The Plant Cafe Organic, SFO Airport

Even though I had an 8 a.m. flight on a Monday, I got up early so I could hit The Plant Cafe Organic in the Virgin America Terminal 2. I was so excited because I thought it was a vegetarian place. Clearly, I didn't do my homework. In fact, for breakfast, there weren't many vegan options at all. And they serve lots of meat. Ugh.

Determined to still eat here, I decided to go up and ask some questions. There didn't appear to be any vegan hot items for breakfast so I asked if they could substitute tofu for the egg in the breakfast burrito. They did. It turned out to be an okay burrito with tofu, tomato, black beans, and avocado in a whole wheat wrap. Okay, but not really exciting.

Overall, I was disappointed.  A place called "Plant" really has an obligation to be at least vegetarian, if not vegan. And a new Plant not related to this one just opened up in southern California. And, guess what? It's vegan. I'm not sure how these two will operate with the same name, but, I don't think I'll be coming back to this one anytime soon...at least not for breakfast. They did have a salad and wrap marked as vegan for lunch -- but the choices are slim and expensive.

The Plant Cafe Organic
SFO Airport
Terminal 2
(650) 821-9290

Shizen, San Francisco

Vegan sushi isn't usually that exciting. If I had a dime for every avocado roll I've consumed, I'd have a penthouse in the One Fifty Seven building in NYC. But, surprisingly, as I asked around, I heard rave reviews about this new vegan sushi bar in the Mission District so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go there myself.

Shizen, a vegan sushi bar and izakaya, opened in January 2015 in the heart of San Francisco. I arrived fairly early on a Thursday night by myself and saw a line out the door. As I walked in, I glanced around and noticed a very small dining area and a small bar. They said there would be a wait for a table, but as a single diner, I could sit at the bar now. I chose the bar!

The food menu and sake menus are fairly extensive. I started off with a Hana Awake sake that I adored! Looking around, the decor was quite simple, but the living moss artwork definitely catches your attention on the walls.  On the dinner menu, there are three pages of options -- all vegan. From small plates to varieties of sushi including nigiri, hosomaki, and uramaki to large specialty rolls, they have something for everyone.

I decided to order two dishes for dinner. I started with the Mushrooms Robata, a grilled assortment of enoki, shiitake, and king trumpet mushrooms. These were pretty good.

But, where the culinary skills really shined was in the Scarlet Smile roll. This huge roll was made with sweet potato tempura, avocado, spicy bean curd topped with roasted red pepper tofu sauce, and seaweed pearls. It just melted in my mouth it was so good.

I was pretty full, but when I saw that they offer one special dessert each night and there was only one left, I had to order it.  This dessert was a meal in and of itself. Housemade blueberry ice cream with tempura bananas and fresh fruit with sauce -- incredible! I actually ate this all by myself and loved it. No judging.

As I looked around, all of the meals looked really good and I only wish I could have tried more. The specialty rolls range from $11 - $13 each and other rolls were much less, so given how good the food is, I think it is priced appropriately. The service was pretty good -- remember, I was at the bar. And the atmosphere was lively. They don't take reservations so you'd be wise to come here early on a weekend night. The people waiting outside when I left looked like they were in for a long wait, but one for which they felt it was worth. Can't wait to come back as they further develop their menu in the future.

Shizen
370 14th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 678-5767

Gracias Madre, San Francisco

One of the best vegan restaurants in San Francisco is Gracias Madre, a Mexican restaurant in the Mission District owned by the same owners of Cafe Gratitude. I first dined here when they opened in 2009 and was impressed, but not overly so. Asking around, it seemed like everyone regarded this as one of the top restaurants still, so I swung by to meet a friend for lunch on a Thursday.

This restaurant is really stunning from it's Mexican-style clay front to its huge wooden tables inside. We arrived right when they opened and were the first ones inside.

I thought we'd get to choose from their incredible regular menu, but beware, there is a very pared down menu for lunch. I started by ordering a fresh green juice to cleanse my body from the night before.

For lunch, I tried the Bowl Uno. This delicious meal was loaded with tempeh chorizo, black beans, guacamole, brown rice, and pico de gallo over lettuce and served with cashew cream. Additionally, their housemade sauces could be added, further increasing the flavor. This dish was so simple, yet so good.

My friend ordered the Gorditas -- lightly fried potato masa cakes topped with salsa verda, avocado, and cashew cream. He liked them just fine and I found them to be a nice light appetizer.

