crack the plates

Happy Chinese New Year! ‘Tis the year of the Dragon, and it just so happens that I live with one. Yup, it’s Nate’s time to shine! And why not? I read yesterday that “dragons…tend to be brave, innovative and highly driven, regularly making it to the top of their profession.” Now, I don’t put much stock into anything that purports to define 6.8 billion individuals according to a handful of categories, but that sounds a lot like Nate to me. He was recently promoted to Lead Developer at his company (there are only two!) and just yesterday he gave a big scary 1.5 hour talk to all of technology (around 60 people) about one of his (incredibly important game-changing) projects. He’s always thinking, dreaming, creating… and while he may be gentle and soft-spoken in general, at work he’s confident, assertive, and usually right. He inspires me!

Papacat and babycat... taken this morning!

I decided to do a special dinner to celebrate yesterday’s big accomplishment. Neither of us have been all that tempted by comfort food lately, but last night he requested an old favorite: smothered-bbq-baked tofu. Dinner was great but didn’t seem enough of a tribute to his awesomeness, so I made cupcakes, too. I served them on the little dish he gave me at Christmas: a customized cupcake stand by Jeanette Zeis Ceramics. Jeanette is an Atlanta-based artist and vegan, known throughout the country for her careful, detailed work. Why, just recently her work popped up on theppk.com’s recipe for caramelized beets!

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It says “Your Smile Makes Me Smile”, which is one of our little sayings. :-) You can order your own customized cake stand from Jeanette at her Etsy shop. Sure would make a sweet little Valentine’s present, especially when topped with a home-baked vegan treat!

October, my favorite month of the year, decided to wrap itself up with the prettiest of all possible bows: meeting my vegan-cooking icon and long-time role model Isa Chandra Moskowitz (and her freakin’ awesome partner John, who runs Laziest Vegans and Vegan Omaha). Somehow it worked out that over the course of her visit, we also had dinner at Harmony, ambled around Young Blood Gallery, and shared lunch today at Dulce Vegan.

Were this high school, I’d be the melting equivalent of a bespectacled, braces-suffering, Lord-of-the-Rings-lovin’, library-dwellin’, Magic the Gathering-playin’ dweeb who just got asked to go for (vegan)milkshakes with the captain of the track team. And, at least at the signing, I totally felt like that. It was kind of how I felt when I met Lagusta – steeling myself as I parked, curling my toes as I walked through the door, biting my lip as I asked Maresa and finally, trying not to tremble too much as I spoke. (And then we ended up hanging out a lot too – maybe I’m not as awful as I think?) This is what you people do to me!

'Twas a blur, really.

And why not? How does one not feel a little crazy sitting across from the person who taught you, through her books, to roast vegetables? To make scones? To marinate tofu? To press tofu? To make cookies? Pad thai? Hummus? – and not feel a little anxious? How is it possible to play it cool when you’re sharing Chinese food family-style with someone whose recipes and anecdotes you’ve memorized (from reading them so often); whose books you’ve given as gifts; whose name is mentioned so frequently on your little nobody blog than it’s giant in the tag cloud? (Look to the right. —>) At the risk of sounding maudlin, Isa is all of these things and so many more – how could I contain my little bursting-with-joy heart?

Answer: I couldn’t! I didn’t! I unabashedly still don’t! (Okay, maybe a little abashedly – I’m still working on that little low-self-esteem thing.)

I brought Lagusta's tart, made with Taza chocolate. Published in Vegan Pie in the Sky by Isa & Terri Romero.

Though I run a little meal delivery now and have a decent blog following, I’m still that same geeky girl who adores her teachers. I fiercely look up to anyone who gives of herself – through a blog, books, video tutorials, long phone calls, or else – for the sake of others. I can’t think of anyone who has done this for veganism more than Isa. (Lagusta said something similar – a zillion times better - here.) From providing the best forum for recipe-swappers, cookbook-reviewers, and vegan gossip; to coining the term “baketivism“ and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for good causes; to yes, teaching us all how to make a decent scone: can you even imagine where we’d be without her?

With "The Chubby Vegan" John

So yeah. I trembled a bit, smiled wonkily, and tried not to float away on a little cloud. I soothed myself with the acknowledgment that we’re all in this together. As I said to a friend recently: we exist to inspire one another. Standing around in a tight little circle mean-mugging the shiny smiley people might feel superior for a minute, but it doesn’t make our shared world any better and it sure as fuck doesn’t save any animals. Reality is relational: none of us can do anything without the generous and undeserved help of others. Acting like you’ve somehow managed to do without just makes you look like an ass.

Being with Isa, like hanging with Lagusta this summer, steeled my resolve towards sharing what I know and opening myself to others even when it’s inconvenient. It reminds me that a big heart enables extraordinary things, and that at the end of the day, I’ll always prefer to share my straw with an activist. So press on, friends! Goofy, giddy, giving big hugs and big ups, palm against palm – today, tomorrow, always.

Hey folks! All month long I’m blogging about Atlanta’s noteworthy vegan-friendliness. It’s my hope that, through the power of MoFo, I’ll be able to break through that Ghostbusters-like gunk clogging up everybody’s perception of vegan livin’ here. As we’ve seen so far this month, it’s really quite lovely and easy and delicious! With your help, fellow bloggers, maybe next year we’ll see ATLANTA as an option on VegNews’ survey about favorite vegan-friendly cities.

Today I want to talk about Atlanta’s vegan Chinese choices. We basically have three:

• Harmony Vegetarian at 4897 Buford Highway is a vegan restaurant.
• Green Sprout at 1529 Piedmont Ave (midtown) is a mostly vegan restaurant. Twelve of their 150 dishes contain egg, and egg can always be removed. No milk or meat (beef, pork, chicken, seafood) is served.
• Chinese Buddha at 100 10th Street NW (midtown, near Georgia Tech) serves all meat & seafood, but has a separate vegetarian menu. A number of items on the vegetarian menu are vegan or can be made vegan.

