Oops, I did it again: Modern Love Brooklyn

Ok, so I went to Modern Love Brooklyn a short while ago amid the flurry of excitement surrounding it's grand opening; check it out over at Vegansaurus. But then I returned recently and everything had been kicked up a notch with purple, twinkly lights, which made everything infinitely better (and brighter!).

Although I wasn't driving (for once) I ordered the housemade orange cream soda, which was AMAZING. Note that I said it was orange cream soda, not orange soda. You could conceivably have this for dessert.

 

Even though my friend already recreated them for me AND I have Isa's new Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook so I could theoretically make them myself, I had to order the deviled potatoes with roasted yukons, creamy potato filling, arugula, paprika, dill. I maintain that letting other people make them for me is a good strategy.

We also repeat ordered the zaatar pretzels with baba ganoush, chili oil, preserved lemon, sumac. I'm more of a salted pretzel with spicy mustard type of person but it was a hit at the table.

At the last minute we added the samosa spiced latkes with pear chutney, coconut sour cream, and micro cilantro (ugh) to the order and were glad that we did. While the raisin-laden chutney went largely untouched, the sour cream and the latkes themselves were really great.

I'd pre-chosen my entree from the online menu, only to find that it was no longer being offered. I managed to maintain my composure and, instead, painstakingly chose the maple bourbon bbq tempeh with collard greens, black eyed peas, frazzled onions, and corn pudding. No, I didn't have any idea what corn pudding was, but it turned out to be what I would describe as a creamed corn fritter- in other words, divine. This artfully plated dish was rich to the nth degree, but I've no regrets.

And that's where our meal ended. Yup, no dessert. Why? The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of my "friends," who- unlike me, were willing to let their fullness from the meal prevent them from continuing to gorge. Truth be told, even I was full well into the following day, but I still would have squeezed in dessert on principle if I hadn't been out-voted four to one. Guess I'll have to go back...

Clementine's Bakery

Last year at this time, when it was actually cold, a friend and I went to visit Clementine's Bakery for the first time. I remember it distinctly for two reasons: 1) there was just a sprinkling of snow falling as we walked from the train, and 2) the food was SO GOOD- savory and sweet options of equal decadence, despite what the name might suggest.

Because my friend is one of the best sharers, we started off with some sammies. First, from the specials board: egg and cheese on a bagel. We've come a long way, but sometimes something as simple and well-executed as this can make my vegan day. Of course there were greens on it as well.

 

Next up, a choice from the sandwich board: decisions, decisions.

Neither of us could resist the autumnal: BBQ tempeh, kale, sweet potato, and sage aioli; it was even better than we expected. Each element was stellar and the combo was perfection. I could eat a lot of these often and it doesn't even need the aioli.

Because it is, in fact, a bakery, there is a whole "bread" case filled with assorted scones, danish, coffee cakes, bread, and the like.

But perhaps even more resplendent is the dessert case. I love how everything is labeled so you can peruse and make your decisions while you wait. You can also find their baked goods at various locations around New York.

On this day, the most impressively attractive of all the options was this strawberry cookies and cream loaf that was being sold by the slice. I was stuffed and had to pass, but one day it will be mine!

And, finally- how cute is this?

Clementine's is a relatively small space, but there is dine-in seating for about ten and outdoor seating in the warmer months (such as December 2015).

It fills up very quickly, but the staff is pleasant, efficient, patient, and keeps everyone circulating and happy.

 

Highly recommend; it's high-quality, non-pretentious, and definitely worth the trip.

Bunna Cafe

As much as I love Ethiopian food, I never tried Bunna at Vegan Shop-Up because I'm a tried and true Snail devotee. Then, once I started making my own, I was on an Ethiopian restaurant hiatus for quite a while; Teff Love is that good. Upon reflection, I also was a little perplexed by the fact that an all vegan restaurant would choose to serve T'ej, a traditional Ethiopian honey wine that is made from- well, honey. But, since no one was forcing me to order it, when a friend whose opinion I trust gave his recommendation of the Bunna Cafe restaurant, I decided to finally check it out.

