I was in San Francisco this weekend for a newspaper conference. I love visiting San Francisco because I know they’ll have some good vegan restaurants for me to check out. I ended up at a fabulous vegan restaurant called Golden Era located on 572 O’Farrell Street, which serves vegetarian and vegan, award-winning Vietnamese fare. Here’s the link: http://www.goldeneravegetarian.com/

One nice thing about this restaurant is you are given the option of having your meal prepared vegan or vegetarian. And the food is sooooo good. I went with one of my co-workers who had never had vegan “meat” before and he was blown away by how delicious it was. The service was good. And we showed up around 8:45 and they closed at 9, but they didn’t try to kick us out- we took our sweet time and they were quite generous. And it’s very reasonably priced.

So if you’re in SF, go check it out! You shan’t be disappointed.

I’ve had a streak of bad luck lately with restaurants. I think I’m going to have to start telling people I’m deathly allergic to animal products in order to get them to believe me when I say I want my meal without cheese, without egg, without mayo, I WANT IT TOTALLY VEGAN!!! And even then I bet they’d still mess up my order. I feel it should be a requirement for all people that get degrees in the culinary arts to at least be well aware of what veganism is, even if they aren’t trained on making vegan fare.
All restaurant employees should know what veganism is. No more blank stares. I’m fed up. I’m ready to swear off restaurants entirely unless I know the establishment is entirely vegan. I know it seems a little harsh, but it hurts me to see them have to take back my order 3 times before getting it right. And, as a result, they are not only using animal products, but they’re wasting them! And I don’t feel that I should have to compromise my beliefs because they messed up. No way.

I don’t get upset easily about these sorts of things, but this was just the last straw. I feel helpless. Should I go around handing out flyers to all restaurants explaining what veganism is? Would it even make a difference? Perhaps I should take it a step further and contact every culinary school I can track down, and tell them all how I feel. What do I have to do? It’s cheaper for you not to give me the cheese and mayo on my sandwich. It’s cheaper to leave the egg out of the pasta dish. Stop making it harder on yourself and just get it right the first time! I worked at restaurants for many years. It’s not that difficult. Really. Just listen to your customers, and pass this information on to the cooks/chefs. I don’t want to be rude, but these restaurants are really testing my patience.

Brought to you by Emily (me), the fed up vegan.

Any time I discover a new vegan restaurant, it’s like having a birthday. I get sooo excited! You mean there’s another restaurant in which I can order absolutely ANYTHING on the menu??? WEEE!! Sheer bliss.

Imagine my excitement when I found an exquisite pure vegan restaurant just a quick jaunt from my home in Salt Lake. At 2280 South West Temple lies Vertical Diner. Granted, it’s surrounded by an industrial park, which is odd. But the diner itself is just that: a cute little diner. A place where you can order biscuits and gravy, a chicken sandwich (heavenly), chicken tenders, quesadillas, reubens, and much more, guilt-free! I even had to double-check during my first visit. “You mean… this is ALL vegan?” Too good to be true.

And the food is fantastic. Much better than any store-bought frozen foods. We’re talking homemade breaded chicken, homemade sausage and eggs… I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Now I just have to get my fill of wonderful home-cooked food there before going raw for 40 days straight…

Next time you’re in the area of Salt Lake, check it out! I plan on taking my out of town friends and family there next time they come to visit. It never hurts to show meat-eaters what amazing vegan fare tastes like. And if you live in Utah, and haven’t gone yet- what the heck are you waiting for!?

Open 7 days a week

Mon-Wed: 11am-3pm
Thurs-Fri: 11am-10pm
Sat: 10am-10pm
Sun: 10am-3pm

Ever go out to din din with friends and realize there aren’t too many options for veggie lovers at this particular juncture? Fear not. If you’ve sifted through all the possible dishes you could get minus the cheese, butter, chicken, egg, etc… and nothing sounds appetizing- or you discover all you’ve got left in your meal is a mound of lettuce- don’t be shy. Speak up! Many places understand that vegans do exist in the world and there’s a chance said vegans might even dine at their restaurant. Kindly tell the waiter/waitress your eating preferences and ask if they can make you a plate of steamed veggies or something. You may end up with a surprisingly delicious dish! I’ve been requesting special meals for years and have had some absolutely delectable meals as a result. It may even be a nice relief for the chefs at the restaurant because, odds are, they serve vegetables as a side for many entr

What’s there to do in Utah, one might ask. Besides all the outdoor activities- there’s vegan eating. A restaurant called Addicted Cafe. They’re so hip they even have a myspace page. At 511 W 200 S, Salt Lake City, you can find this little cafe- between Gateway Mall and Club Sound/ In The Venue. They make a mean (as in very nice to animals) BLT. They have a pretty impressive menu, including (but not limited to) a wide variety of sandwiches, mouth-watering desserts, and fancy coffees.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco. I hadn’t been there in years, so I was very excited. Before I left I looked up various vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the area and read that Herbivore, an all vegan restaurant, was highly recommended. So my boyfriend and I trudged up and down the beautiful, hilly San Fran until we came upon 531 Divisadero Street.

Herbivore has a stylish, modern atmosphere.

For an appetizer, we had bruschetta. It was fabulous.

and a salad before the meal (trust me, you won’t starve if you eat here)

…and our main courses. Gnocci with creamy marinara sauce and pasta with lemon cream sauce and portabella mushrooms.

The gnocci was amazing.

Now I had never had a lemon cream sauce before, and I wasn’t a huge fan, but it was still good.

Wait- there’s more… dessert. We went all-out. Carrot cake and a blueberry donut. Both were absolutely delicious.
It’s been years since the last time I had a donut. Amazing.

All in all, a fabulous experience. Our waitress was very sweet as well. If you’re ever in the area, I strongly encourage you to try Herbivore. They have 2 locations in San Fran and one in Berkley http://herbivorerestaurant.com/