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| Celebrating in San Francisco |
In early January 2016, Sophie and I took advantage of our
recently won right to legally marry in North Carolina. We were headed to San
Francisco for the Society for Classical Studies Conference where she was to be
honored with a national teaching award. We decided to consider this trip a
honeymoon of sorts for our sweet and low fanfare legal union. While in SF we
ate and drank well. Here are some reflections on these culinary explorations.
San Francisco is home to a number of remarkable all vegan
eateries. This visit I was able to visit just one of these, but I ate well and
plant-based (though not always low-fat) throughout the 4-day trip. We stayed at
a huge conference hotel just off Union Square.
Dinner day 1—Sophie
and I were quite hungry by the time we arrived at our hotel in the early
evening, so we explored our choices in a two-block area and decided to try an
Indian restaurant called New Delhi (newdelhirestaurant.com). The interior was
grand with high ceilings and elaborate decorations and as it was quite early
California time (6ish) it was not too crowded yet. We started with a vegetarian
platter of appetizers that included mint and tamarind chutney, a papadum, a samosa,
two onion bhaji, and 4 pakora. The menu had a wide array of main dish
vegetarian choices so we branched out a bit and tried two dishes which were
unfamiliar. In my experience it is rare to find vegetables in the Tandoori
section of an Indian restaurant menu. The dish was called Vegetable Shaslik. It
was essentially grilled mushrooms, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, onions tossed in
a hot aromatic mix of spices. Sophie chose an eggplant curry with tamarind. I
learned for the first time that she is a fan of tamarind. It was sweet and
tangy, with a lovely soft eggplant texture and delicious over pullao rice. We
added yellow dahl to the order and together the 3 dishes complemented each
other spectacularly well.
Breakfast day 2—We
met my Dad and Barbar who came in from Washington State to celebrate with us
around 9 AM and went in search of tea and a quick breakfast. We ended up at the
hotel grab and go location and I had a very nice bowl of steel cut oats with
raisins and walnuts that came in separate little dishes and the requisite cup
of English Breakfast tea. Definitely SF hotel prices, but all 4 of us with
different dietary priorities were able to find something suitable.
Lunch day 2—A
requisite San Francisco experience! Sophie had never been on a cable car so the
4 of us walked to the end of the Hyde and Powell line to take the cable car to
Ghirardelli Square and to visit the Buena Vista café—home of renowned Irish
Coffees (thebuenavista.com). When we arrived at the start of the line we
learned (courtesy of a person selling papers to raise money for people living
without homes in the city) that line was not running due to some works problem.
However, and here is the good part, if we just stood on a particular corner we
would see a free shuttle bus that would take us to our destination at the other
end of the cable car line. And, lo an’ behold about 20 minutes later after an
interesting city tour we were dropped off in front of the Buena Vista.
I now know that a whipped cream-free Irish is called a
“royale”. And when I asked the waitperson for help with finding a vegan lunch
(after having difficulty finding something both meat and dairy free on the
menu), she smartly suggested an avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich on
whole-wheat toast (even their veggie burger had cheese in it), which came with
a vegetable side. A perfectly nice lunch in great company at a table with a
view of the San Francisco bay.
Dinner day 2—After
watching the sun go down and the city light up at the bar on the 46th
floor of our hotel, we went in search of more delicious food. It had been thunder
storming on and off all day so we were in again in search of something nearby.
We landed at an Italian Restaurant called Puccini and Pinetti
(pucciniandpinetti.com). With a few
questions and a bit of negotiation, I found myself with an awesome warm spinach
salad topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms and red peppers, decorated with
candied walnuts (subbed for the gorgonzola cheese). The whole thing was well
tossed with an appropriate amount of balsamic dressing. In addition, ordered a
side of their special vegetable of the day: roasted Brussels sprouts and a side
of truffle fries. The sprouts were cooked perfectly, but the fries were a bit
disappointing—not particularly hot and topped with parmesan cheese. Maybe the
universe was trying to remind me not to overconsume fat!
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| Fresh rolls at Old Siam |
Breakfast day 3 (and
4)—We tried the Taylor Street Coffee Shop (taylorstreetcoffeeshop.com/)
which we had passed up the day before because it was crowded and tiny (about 8
feet wide!) Barbar had read reviews of it on the Web and said it was highly
rated. Walking across the street to it’s entrance we had to circumnavigate an
huge wall of garbage cans and recycling piles, but once on the list we were
seated in about 5 minutes and were treated to a fresh made delicious breakfast.