I recommend our restaurants in the order listed above: Harmony first, Green Sprout second, Chinese Buddha last. In fact, I don’t really recommend Chinese Buddha at all, except for the fact that they’re open til 6am (seriously) and they have vegan (not vegetarian, vegan) eggrolls. Sadly, they failed their health inspection in July AND played host to a really “confusing” shooting in September. Aaaand the food is just so-so. I ordered the “Buddha’s Mushroom Lo Mein” ($10) one very late night and found one – ONE! - mushroom buried in the mass of noodles. ONE MUSHROOM!! WTF.

In this post I’m going to focus on Harmony since it is by far my favorite. But since I’ve noticed that the Atlanta vegan scene is very divided on the issue – you either love Harmony and think Green Sprout is so-so, or you LOVE Green Sprout and think Harmony is just okay – I’m gonna post Green Sprout’s menu at the bottom for those who are interested.

It’s not that I don’t like Green Sprout, it’s just that I think Harmony is consistently better. The service is kinder & more attentive at Harmony, the prices are better (usually by a buck or more), the food is much, much faster, and it’s a totally vegan restaurant. There are also “freebies” at Harmony: they don’t charge you for rice (GS does) or pots of good-quality tea (comes with the meal, all you have to do is ask). Each meal begins with a simple, complimentary cabbage salad with condiments. The restaurant is more spacious with tables instead of creaky old booths and the occasional table. If you’re a regular they’ll remember you and treat you like family – often with even more little gifts of food and Mandarin lessons. It’s just about the closest you can get to dining in someone’s home while still paying for the experience. :)

Green Sprout gets no points from me as far as service, speed, prices, and lagniappe are concerned, but the food is tasty.  I like the sesame tofu (not the sesame chicken, it’s a fried mess) and the mushroom soup. Oh, and one time I was sick and got the udon noodle tofu-vegetable soup and they were really generous with noodles and broth (not so much with tofu). It made me happy! Atlanta folks: Since a lot of out-of-towners are keeping up with the series, do be sure to defend your favorite in the comments and I’ll add it to the post later!! Thanks!!

First, Harmony’s menu. These are pictures from the take-out menu, but the dinner menu is almost identical.

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Looking over the menu, I realize Nate & I have tried a lot of dishes – but we still have a ways to go. My old favorite used to be the “lamb” with string beans (I’ve never actually had flesh of animal lamb) which was made of trumpet mushrooms. But the trumpet mushrooms became too expensive and they had to change the recipe. Now it is not my favorite. :-(

Lately I’ve loved the vegetable beef with orange peel. The crunchy beef pieces stay crispy amid a sea of sweet orange sauce. The orange peel itself is abundant but mild – not bitter/pithy. Chicken with string beans is a long-time favorite & good as a lunch special. One of Nate’s favorites is the bean curd skin roll with pepper & bean sauce, but he always substitutes broccoli for the pepper because it’s better that way. The item I hear ordered most often is the fried crunchy chicken with spicy salt. Really, you can’t go wrong with the House Special menu. And don’t forget the lunch specials – just $5.50 for a large entree with white or brown rice, two curry pockets (MMMMM) or a spring roll AND a bowl of soup! It’s so. much. food.

We rarely don’t like something, but I didn’t enjoy the chicken with cashew nuts and Nate wasn’t a big fan of the “spare ribs” dishes.

My old favorite:

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All of the soups are out-of-this-world yummy and a great value, too. For $4.25 – $5.50 you get a giant bowl that serves two people two bowls each! When my Chinese history professor from college joined me at lunch one day, she was most impressed with the Buddhist’s delight soup. “It takes a lot of skill to make such a delicious broth,” she said.

It’s worth it to order the appetizer platter. I think it’s in the six dollar range for four curry pockets, two fried shrimp pieces, and two “chicken” on a stick. The “chicken” is the same that’s served in the ever-popular “fried crunchy chicken with spicy salt” dish, just seasoned differently. The curry pockets have this totally mysterious creamy sweet curry center. I’ve never tasted anything like them before. I’ve noticed that kids seem to LOVE these.

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the interesting wallpaper

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a recent freebie, savory and scallion-y

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Sadly, Harmony is often mostly empty. I think it’s because they’re “way out” on Buford Highway, about a twenty minute drive from downtown – whereas Green Sprout is always busy because they’re in midtown Atlanta. (Maybe that’s why service is always so harried and slow?) They’re great at accommodating large parties because they have so much room and flexible seating (tables and chairs). Let me know if you’re ever in town and want to join me – or if you’re a local and want to get a cheap lunch!

I promised – here’s Green Sprout’s menu :)

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Happy Monday, y’all!!

All month long I’m blogging about Atlanta’s vegan-friendliness in the hope of dispelling the national misconception that it’s a crummy place to be vegan. As you’ve seen in earlier posts, that’s so not true! But as I ramble on about all the great things we DO have, I’m acutely aware of something we don’t.

Yep, it’s a sad fact that Atlanta lacks upscale vegan restaurants. Locals like Cafe Sunflower as a treat, but I think both locations are pretty casual (decor &, especially – sometimes excessively – the service). The menu almost never changes; the food can be pretty, but it doesn’t delight, excite, or teach me. It’s just nice.

If you want fancy fine dining, you have to go to a non-vegetarian restaurant with good vegan choices or special menus. Thankfully, Atlanta’s restaurateurs excel in this regard. You might already know about the entirely vegan menu I enjoyed at Abattoir. Vegans are also enthusiastically accommodated by “Top Chef” Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill, Asha Gomez at Cardamom Hill (forthcoming Nov 2011), and the teams at Empire State South and Restaurant Eugene, among others. (NOTE: since we’re southern, and everything’s a bit more laid-back in the south, by fine dining I’m thinking well-informed and polite servers, a beautiful, unique setting, tasting/prix fixe menu availability, silverware that gets changed with courses, and expertly-prepared food made with locally-sourced (often organic) ingredients. Or at least most of these. :))

Two tips for a successful vegan experience at higher-end restaurants: 1) make a reservation a few days in advance (you’d do this anyway) and 2) carefully explain your dietary needs to the person taking the order (usually the host/ess answers the phone, NOT a server or cook). Don’t just assume that they’ll know what vegan means – be clear by saying something like, no birds, no beef, pork, fish, eggs, dairy products, or honey. I also often ask the person taking my reservation to mark “no gelatin” since a lot of fancy folk use it in foams, sauces, and gels. (There are vegan alternatives, of course, and creative cooks know ‘em.) The clearer you can be with the person taking the reservation, the better luck you’ll have when the message gets to the person in charge of your food.

