“Labels, mostly.”

When you first go vegan, it can feel like a lot of your life is spent reading labels.  Cleaning products are scoured for animal ingredients and if they test on animals.  Nutrition labels on sauces, dips, and dressings are scanned at the grocery store before going in the cart.  The labels on sweaters and coats need to be checked for wool.  The interior of shoes and purses are proofread for leather.

When it comes to food and household goods, eventually you find products that you know are vegan.  You know which pasta sauce to buy, which bread, which pizza crust, which dishwashing liquid.  Going to the grocery store requires less and less reading as the years pass.  Plus, you become something of a label reading superhero – able to pinpoint whey in a single glance.

But when it comes to clothing, shoes, and accessories, the need for label reading doesn’t wane.   When I’m inspecting a pullover and searching for the little sewn-in tag to find out if it’s made from bunny’s fur, goat’s hair, or sheep’s wool, I wonder if other shoppers are wondering why I’m going all Sherlock Holmes on the sweaters.

That’s why it’s always a joy to visit fully vegan stores.  The need for label reading disappears, and I can put my focus on the task at hand – perusing colors, textures, and styles, checking for fit and comfort.

So when my husband and I were in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, I visited Alternative Outfitters in Pasadena to pick up a pair of shoes for him.  He was there for work and spending a lot of time on his feet.  His favorite vegan Earth shoes were wearing down, and he needed something that would look nice enough for his casual work environment and comfortable enough that he could stand for hours on end.

I picked up a pair of black Deer Stags for David, which were both comfortable for long hours of standing and stylish too.  Just to be extra safe, I added an extra shoe insert into them for even more padding.

When we lived in Los Angeles, our apartment was only about fifteen minutes away from Pasadena, and it was a place I visited often to pick up things in Old Town or get groceries at their two-level Whole Foods (with an escalator and everything).  When I needed new shoes, Alternative Outfitters was the first place that I looked for something reasonably priced, comfortable, and attractive.

The brick and mortar Pasadena location of Alternative Outfitters is open weekdays with appointments available on the weekends.  They do most of their business online; however, they have a small showroom attached to their warehouse, which is about a half mile off of the main strip in Old Town.

In the showroom they have accessories like purses, wallets, and belts neatly laid out in addition to beauty products, shoes, and a few shirts.  In the winter months they carry light winter coats, gloves, and a nice collection of boots.  (I got the above pair from them almost three years ago, and I still get compliments on them.)

Since it’s a showroom rather than a typical store, they have all of their items out on display, and then you ask for your particular size to be plucked from the warehouse.  After you make your selection, you move into the warehouse area to pay for your purchases at their work desk.

After we moved away from the area, Alternative Outfitters became even more of a prized resource, as the vegan options in our town are more limited.  For their Facebook fans, they often advertise specials and offer discounts on items.  I can just check out their options online, order, and have them delivered to my door.

Alternative Outfitters is located at 408 S Pasadena Ave, Suite 1 in Pasadena, California. Their showroom is open Monday through Friday from 11 am to 4:30 pm.

Raw restaurants are few and far between in the Midwest, and so I headed to Ecopolitan, an organic, raw, vegan restaurant in Uptown in Minneapolis.  If you come to a restaurant with a sign for colon hydrotherapy out front, you’ve found the place…

The restaurant is in a large, airy space with big windows, wood floors, and an eclectic array of local art hanging on the walls.  There’s also a small room with a counter for ordering freshly made juices, purchasing cookbooks, and food to go.

I grabbed a small table near the kitchen and perused the menu.  I started with Grandma’s Garden, a juice combination made with carrot, tomato, celery, and garlic.  I ordered a small size, but the server accidentally made a large.  More juice for me!

The juice tasted like a liquid version of homemade salsa in the best possible way.  I’ve never added garlic to my juices at home, but it added a savory depth that I really enjoyed.  Plus, there should be some side benefits to dining alone, and I’d say feeling comfortable ordering garlic juice is one of them!

For lunch, I ordered the raw taco pizza.  As a long-time fan of raw pizza and an even longer fan of taco pizza, it was a no brainer.  The pizza was served in slices, with the option of ordering one slice or two.  I was feeling pretty hungry, and so I went with two.  It ends up that I could have easily just ordered one; although, I wasn’t sad about having leftovers the next day.