Our group was really excited and we arrived at the stroke of the hour. The host promptly went to seat us, and I informed him that we had a reservation so that they'd know that our party had arrived. He hesitated, looked at his list, and informed us that our reservation had been for the previous night and we hadn't shown.

Awkward pause.

I'm no expert in crummy things to do to restaurants, but if I were in the habit of skipping out on a reservation, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't show up the following night all chipper-like. That being the case, I would think that it was pretty obvious that there had been a mix-up somewhere and it was probably in the restaurant's best interest not to kill an entire party's anticipatory buzz upon arrival. So, I explained that I had made the reservation the day prior for the following day and we had kind of a stare-off for a moment before being silently seated at one of the empty tables.

Our waiter barely offered us a welcome and didn't do or say anything to introduce us to, what I imagine is for many, eclectic fare. Nevertheless, we immediately ordered appetizers and I ordered an iced shai: Ethiopian spiced black tea with ginger, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon. I am a huge fan of Ethiopian tea and I was excited to have it, for the first time, iced. Unfortunately, the shai was excruciatingly sweet and the cinnamon completely overshadowed the other spices.

The sambusa appetizer: two triangular pastries stuffed with lentil/pepper mix & served with a spicy cilantro sauce arrived sitting in a little puddle of oil, but they were easily twice the size of versions I've had elsewhere. As my hatred for cilantro runs deep, I skipped the accompanying sauce. They were full of perfectly prepared lentils, but there was little in the way of flavor or heat; I can only assume that was all expected to be provided by the sauce.

I'm also not a fan of dried fruit, but since I love butecha I couldn't pass up the butecha selata: kale, red onion, lime, dried cranberries, mixed with butecha: a vegan stuffing made of chickpea flour, onion, peppers, and turmeric. I think the ratio of (well massaged) kale to butecha could have been lower, but the real problem was the fact that the dressing seemed simply to consist of entirely too much olive oil.

Although there was no guidance or suggestion whatsoever from the waiter (he actually just appeared at the table and said, "So, what are you eating for dinner?"), it was a no-brainer for me to order the largest sampler platter on offer: the combination feast of all nine options. It was delivered to the table with zero fan-fare: there was no explanation of the dishes upon presentation as is customary with Ethiopian food. The photo that appears below is the sampler for two: separate portions of each of the nine menu items that I can see now were plated with significant disproportion (sorry for eating the larger side, MVG!). The platter was served with two injera per person and each additional piece was $1. This seems a little steep- particularly since Bunna cuts their teff with barley flour. "Gluten-free" injera (presumably no barley) is available if ordered 1 day in advance, or basmati rice can be substituted at a moments' notice for $3.

As for the meal: it was unfortunately way more meh than yay.
One of my all-time favorites, gomen: steamed collard greens and onion, was flavorless.
The misor wot: red lentils cooked with spicy berbere sauce, was so salty, I was the only person at the table to eat their portion.
I enjoyed the shiro: ground split peas simmered with garlic, ginger, and herbs.
The mushrooms in the enguday tibs: crimini mushroom sauteed in rosemary, garlic, peppers, ginger, & onion were perfectly cooked, but the rosemary was so heavy-handed that this dish was left over on every plate of the table.
In my opinion, the best thing on the plate was the yatakilt alicha: cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and turmeric.
As you can see, the keysir selata: sauteed beets, carrots, and potatoes served chilled was served lukewarm sans carrots and potatoes. Others at the table loved them, but I found them to be quite boring.
Kedija selata: kale, lime, peppers, tomato, onion, and avocado in olive oil was the only cool dish on the platter, but it was made far too rich by the oil and avocado to act as an appropriate counterbalance to the other rich, warm dishes on the plate.
The seasonal faslia: sauteed string beans and carrots, was also perfectly cooked, but lacking any discernible Ethiopian flavor.

