Before moving to New York for cooking school, I spent a few days in the San Francisco Bay Area to visit some relatives. My cousin Edric and his then-fiance Nerissa (now happily married) were gracious enough to take me to Greens Restaurant for a fancy vegetarian meal. I think that was my first time to eat in an upscale vegetarian restaurant.
For our first course, we ordered a sampler of:
1. Brown and wild rice salad with cherries, pluots, cirtrus, and pecans
For our first course, we ordered a sampler of:
1. Brown and wild rice salad with cherries, pluots, cirtrus, and pecans
2. Warm yams with maple and ginger
3. Cranberry pear relish
4. Grilled fennel
4. Grilled fennel
5. Golden and chioggia beets
6. Grilled Italian bread
6. Grilled Italian bread
Edric and I ordered the mesquite-grilled brochette. This dish came with mushrooms, yellow finn potatoes, peppers, red onions, cherry tomatoes, yams, fennel, and tofu with charmoula and cherry almond quinoa.
Nerissa ordered the red curry with fall vegetables, cashew jasmine rice, and cabbage slaw.
For dessert, we had the carrot cake with toasted almond sorbet and vanilla bean quince compote.
I would say that Weird Fish is an example of a very vegan-friendly omnivore restaurant.
There were many a vegan dish on the menu -- I mean, I didn't have to settle for leaves and tomatoes for my meal! Quite refreshing, really.
For our appetizer, we ordered the Buffalo girls -- seitan with buffalo sauce and vegan ranch dressing. My main course was the Little B Stack -- grilled yams, tofu, vegan mozzarella, and barbecue sauce.
If there's one thing San Francisco has that New York doesn't have, it's vegan frozen yogurt.
Fraiche serves both organic dairy (vanilla and chocolate) and soy (vanilla) frozen yogurt. And c'mon, who doesn't like fro-yo? I ordered mine with figs, graham crackers, and maple syrup.
And of course... a visit to San Francisco isn't complete without a stopover at Maggie Mudd, an ice cream parlor which pleases both vegans and non-vegans alike.
Vegan options galore:
And in the spirit of fall, I ordered the pumpkin pie sundae -- pumpkin coconut ice cream topped with marshmallow sauce, whipped cream, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg on a bed of crushed graham crackers.
Maybe this is the ice cream withdrawal talking, but all I can say is... You need to try this sundae, because it rocked my world. If I had to pick only one vegan-friendly place to eat in San Francisco, it would be Maggie Mudd.
For more on San Francisco vegan eats, check my posts here and here.