The pizza was topped with lentil taco meat, bell peppers, onions, and cilantro.  Macadamia-cashew cheese was drizzled on top with a very tangy cashew sour cream and hot sauce.  It was served with raspberries and a ball of sprouts.  The pizza had a good kick of spiciness that blended nicely with the cool sour cream that was true to its name.

After lunch, I stopped at the nearby co-op, The Wedge.  It has a big deli area, bulk and produce sections, and a sizable make-up and beauty counter.  Perhaps best of all, they had my favorite candy bar in stock!  It’s not an easy one to find, and so I stocked up while I was there.

Eli’s Earth Bars are made by Sjaak’s.  The bars are organic and fair trade.  They come in several different flavors, but my personal favorite is the Dream Big Bar, which is kind of like a vegan Baby Ruth bar.  It’s made with chewy peanut caramel, peanut butter, and roasted salted peanuts.  Then it’s coated in dairy-free milk chocolate.  The gooey caramel with creamy chocolate and crunchy peanuts make it tops for me.

On my way out of the Wedge, I noticed this awesome car!  In case you don’t follow Doctor Who (Get on it already!), the car is the same color and has the same sign as the Doctor’s time traveling machine called the TARDIS, which looks like a British Police Box.

Which reminds me of one last thing!  I’ve been wanting to share my newest favorite creation, a mug that I hand-built to look like the costume of the fourth Doctor Who, Tom Baker.   I’m not selling this one in my pottery shop since I’m working on my goal of making all of the Doctor’s costumes in mug form for my own collection.  However, at some point I do plan on making more!

So far, in addition to Tom Baker, for my collection I’ve made Peter Davison (above) and Matt Smith.  I’ve made more Matt Smith mugs, and you can find them in my Olive Pit Pottery shop on Etsy, in addition to a Matt Smith-inspired wine bottle holder.

Sure, you can make more involved appetizers, entrees, and even desserts out on the grill, but the point is that it’s not entirely necessary.  Something as simple as loading up skewers, laying lightly oiled asparagus onto the hot grates, or making use of some prepared items at the grocery store means a mouthwatering meal with a minimum amount of effort.

Let’s take last night’s dinner, for example…  I loaded mushrooms, pineapple, yellow onions, and red bell pepper chunks onto skewers and oiled them ever so lightly.  I added them to the grill with the aforementioned asparagus, which to my complete delight are in season now.

Then I piled on a few whole wheat pitas to get toasty brown for dipping into premade baba ganoush from a local restaurant.  (Baba ganoush is a smoky eggplant dip.)  The final touch was adding stuffed grape leaves (dolmas) onto the grates, also purchased premade from my local grocery store, to gain a bit of grilled flavor and char marks.

Everything was served with a romaine lettuce salad topped with creamy garlic dressing. Dinner was ready in fifteen minutes or twenty minutes, and best of all, you could really taste the freshness of the fruits and vegetables.  The plate was awash in the colors of spring.

With it staying lighter longer, meaning easy grilling even for dinner, there’s every reason to get outside and let the grill do the work for you.

What are your favorite plant-based items to cook on the grill?

Jenny has a nut allergy, and so before she arrived I grabbed one of their allergen specific menus from the counter, in addition to their standard menus for both of us.  (Their restaurants are of the order-at-the-counter variety, but there are so many items to choose between, it’s nice to mull over your options.)

In the special allergen specific menu, they have it sectioned into various allergies (i.e. nut-free, soy-free, wheat and gluten-free).  It lists if the meals are already allergen-free as typically served or what modifications need to be made to make them allergen-free.  (These menus are all available online as well.  See the above links.)

Jenny is allergic to nuts, but her allergy to coconut is less pronounced.  So she was able to order the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger, which is made with Daiya, but does contain coconut.  (Obviously menu items and preparations change, and so I highly encourage you to check with the staff during your visit if you have an allergy.)

In addition to the non-dairy cheese, the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger is made with thinly sliced seitan, caramelized onions, and Native bacon on a bun with barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, and crunchy, fresh vegetables.  It is then pierced with a toothpick bearing several battered dill pickle chips and served with sweet potato fries.  I managed to hold my composure enough to not reach across the table and grab a bite for myself, but Jenny did laugh when I took a picture of her plate, saying it reminded her of a certain Vegan Test she’d seen online.

The Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger is my favorite item on their menu, but I opted to try something new – the Bistro Steak Sandwich with house made tofu bleu cheese.  This is another seitan-based sandwich, this time topped with crisp shallots, oven roasted tomatoes, and arugula.  If you’re inclined to believe that the messier a sandwich is the better it will be, you will love this one.  With the tangy, salty tofu cheese and savory seitan, it was an umami-packed wallop of flavors.  I ordered it with a side of steamed kale.

It was announced recently that over the next five years, Native Foods will be opening 200 more locations across the country, which is just terrific news.  Native Foods has the kind of food that has the power to really alter ideas of vegan food being stodgy, bland, or boring.  With things like fried pickle chips as a sandwich topping, much of their menu is certainly comfort food.  However, I think fare like this can be far more accessible to people who would be initially hesitant to try something like a raw or macrobiotic restaurant.   Plus, their food is just crazy delicious, and so there’s that…

For more mouthwatering pictures from Native Foods, check out these posts from Kristy, Sarah, and Debbie, who broke the bad news that the Bistro Steak Sandwich is off the menu for the time being in place of a jackfruit barbecue sandwich.

Nowadays, diners don’t hold much of a draw for me for obvious reasons.  I could probably scrape by at most places with a plain baked potato or iceberg lettuce dinner salad, but why bother?  Plus, the scent of fried chickens’ eggs and old grease smells nauseating instead of appetizing.  So what’s a buffalo sauce and ranch loving person to do?

Luckily, buffalo sauce need not be relegated to the proverbial closet to sit with three-inch high hair styles, stone-washed jeans, and re-runs of Doogie Howser, M.D.  It may come as a surprise, but it seems almost every vegan food blog has a buffalo recipe, while letting the chickens keep the wings for themselves.

Cara at Fork and Beans has mouthwatering Baked Buffalo Tempeh Tenders and Kittee at Cake Maker to the Stars has eye-catching Rice Paper Rolls stuffed with Buffalo Soy Curls. Kristy at Keepin’ It Kind has Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza, which has piqued my interest for months.  (When I was in Los Angeles recently I was able to try out the buffalo cauliflower from Mohawk Bend.  Fantastic.) And in fact, while I was in the process of writing this recipe and post, Erin at Olives for Dinner posted an amazing looking Buffalo Chickpea Taco recipe.  The vegan world is overflowing in buffalo sauce!

My contribution into the world of buffalo-spiked goodness are these Buffalo Chickpea Salad Sandwiches.  The sandwiches are a combination of buffalo chickpeas and classic (eggless) mayo-based salad sandwiches.  In this sandwich Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, my preferred hot sauce when it comes to all things buffalo, mixes with the elements of ranch dressing for one messy conglomeration.

This sandwich can be made two ways.  One option is the lazy person’s method, which takes just 5 minutes to put together.  The other option is only slightly more involved, delivering a hot sandwich with roasted chickpeas, and still only clocking in at 25 minutes.  This sandwich would be a terrific option for a Saturday afternoon, a cold packed lunch, a picnic possibility, or really anytime when you need something hot and spicy in your life.

Buffalo Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Serves 4

Buffalo Ranch Sauce

• ¼ cup eggless mayonnaise
• 3 Tablespoons hot sauce (Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is my preferred sauce for buffalo anything)
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon celery seed
• ¼ teaspoon dried dill
• 1 stalk celery, chopped small

In a medium-sized bowl, stir the eggless mayonnaise, hot sauce, onion powder, celery seed, and dried dill until fully combined.  Stir in the chopped celery.

Roasted Chickpeas

• 1 ½ cups chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (Omit for 5 minute version)
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes (Omit for 5 minute version)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Put the chickpeas onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and nutritional yeast flakes onto the chickpeas and combine.  Spread the chickpeas across the parchment paper for even roasting.  Roast for 15 minutes, stopping once half way through to shake the pan and move the chickpeas for even roasting.

Add the warm chickpeas to the bowl with the buffalo sauce and fully combine. Put the buffalo chickpea salad on any of the suggested bread options & top it with any of the suggested condiments.

Suggested bread options:  Buns, tortillas, or forgo the bread altogether and stuff the buffalo chickpea salad into endive cups or romaine lettuce leaves

Suggested condiments:  Pickles, mustard, onions, lettuce

Five minute version:  Don’t bother roasting the chickpeas.  Instead, skip over the roasting section, add the drained and rinsed chickpeas into the bowl with the buffalo sauce, and combine until fully coated.  If desired, warm the chickpea mixture in a pot on the stove or in the microwave before adding it to one of the suggested bread options & topping it with any of the suggested condiments.

