Philly Vegan

These are a few of my favorite things: March Edition

With the approach of spring in Philadelphia and all its wonder, I would like to take some time to point out a few of my new found favorite things popping up all over the city.

1. Miyoko’s Creamery Cheese

Miyoko’s cashew based cheeses recently entered my life when friends of mine were kind enough to pick some up while visiting Lagusta’s Luscious in New York. Until this moment, I did not know what I was missing. Since then I have tried nearly all the varieties, savoring each block then waiting for my next chance to get another. It has never been available in Philadelphia which set up a road block on my highway to vegan cheese glory.

The the road block was averted…

While shopping at Whole Food’s South Street, I nearly fainted in the dairy (free) isle. This Philadelphia location now carries Miyoko’s Double Cream Chive ($8.99) and Aged English Sharp Farmhouse ($9.99). I purchased the Double Cream Chive and now I do not know how I will live without it. It’s rich, creamy flavor fulfills any pre-vegan cheese dream I ever had. Whether you plan to throw a vegan wine and cheese party or just indulge is some cheese on toast, you will want to pick up both of these delectable cheeses.

2. Center City Soft Pretzels

Not to begin on a negative note but I have always had a bone to pick with the Philadelphia Pretzel Factory and their need to use whey in their pretzels. I not only ate one of these pretzels myself before doing my research, but I have also had to correct other people on a vegan diet of this unnecessary ingredient in the well-known Philadelphia staple. So let’s talk about a company who does not put unneeded ingredients in their pretzels: Center City Soft Pretzels.

Seeing a Center City Soft Pretzels immediately reminds me of my childhood, specifically, recess in grade school. It is funny how a pretzel could bring you back to a time when your biggest worry was finishing your homework in time to go to the playground. These three-ingredient, kosher bundles of joy are just perfect.
Since recently moving onto Richmond Street in Port Richmond, I am lucky enough to be in walking distance of the River Wards Café, an establishment serving up Center City Soft Pretzels daily. (TIP: Get there at 8:15 am and the pretzels will still be warm.) So stop by and get your carb on. The lattes are not that bad either.

Center City Soft Pretzels are also available around the city of at their factory in South Philly.

3. Origin Almond

Oh, almond milk and all this dairy-free goodness. The past two months have been very almond-y for me.

In the beginning of February, my vegan runner enthusiasm came to a screeching holt when I was unofficially diagnosed with a stress fracture. After taking a careful review of my calcium intake, I found out I needed A LOT more than I was getting. Since almond milk is a huge source of calcium for vegans, I did my research on all the commercialized milks and their calcium content. Quite frankly, I was too lazy to make my own almond milk at home. It was really hard to settle on an almond milk that was organic, non GMO, and did not contain carrageenan until Origin Almond popped in my inbox.

Origin Almond is a localish (New Jersey) company that makes 100% raw and unpasteurized almond milk. Their flavors vary from plain old almond milk to a Golden Tumeric blend. Not only do they use organic almond, they are also GMO and additive free! As if things could not get better, ONE 16 oz bottle of Origin Almond Milk contains the almond equivalent of TWO commercial cartons of almond milk. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

Origin Almond can be ordered online and delivered to your door (like the olden times) OR it can be found at Essene Market on 4th Street.

4. Dottie’s Boston Creme Donut

The wait is OVER. Dottie’s Donuts finally opened up its brick and mortar location in West Philly. On that day, the heavens opened up and sent down the Dottie’s Boston Crème Donut for all of the people of Philadelphia to enjoy. I have no further words about it. Just go. Try one for yourself. You’re welcome.

5. Front Street Cafe Kale Caesar Salad

As if Front Street Café could not get even better in my mind, THEY DID. If you have not been to Front Street Café you are missing out on a lot. The café/restaurant hosts a ton of vegan Philly favorites including Crust Vegan Bakery and Dottie’s Donuts (not so fast, you still can only get the Boston CrèmeS at THEE Dottie’s Donuts in West Philly) along with juice, smoothies and bagels. Their sit down brunch and dinner menu is on point, carrying everything from pancakes and buffalo cauliflower to their version of vegan eggs benedict. All this is great and delicious.

But then there is the Kale Caesar salad..

Skeptics out there would think “what is so great about a kale salad?” Skeptics have never tried THIS kale salad from Front Street Café.

The salad is as follows:
Kale; Walnut Picada; Roasted Tomatoes; Pickled Red Onions; Caesar Dressing
(I also added grilled tofu to my salad <3)

Again, just go. Try it. I have never tasted something so healthy yet delicious.

