Maoz New Rules: Don't Be Gross

It's been a while, but I am a big fan of Maoz: the vegetarian, very vegan-friendly, international falafel chain.

 

In the past, though, I have had issues with how the hygiene of the other patrons affects me.  These issues even turned into quite the debate with friends.

On my most recent visit to Maoz, something caught my eye as I was filling my salad bowl.

Once in focus, I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

The owner saw me do a double take and mistook it for unhappiness.  I quickly corrected him; I was ecstatic!  He wound up telling me that he was instrumental in taking the company in this direction, so I thanked him profusely.  Here it is, the Maoz code of ethics hygienic decree:

I should note that they've made their salad receptacles a bit smaller, but I've still got it.

Contained herein: falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, lettuce, and every vegan, non-cilantro option on the bar.  Still two meals worth!  And no germs.

Almost Homemade Falafel

I know falafel is generally vegan by default, but how exciting is it to find this at Costco?  Look how big the word "Vegan" is!  (The company, Meal Mart, has a line of vegan items in addition to their non-vegan offerings.)  You have the option of baking the pre-cooked falafel balls in the oven or frying them on the stovetop; I chose the less messy, healthier, and significantly easier baking method.

I wanted to make an epic sandwich, so in addition to slicing* the onions & tomatoes, shredding the lettuce, splitting the pita, and grabbing the hot sauce, I decided to make my own tahini sauce!

I added 1 tbsp of evoo and 1 tbsp of water to thin it out a bit, and the finished recipe made enough to generously douse three giant sandwiches.

And then it was time for the assembly.  Oooh:

Aaah:

Oh.  No more. 

Although it seems unnecessarily time consuming to make something at home that you can buy for a couple of dollars on the street, there was immeasurable satisfaction in the fresh, non-greasy, "home"made version you see here.  And, no deep-fried stomach-ache either.  Highly recommend!

* Be very careful when using a mandoline; the safety guard can slip!

Mastering the Art of the Maoz Salad

With a Maoz so closeby, I do believe I have finally perfected the art of building my salad.  Doing so was no easy feat; there were lots of layering nuances to address and gads of cilantro to eschew (I'm talking to you, tainted carrots).  But I think I've finally created the perfect combination.  Disclaimer: besides cilantro avoidance, there are a lot of forces at work in the assembly of my salad.  My technique is such that the end result is not something that cannot be enjoyed immediately at the Maoz common table, but rather must undergo further tweaking in the privacy of my own home.  This is the price I pay for my masterful salad.

Ordering:
Start off with a salad meal deal with hummus and baba ganoush.  I don't normally like baba ganoush, but Maoz' version is more sweet than smoky so I find it dee-licious.  Combined with the hummus it serves as a fantastic dressing (more on that later).

Presentation:
You will be handed your bowl: a layer of lettuce, falafel balls, and your sides.  Now get to work.

Preparation:
Top with red cabbage because it's yummy and flexible: really fill in the valleys between your falafels.  Then go to town with the roasted broccoli and cauliflower.  My Maoz cuts these into bite size pieces so that they're all perfectly cooked and, much like ingredients in a chopped salad (though not so miniscule), they don't have to be cut. Now sprinkle tabouli, and then plop on some of the corn/mushroom mixture.  Take a moment to generously drizzle tahini over the whole concoction, but you're not done yet!  Time for more cabbage, paper-thin marinated dill cucumbers, and as much more broccoli and cauliflower as you can fit (you'll thank me later).  **WARNING: Make sure to embrace the naturally occurring mountainous shape your salad will take, as it will all squash out flat and even when you close the lid.  Failure to comply with this tip may result in an embarrassing incident of overflow.  Remember: you want other patrons of Maoz to admire your salad building skills, not laugh at your greediness messiness.**  The final touch is a thin layer of the chopped tomato/onion/cucumber, some onions in tomato sauce, and a little more tabouli.  I generally throw in two pickles and an olive of each color.  Snap tightly shut and bring it home, keeping a nonchalant eye that the lid doesn't burst open.  Since you have nothing to munch on unless you bought fries too, you pig, enjoy your lemonade, which is of the weak but pleasant variety.

