Sometimes a Vegan Donut Isn't a Vegan Donut

A couple of weeks ago, a few friends and I considered an impromptu meetup at a New York coffee shop known throughout the community for their vegan friendliness as both purveyors of vegan goods- employing an on-site vegan baker from the time of their inception, and regular host of vegan events. Schedules and train delays conspired against it, and so a solitary friend wound up enjoying an iced soy latte with a vegan sugar donut all by her lonesome. As vegans tend to do, she posted said snack on social media and purchased a donut for each of the vegan friends she was on her way to meet.

 

Across town, I was en route to an early dinner when I received a troubling text from a friend who had just seen the post and happens to be the former vegan baker at said coffee shop,

“Text her…I haven’t delivered to them in over a month…She’s eating a non vegan doughnut right now.”

A blizzard of text messages ensued in all directions: sent, received, and forwarded until all three vegans were able to piece together that- despite having been told that “all of the donuts” were vegan and even specifying the previous vegan bakery by name, the coffee shop was- in fact, no longer carrying vegan donuts at all. One furious baker, one queasy friend, and me- the stunned facilitator, all stopped in our respective vegan tracks for a moment to catch our breath.

The baker immediately contacted the coffee shop to alert them to the fact that they were misrepresenting non-vegan items as vegan. The response was swift and relatively aloof, citing a likely mistake by a new staff member. But if the baker hadn’t delivered vegan goods to the coffee shop in over a month, why would a new staff member assume the baked goods were vegan and/or have any idea who the former baker was? Once she further relayed that the recipient of the misinformation and non-vegan donut was a well-known, social media-savvy member of the vegan community, the response was significantly more concerned and an email of apology went out immediately- to be received moments after the victim of the event finished expelling the offending donut.

It’s not as though we don’t already know that vegan ingredients aren’t always taken seriously in the food industry. If Starbucks accidentally squirts whip on your latte they think it’s okay to just scoop it out. Many omnivorous restaurants wouldn’t hesitate to remove the chicken from your salad in the kitchen and give you back the same contaminated leaves. But, it's not a question of purity. Particularly if you’re an establishment that has built much of its customer base on vegans, aren’t you more than a little responsible for the information you impart?

Food for thought. I'd love to hear yours.

[UPDATE: through the power of hashtags on the interwebs, I was able to find that the incident at this establishment was not an isolated one and has reoccurred since.]

Does New Jersey Have the Best Iced Coffee?

It would seem that Small World Coffee is quite a big deal in Princeton, NJ.  Until recently, I'd never ventured in because a popular, local, coffee place such as Small World seems as though it's intended for serious coffee aficianados- definitely not me.  I've never considered myself a huge coffee fan; unless it's all sweetened and fancied up it's not my style. 

When I mentioned my warped justification to a local, they implored me to try the Small World NOLA, a New Orleans style iced coffee with chickory, homemade vanilla syrup, and milk. Yep, more coffee than milk. Scary, but I was willing to give it a try.

So this is what real coffee is like.  Neither VM's bitter instant, nor the rich and milky lattes I'm used to; this is a drink to be reckoned with. 

Even though Small World is an extremely popular place (their two establishments are within walking distance from one another), my drink was ready almost instantaneously. 

the two locations aren't next door to one another, they just have two signs on the same shop

Boy was it was nice not to be bottlenecked at the end of a counter watching 3 people take drink orders and 1 person create them (ahem).

I'm more than a little disappointed to report that they charge 75 cents for soy milk, but hey- at least they offer it. Contrarily, they have no vegan baked goods at their Witherspoon location (I'm told their Nassau shop often has a vegan oatmeal cookie sandwich).

And I do want to note that there is no decaf option, so if you're like me and are very sensitive to caffeine, prepare to have your excitement over the delicious drink toe the line of possible heart attack as the afternoon wears on with your skin tingling and heart pumping.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

No matter what your level of coffee love, if you're in the area I'd highly recommend you skip the Starbucks and make your way to Small World.

71 Irving Place

When I first tried to find Irving Farm Coffee I wound up across the street from Union Square standing in front of an office building with nothing but a giant, over-filled Starbucks in my line of sight. With no other option, I begrudgingly suffered an overpriced, lukewarm, 3/4-filled decaf soy peppermint mocha in the loud, packed, anything-but-coffeehouse atmosphere. As it turned out, my google text had returned the address of Irving Farm's wholesale headquarters. Ugh.

The second try was the charm, as the gilded sign for 71 Irving Place glistened in the sunlight beckoning me towards it. The neighborhood pooches adorning the facade as their owners' picked up breakfast further suggested that this was exactly the type of place I was looking for: the anti-Starbucks*. Too dark for photos, the atmosphere was pure, upscale coffee house. As I stood in awe my vegetarian companion quickly left me to find a table for us in the crowded cafe and called over her shoulder, "Get me a black coffee and anything for breakfast; it all looks incredible." Indeed, it did.

My attention was drawn by two big, brightly lit cases filled with assorted, delectable baked goods: contents all clearly marked, vegan where applicable. Additionally, there was soy milk for coffee and vegan cream cheese for delightfully minimally doughy bagels (I abhor doughy bagels). I chose a vegan peanut butter chocolate chunk (extra points!) cookie over the maple ginger, and my companion thoroughly enjoyed a giant, non-vegan, mixed-berry scone.

Despite a constant flow of tourists off the beaten path, neighborhood regulars, and peeps like me who may have found them on SuperVegan, the service was quick, efficient, and friendly. It was the kind of great NY place that makes you wonder why anyone ever patronizes chains. It also effortlessly exhibited how easy it is for omni establishments to cater to vegans and allow the two to dine harmoniously for something as simple as coffee. Needless to say, I will happily return.

*Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many of Starbucks offerings and am happy that the nationwide chain was one of the first to offer soy milk. However, their vegan-friendliness seems to have stopped there. Only ONCE did they try offering a vegan baked good 'round my parts and it STUNK. Further, they have made no effort to label which lattes are vegan and which aren't (ahem, pumpkin spice). And, most importantly of all, I make a concerted effort never to visit a Starbucks in Manhattan; the service is abysmal. Give me a reserved, suburban New Jersey Starbucks any day & I will thoroughly enjoy my lattes indoors or out.