[ExtraMSG]

I've decided to give myself a personal challenge as I often enjoy doing. I've decided to go vegan for a month after I get back from LA. (No way in hell I'm going to LA as a vegan.) No, it's not even close to April 1. This isn't for health purposes. This surely isn't for political/moral purposes. It's summer, so I figure it will be more enjoyable now given all the great produce. I thought it would be fun to blog it and see what's truly out there for vegans. I don't have a lot of time to cook, so I'll really be focusing on what I can get in restaurants.

For restaurants specializing in vegan foods to some degree or another, I think there's:

Proper Eats
Papa G's
Vita Cafe
Blossoming Lotus
Van Hanh

Plus there are carts like:

Whiffies
Potato Champion
Homegrown Smoker
Los Gorditos II

I imagine I can do well at Indian and Lebanese places, as well.

Others?

Also, I'd be very interested to know what restaurants make good vegan offerings. I'd love to see a compilation, like Best Bites, of Best Vegan Dishes in Portland.

[Angelhair]

Little Pots and Pans (made by our own krispenn) makes delicious vegan tarts for sale at Whole Foods, Market of Choice and a few of the New Seasons markets along with coffee shops all over town. The dough that she makes is great.:

http://www.littlepotsandpans.com/

It's a great option if you are going vegan and need an instant and delicious lunch/dinner.

[jdsconed]

I'm writing up a list of vegan friendly food carts for Try Vegan PDX - I'll link to it when I'm done. I think this is an intriguing project. The Stumptown Vegans wrote a Top Ten Best Things We've Eaten in Portland in the 2006 Travel Issue of Herbivore Magazine, again this is from 2006 and places close, dishes change, but here it is:


Herbivore Magazine Piece
“Ten Best Things We’ve Eaten in Portland”

Raw Lasagna at Nutshell
Club Vegan at Backspace Cafe
Vegan Maple Sausage Waffle from Flavorspot
Soft Serve Soy Cream from Blossoming Lotus
Cake from Sweetpea Baking Company
BBQ Sandwich at Proper Eats
Chicken Fried Steak at Vita Cafe
Herb Crusted Tofu at The Farm Cafe
Falafel Sandwich at Hush Hush
Superhero Scramble Plate at Junior's Cafe

[loofahgirl]

Good luck! I lasted 4 days as a vegan. Of course I had the additional gluten-free issue, so it made me want to jump off a bridge. I did lose 5 lbs in 4 days though, so...

[Amanda]

That's quite a challenge, but you can probably do it. I could do vegetarian for a while, but I doubt I could ever go vegan. No dairy, no way.

You'll probably have a great time doing this. A friend at work is just wrapping up her vegetarian for a month challenge and really enjoyed it. She's only got a couple days to go. I wanted to take her to Ping for lunch today, but after looking at the menu she didn't see anything she could really go for. She's gluten-intolerant, as well, so that really axed it. We went to Davis Street and she had a salad. I had the shitake/spaghetti squash cakes w/chickpeas. It was sublime.

Good luck with your challenge, Nick. I think this is probably the best town to be in if you're going to do this kind of thing!

Best regards,

Amanda

[gustoeater]

Is Ken going to do it too?

[pdxdirect]

Oops sent a tweet already, but jsut for follow up:
Blue Moose on NE Fremont - Chef often makes dishes with cashew base, like cream soups and stroganoffs, that are fabulous

Hungry Tiger 2 near 3 Friends coffee house on..SE 12th? - great sandwiches and vegan specials. Often the home of a cadre of drunken hipster vegans

Tried Bay Leaf - would not go back

Nhut Quang on NE 82nd and Fremont - hit or miss - try more than once if possible. they make their own vegan "meats" - Thai/Viet vegan

[chefken]

gustoeater, on Jun 29 2009, 01:28 PM, said:

Is Ken going to do it too?

Hey, that's not as funny as you think!

I believe I did once eat vegan. She had a slightly bitter aftertaste, and seemed somewhat ornery. Especially after I offered her half of my BLT. Really ungracious, if you ask me!