Happily, there’s (at least) one place where you don’t have to call ahead for a special menu, because the chef-owner writes her seasonal menus with vegans in mind. I’m talking about Ria Pell of Sauced & Ria’s Bluebird, of course! I recently had the pleasure of trying the new fall menu just a day after it was printed – and I’m excited to share my thoughts here.

Reason 9: Ria Pell’s vegan-friendly fine-dining at Sauced Restaurant & Lounge

Logo photo by Robin Henson, source: restaurant Flickr photostream.

Step inside... (photo by Robin Henson, source: restaurant Flickr stream)

Photo by Robin Henson, source: Sauced's Flickr photostream

Above, Sauced logo and views of the dining areas & bar.

This isn’t what I had for dinner, but it IS a great picture of a vegan menu Ria made over the summer. I tried the branded tofu steak at MondoHomo’s lunch in the park. Pictured here: tofu t-bone, succotash and black-eyed pea fritters.

As you can see, there are a number of vegan or can-be-made-vegan choices on the starters menu. The first offering, wild mushroom napoleon, is vegan.

Nate awaiting our first course in a dimly-lit corner. Sauced is a sexy restaurant with a sexy vibe – just-enough-light-to-see-your-food-and-swoon-over-your-sweetie kinda place.

And here it is! A crispy, rich, gooey yummy little slice of heaven. I couldn’t get enough of the cashew goat cheese on top!

We helped ourselves to house-made seitan skewers with two of the sauces du jour: tofu-orange and homemade relish. We’d planned on only ordering one skewer, but it was so good we had to order a second… and a third!

Earlier that day I saw Ria at Sevananda buying unsweetened rice milk by the case for the rosemary bechamel, so I was really excited about this one. It did not disappoint. Tender parsnips, carrots, and fingerling potatoes suspended in a creamy sauce, nestled underneath luscious mashed potatoes: a comforting final course, as the new vegan dessert had not been added to the menu yet. (I should check in and make a reservation soon – wanna come with?) Nate noted with appreciation the fact that the shepherd’s pie wasn’t marginalized or simply set-apart from the other choices with a “vegan” notation. It’s simply another choice that happens to be vegan. I like that, too. Do you?

I like the house rules page. It's not overly long or pushy and acknowledging your farmers always looks good. I wish more places stated a preference for cash. Let's take our country back, y'all - three percent at a time. :)

I hope more Atlanta-area vegans will support Ria at Sauced & Bluebird. It’s great that other restaurants react positively to our ethics, but Ria deserves our thanks for her proactiveness. She is well-known for her inclusiveness. At the MondoHomo meal, most of the choices were vegan – two vegan entrees, one non-vegan; several vegan sides, only a couple non-vegan. (Revisit those glorious photos here.)

Our favorite Ria, hangin' in the garden, checkin' out some habaneros. We love you!! Photo by Robin Henson.

Sauced also holds the honor of hosting THE VERY FIRST Atlanta Vegan Drinks Meet-up (details, menu, pictures here). Just over a month ago the restaurant offered a four-course prix fixe benefit dinner for the Plaza Theatre, Atlanta’s longest continually-running independent theatre (which just happens to be owned & operated by two amazing vegans).

So clearly, the Sauced & Bluebird families are all about making us feel loved, appreciated, and well-fed. Next time you’re seeking a special night out, I hope you’ll choose one of Ria’s cozy spots.

SAUCED: 753 Edgewood Ave NE, Atlanta GA 30307; (404) 688-6554; Facebook, Twitter; 5:30pm – 1am Weds-Sun.

RIA’S BLUEBIRD: (legendary brunch) 421 Memorial Drive, Atlanta GA 30312; (404) 521-3737; Facebook, Twitter; Open every day from 8am-3pm.

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Alright folks, I’m back! I apologize for the absence. I foolishly thought I’d only miss a day or so of posting, but then Nate’s ultra-mega birthday party starting rolling towards the big surprise like a snowball down an embankment, getting bigger and messier and funner and more decorative and delicious and AWESOME til I was like aaaaaahhh!!! No time for blogging til it’s over!!!

The big day has come & gone – and it was perfect and I’ll tell you more soon – so we can get back to business, or at least this month’s VeganMoFo theme: Atlanta, the vegan-friendly jewel of the American South! This post is kind of like two others, in that 1) it’s a grocery store tour and 2) it focusses on exciting veganness that’s not quite in Atlanta proper. Of course, I’m talking about

Reason number 8: Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe!

Quick: think of an entirely vegan grocery store run by a family of cool vegans. Time’s up! Food Fight come to mind? VeganEssentials? Somewhere else? Whatever, those places are great, but since I learned of their existence in 2007, Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe has been my go-to for vegan goodies. Online shopping is fun and all, but like opening a menu at a vegan restaurant and sighing with joy at the knowledge that you can order ANYTHING, there’s something special about walking into Cosmo’s retail location in Marietta, Georgia. Their selection is vast: cookbooks, personal care items, wallets and accessories, companion animal food & accessories, lots of local products, and of course, a giant grocery. You can buy all the things!!

BREAKING: World-famous cookbook author and all-around awesome person Isa Chandra Moskowitz is going to be at Cosmo’s on October 30th, promoting her new collaboration with Terry Romero, Vegan Pie in the Sky. Order your copy now if you haven’t already. (I’m excited to try my pal Lagusta’s chocolate raspberry tart.) You’d better be there!

