecream

Baguette Box

I enjoyed a really tasty variation on the typical vegetarian tofu vietnamese sandwich at the baguette box, the Braised Tofu sandwich. Like most tofu vietnamese sandwiches, it consisted of chunks of fried tofu, carrots, pickeled (?) radish, cilantro, onions, etc, but the high quality bread and the exceptionally delicious tofu made this sandwich stick out.

I also had the beet salad, and it was super good... thin tender slices of beets swimming in garlicy olive oil.

Downsides: a little bit expensive, and parking can indeed be difficult if you plan on arriving via car.

Homegrown

Homegrown is one of the delightful sandwich shops that makes an effort to have some interesting, unusual, delicious vegetarian options (no "lettuce, cucumber, sprouts" here!). I went to  the Homegrown on Capital Hill one recent stormy night and was thrilled to see the following sandwich on the menu: roasted beets, pickled onions, wild greens and cheese (menu says goat cheese, but they substituted Beechers flagship cheddar at my request). It was a perfect mix of sweet and juicy beets, the sharp vinegary tang of the onions, spicy peppery freshness from the greens, and salty, savory cheese. 

I also indulged in some tasty, fresh homemade fries liberally sprinkled with dill. They came with homemade tarter sauce.

In addition to making an awesome sandwich, Homegrown is dedicated to doing things as sustainably as possible, and is happy to accommodate vegan and gluten free diners. Definitely worth a visit!

The Twisp River Pub

I recently spent my birthday in the Methow Valley and did some serious research about where to eat on the special night. Unfortunately, it appears the Twisp/Winthrop/Mazama stretch is pretty bleak for good vegetarian food.

I initially got really excited about this: http://www.winthroptipidinners.com/, an unusual (and not corny/cooperate/tourist trap, as the name might make you think) restaurant developed as a life dream by a local woman that revolves around eating artfully prepared, healthy, traditional (local as possible) Native American foods while in a beautiful tipi. In the winter time, there is fire and candle light and and animal skins to keep everything warm. The proprietress, Suekii, cooks everything in a nearby kitchen and brings it via hand held wagon to her hungry guests. I spoke to Suekii about what she does for vegetarians (no bison steak for this birthday gal), and it all sounded wonderful... hummus and pickled asparagus, stuffed squash, emmer farro, etc. But it turned out that the tipi was already fully booked (it only holds 8) on the night of my birthday.

There are other fancy type options in the area, including the Sun Mountain Lodge and the Arrowleaf Bistro, but these have really limited vegetarian entrees that are priced at meat prices. No thank you.

So I went to the Twisp River Pub, where I knew there were decent vegetarian options to be had. My dining companion and I split two things: the Asian salad and a veggie burger with fries.

Based on the menu description, I had hoped that the Asian salad (with rice noodles) would be similar to the contents of a Vietnamese bun. Turned out the noodles were more of a garnish, and the salad was mostly green. I ordered it with fresh tofu (instead of fried), which was possibly a mistake, because it came fully unmarinated (rather than in the sesame marinade the menu describes).

The pub-made veggie burger was tasty, and the fries were excellent.

For my birthday dessert, I ordered a warm walnut brownie with vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.

Ramen Underground

The tofu hunter spent a short and delicious period in San Francisco, a city that never fails to provide interesting vegetarian fare! 

One of my favorite meals from this recent trip was at Ramen Underground, a teeny, tightly packed ramen house on the border of Chinatown and the financial district. I was seated with a bunch of strangers at a postage stamp of a table and ordered by filling out an ordering sheet. My order: vegetarian broth, tofu, veggies, and chili paste.

It was a nearly perfect bowl of ramen. The tofu was fresh and soft. The veggies were abundant and fresh. And the house-made chili paste was slightly spicy, deliciously roasty, and out of this world delicious (I was stoked to see that it wasn't just a blob of sambel olek).

My only complaint was that this amazing bowl eventually came to an end.

Hot Mama's Pizza

Hot Mama's Pizza, which is open late, is located a few blocks west of Broadway on Pine and is thus especially well suited to satisfy late night, drunken hunger.