One such product that I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for is the new bacon seitan from Upton’s Naturals.  I tried the other flavors of seitan from Upton’s Naturals for the first time last year at the Mad City Vegan Fest.  At that time, they had several different flavors of seitan including traditional, Italian, and chorizo.  Then several months ago their bacon seitan was introduced.  Made with vital wheat gluten, soy sauce, whole wheat flour, natural hickory smoke concentrate, paprika, sea salt, and onion, I was intrigued to try it for myself.

So when I was in the Minneapolis area this past weekend for a friend’s wedding, I hit up the Whole Foods in St. Paul.  When I walked past their refrigerated section, I was delighted to see the bacon seitan for sale.  I scooped it up on the spot, threw it into my cart, and prepared to babysit it with ice packs the next day in the cooler before I headed back on the long car ride home.

You know what they say…  When life gives you bacon seitan, make a BLTA.  For breakfast yesterday, I toasted bread, added thick slices of avocado, slices of tomato, and a slathering of mustard.  Then I lightly fried the thin slices of bacon seitan and added them to sandwiches for my husband and myself.

Let’s just say, this product was worth the search!  With a great smoky flavor and a wonderful chewy texture, this is my favorite veggie bacon yet.  I think many packaged veggie bacons can be disappointing, but this one really measures up.  There are so many possibilities here in terms of making seitan bacon-wrapped dates, because the bacon has a great pliability that bends without breaking.  (Curious why vegans would want to eat something that tastes like bacon?  Check out this post.   It explains everything.)  As a really cool plus, 5% of the proceeds from their bacon seitan goes to keeping pigs happy at Farm Sanctuary, one of my favorite places in the world.

Upton’s Naturals is a Chicago-based company, and they’re opening a brick and mortar location this summer attached to their factory, where they’ll serve sandwiches and customers can buy their products directly.  I look forward to checking it out on a future visit to Chicago!

Goodbye, gloves and scarves.

Good riddance, snow shovels.

Au revoir, heavy soups and stews.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, ice scraper.

After a seemingly endless winter, the time is here for cook-outs, long days, chirping birds, and lemonade.  The oven can go into hibernation.  It’s the grill’s turn now.  Welcome to the party, grilled polenta, grilled lemon rosemary tofu, grilled asparagus, bananas, and more.

Today to add to the mix are Grilled Avocados with Smoky Hearts of Palm Salsa.  This light and flavorful dish can be served as an appetizer or starter salad.  Maybe best of all, it’s served in its own avocado shell.  That means you can compost your dishes instead of cleaning them, leaving more time for the important things like canoe rides and back floats in the swimming pool.

You can find this recipe over at Vegan Richa, where I’m doing a guest post today.  While you’re there, you’ll definitely want to look around.  Richa is a sweetheart of a person, and she has so many fabulous and mouthwatering recipes.

(Oh, and if you need another grilling idea, make Richa’s avocado naan and finish it off on the grill after its ultra-short baking time.  I know the oven was supposed to be hibernating, but I promise, it’s worth making an exception.)

The first time that I went was for lunch. Eager to spend every second in the sun that I could manage, I opted for an outdoor table in front of their restaurant. I pretended to peruse the menu even though I knew before I’d even packed my bags what I was going to order – the Supreme Pizza on a raw crust. Their pizzas have always been a favorite of mine.

The supreme is topped with marinara, their SunChorizo, tomatoes, marinated bell peppers and onions, and drizzled in a creamy cashew cheese. It’s then peppered with strips of fresh basil. The pizza is absolutely popping with flavor and varying textures. The crisp raw crust adds a mild crunch, and since it’s full of nuts and seeds, it’s surprisingly filling. (A version on flatbread is available for a cooked option.) I was only able to finish about half, and I saved the rest for a late afternoon snack. The pizza comes with a variety of side options, and I opted for a massaged kale salad. (The Mexican pizza is also fabulous if you’re looking for something with a Southwestern flair.)

The next time that I went back I had my sights set on their Sweet Kale Shake. When I moved away from the area, one of my first courses of action was to try my hand at recreating their surprisingly decadent drink. This was my first time having it after making my own version, and theirs definitely has almond extract in it, which mine does not. (Although, sometime I plan on getting almond extract and adding it, because it brings something wonderful to the table.) This creamy, softly sweet shake is dusted with coconut flakes and goji berries. Its hefty size makes it plenty large enough for sharing. I took half back to the hotel with me to put in the refrigerator for my husband.