Execution:
Once home, open your container and admire your handiwork:

Then invert it onto a plate:

Evenly divide into two healthy meals by simply scooping half of the plateful right back into the container it came from: instant leftovers for the next day and no extra dishes.  Try to evenly distribute all of your ingredients so that you don't find yourself, say, overloaded with cauliflower on one day and without the next.  There are five, so, in the interest of keeping things even (and because they are ridiculously filling), be generous and give one of your falafels away.

Now comes the tricky part.  You want to mix up the hummus and baba ganoush so that it acts like a dressing, but you should also make every effort not to mix them together.   It sounds crazy, but believe me: you'll appreciate being able to enjoy the separate tastes.   Now douse your plate with hot sauce and mix. 

Consumption:
Voila, you are ready to enjoy.

P.S. Are these containers getting smaller, or am I building up a tolerance?

Sprig & Vine Pure Vegetarian (i.e., vegan) in New Hope, PA

Here's the thing, we are city girls.  And by city, we mean NYC.  No offense, Philly, but we are New York girls through and through; your city is not our city.  We are huge fans of Horizons (the only place VM will willingly eat tempeh), but between Philly's congestion and parking issues, the trek never seems to make it high on our priority list.  Enter Sprig & Vine, a new, vegan, restaurant also in Pennsylvania, but situated in an area that is easy for us to drive to AND has uber-convenient parking: making it much more accessible to us.

We arrived hungry, of course, but also very thirsty and unaware that Sprig and Vine is without a liquor license.  Pining the absence of a fruity, alcoholic concoction was fleeting; we quickly recovered with the cool and refreshing Natural Brew draft root beer.  Finally, the root beer equivalent of China Cola!  Absolutely delicious & I even had two (I wasn't driving).

First order of food business: olives!  Or, to be more precise, marinated castelvetrano olives with aged black garlic, chile, and mustard seeds.  When there are olives on the menu you can be sure that they are in both of our minds, so we ordered these beauties without hesitation, even before having read any further on the menu than the second offering.
 

We thought that the black pieces were some kind of olive slivers and I tasted one first.  While I knew immediately it wasn't an olive, I could not put my finger on precisely what it was.  It turned out that was the aged black garlic: completely different, less potent, and significantly more enjoyable than a sliver of ordinary garlic.  I'm not sure if you're actually supposed to eat it or if it's just there for flavor, but I liked it and ate every bit.  VM, on the other hand, tasted it and passed; the texture was not for her.  The olives themselves were divine and plentiful, although we did wonder why they don't offer an assortment instead of a plateful of one variety.  Most excitingly, the pit bowls were a classy touch.  We've eaten bowls full of olives at many swanky establishments over the years, and neither of us can recollect ever having been presented with a stone receptacle of any kind.

Since all of the sandwiches come with the bonus of a small, refreshing, pleasantly dressed salad, we decided to augment our lunches with an order of kennebec potato fries, served with grain mustard aioli.  I misread the menu thinking that it was garlic aioli, and then waxed culinary, "expertly" deducting that the special secret ingredient was mustard seed.  Considering my culinary expertise is pretty much limited to a scale of yum, you'll forgive me the misread and subsequent "epiphany" and just believe me when I tell you unequivocally, the aioli is addictive.  The fries themselves are shoestring and lightly sprinkled with a mild-flavored, unidentified spice.  The single disappointment in this dish was that there were so many undippable, minuscule fries and fry crumbs: noticeable within every order that was served around us.  This certainly wouldn't prevent us from ordering this yummy side again, but it is curious.

Onto the sandwiches.  Before you do the math, I'll just come right out and say that we couldn't decide and ultimately ordered more sandwiches than mouths at the table.  We're not proud, and neither should you be when you are faced with too many choices of delicious, vegan grub.  Oh, the horror.

One selection was the sweet potato-black bean chile burrito with scallion cilantro rice and smoked paprika aioli.  Served warm, this was an extremely tasty, lightly spiced sandwich that relied upon all of the fresh tastes and textures working together: which they undoubtedly did.  Besides garnering a thumbs up from both of us (even tastier as leftovers!), I am happy to report that the cilantro was completely undetectable.