The shop is small, and after you order your slices (about $2.25 each), you can either take them on a paper plate out into the action of the street or stand inside at a crowded standing-only bar. The ambiance isn't really the point.

The pizza is pretty good in the sense that it tends to be thin, hot and cheesy with a nice crisp crust. They tend to have many vegetarian pizzas going earlier in the evening (mixed veggie, pesto, etc), but my experience has been that plain cheese dominates in the later hours. Far as I can tell, there is nothing suitable for a vegan.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the best pizza in the city, or even Capital Hill, and the quality of the slice varies pretty significantly depending upon whether it has been sitting or is fresh from the oven, BUT it has many of the qualities I like in pizza: a thin crust that is crisp but not crackery, plentyful but not oozing or overwhelming amounts of bubbled lightly browned cheese, and interesting toppings (hot peppers, fresh basil, etc). Hot Mama's manages to squarely hit the "after dinner" hunger and a couple of slices is a mighty fine nightcap.

Thanks K for yet another outstanding job as phone photographer.

Meskel

2605 E Cherry St
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 860-1724

Meskel is one of a large handful of Ethiopian restaurants on the stretch of Cherry between MLK and 23rd, and is quite possibly one of the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch. It sits high off of Cherry, and is separated from the street by a raised terrace patiently hibernating until summer.

Inside, the restaurant is clean and intimate with rich colors and African art. Water was served in a wine glass with a slice of lime. We sat against the bank of windows looking out onto Cherry, and it felt cozy and homey and entirely lacking the dinginess that many Ethiopian restaurants sometimes have.

The vegetarian combo makes it easy for a vegetarian to eat here. The combo consists of a big round platter lined with a piece of moist, spongy, sour injera bread that is covered in colorful blobs of vegetarian delights... red lentils, yellow lentils, greens, potatoes, salad, tomato fitfit... each of which was deliciously spiced (though none were spicy in a hot way) and gave the impression of slow cooking. A basket of extra injera and a bowl of mild white cheese came along side the main platter.
It all tasted good, but I found the entire meal to be too salty. Certain elements were more salty than others (the greens were exceptionally salty while the tomato fit fit was less so). Even the injera, which was perfect in every other way, tasted like it was packed with salt. It felt a shame in this cuisine of fragrant and pungent spices to fall so heavily on the salt.

Ethiopian food tends to be entertaining and easy for a vegetarian, and aside from the saltiness, I enjoyed the atmosphere and experience of this particular restaurant.

Morning After Update:
All three of us developed unpleasant stomach symptoms. Not serious, but not fun. Maybe it was a coincidence, but probably something good to consider when choosing a restaurant before an important or inflexible day.

A Casa Que Pasa

I love going into a burrito shop in a college town like Bellingham because I know that the vegetarians are going to be well taken care of!

The burritos at Casa Que Pasa are large (about 2 meals worth for me) and delicious. There are many vegetarian and vegan options, and on the day of my meal I ordered vegetarian daily special: flour tortilla, spicy black beans, deep fried potatoes, guacamole, sour cream, cabbage and green salsa. It was quite the burrito!
And as with any Mexican restaurant worth its salt, Casa Que Pasa has a nice little salsa bar with a variety of red and green homemade salsas and spicy pickled carrots. All were tasty, none were especially spicy to my palate.

Reminds me that I should spend more time in Bellingham!

The Chapel

I was recently at The Chapel for my birthday. We initially thought we were there for the $5 martini happy hour (where "martini" is used loosely, and included all sorts of lovely cocktails), but it turned out everybody was hungry and we were thrilled to see that The Chapel has a reasonable food menu too.

I started with a Baby Mae "martini", which was a delicious drink made with tequila, cardamom and grapefruit juice. For my meal, I ordered a South-of-the-Border burger off of the extensive burger list, all of which can be made with a garden burger.

It was a very decadent burger!!! It was so saucy and delicious... there seemed to be three types of sauces on the well grilled patty: some tasty spicy salsa, some sort of green chili mayonnaise, and some chipotle type mayonnaise. The burger also had grilled pepper jack and lettuce and tomato. I usually shy away from too much mayo, but my goodness, it was delicious in this application.