That was all we had. My bowl was fairly expensive at $12 and the gorditas were too at $11. But, they do specialize in fresh, locally grown, organic ingredients so you get what you pay for. The service was fine and the food was good. I'd come back, but next time, it'll be for dinner.

Gracias Madre
2211 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 683-1346

Millennium, San Francisco #2

Eric Tucker is one of this country's finest vegan chefs. Having been the executive chef at Millennium for over 20 years, he has perfected many of his dishes and is always adding new ones to the menu. I make it a point to go there at least once a year to enjoy his culinary masterpieces.

We had a reservation for 7 p.m. on a Saturday and needless to say, they were completely booked. Millennium is located inside the Hotel California and the outside facade really doesn't do it justice. When you see the yellow awning and the Best Western sign, you wonder if you are in the right place and soon enough, you realize you are. Once inside though, it is quite the elegant restaurant.

There is a bar in the middle of the dining room adjacent to a semi-exposed kitchen. We were seated at a two-person table that had booth seating on one side and a chair on the other. For whatever reason, it had never occurred to me how close the seating was until this time. The couples on either side of us were finishing their meals though and were soon on their way. Soon, we realized that the reservations are staggered for just this reason -- because you are pretty close to your neighbor. So, when you are seated, those around you are leaving and once you leave, others are seated. I really like this approach.

Millennium is one of the finest vegan restaurants in the country. It was, once again, rated the number one vegan restaurant by readers of VegNews magazine this year.  They usually have daily specials along with their seasonal menu. It took us quite a while to decide what we wanted to order because there are so many great options. Zach and I both went with the Fall Harvest menu, which allowed us four seasonal courses. I also chose the wine pairing.

We started with an amuse of fresh bread with a white bean and jalapeno spread.

Then, the first course was served. The Roasted Beet "Tartare" consisted of roasted red beets served "tartare" style with Belgian endive, syrah-grapeseed oil, pickled golden beets, and macademia cheese. This course was good, but not overwhelmingly so as I felt like the macadamia cheese was missing something and wanted a bit more of the roasted red beets. It just didn't feel well balanced.

Next, we received a gift from the chef, Eric Tucker -- crusted king trumpet mushrooms. Now, Zach and I love mushrooms and were excited to receive this, but nothing could have prepared us for how good these were. It was like a taste explosion. The king trumpet mushrooms were dredged in rice flour, sesame, and spices and served with a sauce. I don't know exactly what was in the sauce, but it all tasted pretty amazing. So much so, that Zach nearly bought the cookbook when we left! What a wonderful gift!

The mushroom dish was pretty filling and we still had three more courses to consume. Next, we were served a Popcorn-Wild Rice Cake. The little cake was made of wild rice and king trumpet mushrooms and was served with a subtle parsnip sauce. It was deliciously satisfying.

The third course had many different components. There was a yuba roulade, which consisted of housemade seitan (some of the best seitan I've ever had), cumin-roasted crimini mushrooms, and sweet potato-sage puree wrapped in a yuba skin and baked to a crisp. These flavors all meshed so well together. It was served with creamy roasted garlic polenta, carmelized shallot-red wine gravy, pickled chiles, quince, and cranberry sauce. I especially enjoyed the polenta.

We were pretty full by then, but we had to make room for dessert. I ordered the pecan-chocolate pie served with Chantilly cream. The pie was great, but the cream was even better. It was made with coconut milk and some type of liquor and blended into a smooth, silky cream. Zach liked this one the best.

We also got their signature dessert -- the Chocolate Almond Midnight, which has to be one of the best desserts I've ever had. Imagine a mocha chocolate filling with a white chocolate mousse layer on an almond cashew crust topped with chocolate and served with chocolate and raspberry sauce. This dessert is about as good as it gets.

We also ordered a flight of three dessert wines, which were a nice mix of sweet and semi-sweet wines.

Before we left, Eric came out to say, "hello," to us as he remembered us from the cooking class we took with him last year. He was telling us how he's been dabbling with making his own yuba and how difficult it is. It was fun to hear about his experiences and great to see him again  as he is such a nice guy.

The four-course meal was a steal at only $50 per person plus the optional wine pairing of $26 -- an amazing price for such a great restaurant. The service was especially exquisite as our server seemed to know about everything and seemed attuned to assist when we had any questions. So, as always, we had a wonderful experience at Millennium. Every vegan (and non-vegan) should visit this restaurant at least once in their lifetime.
Millennium Restaurant
580 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 345-3900

Source, San Francisco

A vegan restaurant called "Source" opened up in downtown San Francisco in March of 2011. The concept is a multi-dimensional dining experience complete with vibrational elixirs, high vibrational sound, purified air, and water filtered through a four-step process. Andrew Fox, Co-Owner, describes it as "an energetic spa where your soul is being fed, your body is being fed, and your mind is being fed." The reviews on Yelp sounded pretty good so Zach and I went to check it out.