The next choice was the edamame falafel wrap with black sesame tahini and pickled vegetables on a whole wheat tortilla.  The falafel was completely non-greasy and had a superb, dreamy creamy texture.  Highlighted by the pickled red cabbage and cool lettuce, this was another double thumbs up.  VM is a big HUGE fan of falafel sandwiches and this was her absolute favorite bite of the day: quite a falafel achievement. 

Even though I knew I'd be tasting this one on my own, I couldn't pass up the caraway-crusted tempeh reuben with thousand island dressing, pickles, and sauerkraut on grilled pumpernickel.  Because of it's considerable crust, from the back this sandwich looked like it was going to be all bread.  This was not the case at all.  In fact, not only was it stacked with a sizable hunk of tempeh, an ideal amount of dressing, thick pickle slices, and generous kraut, but the misleading bread turned out to be the star of the show.  Besides boasting the deepest pumpernickel taste I've ever encountered, the significant crust practically formed a seal that prevented the contents of the sandwich from oozing out the back when I took a bite from the soft center; it was like magic!  Someone should seriously patent it for this purpose.  I'm going to be rich...

You wouldn't think we could, but we did (for the record, we did bring home lots of meal leftovers).  While there were many interesting dessert options, we tend to err on the traditional, chocolaty side: this day being no exception.  So, even though it wouldn't ordinarily have been our first pick, we selected the chocolate mousse cake with coffee ice cream and creme anglaise.  This turned out to be an unexpected success.  Neither of us are mousse fans, but this was thick, dense, and fudgy: unlike any mousse either of us has ever had.  Layered upon a rich, dark chocolate, cookie crust and sprinkled with chocolate shavings... chocolate x 3?  Yes, please.   Even though VM avoids coffee ice cream, she enjoyed this one as much as I; I suspect this was because it tasted a bit coconutty.  I presume it was made with coconut milk, but I was surprised that it melted rather quickly into a watery puddle.  Don't fret; we simply ate it more quickly!  Finally, I was a little afraid of the creme anglaise because 1) it sounded so eggy and 2) I'd never seen or eaten it before-- vegan or non-- and it initially struck me as being a little gelatinous.  Not only did it turn out to be smooth and creamy, but it too had a delightful and unexpected (I don't recall it being mentioned in the menu description) coconut flavoring.  A successful end to a delicious meal.

After this incredible, vegan feast I can only lament that the solitary omission of the Sprig & Vine experience was the demonstration of a distinct personality.  The visual and audible touches lend themselves to a warm and beautiful atmosphere, the food is outstanding, but there is an overall and glaring welcome deficiency.  Both the host and hostess were faultlessly pleasant and efficient, but seemed only to be going through the motions.  The two people in the kitchen who met our eyes as we were leaving barely cracked a smile, let alone offered an acknowledgment or shared a word.  It takes immense effort, time, and money to start any business, let alone a restaurant (vegan, no less!), so we really wished that the charm and essence had presented in a manner equivalent to how the food and atmosphere shone.  The lacking identity is simply the difference between Sprig & Vine being a terrific restaurant and an extraordinary one.  Highly recommend.

Main Essentials in Nyack, NY

I've had it in my head to visit Main Essentials (based upon BRR's recommendation) and finally had the opportunity when I was recently in the vicinity.  After hearing it referred to as a juice bar serving vegetarian cuisine, I was surprised to find that it is actually a sizable, beautiful restaurant.  We stopped by an hour before closing on a Saturday night, and although the buffet offerings were dwindling, we were warmly welcomed by the gentleman who served as host and waiter.

The diner at the next table was raving about his selections from the buffet, but we decided to go with an assortment from the menu, which is varied.  Although Main Essentials tauts itself as Caribbean, the menu features an eclectic mix of American, Spanish, and Middle Eastern comfort foods: all vegan.

I'm usually a water girl, but for some reason I could not resist trying the China Cola.  I was a little wary that it would taste "weird" (i.e., healthy), but I thought I'd be daring.

As it turns out, it's not made in China, but instead contains an herbal infusion imported from China.  Blah, blah, blah, it tastes good.  Think all of the delicious notes of a traditional cola, but without the chemical taste.  I am definitely a new fan; now I just have to find an area market that carries it.

Of course I had to order the empanadas, which were crispy fried and tasty (is anything ever crispy fried and not tasty?).  I was surprised that they weren't spicy, but a few dashes of the cayenne on the table did the trick.