Owners Leigh & Ken are long-time vegans and importantly, super-duper nice people. Here’s an example: so Cosmo’s is only open to the public on Saturdays these days, and Nate & I *really* wanted to stop by en route to my cousin’s wedding reception last Saturday.

my lovely cousin Laurel & her perfect new husband John on their wedding day!

Unfortunately, a late start, terrible Atlanta traffic, and yes, even a little fender-bender (not involving us!), had us getting out of the city later than usual. Nate called Leigh and said we were on our way, but we’d probably be there right at 6 – is that okay? She conferred with Ken, and yes! No prob! And then we had to call back because it was going to be 6:10, and they were all like, see you soon, drive safe! Isn’t that something. (NOTE: This little anecdote should not encourage you to push boundaries of Leigh & Ken’s kindness. Don’t be jerks like us, get there between 10 – 6!)

As a yummy thank you, I brought them one of the grasshopper cupcakes I’d made for Laurel & John’s reception.

Based on recipes from Isa's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Walking in, I spied the seasonal candy display of Sjaak’s, Yummy Earth, and Sweet & Sara products. Sjaak’s is a great little organic chocolate company in Petaluma, California. Cosmo’s introduced me to their products years ago and I have been a fan since.

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You know, cuz they’re vegan, AKA not made with gelatin, which is a partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the boiled bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, pigs, and horses. Yuck!

Turn around to greet the candy shelf:

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general grocery stock

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Angel Food products: marshmallow kits & vegan meringue cookie mix. Made by my friend Alice, imported from her shop in New Zealand!

Vegan chicharróns – “pork” rinds.

The elusive white chocolate chip! Imported from Israel.

Let’s walk back towards the cold cases, where we’ll find lots of interesting things.

Passing by a great stock of meaty mixes, TVP, and Soy Curls…

We come to a freezer. Gardein burgers, May Wah products (chicken nuggets, tuna, fish sticks (?!?!), citrus spare ribs, ham, bacon…), even vegan calamari?!?! (All the links are to Cosmo’s, but you should check out May Wah’s website too, just to see all the crazy things they’ve veganised. Like LOBSTER.)

The other freezer has slightly less-weird vegan choices: seitan-based products by Atlanta locals gutenfleischers.

The MATCH meats:

Cosmo’s carries MATCH brand Mediterranean-style stuffed vegan chicken, New England-style crab cakes, vegan ground beef, ground breakfast sausage, ground chicken, ground crab, ground Italian sausage, and ground pork. I haven’t tried MATCH products but all the folks I know who have just love ‘em. Honestly, while I absolutely agree that meat analogs can help ease the transition to veganism, I don’t really use them. I’m more of a tofu/tempeh/seitan kinda gal. In fact, typing all this “ground” chicken/crab/lobster business is really weirding me out! Even if my freezer isn’t stuffed with it, I’m still glad it’s an option.

Nate was possibly most excited about this from Vegetarian Plus brand:

After thawing, I whipped it up with Vegenaise, sweet relish, dijon mustard, and a little black pepper. (My first “tuna” recipe in fifteen years, and somehow I never forgot the “proper” components.) It was absolutely too fishy and “real” for me, but Nate LOVED it. I broiled Daiya on a piece of wheat bread for him so he could have a tuna melt like the one he got a Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch in NY over the summer. He was in pieces. This box comes with two rolls and makes enough tuna salad for 4-6 sandwiches.

When you tell people you’re vegan, one of the most common (non-bitchy) responses you get goes something like this: “Oh, I could probably/definitely do vegetarian, but I could never go vegan – I couldn’t give up CHEESE.” Setting aside the fact that cheese is absolutely horrible for the environment, (in terms of carbon emissions, cheese is third only to lamb & beef. Seriously, go look at this chart from the Enviromental Working Group’s Meat Eater’s Guide right now.), and the fact that most of the “cheese” people squee over is total crap anyway, there are SO MANY DELICIOUS MELTY CREAMY TANGY YUMMY VEGAN CHEEZE CHOICES THESE DAYS. There’s simply no excuse anymore.

Teese by Chicago soydairy in mozzarella, cheddar, nacho cheeze, and creamy cheddar; Wayfare Foods’ “We Can’t Say It’s Cheese” dips and spreads in cheddar, hickory-smoked cheddar, cheddar-style dip, and mexi-cheddar.

My favorite vegan cheeze is Dr-Cow, made of cultured cashews! Daiya is another that’s generally beloved by all, renowned for its stretchy, melty texture.

And then there’s Sheese by Bute Island Foods, in gouda, mozzarella, smoked cheddar, blue, medium cheddar, cheddar with chives, and strong cheddar.

Owner Leigh & shopper Nate discussing the Teese.

Moving on from the cheeses, we can go play with makeup: Beauty Without Cruelty and

and Herbs of Grace Mineral Makeup both have displays.

Browse the t-shirts and “Cupcaprons” by Atlanta crafter (& friend!) Becky Striepe of Glue & Glitter (etsy shop ; blog.)

Wallets…

And stickers, too! they always have a great selection of stickers. Guess which two of these Nate picked up at Cosmo’s?

Ok, so you know how earlier I said this place is not actually in Atlanta? Cosmo’s moved from N. Highland (Atlanta) to Marietta a few years ago. Atlanta really isn’t a very big city – wikipedia tells me our population is about 400,000. (Please don’t laugh.) Include the “metro” area and it zooms up to several million. So, there are cool things outside the border that is interstate 285.

We have this little joke around here: ITP vs OTP, Inside The Perimeter or Outside the Perimeter. The Perimeter is defined by interstate 285. If you’re inside, the joke goes that you’re a hipstery urbanite, all loft livin’ and Whole Foods shoppin’. You value a walk (or short bike ride!) to Trader Joe’s, independent movie theatres, clubs, adventurous restaurants, and take public transit. Outside? You’re defined by suburban values: an emerald front yard, coupla cars, coupla kids, and the latest-model flatscreen you can afford. You like fast-casual chain restaurants, Hobby Lobby, volunteering at church or with a civic organization, and you live in your car (thanks to a soul-crushing two-hour+ commute to & from your intown job).