We walked in around 5 p.m. on a Sunday night and there was already a long line to the counter. One of the servers invited us to sit at a table and take some time to look at the menu before waiting in line so we did so. The menu didn't seem to have much of a theme. It was all vegetarian while everything can be made vegan so that is good. But, the choices ranged from pizza, burgers, and hot dogs to Indian dosas. I immediately felt like this place lacked direction.

I wanted to start with an elixir, but it wasn't at all clear as to what was in each one or what they tasted like. When I inquired to the server, she didn't know either. So, the owner came over and told me not to choose by taste or ingredients, but rather by what I need at this moment. Okay, I was immediately transported to hippie land. I was open to that, but worried I'd choose something I didn't like and for $7 per drink, I didn't want to take a chance. But, I guess I had to.

After a bit, we walked up to the counter and placed our order. We ordered an appetizer, two drinks, and two entrees and were a bit surprised that the total was $52. That seemed a bit pricey for a seat-yourself cafe.

We took a seat near the window and waited for our food. They brought out the drinks first. I ordered the Expressed Heart (was I in Cafe Gratitude??), which was described as, "heart cordial, chrysocolla angelica - throat chakra." Well, I guess I didn't need a throat chakra because I really disliked it. It was watery and didn't have a pleasant taste. They let me order a different one and it wasn't much different. I gave up at that point. -1

We ordered the baked vegan spinach and artichoke fondue to start, which was served with pita bread. This fondue was made of a cashew cream base that was way too runny -- it was nothing like fondue and it had very little flavor. Very disappointing. Another -1.

For my entree, I ordered the Jamaican Jerked Cluck (all of the fake meat is named by the sound the animal makes) along with a house salad. I was served fries instead and had to request the salad I had already paid extra for. Ugh.  I finally got my salad and dug in. The sandwich really wasn't that flavorful. The fake chicken balls were good, but the spice wasn't there. Jamaican Jerk is supposed to be really spicy and this wasn't. It was so disappointing.

The owner stopped by to talk to us probably because I was taking pictures of my food, which always attracts some attention. He said that almost everything is made in-house including the breads, which I really appreciate. The fake meats and desserts were the only items not made in-house as the desserts come from Wholesome Bakery. I told him I was expecting the sandwich to be spicier and he mentioned they had two housemade hot sauces available. I ordered the extra spicy habanero sauce. Now, that sauce is burn-yo-ass-off hot and very good.

I have to say that the salad, sadly, was the best part of the meal. It was loaded with fresh greens, spinach, raisins, cucumbers, and sunflower seeds with a delightful house dressing.

Zach ordered the Cluck Avocado Club with Beyond Meat, a new faux meat product that is being described as the closest thing to real chicken ever. And I would have to agree. I liked the Beyond Meat, but it was a little scary eating something that was so similar to chicken. The texture and the taste were just like chicken -- many say it is even better than chicken. Beyond Meat has the potential to change the world, but I digress. Overall, besides the Beyond Meat, the sandwich wasn't anything special.  But, Zach liked it.

In the end, I felt like I had been jipped a multi-dimensional dining experience. What I got was a one-dimensional experience with food and drinks that needed more flavor. The ambiance left much to be desired as well as the dining room was very plain.  In a city with tons of vegan options, this restaurant shouldn't be at the top of your list. I really appreciate what they are trying to do and that the food is very fresh, but as a restaurant, the food also has to taste good. Next time, we'll go to Herbivore instead.

Source
11 Division Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 864-9000

Spice Ace, San Francisco

As I continue my quest to visit spice shops all around the country (and hopefully the world!), I discovered a new one that just opened in the Lower Pacific Heights area of downtown San Francisco.  Spice Ace was opened by Olivia Dillan and Ben Balzer who found inspiration while on their honeymoon in Venice. They decided to open a shop that provided mostly organic or sustainably farmed spices at reasonable prices. And one thing I can tell you is that most spice shops are not going for the "reasonably priced" marketing strategy.

Inside this small store, you will find over 100 spices and herbs, over 50 peppercorns and salts, over 30 sugars and extracts, and over 30 unique spice blends. But, perhaps, the most exciting to me was their incredible selection of mild to hot peppers.