I don't think I'd go here for dinner specifically, but it was a pleasure to discover that a real dinner could be had in the middle of happy hour, and I give them a huge thumbs up for the veggie burger option!

Thai Tom

Thai Tom is the tiny, cramped University district darlin' where the food is fast and delicious and the air is smoky with the flavors of Thai delight.

The concise menu includes tofu as a meat choice, and it seems the brisk staff is used to dealing with the fitful culinary whims of university students and didn't bat an eye when I asked for my spicy noodles (more or less phad kee ma0) made vegan.

I'm not sure Thai Tom is necessarily the best in the city, but it is consistently tasty, fresh, and hot. A seat at the bar (sometimes a necessity if you wish to be seated ahead of the giant hungry line) is an entertaining peek into the madness of flying hands, flames and sauces as the sweating cooks blast out order after order.

Add all of that to the inexpensive prices, and it's no wonder the place is so popular.

Hi Life

Some friends and I recently went to eat at Hi Life, a restaurant located in the old Ballard firehouse. The ambiance was neat: spacious and rustic but clean, and it was possible to imagine the building's earlier life. It was a little bit classier than we had expected, but the food looked good and there were plenty of vegetarian options, so we stayed.

The menu changes frequently, and I ordered small items to make a meal. I ordered a slice of beet sweet potato tarte, and a plate of broccolini.

The tarte had some wonderful ingredients, but wasn't the most logical preparation. On top of the crust was a layer of mashed sweet potato, and on top of that were slices of beets. The mashed sweet potato atop the crust provided a confusing texture that made it feel like the crust was uncooked. The slice of tart was sitting in a pool of tasty red pepper aioli and a small pile of dressed mixed greens. All of the flavours were good, and the presentation was pleasing, but the situation with the textures was weird enough that I wouldn't order it again.
The plate of broccolini exceeded my expectations in terms of quantity, and it came (perhaps slightly undercooked for so much broccolini stem) seasoned with one of my favorite ways to season broccoli: garlic and red pepper flakes.

The two others eating vegetarian ordered various ravioli. It appear that the Hi Life has a rotating and changing fleet of vegetarian ravioli. The birthday boy ordered a plate of some sort of cheese ravioli that came covered in a light tomato and pumpkin seed sauce. He had no complaints and was particularly surprised and pleased at the pumpkin seeds.
The other vegetarian ordered the fried goat cheese ravioli. She had no problem eating them, but said that give the particular details ("fried" "goat cheese" "ravioli") she was expecting them to be some level of sublime that they just weren't.
Overall I'd say the Hi Life is a good option for a north end fancyish dinner for a combination of omnivores and vegetarians because everybody will find something interesting and satisfying. I didn't find the food to be stellar enough to want to go back by myself, but it is always good to have an arsenal of places that are reasonable for both types of eaters.

They do have a really good looking Happy Hour (5-6:30, M-F, and 10-close every night) with deals like $3 woodfired pizzas. I would definitely be interested in checking this out, especially because the wood fired pizza oven was underutilized by our group on our particular night, but it looks like the sort of oven that would crank out really good pizza.

Thanks J for the pictures, and Happy Birthday C!

Hi Life

(206) 784-7272

5425 Russell Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
www.chowfoods.com/hilife/index.aspx

Red Door

A recent summer evening with friends left us in Fremont looking for a place that could provide the following:

1. Relaxed outdoor seating
2. Beer
3. Dinner
   

The Red Door sounded like a good bet. We certainly weren't the only folks with this idea, and had to spend some time a the bar (also outside) waiting for a table. No problem, it allowed us a chance to get a start on priority #2.

The menu was large but certainly meat biased. There were indeed some vegetarian choices... a caprese sandwich on a croissant, a veggie burger, a salad or two, but the options were a bit slim relative to the sum of the menu. Good news was that for an additional $1.50, they could substitute a veggie patty (seemed to be Boca) for a meat patty on any of their numerous burgers. I got an avocado burger in this vein. Had the choice of various salads or fries, and choose the fries.