THESE ARE HUGE STEREOTYPES OF COURSE, but for some reason, some folks get a kick out of them. If you *do* decide to make Atlanta your home, don’t think anyone’s gonna look down on you if you choose to live outside the perimeter. It’s not my choice, but you’d definitely be closer to Cosmo’s – and that’s a huge plus. :)

Another? Our two Loving Hut restaurants are located OTP! (Norcross & Kennesaw.) Do you know about Loving Hut, the worldwide vegan chain nurtured by the Supreme Master Ching Hai?

Reason 8.5: Loving Hut!

If not, all you basically need to know is that they make one of the best veggie burgers around:

I have dreams about this burger.

My stomach is tying itself in knots of longing over this picture. If only you weren’t so far away!

If you’re already an in-towner, make a Saturday trip to Cosmo’s and be sure to stop in at Loving Hut in Kennesaw for a burger. Think of it as a mini-vegan road-trip. Yum!

Hi folks! All month I’m blogging about Atlanta’s vegan-friendliness. See why here.

I had hoped to post every day of VeganMoFo, but then I went out of town and was blissfully away from internet, e-mail, and social media. I didn’t even check my phone because I wanted to preserve the battery. It was great!

Yesterday’s destination was northeast Georgia, about an hour and a half from Atlanta proper: the small town of Homer, a little ways off 1-85N, where I picked up my best friend Jessica (remember her?). We spent most of the day in the nearby Sautee-Nacoochee Valley area. (Locals say “saw-tee” and “Nah-cooch-ee”.) Perhaps you’ve heard of Helen, GA, the touristy “Alpine village”? It’s about a half-mile from where we were, and yeah, we passed. As teenagers we gamboled around, teeth sticky with freshly-made candies, but now we avoid the beer-&-brats-breathing crowds for artisan pottery, museums, & an old-fashioned granary.

We lunched lakeside at The Gourd Place, a unique gourd-impressions pottery spot and one of my favorites. We shared vegan Mellow Mushroom pizza, Podponics lettuce, a home-made dressing (by me!), and lots of fresh fruit. I’d post a picture of the beautiful piece I went home with, but it’s a gift to a probable blog reader-family member. :) This one from the website will have to do:

the Gourd Place is also a substantial gourd museum, with functional and decorative gourds from around the world!

Little red birds in little gourds. Light as a feather!

Next, Nora Mill Granary. Nora Mill was is an operational gristmill that sits alongside the Chattahoochee River and primarily makes corn and wheat-based products, though there are a few flours of other grains there. A bit of history, from the literature: “The mill itself is a large four-story building that was built in 1876 complete with 1,500 pound French Burr Mill Stones and a 100 ft. wooden raceway that feeds water to a water turbine – not a vertical water wheel. The mill was constructed in 1876 by John Martin when he came to Georgia to mine for gold. Unlike most miners, Mr. Martin made Sautee-Nacoochee Valley his permanent home. In 1902 Dr. Lamartine G. Hardman, governor of Georgia from 1927 -1931, bought the mill and named it “Nora Mill” in memory of his sister Nora. Nora Mill remained in the Hardman Family until 1998, when it, along with 300 surrounding acres, was purchased by a group of investors associated with Nacoochee Village, Ltd.”

This document goes on to explain the various changing-of-hands and family names involved in the business, which is so very southern of them to do. (“What’s your family name?” is a weirdly common question ’round here.) It was fun to see how excited the proprietors still get about their granary, and while I appreciate the history, I’m mostly in it for the food. I bought a two-pound bag of white corn grits to share with Nate’s family when we visit in December. I also picked up a pound of maple sugar at a reasonable price (not local, though).

I love grits and just couldn’t wait til Christmas, so I made some up this afternoon:

sweet, AKA “yankee”, with maple sugar and cinnamon

and savory, with Daiya and freshly-cracked black pepper.

Which is your favorite:

It was pretty much against the rules to dump sugar on your grits in my parents’ house, but I think my brother and I did it once or twice just to see if we’d like it. Nope: just salt, butter (that was then, olive oil now), and freshly-cracked black pepper. My dad disdainfully referred to sugared grits yankee grits, though I’m pretty sure I saw him spooning on the sweet stuff more than a handful of times. I grew up on Aunt Jemima’s quick grits in the red bag, stored in the freezer, and it was a common cheap breakfast. Stone-ground grits are much healthier than the refined stuff, but I’m not sure folks know just how nutritious grits are – so here’s the label!

Three-quarters of a cup of grits is a pretty darn filling meal, with only a half gram of fat (leaving room for you to add oil or Earth Balance :)), NINE GRAMS of protein, TWENTY PERCENT of your daily iron, and even a little bit of calcium and potassium. Dream food! Y’all let me know if you want me to pick ya’up a little sometime, ya’hear? /southernisms

After the granary we zoomed over to Jaemor Farms, where I purchased discounted pumpkins for carving (still have no idea what was “wrong” with them) and an assortment of muscadine and scuppernong-based jellies and preserves to give as holiday gifts. Here’s a picture of a day’s worth of loot and the pumpkin I carved!

Unfamiliar with muscadines and scuppernongs? Muscadines are plump, juicy, seedy grapes with thick skins, and they’re native to the southeast United States! Scuppernongs are just a cultivar of muscadines. They tend to be quite tart with golden skins. I prefer the richly-colored and less-astringent sweet muscadines. When I was a little girl I sought both in the forests with my dad and brother. There’s nothing like a wild grape!

Parting ways with Jessica, I drove to Lilburn where my bestie Elizabeth hosted the bi-weekly co-op dinner of friends I mentioned in another post. It was thrilling to see the barn doors thrown open and the inside ablaze with lovely white string lights: she had set up the barn for us to do pumpkin carving!

The chili dinner was super, too – Elizabeth’s first vegan chili & cornbread!