OH! Do not be fooled by the Front Street Café menu. Instead of placing a symbol next to vegan menu items, Front Street places symbols on items that are not vegan! So go crazy and order anything without a cow, pig, chicken or cheese wedge next to it.

❤ Erin

I trained for my first marathon… AKA I ate a lot of pizza.

This year, I decided to take my running to the next level and run my first ever marathon. As a Philadelphian, I chose the fall 2015 Philadelphia Marathon and enlisted Rita at Breakaway Bikes to provide me with the best training in the city. During my 21 weeks of extensive training, I became one hungry girl. Training for a race of this sort leaves you feeling hungry… all the time. For me, I could eat what I wanted, when I wanted and however much I wanted without feeling a shred of eaters remorse. I was a machine, specifically.. a pizza eating machine. Each week, once (or twice) a week I would find the best (and some mediocre) pizza in the city (and a few in New Jersey) and put it up to the long run fuel test.

Get ready to drool over my favorite and not so favorite vegan pizza pies…

NOTE: I stuck with primarily marinara style pizzas as this worked perfect as fuel! Also, do not be fooled, I ate the whole pizza, each time. No sharing during marathon training.

THE BEST:

Zavino – Gayborhood – 112 South 13th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19107

I had this gloriously wood fire pizza (and glass of red wine) the night before the Rock & Roll half marathon. The sauce here was perfect and the pizza itself was cooked to perfection. Zavino is quite the hot spot but definitely worth the wait. My friend and I were lucky enough to grab bar seats immediately.

2. Taconelli’s – Port Richmond – 2604 East Somerset Street; Philadelphia, PA 19134

This. Sauce. I am 100% not a fan of a ton of sauce but this is the exception. I could actually drink it.

Side Note: Dough must be ordered in advance but it is worth it. This pizza is pretty much everything and the fact that it is in, Port Richmond, the neighborhood where I grew up gives it a special place in my heart.

3. Nomad Philadelphia – 611 South 7th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19147

Nomad was my first pizza love early on. I think I told EVERYONE about how good it was. As you can see from my other pizza comments, it is all in the sauce. Nomad’s marinara was equally perfect.

4. Blackbird Pizzeria – 507 South 6th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19147

Ahhh Blackbird. The food here warms my soul therefore I had this pizza (among other things) 3 times throughout training. It was my go-to on nights when I wanted to stay in or I was too sweaty from a Friday night run to go to anywhere fancy. My recommendation, always, is to go here and try everything. The food coma is well worth it.

5. Pizzeria Vetri – Callowhill – 1939 Callowhill Street; Philadelphia, PA

Another pizza done right. Killer sauce, crisp crust, perfection. There were some very interesting pizzas on the menu here. I may go back a play around with some of the other toppings.

THE WORST:

Bufad – 1240 Spring Garden Street; Philadelphia, PA 19123

In one word, floppy. This pizza was so… floppy. It looked delicious but looks can be deceiving. Maybe if they cooked it just a tad bit more it would have been better.

2. Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar – University City – 200 South 40th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19104

Literally had the worst time here confirming the ingredients were vegan. Traditional pizza dough does not contain egg. Our waitress seemed certain it had egg. I pretty much had to walk her over to ask the kitchen if it did. As I suspected, no egg in the dough. For a restaurant that boasts a menu full of veggie and low-cal farm fresh meals, I was not happy with this experience.

The Good:

Nomad Roman – 1305 Locust Street; Philadelphia, PA 19104

If you like it thin, you’ll LOVE this pizza. For me, however, it did not fit (I am a fan of thin but more of a Neapolitan style pizza) but was still very very delicious. A bit on the spicy side but that never bothers me.

2. Taconelli’s Pizza Maple Shade – Maple Shade – 27 West Main Street; Maple Shade, NJ 08052

This Taconelli’s is owned by another member of the same family who owns the OG in Port Richmond. I might just be crazy but I do not think the sauce is AS good. Its good but not on the level of the original. On a brighter note, this NJ location contains more than just pizza and no dough pre-order required. I do not know about you, but I am a fan of the salad/pizza combo. Their menu also contains pasta dishes.

3. Jules Thin Crust – Cherry Hill – 1650 Kings Highway North; Cherry Hill, NJ

Stumbled upon this was while venturing to New Jersey and it was delightful. The crust was thin, as stated in the name, and it was perfect. The whole business has a pretty good story behind it as well.

4. Dock Street Brewery – West Philly – 701 South 50th Street; Philadelphia, PA 19143

This gem in the heart of West Philly makes a fantastic vegan pizza. If you like beer and pizza, it is worth the trek west.