I don't think I read the menu very carefully, and was surprised, pleasantly, to see that my sandwich came on toasted sourdough. It also had melted tillamook cheddar, and smashed avocado.
It also had another surprise bonus: bacon strips. Confirmation that I did gloss over the pesky details in the menu. Pried the bacon out of the melty cheese and gifted it to my friend's bowl of chili. For him, it would be decadent night.

What naughty creatures who poke their tongues at me!

The Red Door provided everything we were looking for. I managed to get plenty full, and my sandwich was good enough, even if I didn't have the world to choose from while ordering. The food served its purpose, but was a secondary to the cold beer and the perch above the street on a warm summer evening.

Red Door Alehouse
3401 Evanston Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 547-7521
reddoorseattle.com

Belltown Billiards

Belltown Billiards makes surprisingly good pizza. I was recently there on a stormy week night when the place was nearly empty aside from me and my pool shark friends. We ordered a bunch of pizzas through out the evening, including a tasty vegetarian pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil. There is a pizza oven and the back, and the thin chewy crusted beauties came out piping hot and surprisingly delicious. I had really low expectations, but am glad that I saved my appetite and indulged it here.

Belltown Billiards also has some good Happy Hour drink specials, including a $5 margaritas and Jack and Gingers.

St. Dames

I recently went to St. Dames, the new vegetarian restaurant in Columbia city, to celebrate my birthday. This means I was poised to order everything from drinks to dessert and I had my expectations set high. Upon entering the restaurant, I was excited to see that the owners had done a pleasing job of creating a cozy, stylish, hip ambiance with plenty of booths, art, and careful lightening, none of which was a given considering the location in the somewhat characterless new mixed-use buildings just north of the Columbia City Light Rail station.

We started with drinks, and I ordered the St. Cinnamon, one of many tasty sounding specialty cocktails offered in addition to a full bar. It was made with muddled pear, bourbon, and cinnamon infused simple syrup, and was just the sort of slightly spicy, slightly fruity cocktail that I love. And for a fancy bar drink, it was reasonably priced too at $8.

If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you are probably aware of the rarity of looking at a menu on which every item is actually available to you. The need to *choose* something off of a menu is an unaccustomed pleasure, and I scratched my head for a good long while as I debated the merits of just about every delicious looking item offered. I ended up choosing a butternut squash gnocchi with a side of braised kale, and my dining companion ordered a portobello cheese steak sandwich on homemade baguette. Both were delicious, wholesome and beautiful. YES.

Gnocchi with grilled vegetables, toasted hazelnuts and feta cheese along side a huge delicious mound of lightly braised, wonderfully seasoned kale.

Just about every item on the menu is either vegan, or can be made vegan. Many items are gluten free. They bake all of their own (deliciously gluten-filled) bread. They allow you to substitute side dishes however you desire, which is pretty exciting because I want to try just about every one of them: braised kale, whipped veggies, french fries, roasted vegetables, etc. AND, they are doing everything with an eye towards sustainability.

Marinated portobellos, grilled peppers and onions, melted provolone and lettuce on a fresh homemade baguette, along side fries and what tasted like homemade ketchup.

The gals running the place were so friendly and hard working it made me love it all even more. I get the feeling they are still refining aspects the menu and service, but they were completely sweetly accommodating to my requests (for example, butter for my bread).

Chocolate mousse pie (vegan, I think), with a nice optional dollop of real whipped cream.

I can't say enough good things about this place. The last time I got my hopes up for a new vegetarian restaurant was for Plum, which was so dissapointing on my visit I've not given it a second chance. The fact that St. Dames is in my own neighborhood is just icing on the cake.

When people ask me "What do vegetarians eat?" I'd like to steer them right on over to St. Dames, where the dishes are composed to stand on their own as complete, delicious, and not based around re-creating meat dishes with manufactured meat substitutes. It's the kind of food I would cook at home if I had endless time and skill to put into it, and I am absolutely thrilled to have these gals willing and able to do it for me!

I really really wish success for this place, go there and eat and let me know what you think.

Old Country Buffet

It happened surprisingly easily: I was driving through Factoria with an easy-earned $125 in my pocket and a growing hunger in my belly. I felt weird and dreamy and passed by the restaurants of misc Asian flavor that would usually tempt me. When my car parked, I realized I had been mysteriously guided to the Old Country Buffet in the semi-deserted Factoria Mall.