Yes, in addition to traditional salt and pepper, each table offers malt vinegar and pepper powder to doctor up your goods.  While I missed my hot sauce, it was nice to experiment with other ingredients for a change.

In keeping with my theme of the evening, I went with an order of half sweet plantains and half green.  I had an idea of what sweet plantains were, as I'd had them once before a long time ago.  Main Essentials' version were extremely sweet and tasty, almost carmelized on the outside and much better than I remembered.  The green plantains, on the other hand, I'd never tried; wow!  They were my favorite and I've officially eaten my last plantain chip; the green plantains are the real deal. I did feel that they needed a dipping sauce; is that very American of me?  Should have tried the malt vinegar!

VM went with a falafel sandwich because she can never pass up a falafel.  While a sandwich wasn't on the menu, they were happy to accommodate the special request.

The flavorful sandwich consisted of a fresh pita bursting with traditional falafel, tahini, lettuce, tomato, and onion. 

I actually don't know if they have dessert (!) because, at the time, I was too full of fried foods to wonder.  Hard to believe, but true.

The service at Main Essentials is extremely hospitable, the food fresh & tasty, and the prices extremely fair.  Definitely worth a stop when you're in town!

Maoz Grand Opening in New Brunswick, NJ

I happened to find myself in New Brunswick, NJ yesterday, for the "Grand Opening" of the first Maoz in NJ.  Having visited locations in New York and Philadelphia, it was nice to walk into the very first New Jersey franchise of the delicious, international, vegetarian, falafel phenomenon!

Surprisingly, besides balloons there wasn't anything spectacular going on in honor of the inaugural day: no free samples to lure the public or coupons to win over the patrons, like myself, who were clearly already fans.  Nevertheless, the restaurant was almost full, but I still felt like I knew a secret that it would take the town a while to catch onto.  I was excited. 

The restaurant was bright, cheery and medium-sized: managing to fit in seating for about a dozen.  The salad bar was, per usual, a thing of beauty (thanks for the non-vegan notation on the cole slaw; good looking out!).

My falafel-loving companion went for the traditional, royal sandwich, but I went for the salad box because I cannot resist all that the salad bar has to offer.  And, thanks to QuarryGirl, I have long been well-versed in Maoz etiquette (and by "etiquette" I refer not to manners that should be exhibited in Maoz, but rather full enjoyment of their salad bar). 

For those of you who don't know, Maoz offers variations on two basic options: a falafel sandwich or a falafel salad.  You can dress either from the fresh and varied vegetarian (predominantly vegan) salad bar for no extra charge.  While the sandwiches are delicious accented with the extra offerings, if you play your cards right the salad can become a monster of epic salad bar offering proportions...and you can order a plain pita to go with if you choose.  So, having not been to Maoz in a while I went to town and ultimately should have weighed my finished salad; it was a thing of beauty packed with more than enough for two meals.

Believe it or not, this beautiful specimen was handed to me containing "only" lettuce, five falafel patties, hummus, and babaganoush.  I topped the patties generously with tahini and then began building my salad.  Chick peas, broccoli & cauliflower, beets, purple cabbage, pickles, olives, pickled eggplant, carrots, hot sauce, and onions.  It was as delicious as it looks and will be again when I tackle the leftovers tonight.

I also want to note that Maoz offers Belgian or sweet potato fries, both non-greasy, super-potato-y and delicious (I add salt).  Additionally, the menu I picked up also lists 4, low-priced alterna-sandwiches that I've never before noticed at Maoz: two vegetarian and two vegan.  I would be interested in trying the Verde: avocado, lettuce, cucumber, roasted peppers, tahini sauce, & cilantro sauce or the Garbanzo: hummus, sun-dried tomato paste, & arugula; but the truth is that I probably will never be able to resist the salad bar.

Happy to have Maoz in NJ and hopeful that more will follow; I will definitely be returning.  One suggestion for Maoz, though.  Everything about your cool restaurants scream fresh, healthy, and simple.  However, you are forgetting that the public isn't always so swift-- especially when they're hungry.  Please mastermind some effective way to post simple order & prep instructions, because it can get a little confusing when there is a crowd.  Viva la Maoz salad box!