Again, I had to work with the waitperson to find a vegan offering (other than
cereal or toast), but they kindly worked with me to put together a delicious
pile of hashbrowns topped with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, with sourdough
toast and a side of avocado. The plate was garnished with sliced strawberry and
orange. We liked our food so much we went back the next day. I had the same
thing except I added side of greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
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| Spicy eggplant with tofu and basil at Old Siam |
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| Mango Fantasy |
Lunch day 3—Sophie
and I both love Thai food and enjoy trying it in new locations. In between her
conference sessions we dined at The Old Siam Restaurant (201 Ellis Street,
Union Squatre). I had tasty versions of my favorite dishes…fresh rolls (filled
with salad and a bit of tofu) with a hoisin like dipping sauce and spicy
eggplant with tofu and basil. Sophie tried a new to her dish on the lunch
special which was tofu and vegetables over rice topped with peanut sauce and a
beautiful drink called a “mango fantasy.” I had unsweetened Thai ice tea
without the milk and it was quite good.
Dinner day 3—On
this evening we had the great pleasure of dining with a dear friend, Claudia
who is a very long time resident of the area. She met us at the hotel at about
7PM and took us on a walking tour of the city that landed us at one of her
favorite vegan restaurants called Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant (
www.enjoyveggie.com). We started with
steamed hand made dumplings that were delicate and tasty and dipped them in a
dark soy and vinegar sauce. The next course was an outstanding (egg free!) hot
and sour soup with handmade wontons and big colorful slivers of vegetables. We
then chose 3 entrees—a spinach-like greens dish not on the menu with a ginger
and fermented sauce, braised spareribs with daikon and eggplant with spicy
garlic sauce. The vegan spareribs dish was amazing-aromatic, tangy and a lovely
blend of flavors. The textures of the dish were even more remarkable. I had
never cooked daikon before and it was soft but still maintained a bit of the
radish crunch, the napa cabbage in the dish was soft and luxurious, the shitake
mushrooms slippery and the veggie sparerib was chewy and complexly flavored. It
was all served up with delicious tea. The meal here was decidedly the culinary
highlight of the trip.
Lunch day 4—Lunch
the next day was at a Mediterranean takeout place called Oasis Grill. We had a
falafel wrap in lavosh and sides of baba ganoush and tabouli. At this point, I
dubbed this my eggplant tour of San Francisco. Good, fast, and reasonably
priced.
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| Spicy eggplant at Lers Ros |
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| Mango curry at Lers Ros |
Dinner day 4—After
celebrating Sophie’s award in the evening at the conference. We trekked a half
mile into the tenderloin area of SF to find a highly rated Thai Restaurant
called Lers Ros. Unfortunately, we got there quite late and there was a line
out the door and a 30-plus-minute wait so we headed back towards the hotel and
stopped at a different Thai restaurant that advertised a vegan and halal menu.
Not surprisingly, I had spicy eggplant with basil again. This time with brown
rice and Sophie had Mango Red Curry. It was filling and tasty…though not
memorable enough to remember the restaurant name.
Even on our long trek home the next day we found healthy
vegan food at SF airport and Houston airport. Kind of amazing. One has to look
carefully sometimes, ask questions nicely sometimes, and do a bit of
negotiating sometimes, but there is whole food plant-based meals in all sorts
of unlikely places!
We have had a number of visitors and it gives us a great chance to visit different areas around San Cris. One visit was to the city of Comitan (about 2 hours from here). You may remember that we were there for 3 weeks volunteering several years ago. We happened into a beautiful restaurant in "La Casa del Marquis de Camillas". At first glance we did not find anything vegan on the menu but asked a few questions and the chef came and was thrilled to make me some special items. First a delicious vegetable soup and then an amazing salad of fruits and vegetables, presented so beautifully. We will surely return to this restaurant with a beautiful courtyard of flowers and artwork. I will remind you all that you can always ask for items not found on menus and usually, especially in areas with world travelers, the staff will accommodate a request for a totally plant based menu.
Several trips to the little textile village of Zinacantan brought us to this local family who prepared us home made tortillas and served them with a tasty powder of toasted pumpkin seeds. It was explained that animal protein was rare in this indigenous village and so rarely eaten. This is a very good option for getting protein. I was intrigued to try and make it myself which I did (see my recipe below). It is great served on warm tortillas, but also in salad, on stew or wherever.