I have talked about standard all-you-can-eat buffets from a vegetarian or vegan perspective in the past: They tend to more or less suck. It is hard to feel like you get your money's worth, and the quality protein options tend to be pretty limited. In addition, the buffet also has a pretty substantial unappetizing element that includes an excessive number of people touching, breathing on and fidgeting with your food before it becomes yours.

However.

Something about this grossness and the simplicity of the food and the all-you-can-drink soda machine (who the hell is writing this???) were really a turn-on to me today.

And so I had a very leisurely solo, all-I-could-eat grossout lunch. I started with a big salad made out of spinach, garbanzo beans, sun flower seeds, Parmesan cheese, carrots, baby corn and radishes. I foolishly dressed it (thank god very lightly), in a "light ranch," that tasted about like spermy corn syrup.

For my main course, I somehow bypassed the endless pile of joe-joes and big vat of velveeta mac and cheese, and got some smoky stewed pinto beans from the "build your own nachos" bar, with a little nacho cheese sauce on top. I was excited to see the tray of "Steamed green Cabbage," and piled that on my plate, and also got half of a perfectly crispy, buttery velveeta grilled cheese sandwich.

As somebody who is generally pretty darn saddened by food waste and unnecessary over-abundance and people of unhealthy weights and processed food and nutritional ignorance and on and on, I was feeling pretty good. In fact, the largest stress I had as I ate was a pang that something was going to run out and I wouldn't be able to get seconds if I wanted to. And even that resolved into the relaxing realization that EVERYTHING WOULD BE REFILLED and I'd feel giddy and wonderful.

Usually I am an "eat what I take" type, and often suffer from "adventurous choices" that turn out disgusting and I feel emotionally stuck with eating them as the consequence. Not so today!

By dessert time I was well into the mindset of the OCB and I took a small sample of each of the desserts that appealed to me: cheese cake, coconut cream pie, peach cobbler, hot fudge cake, brownie, apple crisp and an albino turd of soft serve to enjoy at my leisure.

I took small bites, ate what I liked, and let the rest be whisked off by the fast moving AARP senora who did a great job of discerning the active plates from the duds.

Regarding the desserts: this might have been obvious to somebody in a sensible state of mind, but the only edible desserts were the apple crisp and the ice cream. All the rest tasted like fluffed crisco or extreme artificial flavor in one form or another.

You see a lot of interesting behaviors at the Buffet:

1. Kids dipping, dragging, smearing their fingers through anything they can reach
2. Grown ladies somehow justifying to themselves that discretely (I saw you!) serving themselves the ENTIRE crust off of a communal baked dessert is reasonable
3. Grown men in suits pissed that the non-fat-sugar-free-fro-yo machine isn't working.

After my meal, I sat in my booth for some time waiting for appetite #2 to roll around, but I just got fuller and fuller as I sat there and started to get grossed out as I watched kids abusing the butterscotch pump at the soft serve station. It became clear that the magic was wearing off, and I took a timely and gracious leave.

ChuMinh Tofu & Veggie Deli

I have finally located the antidote for Maruta's and other vegan un-friendly Asian delis all over Seattle: the ChuMinh deli at 12th and Jackson where the staff is lovely and everything is animal-free!
The vegan deli has a well stocked hot case full of various curries, veggies and tofu dishes. There is also an impressive selection of various deep fried things and both sweet and savory rice flour pastries. The prices were inexpensive and my dining companion and I tried a bunch of different dishes:
In the above picture we have stewed greens and tofu (with two different types of greens- this was my favorite!), some kind of fresh, lightly steamed veggie and tofu, an egg roll, an interesting and delicious shishkabob with grilled pineapple and various savory sweet and sour flavors, and a coconut bamboo shoot curry.

We also ordered a bahn mi and it was large, fresh and spicy!
It was such a treat to be able to order freely from the plentiful options and not worry too hard about the potential for meat/fish ingredients. My only complaint is that all of the tofu had been fried, while I would have preferred it to have been steamed, and as a result the various dishes all felt a little greasy.