Along with the shake, I had the taste bud popping Lettuce Leaf Tacos, which are similar to my own collard leaf tacos but served in a different vehicle obviously. The tacos are stuffed with SunChorizo, pico de gallo, avocado, green onion, and pecan pieces. They’re then drizzled with cashew cheese and basil ranch. The tacos are in the starter menu and would be a great size for sharing.

Finally, I went back one final time on the last evening before we headed out of a town. Gathering with a large group, we started with the Sun Nachos. The Sun Nachos can be prepared raw with thin-sliced jicama chips or with baked corn chips. We opted for a combination of both to satisfy the variety of taste preferences at our table. The nachos are absolutely piled with nacho cheese, cashew cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, olives, jalapenos, and green onions. A mish mash of so many full-bodied flavors, everyone at the table kept going back for “one last taste.”

For my meal, I ordered the Kale Colossus, one of my favorite items on their menu. It comes in two sizes, one personal and one for groups. The salad shown here is the personal size, people. It was huge! It worked out well, because I was able to have the other half of it the next day on the airplane. This massaged kale salad is loaded with everything you could ever imagine in a salad – mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, pico de gallo, three different dressings, raisins, bananas, and more of their SunChorizo. With so many different flavors it doesn’t seem like it would work together, but it makes each bite a surprise for the mouth.

Too full for more, we were won over by the temptation of dessert and decided to split one slice of cheesecake between all of us at the table. The cheesecake that won us over was the chocolate chip cookie dough. The slice was beautifully plated and had a dense, creamy texture. The dominant flavor of the cheesecake was coconut, presumably because it’s made with coconut oil. I enjoy coconut in small amounts, but it was stronger in flavor than I’d prefer, making it easy to stop after just a couple of bites.

Going back to Sun Café after all of this time made me realize how much of an influence it’s had on my own cooking (or should I say uncooking?) since I’ve been inspired to recreate many of their dishes in my kitchen so far away. You know what they say… If you can’t be with the one you love, agave, love the one you’re with.  I’m glad that they are thriving as a business, and I’ll look forward to visiting again the next time I’m in the area. Until then, I’ll be sipping on my own cashew kale smoothie and thinking of them.

This post is a continuation of my series on vegan misconceptions and questions.  

This week when we got back from our trip to the West Coast, weary from a day of travel, we pulled into the driveway, ready to unpack.  A group of guys in a car were traveling down our road, stopped at the end of the driveway, and started screaming.  They were yelling at the family of deer who were eating grass in our yard. I’d admired how beautiful the deer were as we pulled in.  There are many things I don’t like about living in a small town, but having deer come and feast in my yard is one of the exceptions.  Having my life intertwine with theirs is a blessing.  It took a second to register what the guys were saying, and when I did, my heart sunk.

“Bang!  Bang!”  they yelled.  ”I’m gonna shoot you!  Bang!  Bang!”

We live in a big hunting community, and it’s not unusual during hunting season to hear gunfire pretty regularly.  I knew these guys weren’t making idle threats.  They were making promises  for the winter months.

That experience was still in my thoughts when I noticed that on my blog searches the next day, someone found my blog by searching for prayers to say at dinner-time for the animals who sacrificed their lives to be meat.  This post is for them…

What I’m about to tell you is a story.  It’s not true and it never happened.  In this story there’s a guy named Bill.  His neighbor has a house.  It’s not flashy.  It’s not a mansion.  It’s just your everyday, normal house, but to the person who owns it, it’s the only one she has.  One night Bill gets cold.  Winter is bearing down, and he’s chilly.  He could put on a sweater or turn on his heater.  He could cover up in blankets or take a hot shower.  But instead Bill goes to his neighbor’s house, strikes a match, lights the house on fire, watches it burn, and basks in the warmth.  In the coziness of the heat emanating from the house, he feels fulfilled.  His neighbor stands aghast as she watches her house burn from the safety of her yard.  Bill turns to her and says, “Hey, thank you for providing me with warmth.  Much appreciated.”

I tell you this totally made up story, because this is not so far off from when I hear questions like this one…

“I know some people who pray over their meat before they eat it.  Don’t you think it makes it better when people really appreciate the animal and give thanks to her for sacrificing her life?”