5. Bricco Coal Fired Pizza – 128 Haddon Ave; Westmont, NJ 08108

During POPE weekend, I ventured to New Jersey a lot to avoid the crowds and found Briccos on Haddonfeild Road. They know what they are doing here. Their pizzas are delicious and filling.

6. Spuntino – Northern Liberties – 701 North 2nd Street; Philadelphia, PA 19123

This new wood-fire pizza joint was a treat. The pizza was cooked perfect and it came out really fast. ALSO, when you order a salad, you receive a piece of freshly baked dough. It was awesome.

The Ehhh:

1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza – Cherry Hill – 2000 Marlton Pike; West Cherry Hill, NJ

Mehhh, this pizza was fast. I had a lot of trouble with the employees not knowing the ingredients in the dough resulting in my biggest vegan conversation pet peeve…

Me: “Is the gluten free dough vegan?”
Employee: “Well yes, its gluten free.”

.. The gluten free dough ended up having egg. BUT the regular dough was vegan and they had pineapple as a topping so I was happy. They restaurant prides itself on being fast but my pizza was floppy. I am not a fan of floppy pizza.

2. Debbie’s Place – Port Richmond – 2617 East Westmoreland; Philadelphia, PA 19134

I call this the “Cardboard Pizza” or “Bar Pizza”. It is so simple, so processed, so perfect.. especially when there is nothing else around. I am sure it would be even better with toppings but I would typically eat these hours before a long run so I did not want to test the limits of my stomach with new things.

I hope this post got your hungry for some pizza and maybe motivated to marathon train. The perks are amazing. For 21 weeks I could eat everything, lose 11 lbs and better my endurance (both pizza eating and running related.) In the end, I certify pizza the #1 long run food.

Vegan University City Dining Days

It’s summer, prime time for not wanting to eat in. With outside eating areas galore and all of the many delicious eateries in Philadelphia dishing up vegan options, everyone is going out to eat. Tomorrow, July 17th, the island of University City begins its yearly Dining Days promotion. For those not familiar with the concept, participating restaurants produce a set menu with a set price ($15-$25 depending on the resturant), similar to Philadelphia Restaurant Week. This year University City boosts awesome options for us vegans, with the except of dessert… Enjoy as many nights as you can without hurting your pockets.

$15 Option	$25 Option	$35 Option
Copabanana 4000 Spruce Street Vegan Options: Copa Cantina Salad Spanish Fries Black Bean Burger – No cheese or mayo	Han Dynasty 3711 Market Street Vegan Options: Ginger String Beans Cold Sesame Noodles Dan Dan Noodles Spicy Crispy Cucumbers Garlic Sauce Style Cumin Style Water Ice	Pod 3636 Samson Street Vegan Options: Vegetable Roll Miso Soup Cauliflower Okinawa Vegetable Stir Fry
Dahlak Restarant (Etiopian) 4708 Baltimore Avenue Vegan Options: Hot/Mild Lentils Gomen Watt greens, kale, potato Beets Stew/ Okra Stew Tikil Gomen yellow cabbage, potato, carrot, peas Shuro seasoned chickpea paste Mushroom stew Spinach	World Café Live 3025 Walnut Street Vegan Options: WCL Salad Korean Tofu	Distrito 3945 Chestnut Street Vegan Options: Salsa Mexicana Chilango Chop Salad Jicama Salad Arroz con Frijoles Negros
Desi Village 4527 Baltimore Avenue Vegan Options: Veg Pakora Veg Samosa Aloo Cholley Baigan Bharta
Dock Street Brewery 701 S. 50^th Street Vegan Options: Fresh Spring Mix Salad Vegan Pizza
New Delhi 4004 Chestnut Street Vegan Options: Vegetable Samosa Bhojia Patata-wada Vegetables Malai Kofta Channa Masala
Pattaya Restaurant 4006 Chestnut Street Vegan Options: Veg Lemon Grass Soup Vegetable Pad Thai
Saigon Cuisine 4000 Chestnut Street Vegan Options: House Salad Pan Fried Veg Dumplings Vegetable Pad Thai
Vietnam Café 816 S. 47^th Street Vegan Options: Crispy Veg Spring Rolls – no sauce Tofu Rolls Veggie Noodle Soup Crispy Spring Rolls Vermicelli Tofu Curry

Vientiane Café
4728 Baltimore Avenue
Vegan Options:
Fresh Vegetarian Spring Roll
Crispy Spring Roll
– Vegetarian
Tofu Satay
Steamed Dumplings
– Vegetarian
Green Papaya Salad
Vegetarian Naam Salad
Vegetarian (Tofu) Pad Thai
Pad-Kee-Mao
Curry
Mango Sticky

*Please make sure you confirm again at each restaurant that no ingredients are making these dishes non-vegan*