I've since heard that Bunna generally inquires of diners how spicy they'd like their dishes, but we were not asked and there was nothing on my platter with even a modicum of heat.

Disappointingly, there is but a single dessert option available at Bunna. But, before we could even consider after-dinner drinks or dessert, the bill was unceremoniously set on the table. And, so: our meal ended with as much unwelcome as it had begun.

A vegan, Ethiopian joint in Brooklyn should be an oasis. For me, it was a dud. 

Paulie Gee's, Vegan Brick Oven Pizza in Greenpoint

In response to my pizza recommendation to just about everybody, Jess Scone advised me to get to Paulie Gee's as soon as possible. I really did try, but it's kind of out of the way of my usual haunts and they don't take reservations (nor do they offer takeout or delivery, FYI). But, one recent evening after a couple of friends and I went to PaintNite, we decided to trek there for some carbstrong grub.

 

We got there about an hour and a half after they'd opened for the evening, which meant that the queue of folks who had been waiting for the doors to open precisely at 5:00pm had already eaten and were replaced by a second round of equivalently-timed diners. We figured it would take us a good long while to decide on and travel to an alternate dinner option, so we waited...and waited. Along with plenty of other pizza-loving schmucks we waited. And drank a little (they serve beer and wine)...and snacked on some things we'd purchased earlier in the day at the Winter Village in Bryant Park.

 

After about an hour and 45 minutes we were finally seated and got our hands on the coveted vegan section of the menu. Behold: so many house made items!

Once I was able to tear my eyes away from the multiple, gourmet pizza options I looked up and was surprised to find that Paulie Gee had made an exception* and was showcasing an original JD on his typically bare and rustic restaurant walls!

This phenomenally cultured atmosphere only made us hungrier; we ordered a giant pie each with the intent to share. 

JD had visited before, so he knew that the In Ricotta Da Vegan: with vegan tomato sauce, house made vegan sausage, post-oven house made cashew ricotta dollops, baby arugula and extra virgin olive oil was the way to go.

It was an excellent choice: a great combination of fresh flavors and textures.

 

It had seemed unusual to us that the only vegan cheese was a ricotta instead of a mozzarella, but JD advised us not to skip it and he couldn't have been more right.

Our pal, Pecan, who always chooses "plain," went with the Simply Red: with vegan tomato sauce with tomatoes, olive oil, vidalia onions, garlic basil, salt & pepper AND added cashew ricotta. I'm a topping-overload girl myself, but this too was a winner.

 

As for me, I also ordered the Simply Red, but I added the cashew ricotta, kalamata olives, kale (duh), and nutritional yeast.

 

Brick oven pizza isn't usually my favorite style, but with Paulie Gee's thoughtful and inventive toppings and combinations this was a truly amazing meal. In particular, I cannot stress enough how spectacular the cashew ricotta is; you'll never miss the mozzarella. We all loved it and VM swooned over our leftovers.

Since we visited last month, they've changed the menu a bit and have added things like vegan meatballs made with green jackfruit, as well as almond milk & onion cream. While I appreciate the convenience of store-bought vegan items as much as the next person, there are way too many upscale, vegan restaurants in this city who rely on the same processed cheeses, meats, and condiments that you can easily enjoy at home (whether they call it by name or not). So it's reassuring that Paulie Gee's- an omnivorous restaurant of all places, would have the courtesy as well as the skill to knock our socks off with such house-made, artisan, vegan pizza toppings.

Paulie Gee likes to pal around with the patrons of his restaurant to make sure everyone is enjoying. When he got to our table, we thanked him profusely for the stellar vegan options and he was extraordinarily humble about it. We got to talking and he wound up whole-heartedly recommending a Chinese place in New Jersey as a must-visit for a shrimp (redacted) dish. Like hanging out with your favorite uncle, we had to remind him that we were vegan!