From hard-to-find Chiltepin Chiles from Texas to Marash Chile Flakes, it is an impressive selection. I picked up some ghost chile powder ($8.49 for 1 ounce) and habanero chile flakes ($5.79 for .6 ounce) and I am oh so anxious to try them out. The best part is that you can taste all of the spices, salts, chiles, and sugars using their cute little spoons.

Taste the difference between white truffle and black truffle sea salt and even lemon and lime sea salt.

It is a great place to find the perfect gift for your culinary-minded home chef. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I'd love some more Chiltepin Chile, please. Dear Santa...

Spice Ace
1821 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 885-3038

Wholesome Bakery, San Francisco

Zach, being the wonderful guy that he is, ordered a DOZEN cookie sandwiches to be delivered to me from Wholesome Bakery in San Francisco. A dozen might have been a bit too many, but it is the thought that counts!

I had never been to or even heard of this bakery and it turns out they are 100% vegan!  Every product they offer is wheat, dairy, egg, soy, yeast, and trans fat free. Zach ordered me the chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, which just happened to be gluten-free as well. Imagine my excitement when I received the box! I quickly opened it only to find plain brown oil-stained brown boxes. Well, I guess they aren't much for marketing. No matter - I opened the boxes up to find the cookie sandwiches.

Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed when I took a bite. The cookies were really crumbly so they made quite a mess. They were dry and really weren't that good. The cream inside was okay, not bad, but not incredibly good either.

Zach also tried to get them to ship me some cupcakes and donuts, but they said these items wouldn't ship well. I'd like to try their other items as I would hope they'd be better than these cookie sandwiches. I'll keep you posted.

Wholesome Bakery
2937 24th Street,
San Francisco, CA
(415) 343-5414

Patxi's Chicago Pizza, San Francisco

Having grown up in Maryland, I had never been exposed to Chicago-style stuffed deep-dish pizza. My partner, Zach, however, grew up in Chicago and has always raved about the true authentic Chicago-style pizzas, but we had never seen it done vegan-style, that is, until now.  I am pleased to present to you -- Patxi's (pronounced pah-cheese) Chicago Pizza with many locations in the San Francisco/Bay area.

So what is Chicago-style pizza? Suprisingly, there are many types. There is stuffed pizza, which is a hearty deep-dish pizza with a layer of crust on the bottom, followed by layers of cheese and toppings, all covered by another thin layer of crust, topped with a pizza sauce.This is a true pizza pie! There is pan pizza, which is another deep-dish style pizza baked in a similar deep-sided pan, but its crust is thick like a cross between a buttery crisp crust and focaccia. Toppings and cheese frequently go on the top of a pan pizza, rather than under the sauce as is traditionally the case with stuffed pizza.  There is also a thin-crust style Chicago pizza that is crunchier than a New York style pizza.  There are variations of these as well.

When I heard that there was Chicago-style deep dish pizza being made with Daiya vegan cheese in the Bay area, I got so excited!  We headed over to Patzi's located in Lafayette in the East Bay area. When we arrived, there was a 30-minute wait so we sat down at the bar to place our order. We asked about the wine selection and the bartender offered to let us try a few of the wines before we ordered. Very nice! We decided to order a couple glasses of a pinot noir as we perused the menu.

After a few minutes, we were ready to order our pizza. Patzi's has versions of the stuffed, pan, and thin crust pizza, but I was mostly interested in trying this unique, stuffed pizza. So, we ordered the Chicago "stuffed" -- their flagship pie. For our toppings, we got crushed garlic, red onions, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts. The pizza takes 35-40 minutes to make so an appetizer is highly recommended. We started with an order of classic bruschetta.

By this time, a table opened up and they offered to seat us in a booth by a window. Very nice!  The bartenders seemed upset that we were leaving, but I think they got over it pretty quickly. They brought us the bruschetta, which was a typical bruschetta, but made with cherry tomatoes. It was a good appetizer to pass the time, but nothing to really write home about.

After about 35 minutes, the pizza arrived. The pizzas cook for so long that when they come out, they are steaming! We waited a bit, put some hot peppers on top, then took a bite. The pizza met and exceeded my wildest expectations! It wasn't like anything I'd ever had before in my life. It was a thick, layered pizza with lots of gooey Daiya, tons of toppings, and a delicious homemade sauce. This was, by definition, a "pizza pie!"  The combination of artichoke hearts, onions, mushrooms, and garlic made for a great pizza. I absolutely loved it. And...for the real test -- did Zach like it as well? Remember, he is from Chicago! Yes, he really did. He was impressed at how well the Daiya melted and remarked about how good it was. Win!

