Chow Vegan

While in Carlsbad, I stayed at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara. Living up to the Four Seasons reputation, they had some very good vegan and vegetarian food options.

Over at the pool (pictured above), one can order a Gardenburger, among other things from the Ocean Pool Bar & Grill. Imagine that - a veggie burger with fries poolside, and you can get it “to go” as well. I had it twice and both times the burger was nicely done with fresh tomato, red onion, lettuce and alfalfa sprouts on a fluffy toasted bun.

I also had an opportunity to dine at their signature Italian restaurant, Vivace. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I haven’t had much luck with Italian places besides the typical Angel Hair Capellini something or other pasta dish. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Vivace serves its food in the Italian style of separate courses; they printed out a whole separate vegan menu for me. It actually says “Vegan Menu” on the printout. That blew me away, that I could actually pick from two different options for each of my courses.

For the insalate course, I chose the spinach with peaches salad. For primi (first course), I had the mushroom risotto that was so good - it’s my favorite dish of the entire trip. For secondi (second course), I had grilled vegetables with farro. And for dessert, a selection of various sorbets.

Sadly, I didn’t bring my camera to dinner so no pictures of the meal. But what a great and delicious surprise to find that they had already planned a vegan menu for anyone who asks (it was a last-minute decision to eat there). I would happily eat here again.

Now we’re talking, this is the kind of vegan sushi I’ve been looking for, something new and different. I was down in Carlsbad last week and stopped by Nozomi Japanese Fusion restaurant for lunch.

I started off with organic Genmaicha, a green tea combined with roasted brown rice for a little bit of a “popcorn” taste. It’s delicious, but don’t let it steep too long or it becomes bitter-tasting.

For my entree, I had the vegetarian sushi combination which including the chef’s choice of 6 pieces of vegetable nigiri and a 4-piece vegetable roll, all made vegan. From left to right the different types of nigiri were: a leafy green wrapped around sushi rice, some pink vegetable that I don’t know its name, a strip of some preserved vegetable topped with avocado, eggplant, greens on top of rice in a wrapper, and shiitake mushroom. The veggie roll was similar to other veggie rolls that I’ve had before. But it was all tasty.

I also tried a tapas styled appetizer, steamed mushroom and leek dumplings in a truffle and miso broth.

I ended up eating there twice during my trip, both times for lunch. I got the sushi combination again and got slight variations on the offerings. The second time I got a few pickled leeks on the plate, I normally eat them in my Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad but I’ve never seen them before in a restaurant.

Now I’m more inspired than ever to try to make my own sushi at home.

I’m traveling this week so my eating options is a bit on the limited side. I had read that Papa Johns had vegan pizza dough and sauce. That was to be my backup plan if all else fails. After five days on the road, I placed an online order for pizza delivery. Now I haven’t had pizza delivery in years but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The online ordering was super easy and straight-forward. There’s options to change the toppings and even a “no cheese” button. I went with a large veggie thin crust pizza with no cheese.

Sadly, their thin crust is not vegan, its got some milk product something or other in it. I got all mixed up after reading about which pizza chain has what vegan crusts. I thought it was but it’s the original crust that’s vegan. Lesson learned. I should have double-checked before placing the order. Duh.

Otherwise the pizza was great, the veggies were good, the delivery was on time, and the delivery person pleasant. It came with a couple packets of special seasonings which I didn’t use, and a pepperoncini pepper in the corner of the box. Apparently, pepperoncinis are a traditional Italian garnish. I even got an online discount. Not bad for a chain restaurant in a small town.

A couple of weeks ago my siblings and I were in Las Vegas to surprise our Mom for her 70th birthday. Mom and Dad love going to Vegas; it’s like Disneyland to them.

For the celebratory birthday dinner, we had a reservation at Thomas Keller’s French bistro Bouchon. Now, traditional French country cuisine is not exactly known for vegan fare, so I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing. So much so that I had packed a Clif Bar in my backpack just in case I needed something else to eat as I was flying home right after dinner.

To ensure that everyone enjoyed their meal on this happy occasion, my sister must have told the Bouchon people at least three times that there will be a vegan in our party. I thought I would have to remind them again but after we were seated, our waiter beat me to the punch and asked who was the vegan? And then proceeded to ask what I could and could not eat.

The meal started off with warm, crusty, French bread shaped to look like a wheat stalk and sparkling or flat Evian bottled water. I won’t bore you with the details of what the rest of my family ate. I had a beet salad without the cheese. Normally I don’t like beets but I figured it’s the world-renowned Thomas Keller, of all the times to really try beets, this would be it. The beets were delicious and that’s saying a lot from a former beet hater.

My main course was whatever the chef was willing to put together for me; it’s pictured above. A plate of vegetables exquisitely arranged, it was very tasty. But the portion seemed a little on the small side for just being vegetables. Hello, just because I’m a vegan doesn’t mean I’m on a diet. Oh sure, I see you piling on the pommes frites (french fries) with the steak entree like there’s no tomorrow. But you’re stingy with the veggies? And it’s not just Bouchon, other fine dining restaurants are the same - delicious, expertly cooked vegetables, just not very much of it and not exactly cheap.

For dessert, everyone else had the birthday dessert plate - an assortment of miniature cakes, ice cream and cookies with a candle. I asked about the sorbet but the waiter said it had a little cream in it but he offered a bowl of fresh berries instead. Good enough for me.

Overall, a great experience for everyone - the decor was beautiful, the ambience was relaxed and the service was impeccable. It may sound like I’m complaining a little but I’m not. I’m happy and grateful that I was able to enjoy a nice dinner with my family at a famous restaurant. As it turned out, between the bread, salad, vegetables and berries, it was just the right amount of food. I didn’t even eat the peanuts on the flight home and that Clif Bar is still in the backpack.