Her squirrels are growing up so fast (psst, she’s a wildlife rehabber, remember?):

And I was pleased as punch to see her kitty Ping, who I call Furry-Worry due to her distinctive markings above the eyes that make her look a bit concerned!

See? Worried! And so furry!! Gah.

But, of course, the best part was pumpkin carving.

hanging around the barn, enjoying our work.

And gossiping. Always gossiping.

Never one to resist a pun, Christin made Cthulhu – the Elder Squash. Here we all are together:

Top row, left to right: me, Christin, Elizabeth, Jacquie. Bottom row, left to right: Carol, Sarah.

Perfect day! Move to Georgia and hang out with us!!

(October is VeganMoFo and I’m blogging about why more vegans should move to Atlanta, Georgia – a diamond in the dirty south. See the first post for more info.)

Reason 5: Sevananda Natural Foods Market

I wasn’t planning on blogging about my favorite small grocery store, Sevananda, when I stopped in earlier this afternoon to pick up a few on-sale staples. But when I turned a corner with a cart full of organic coconut milk, organic mushroom stock, and cheap-o local potatoes only to see one of my favorite Atlanta chefs, Ria Pell, studyin’ the non-dairy milk options, I knew I had no choice.

Ria in signature overalls with a case of unsweetened rice milk for bechamel.

Catching a celebrity chef stocking up for one of her menu’s new entirely vegan options (the fantastic root vegetable shepherd’s pie at Sauced restaurant and lounge, the subject of a future post!) is just one reason Sevananda rocks. Let’s consider a few others with a photo-tour of the store!

Walking in, you’re greeted with a tent where folks often hang out to answer questions about membership. The customer service desk, not pictured, is to the far right, as is the fresh juice case.

From the entrance you can see the produce section, which is just out of frame of the picture above. Produce is sourced locally and is exclusively organically grown. Move forward towards the salad & hot bars…

Swing around to the side for daily hot bar selections.

Mmmmm.

Produce view from where you’re standing now (by the hot bar).

Turn around and you’re looking at the prepared foods grab-and-go case, situated in the back of the store near the freezers (on the left) and the refrigerated display (on the right). Let’s see what our options are today!

vegan quiche

yum.

super yum.

haven’t tried this one yet, but I’m sure it’s good!

You can even pick up a whole cake or pie!

Two important things about Sevananda’s prepared foods selection: 1) everything is vegan. (Well, almost everything – every once in a while eggrolls make an appearance, and the wrappers contain egg.) 2) everything is really cheap! Weighed items are $5.69 per pound – compare that to Whole Foods’ $7.99 and $8.99/per pound prices. You can really fill up at Sevananda for less than $10 – and have plenty of leftovers.

Nate & I couldn’t resist the savory crabfakes with a creamy dipping sauce.

Walking away from the grab-and-go case on the opposite side of the store as the produce, you approach the vast bulk section.

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Parents should keep an eye on their children, especially in the low-lying chocolate and candy section. :)

In the middle of the bulk section there’s a place to buy smaller packaged bulk items (like raisins and raw cocoa) as well as a handy housewares aisle. Sevananda stocks only vegetarian (mostly vegan) cookbooks, too. Notice any of your favorites?

Leaving the bulk section you come to the front corner of the store opposite the entrance, where all manner of herbal tonics, personal care items, and bulk herbs are found.

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almost every kind of herb & spice (organic and conventionally grown, depending on what’s available) you could imagine, ready for purchase in any quantity. need a teaspoon of agar? you got it! a quarter-cup of dried thyme? that’s there, too. beet powder for natural food coloring? yup.

Leaving the bulk section you can either go browse the middle section (laid out like a typical grocery store, with aisles for all your staples) or head to a friendly front-service clerk with all of your purchases. Checking out at Sevananda is always easy and fun because the people who work there are either working members or volunteers. The other night I got into a long, supportive conversation with a new friend who had just been to Troy Davis’ funeral. We commiserated til closing time (I was there a little late, getting last-minute meal delivery items). Everyone always has something interesting to say, so don’t be afraid to get conversational! It’s the southern way.

If you’ve got prepared foods, or even just a coffee, go sit in the colorful cafe right inside the entrance.

That’s where Nate & I enjoyed our crabfakes and did a little people-watching.

On the way out, we talked to Jed, a working member-owner who often seems to be wrangling shopping carts. He gave me a few tips for future themes and we laughed over a new installment in Sevananda’s foyer:

This is what separates your corporate grocery store from your community co-op, I guess. :)

Sevananda is a stone’s throw from the gloriously green Freedom Park. Why not have a picnic with Sevananda goodies there?

For those in the Atlanta area, it’s easy to become a member-owner. From the literature: “The cost of a Full Share (membership) is $120, and we allow annual payments of $20 per year until you are at the $120 level.” (So, at least $20 per year over the course of six years. So cheap!!) If you pay annually, there is a service-fee of $2 per year in addition to the $20 payment. (Okay, so $22 per year/six years. Still!!) Joining gets you:

• Discounts to our School of Commonhealth classes (yoga, cooking, etc)
• Free admission to Sev’s monthly mixers and other Sevananda-sponsored events
• Free admission to bi-annual Member meetings
• Receive the monthly newsletter, Co-Options, in the mail or online
• Financial updates in Co-Options
• Eligible for the Working Member program where you give your time in exchange for a greater discount (a really good deal – you work a certain number of hours a week (not too many!) in exchange for 20% off your purchases EVERY TIME YOU SHOP.)
• Elect the members of the Board of Directors
• Participate in Board-sponsored committees
• Adopt or change Co-op bylaws
• A share of the Co-ops profits

So what are you waiting for? Oh… you don’t live here yet? Give me a few more posts and you’ll be convinced! Til then…

Hey y’all! Welcome back to VeganMoFo blogging 2011, where I plan to share at least thirty-one reasons why more vegans should make Atlanta, Georgia their future home! Check out my welcome here.