Sidenote:
Ironically, the three of us have had very serious conversations about restroom locks in the past. So, it was incredibly fitting that the lock in the Paulie Gee's (right side) restroom was so substantial and unique.

And, because I'm a dork, I took a video of it.

Paulie Gee's does offer a vegan dessert pizza, but it's not my speed (translation: not chocolate). Instead, we decided to try their ice cream, from Van Leeuwen, for the first time: chocolate and salted caramel. Don't let the unfortunately-flashed photo fool you; it was delicious: rich, creamy, and authentically flavored...a perfect fit for Paulie Gee's. Please note that we did not share the ice cream; this was my private bowl (I'm not a good dessert sharer).

* The affable Paulie Gee didn't really make an exception, although he was a very good sport about our display for the duration of our meal.

Dr. Cow Storefront

I know it's hard to recall, particularly today, but this summer there were quite a few blazing hot days to contend with.  It was on one of these that I met a friend at the then relatively new Dr. Cow store.

I am a huge fan of Dr. Cow's stupendous, nut-based, local, vegan cheeses, so I couldn't wait to visit a shop dedicated not only to those I've come to know and love, but additional flavors I might not have tried yet.

 

After 2 drinks at the Vegan Shop-up at Pine Box, I staggered towards our meeting place in the relentless sun. After only one self-imposed break, I met up with my friend and we walked the remaining few blocks together. We were more than a little amused/dismayed to find that it was a tiny take-out shop (possibly the definition of quaint) rather than the exalted cheese cafe we'd been expecting.

While the cheese options were glorious, to say the least, there was no place- inside or out, to enjoy said cheese en site, which was exactly what we were intending to do. To make our ill-planning matters worse, the temperature did not lend itself to taking cheese to-go, as I was much farther from home than she was.  So, we stood for a while, glaring covetously at the vegan, butcher-type display of various hunks of gourmet, vegan cheese in multiple sizes*, shapes, colors, variations, and combinations: drooling.

The counterperson was kind enough to offer us some extremely yummy samples, but they were accompanied by her declarations of not being vegan and really liking the cheese anyway.  Not. Good. I mean, the cheese was outstanding, but the "non-vegan taste buds have superior expectations, so if we like it you know it's good" rap does not jive for me: particularly in an all-vegan establishment. (Does this impress omnis who wander into vegan joints? Discuss.)

They also had a selection of mini cookies and chocolates (also susceptible to melting; what is it with the foods I love being so downright delicate?), so I managed to uncharacteristically switch gears from savory to sweet and chose one to inhale on premise.

It was possibly the world's tiniest cookie, but after all the anticipation I couldn't have left the Dr. Cow shop empty-handed (get it? that's my palm) without feeling like a complete failure.

 

Now that the weather has, ahem, taken a turn...it's a good time to revisit and bring lots home.  You should do the same!  I mean, bring it to me.

*I have no idea how the varying assortment of cheeses come into cute existence in the Dr. Cow display. Where do the missing hunks go? Are their missing hunks, or are they "born" haphazardly? Inquiring minds...

Overdue Accolades for Champ's Family Bakery Diner (Vegan MoFo 2013)

True, I have blogged about the new and improved diner vibe of what was formerly only a bakery at the Champ's Family Bakery location (Champ's Diner? Champ's?), but I must admit to being embarrassed that the frequency and intensity of my Champ's blogging has not adequately reflected or appropriately conveyed my enjoyment of the restaurant; I've been so busy eating that I haven't gotten around to sharing.

My feelings on the former Champ's bakery space was that it was encouragingly large, disappointingly barren, unintentionally unwelcoming, with too few offerings.  The diner makeover has been astounding- both for use of space and general vibe.

And the menu?  Don't get me started.  It's huge and varied; gotta love a place where you can choose between countless options ranging from authentic comfort food to totally healthy grub.  Long gone are the days where you had to scan a menu for the sole veganizable option; it seems as if there's nothing Champ's can't veganize.  Some of the recent choices by me and mine.

