A vegan meal at Ralph's at the Park... I suppose stranger things have happened?

As you may know, my fiance and I spent the week of August 17 in New Orleans. As you also may know, New Orleans is not known for its plethora of vegetarian restaurants. While it does have an up and coming veg community, it has only one veg restaurant, and that one happened to be on vacation the week we were in town! What is a vacationing vegan couple to do?

Well, as we all know vegans can eat well anywhere with just a smidge of determination. It's only the odd steakhouse that truly has nothing on the menu for a vegan, and even when dragged to such an establishment by family members or the like we can still usually get some decent french fries. Luckily, New Orleans actually does have many restaurants with great vegan options - Middle Eastern places like Mona's, Medditeranean cafes that serve a variety of roasted vegetable sandwiches and pastas, Japanese restaurants with the standard vegetable sushis and tempuras, and Thai sit-downs that are happy to leave the egg out of the noodle plates and are clear about which dishes contain fish sauce. There's even a Vietnamese place on the Westbank called Pho Tau Bay that has a vegetarian section on the menu - and it's truly awesome.

But the most remarkable meal we had during our week in NOLA came from a quite unexpected source. We've been questioning Ralph's on the Park, a fairly upscale establishment across the street from the main entrance to City Park (hence the name), for a couple of months now regarding the possibility of getting them to serve our wedding party a veg brunch after the ceremony. The ceremony is, of course, happening in City Park just steps from Ralph's, so it would be wildly convenient. Unfortunately they specialize in seafood and things like roast pork, so we feared that asking them to do a vegan meal for fourteen people might be a bit of a stretch.

Well, Friday morning we had a semi-impromptu meeting to see the room they could give us and to maybe discuss potential menus. But since the woman we've been speaking with wasn't in town (everyone leaves NO in August), there weren't any potential menus. The room was lovely though, and the girl helping us was sweet. So we asked if, maybe, could the chef do something for us for lunch right then and there?

Well, our helper was slightly taken aback. But she spoke with the kitchen staff, who took it as a challenge no doubt. And as any vegan knows, it's just not that hard to create a vegan meal when you've already got a fully staffed and stocked kitchen. It took them a minute, but the meal we were served was incredible.

Appetizer: Watermelon and mango tartar, lightly seasoned with herbs and garlic. It was amazing! The fruit was still light and crisp, and their flavors were only enhanced by the preparation.

Main course: Creole tomato in a tomato basil chutney, lemon infused cous cous in a lightly grilled vadalia onion ring, and - la piece de resistance - lightly breaded and fried domestic and wild mushrooms including shitakes, oysters, and chantarelles. For a place that doesn't have even a singe vegetarian appetizer on its menu, this was a fairly astounding plate to receive.

The chef came out to present the meal when it was ready, and came out again to see how we liked it. Naturally we showered him with appreciation. After all, when someone goes out of his way to create such a deluxe vegan meal, he should be praised! Mayhaps they'll figure out that it's just not so hard - that you don't have to mess around with any tofu or mock meats to create a great vegan meal and get some veg options on your menu.

Friday was our last day in the city, and this experience was such a great way to leave off. The moral of the story? Ask for what you want! You might just get it, and someone might learn something valuable in the process.

Until next Monday,

hearts,
Melissa Bastian

Finding the big V in D.C.

As you may or may not know, a few weeks ago I traveled a wee bit south to Washington D.C., both to visit with one of my good friends who still lives there and to engage in the first try-on session of my Vegan Wedding Dress Mission. I had scheduled a session with Aria, a great little company which offers all of its dresses in satin, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results.

But poppets, was I going to travel to a major metropolitan area and then *not* search for fabulous vegan vittles? Doesn't seem very likely, does it.

As luck would have it, Aria's private boutique in Dupont Circle just so happens to share a building with an upscale pizza joint called Pizzeria Paradiso. According to the internets, this place would put vegan cheese on any pizza. This fact is one not substantiated by their website or menu, which I find rather silly. However, our waitress was more than happy to confirm.

So after the dress-trying-on extravaganza, Kimmy and I went on downstairs and stuffed our faces with crispy thin crust pizza piled high with veggies, and mine smothered in vegan cheese as well. (Once I realized that I actually can get into Aria's size 12 dresses - and heck, even their size 10s, without busting any zippers, I was able to eat with abandon.) I got the Siciliana - it's like they chopped up a whole backyard garden on there. Totally awesome. All in all it was a satisfying afternoon to be sure. It seems that vegan cheese on pizza is no rarity in D.C., and VegDC has been kind enough to list all proprietors of this delight for us, by neighborhood. Thanks guys!