I usually work fourteen to sixteen hour days on Mondays and Tuesdays for the meal delivery (more on that later), so it’s a small miracle that I’ve found the time/energy to make this post! With a little planning & possible post-scheduling, I think I’ll be able to pull through my most difficult days of the week. Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Greek-inspired lasagne (from her new book World Vegan Feast) is currently baking in the oven – how’s that for multi-tasking? Still, I’ve got ten minutes til it’s ready – let’s go!

Reason 3: Southern Sweets

We vegans are pretty DIY folks who often relish the opportunity to bake cakes from scratch. We can go through a number of cups of tea dreaming over Fran Costigan’s recipes, and our Isa & Terry invasion editions are awesomely dog-eared and batter-splattered. But we all find ourselves in situations where we don’t have several hours needed to make beautiful, delicious, vegan cakes. If you’re in Atlanta, you know where to go – Southern Sweets.

Southern Sweets has been baking wholesale for some of Atlanta’s favorite restaurants and cafes (Cafe Sunflower, Javamonkey) for decades, and their retail space is open seven days a week. In my experience, they require only 24-48 hours advance notice for a full-sized cake. The following list of cakes are $36.50 each (right at $40 with tax): old-fashioned chocolate cake, raspberry chocolate mousse, chocolate peanut butter mouse, rustic apple or cherry pie, strawberry layer cake, red velvet, apple walnut pound cake, carrot spice, coconut, german chocolate. Their chocolate tart is gluten-free and vegan. (Menu here.)

Of course, sometimes you don’t need a whole cake. Maybe you just got a promotion (or a job!) or want to treat a friend from out of town. Hop over to Southern Sweets and check out their vegan case, where you can choose from a rotating cast of at least six favorites for $5.60 per giant slice.

Note: sometimes they put non-vegan items, like the two crumbles shown here, at the very bottom of the case. So ask if there’s not a label. Also, the old-fashioned chocolate cake is always kept in the larger case across from this one.

Let’s check out our options:

Nate’s favorite! Class act.

My favorite!

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The folks are super-friendly, too:

I could not have taken all of these lovely pictures without Karina’s help. Thanks, darlin’!

Not only does Southern Sweets make simple layer cakes for everyday occasions, but they’re experts at wedding cakes. Contact Ashley at weddingcakes@southernsweets.com to discuss your dream cake and get a quote.

Want this cake cruelty-free? No problem!

I hope this post didn’t just sound like an advertisement. But I guess it kind of is – Southern Sweets is something special that you can only get in Atlanta, and I’m mentioning it in hopes of drawing you awesome vegans to our fair city. They’ve never let me down at a mixed-company event – omnis might try to get in a jab about how it’d “be better with a little butter” but then you see them go back for a second slice and you know what’s up.

Southern Sweets is located at the corner of Rio and Laredo in a mixed-use industrial park which includes artists’ studios, cabinetry outlets, and a commercial gluten-free bakery. (I’m guessing they needed the huge facility and it was the best marriage of space & price?) It’s not off-putting, just a little out of the way.

If you’re on a bike, it’s accessible by MARTA from the Kensington Station, which is closest. You could also bike from the Decatur or Avondale Stations, taking the lovely Stone Mountain bike trail, if you’re looking for a more leisurely ride.

While I love Southern Sweets, I’m also planning on featuring the new kid on the block, Dulce Vegan, in a future post. Dulce Vegan is a vegan-owned shop serving up its own deliciousness and catering to other beloved Atlanta restaurants. Stay tuned!

(October is VeganMoFo and I’m blogging about why more vegans should move to Atlanta, Georgia – a diamond in the dirty south. See the first post for the manifesta.)

I am not in the habit of waking up early. I enjoy morning’s peace, but lately I’ve been going to bed past midnight and getting up as late as possible – usually between 9 & 10, slackers! Travel & meal delivery work (which includes early farmer’s market trips) are just about the only compelling reasons I have to drag myself out of bed before nine.

Reason 2: Dough Bakery

Except, of course, for Dough Bakery – the pop-up vegan bakeshop at the corner of Hurt Street and Dekalb Ave. Vegan owners Laura & Kevin own the building and bake everything from scratch, but they’re still holding out for the begrudging blessings from state & local licensors that will allow them to open for realsies. Til that glorious day, you’ll need to like them on facebook, follow them on twitter, and sign up for their e-mail list so you’ll be among the first to know when they announce their quietly-famous Stealth Sunday brunches. The notice usually goes out just before the weekend.

Because they have a limited stock and always, always, always sell-out, plan to arrive sooner than later. It’s usually mostly sweets with some savory food, and while everything is delicious and in short supply, the savory stuff goes first. Today, for instance, they stocked just eleven of these ooey-gooey sausage, egg & cheeze-filled handpies. Only six were there wen I showed up at almost 8:30!

That’s locally-Gutenfleischers-made sausage at the bottom, Dough’s own proprietary “egg” blend in the middle, and everybody’s favorite Daiya on top, all tucked inside an extraordinary savory crust.

Just beautiful.

Today Dough had bread loaves, banana & pumpkin whoopie pies, a great big peach coffee cake, sticky buns with walnuts, cinnamon rolls with lotsa icing, snickerdoodle cookies, and maybe a couple of other things too. I have never been disappointed with anything from Dough Bakery and like most great cooks, they just keep getting better with experience. So buy as much as your budget will allow and know that you’re helping a great new independent vegan-owned-and-operated business get off the ground. Their prices are really reasonable, too – almost every week I try everything on the menu for a total of around $20. This week my tab was sixteen and I used Square to pay.

Pumpkin whoopie pie.

walnut sticky bun

peach coffee cake

cinnamon roll

another inside view

There’s no reason not to take MARTA to Dough – like Brick Store featured yesterday, it’s right next to MARTA. Brick Store sits atop the Decatur station, while Dough is across the street from the Inman Park/Reynoldstown station.