A thank you to some degree requires a gift or a free will offer.  A thank you is for a present and a sacrifice is a selfless deed.  I guarantee you, where meat is concerned, no such offer was made.  The lamb didn’t die pushing a small child out of the way from an oncoming bus…  She didn’t sacrifice her body in the way that a person may choose to sacrifice a kidney for someone else or a parent sacrifices to put a child through school.  For the lamb, there was zero choice in the matter.  The so-called sacrifice was chosen for her.

There are some basics in all animal lives, both human and non-human, and one of those basics is the will to live.  Especially when we are young and healthy, as most animals are when they are killed for food, staying alive would be the highest desire on the course of needs.

And really, who is it that feels better after saying a prayer of thanks?  It’s not the deer or the lamb.  It’s not the chicken.  It’s not the calf.  It’s not the pig.  They are long since gone.  The one who feels better, the one who feels absolved, the one who maybe even feels generous that they thought of the animal at all is the person uttering the prayer.  So to me it feels a bit self-congratulatory or at least disingenuous to take someone’s life (or pay someone to) and then pat one’s self on the back by saying “thanks.”

If I was the chicken, or the calf, or the pig, and I spent my life stacked in a cage, hidden in a shed, or stuffed in a space where I couldn’t turn around, I wouldn’t feel relieved that someone said, “thank you” before tucking into a dinner of my leg.  Even if I’d lived a more idyllic life as, say, the deer roaming wild in my yard, trotting around with my pack, stopping for a nibble on the green hills, I wouldn’t think I was being done any favors if after my head was part trophy/part decoration on a wall and my body had been ground into sausage that this person who shot me said thanks after stealing my own life from me.

I feel sad for the guys screaming from their car, taking such joy in the thought of hurting someone.  But obviously I feel more sad for the deer who will die for it.

Before we give thanks for the sacrifice or ritualize the gift that an animal made by giving her life, we need to be honest that we’re romanticizing it for our own gain.  If the animals really had a say when it came to that sacrifice, the prayer they would have said would have been one for their own lives.

I know Los Angeles has everything except for fireflies, and that proof was further brought home when I visited last week.  The dream of breakfast delivery is alive in L.A.  When I lived in Los Angeles, I’d read about Locali on blogs like Quarrygirl.  It’s a small convenience store, which also sells vegan and non-vegan sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and breakfast all day.  Somehow I never made it to Locali when I lived in Southern California.  It’s on a highly trafficked part of Franklin Avenue in the Los Feliz area.  But when I was visiting, our hotel happened to be just a couple of miles from it.

Delivery hours are from 10-3 and the minimum charge for delivery is $20.  Since my husband was always up and out the door bright and early, I knew there was no way I could reach the minimum on $6 sandwiches.  So I trekked to Locali a few times – first to try their legendary reuben sandwich.

When Angelenos talk about vegan reubens, the ones that come up most often are Follow Your Heart’s and Locali’s.  Locali’s reuben is made with marinated and thinly sliced tofu deli slices.  With a bright pink hue, I imagine that beets are involved in the marinating process, but it doesn’t taste of beets at all.  It’s then topped with vegan cheese, sauerkraut, and vegan Russian dressing on rye bread.  I was meeting friends for lunch later, and so I opted for a half sandwich, which was plenty.  Piping hot and full of flavor, I can see why this sandwich is beloved by so many.  (There are also vegetarian and non-vegetarian reuben options available, and so be sure to specify that you want the vegan option.)

But to me the real star of Locali is their Badass Breakfast Sandwich.  If you look up decadence in a dictionary, I’m pretty sure there’s a picture of this sandwich.  (I seriously don’t think I’ve ever had a more indulgent sandwich.  Ever.)  On the menu, this is how it’s described:  “Shut your mouth on this obscenely popular, otherworldly delicious, Locali favorite.”

With a sizzling vegan sausage patty, a generous amount of melty Daiya cheddar, and chipotle sauce, this sandwich takes you to ooey gooey heights.  It’s sandwiched between two sprouted multi-grain English muffins that have been adorned with maple syrup.  You know how they say that appetizers hit all of your pleasure sensors when they are a combination of salty, fatty, and sweet?  Well, that’s this sandwich all over.  If you’re ever in the area, it’s something you need to at least do once.

For a tasty and quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Locali is open from 8 am-10 pm.  They have a few small tables indoors and a couple of tables just outside.  Additionally, they have a small refrigerated and frozen section, bottles of wine, and snacks.  Or if you live nearby, you could make my breakfast delivery dream a delicious reality.