After the pizza gorge, we went on the second mission of the day - and honestly, one that was much more my kind of mission than trying on fancy dresses. For a couple of years now I've been dying to try out D.C.'s own all-vegan bakery, Sticky Fingers. My chance had finally arrived! It was a harrowing ride on the Metro: they're doing some crazy maintenance on the signals after the accident that happened a couple of months ago, and as a result they're single tracking all of the trains on the Red Line. If you don't live in a subway town, let me translate: this means trains come about a fifth as frequently and creep along at about half a mile an hour. But eventually we made it to Gallery Place and transferred to the Green Line, and all was well.

So then. Sticky Fingers. First of all, that place is enormous! Maybe I've just gotten too used to the sizes of things in NYC, where every store is the size of a shoebox because even a shoebox costs about a million dollars a month to rent. But can D.C. be very cheap? I think not. Anyway, for a bakery this place is LARGE. The joint was also hoppin' - I mean srsly ppl, it was pretty packed. When I did finally decide what I wanted, I had to wait for about six people to put in their orders before I could get a word in edgewise. To which I say awesome! I love to see vegan businesses doing a bustling trade.

Upon entering, you're faced with two full sized glass cases full of baked delights - cupcakes, cookies, brownies and bars, sticky buns, cakes... the list goes on. To your right you'll find a nice big case full of sandwiches and other to-go meal type items, and of course bottled beverages. And also on offer behind the counter are hot dogs, chilli, espresso-type coffee beverages, and more. And of course it's all vegan all the time! In other words, it's kind of like heaven.

But that's just the first half. To your left, you'll see a sizable seating area with a nice big window facing the street for people-watching. The booths are upholstered in a deep sparkly pink plastic, and the tabletops are wacky boomerang patterned Formica. It's the perfect spot to enjoy your cupcake and/or cappuccino. The walls of the whole place are painted in a sort of dripping-chocolate motif, and there's a dash of kitch in the collections of old kitchen gadgets and knick knacks which makes it very homey. But they also have free wi-fi, which gives it a very modern (and useful) edge.

But I know what you really want to know. What did I eat? Well I'll tell you. Man, was it a tough decision! Kim is "not a sweets person" - so much help in so many places, but no help at all in a bake shop. I was traveling by train, and traveling light. I also wasn't going home until the following day. So it's not as if I could bring a dozen cupcakes home with me - but oh, how I would have loved to! So after thinking long and hard, I approached one of the very friendly counter staff, who had already endured about fifteen minutes of me taking copious pics of the shop. I stated my choice: the strawberry creme vanilla cupcake. Fruit flavors are not usually my thing, but this one just had something special. I mean, look at it! I also asked the girl helping me what she suggested - her favorite thing, and she said the sweet and salty cookie. So one cookie it was.

Naturally I sat right down to dig into my cupcake. And it was freaking amazing. Vanilla cake moist and perfect, topped with what can only be described as strawberry mousse. But not that fake sort of pink tasting "strawberry" that for some reason we feed to kids all the time. Real live strawberry. I mean, there were actual strawberries in there - you could see the seeds! Sure it was plenty sweet, but it also had that natural tartness that accompanies real fruit and makes such a nice balance in this kind of delicacy. It was so rich and fabulous that I think it took me a full fifteen minutes to eat. I'd say I got my money's worth.

Did I love Sticky Fingers enough to seriously consider buying a t-shirt? Yes, yes I did. If they'd been selling coffee mugs I would totally own one right now. And how much does it break my heart that they make wedding cakes? Really terrifically beautiful wedding cakes!? Somehow I don't think the thousand mile journey to New Orleans would suit a wedding cake... humph. But listen: if you're planning a vegan wedding in the D.C. Metro area, check this place out for sure! (They also cater!)

Oh, and that sweet and salty cookie? It was the perfect snack about halfway through my train ride home the next day. Still wonderfully chewy and soft. Thanks counter girl for that super awesome suggestion!

It being a short trip (36 hours!), that was the extent of my real vegan adventures. Sure I ate other things, but more of the "what can I find here that's vegan" variety. And that's not nearly as exciting. But honestly, if I'd had any more truly exciting vegan adventures I may have passed out - I'm easily overwrought.

And so, my loves, I bid you adieu.

Until next Monday,

hearts,
Melissa Bastian