BONUS: a picture of my cat Rarry, who had a bee in her bonnet this morning! Runnin’ around, actin’ a fool – I think she’s really into the basking in the sun with a cool breeze combo. (Did I mention that we have gorgeous weather here?) Oh, and scratching the hell out of the little couch. There’s always that.

Farewell, wherever ye fare! – but seriously, move to Atlanta. Another reason up tomorrow!

Happy October, friends! This month I’ve joined eight hundred bloggers from around the world to post as often as possible about the glory that is the vegan life. VeganMoFo, the vegan month of food writing – a delicious answer to NaNoWriMo – is here again!

A bit of history, before we get down & dirty: VeganMoFo is actually REALLY SPECIAL to Crack the Plates because – hold onto your hats – it launched my entire blogging project! In the fall of 2009 I had just moved into a new house in Richmond, Indiana and was toying with the idea of starting a blog as a nice distraction during my final year of Master’s thesis writing. My sweetie Nate & I were really into 1977 Rankin & Bass production of The Hobbit at the time, so he made a tech blog called chiptheglasses.com & I set up cracktheplates, threats lifted from one of the dwarves’ songs. My first ambitious post was about trying out Angel Food’s marshmallow kit, and my very first commenter was the ever-supportive Kittee of Papa Tofu fame!

And ah, how far we’ve come. Since that first post in October 2009, I’ve nabbed my Master’s degree, moved from the midwest to the deep south (my home), adopted another abandoned tortoiseshell cat, and so much more. Food-wise, I’ve launched two small businesses, Kandai Cakery and Crack the Plates meal delivery, been featured on my favorite Vegansaurus.com a handful of times, taken two major vegan road trips (San Francisco in 2010 and New York in 2011), and made so many new, inspirational – if often far-off – friends. VeganMoFo: for these reasons and many others, you’ll forever be dear.

But enough about me! Let’s get to the food!

I’m theme-blogging this MoFo about the great city of ATLANTA, Georgia. As I wrote to the MoFo wizards in my proposal, I wasn’t planning on doing a theme this year til I took the VegNews survey and came to the question about vegan-friendliest cities. Not a SINGLE Southern-US city was featured on the “Favorite veg-friendly city” list! Aghast, I wrote in some of Atlanta’s treasures: our vegan meat company (Gutenfleischers), our organic vegan bakery & fair-trade cafe (Dulce Vegan), our weekly organic vegan meal delivery service (you know, my project), our two meet-ups (Vegan Drinks and the Atlanta Vegan Lunch Group), more than a handful of vegan restaurants and LOTS of vegetarian ones. (Even our food trucks cater to vegans, even though we don’t yet have an entirely vegan food truck.) Finally, we’re home to one of the most beloved and well-stocked online vegan shops in the country, Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe!

These great examples and others are always on my mind, which is why I consider Atlanta a great place to be vegan. But with vegan meccas like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Brookyln taking all the great press, Atlanta’s not just an afterthought – it’s given no thought. As a local, I want to do my part to take the wind out of the stereotype that the south is un-veg-friendly by featuring the deliciousness of Atlanta for an entire month. Not only will I highlight some of the folks listed above, but I’ll really dig into Atlanta and share the lesser-known treasures. For instance, we have SO MANY of Ethiopian restaurants around here, but which ones use a vegan nitter kibbeh, if any? (Hint: I know!) VeganMoFo seems to be the perfect platform for reaching the broader vegan community, who I’m counting on to help vegucate the rest of the world.

So yeah. That’s the deal – y’all. Atlanta’s awesome and you should know why. Come sit a spell.

This unassuming little spot in Decatur is not only the best place to hang out and drink beer in Atlanta, is the second best beer bar in the WORLD according to Beer Advocate magazine. It also holds the lifetime championship title of being the only place to serve beer that I actually enjoyed. (If you know me, you know I am not. a. beer. drinker. Close friends reading are, up to this point, totally baffled by my writing about a pub. Hang in there.)

Beer Advocate – and I! – give Brick Store an A+ rating for several reasons. Their awe-inspiring selection certainly helps – the beer menu is about ten pages long (small print). It’s updated frequently, too – the one I read today was dated yesterday. Check out the draught menu here and the bottle menu here.

my vegan sweetie, checkin' out his options.

The interior is cozy and all of the servers work together to make sure your glass is never more than half empty, your food comes out rapidly, and the check is taken away when you’re ready. Because I’m really unsophisticated, I felt like I’d walked into the Leaky Cauldron when I stepped inside the Brick Store, but it might just remind my more worldy friends of their European vacations.

view of the main hall from the entrance

view from the second floor

Vegan dining options are scant, but the one we had was solid – just a hummus sandwich piled with fresh vegetables and dressed with a house-made spicy vinegar. And those fries – oh my!

$8.50 and big enough for two people.

thanks for taking such great care of us.

my three tasters and nate's St. Bernadus

I wasn’t up-front about not liking beer, but when he heard me admit it, he couldn’t resist the challenge and brought down three tastes from the Belgian bar. To my great shock, I enjoyed every one! The Boon Kriek was nice and gently vinegary, but smooth, not punchy, like an older, gentler ferment instead of a young buck. The Scaldis Peche Mel, creamy and only gently peachy – overall, I called it “inoffensive”. The Bacchus was like Boon Kriek +1, and was called the most vinegary beer currently on tap. Apparently that’s a flavor I can get behind.

Only forty bucks? Perhaps it will soon be mine!

The pub is also full of art from Atlanta-based folks, like R. Land, featured here. You may know him as the Loss Cat guy! I think this riff on his iconic “Pray for Atl” hands is awwwwwesome.

If you’re planning on heading to the Brick Store soon, be sure to check out the menus online and use Barnivore if you’re unsure about a beer’s vegan-friendliness. It has been my exclusive experience that high-gravity true craft beers from Germany and Belgium are vegan (this blogger has a great explanation), but it’s always worth a double-check.

Oh, and be sure you take MARTA, cuz like our city’s unofficial public transit tagline goes, MARTA is Smarta! Mostly because the Brick Store sits atop the Decatur station. Honk honk!!!