The small 10" pizza was about $23 -- so pretty pricey, but it was soooo delicious! The restaurant was nice, the service was great, and the food...did I mention it was delicious?! This should be yet another on the must-do list of things for any vegan visiting the Bay area. This pizza is everything you ever dreamed of and more!

Patxi's
3577 Mt. Diablo Blvd.
Lafayette, CA 94549
(925) 299-0700

Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco - Thanksgiving

Two years ago, Zach and I decided that we wanted to eat at Millennium for Thanksgiving, the premier upscale vegan restaurant in San Francisco, but no dice -- we couldn't get a reservation within a few weeks of Thanksgiving. So, this year, we thought ahead and booked reservations many weeks out. Today was our first Thanksgiving at Millennium and it certainly won't be our last.

We made reservations for 2:30 p.m., which was 30 minutes after the restaurant opened. We actually arrived around 2:10 p.m. though thinking they'd be able to seat us early. When we walked into the hotel lobby where the hostess desk is, the place was packed full of people waiting to be seated. We were informed that we would have to wait to be seated until our actual reservation time at 2:30 p.m.  So to pass the time, we went to say "hi" to Ann Wheat, one of Millennium's owners, and her husband, Larry. She graciously invited us to sit down with them and told us about the Got the Facts on Milk? documentary. She said it was a great documentary that even featured her in a 1-minute interview. I can't wait to watch it!

At 2:30 p.m., we were promptly seated. The menu had not been posted beforehand so we had no idea what would be on the it and were eager to see it. It was a 5-course meal, but not completely prix fixe. We had two choices to make -- which entree we'd like and which dessert we'd like. Besides that, the other three dishes were part of the fixed menu.  We had brought our own wine -- a 2004 Williamson Wines' Cuvee, which paired well with the dishes.

The first course was a cornucopia medley with house-made walnut and corn breads along with Artisan Bakers' Sonoma Sour Country bread and carmelized onion-pumpkin butter. Oh my goodness - this pumpkin butter was to die for. The carmelized onion added this amazing flavor to the pumpkin butter that complemented all of the breads nicely. The breads were perfect both in their denseness and moistness. We were also served a plate of roasted chestnuts; French lentil-kale salad; pickled carrot, Daikon radish, and red peppers; and truffled popcorn. I couldn't say enough about how amazing each of these little tastes were! Each one was its own perfect little work of art in terms of the balance of flavor and texture.

The second course was a salad of spinach, frisee, and radicchio topped with apple, fennel, and shaved radish along with an apple cider-miso vinaigrette. I absolutely loved the vinaigrette, but thought there should have been more of it on this salad. There were a few parts of the salad that were dry and just needed a little more dressing.

The third course was the Three Sisters Soup, which was actually a pozole, a Mexican stew. The stew had maize, a type of corn; butternut squash; and heirloom beans all in a an oregano and cumin-scented broth with pumpkin seed relish. And it was magnificent.

The best course though was by far the fourth course. This was one that we had a choice of and Zach and I chose the same one -- the Wild Mushroom Torte. Unlike a traditional torte, this one had a base of yuba skins, which is made by boiling soymilk and skimming the the film that develops on the top of it, then drying it into yellowish sheets known as tofu skin. This yuba skin tasted like it had been braised to make it a tough foundation, then topped with marinated seitan; Portabello, crimini, and chanterelle mushrooms; and an olive oil-Yukon gold potato custard. The gravy was made of red wine, carmelized onions, and porcini mushrooms. The combination was spectacular!  On the side, we were served maple-pecan sweet potato pie, roasted Brussels sprouts and brassicas with carmelized shallots, and cardamom scented cranberry-Satsuma mandarin relish. It was a flavor explosion.

Lastly, were the desserts. We got one of each. First, I tried the pecan-chocolate pie. This rich tasty pecan-chocolate mixture was on top of an orange shortbread and served with ginger-rum ice cream. Oh so good!

The other dessert, however, was even better. I rarely get excited about pumpkin pie, but this one was like the ultimate perfectly perfected pumpkin pie. It was perfectly spiced and served with a mulled wine reduction and Chantilly cream, which is whipped cream sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla.  Wow! Eric Tucker, the executive chef, has done it again!

This was definitely one of the best Thanksgiving meals I've ever had! And...no leftovers and no cooking!  The food was incredible, the service was great, and the ambiance was perfect. I would highly recommend a dinner at Millennium as an alternative to a traditional Thanksgiving. Just be sure to make your reservations at least a month in advance! Bon appetit!

Millennium Restaurant
580 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 345-3900