After an unfortunate banh mi from Blossom, I was happy to take foodfeud's solid recommended of Champ's version: banh mi chay: grilled tofu, fresh cucumbers, pickled carrots, daikon, & jalapenos, cilantro, mayo on a hoagie. holler if you want it spicy! (I hollered).

I'll admit that it looks unassuming, but it was actually quite perfect: soft baguette, perfectly pressed and seasoned tofu, expertly pickled veggies, no cilantro (by request), with just the right proportion of mayo and sriracha.  It was WAY better than Lan's IMHO.

This cupcake caught my attention because it's a cupcake it's chocolate it reminded me of a great cupcake from Bakesalery.  The waitress described it to me as a chocolate Boston-creme cupcake, but it was really so much more than that.

Chocolate cupcake, ganache icing, absolutely FILLED with a chocolate pudding/cream hybrid; sorry, Sweet Avenue, but this is how you make a filled cupcake.

I also have a tendency to bring home a couple of things (duh).

For instance, this seemingly simple but totally delicious chocolate-topped, peanut butter rice crispy treat.

And, cookies.  First, an impressively authentic dinery chocolate chip cookie.  And then, a sugar cookie that I was initially on the fence about because it didn't taste like the sugar cookies I generally gravitate to... and then I realized: it tasted (and looked with its yellow tint) like the sprinkled freebies your non-vegan, former self used to snag from the register counter in any diner in America!  Or, was that just me?  In any event, Champ's nailed it again.

Some other dishes I've consumed or watched being consumed as I continue to be impressed by Champ's:

SAG: faux "egg" & soysage ham on a kaiser roll with Daiya cheddar.

All vegan slam: tofu scramble, tempeh bacon, soysage, garlic rosemary potatoes, with a biscuit and salad.

Up close and personal with the garlic rosemary potatoes.

Breakfast Burrito: field roast chorizo sausage, tofu scramble, bell peppers, cheese, chipotle dressing in whole wheat tortilla with home fries, salad

MVG showing off his food photog skillz

Soltero bowl: "field roast" chorizo sausage, sauteed greens, quinoa, onions, mushrooms, mixed bells with garlic rosemary potatoes.

Hot Cubano: grilled ham, melted cheese, pickled jalapenos, pickles, mustard, mayo, on a pressed hero (reminds me of the best cubano ever at Red Bamboo Brooklyn!!)

Kitchen sink salad: mixed greens, kale, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, sprouts, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, bells, avocado & your choice of dressing.

I had a really hard time remembering what this dish was; how appropriate that it is the awesome bowl: quinoa, tofu scramble, sauteed greens, mixed bells with garlic rosemary potatoes, as the friend in the green hoodie is, by name, awesome.

Reuben: grilled seitan, sauerkraut, cheese, Russian dressing on toasted [marble] rye.

And, finally: my favorite thing from Champ's...cereal killer cookies!  With Fruity Pebbles and marshmallows, of course.  There are four pictured here because that was all they had left on this particular day.  So, I said: GIVE ME ALL OF THEM!  Duh.  You have to be quick.

Champ's atmosphere is effortlessly cool and definitely casual, but don't let that and the diner-vibe fool you.  The staff may seem laid-back, but they are friendly, uber-efficient and perpetually hustling.  They can't help it; there's almost always a long wait for a table.  But rather than be too busy to be attentive, they are like super-servers: buzzing around deftly and effectively.  They're happy to answer questions about the menu, substitutions are effortless, and they never rush you (be mindful, though; people are usually waiting).

One final thing to love about Champ's: the tax is already part of the price.  This makes figuring the bill supremely easy and I am always for anything that makes math easy.

Shout-out to fellow MoFo-er Vegan Fatty Boombalatty for beating me to the punch with her Champ's recap earlier this week and for alerting me to the new menu item: spicy tempeh wings!