[ExtraMSG]

loofahgirl, on Jun 29 2009, 01:20 PM, said:

Good luck! I lasted 4 days as a vegan. Of course I had the additional gluten-free issue, so it made me want to jump off a bridge. I did lose 5 lbs in 4 days though, so...

Could people see through you? Girl, you're plenty skinny.

[Kim-Chi]

Great idea -- there's also Portobello Vegan Trattoria in the Cellar Door Coffee space in Southeast Wed.-Sat. nights, Red & Black Cafe and The Bye and Bye (a bar but some really good food -- Frito pie, Weeping Tiger tofu jalapeno sandwich and more). The frozen fake meat section at Fubonn is frighteningly diverse -- fake smoked shark, ham, smoked goose...

[ExtraMSG]

Here are the twitter responses so far:

Quote

@getsconed
I hear there's this website called http://stumptownvegans.com/ that may assist....

@pdxdirect
pdx vegan: blue moose on Fremont, Proper Eats in St Johns, too bad Nutshell is RIP

@vicstarman
retweet means this a forward, right?!? I assume its not u. Anyway, Blossoming Lotus is it since nutshell is gone. And Bay Leaf

@lucasd
el brasero's got a lot of interesting vegan stuff, and i know queen of sheeba's veggie menu is almost entirely vegan

@elizabethnathan
hearing good things about Portobello Vegan Trattoria.

@LastSup
I found Portobello Vegan Trattoria quite satisfying.

[ExtraMSG]

Just found this link and was able sort by how vegan a place is:

http://www.vegguide.org/region/116/filter?...ow_veg;limit=20

[vj]

I especially like Nutritaco, near you. Also, Bar Carlos' vegan breakfast options are really good -- though I know you're not really a breakfast guy. And JD mentioned an avocado grilled cheese at Grilled Cheese Grill.

I really salute you, Nick. I think for omnivores, eating vegan in restaurants is really tough. I think most vegan restaurants in Portland are catering to vegans who already have lowered expectations for restaurant food. That's the only reason a lot of them are still in business.

I've said this before, but I think anyone can make anything taste good with animal fat. But doing the same with vegetable fats is hard. So I do have a lot of respect for places that have thought about this critically and make good food.

Whereas, I bet you'd have no trouble at all eating vegan if you were cooking for yourself.

[jmatt]

pdxdirect, on Jun 29 2009, 01:28 PM, said:

Nhut Quang on NE 82nd and Fremont - hit or miss - try more than once if possible. they make their own vegan "meats" - Thai/Viet vegan

Apparently far more miss than hit as it's now gone, to be replaced by a Mexican spot. Probably not vegan.

[Prone to Hyperbole]

Wow. I should have just waited to read your link before answering via twitter text. All the way home from the gym I was thinking of positive things I wanted to tell you. Then I get home, read your thread intro, and BAM! You've already nailed my sentiments exactly. Especially that part about you picking the perfect time to do this, give produce season.
You'll be doing a meat-free version of what I've already been enjoying doing. That is, I have practically (tho not religiously) cut out dairy almost completely. I actually found that I prefer most every culture's cuisine more than Western Euro. So cutting out cream and butter was easy. And eggs are almost completely out of my diet due to my high cholesterol. I do love cheese, but frankly can't afford to keep the kind I love around. I usually have it once a month when my wine group gets together. But I've found that eating out or cooking food that are enriched / thickened, etc, with rice or corn starch is just more to my liking than heavy cream or butter sauces. Plus, it usually comes with cuisines of Latin or Asian decent which I MUCH prefer to heavy Euro dishes.
So, I dare say, this challenge should be downright easy for you, Nick. Because you understand QUALITY ingredients, and how to utilize them in the kitchen. The problem I have with most vegan's diets (the one's I know anyway), and even most vegetarians, is that they simply use processed, packaged products that qualify for their diet. These foods are often 100% as unhealthy as eating McDonald's every day. And many of these people are unhealthy on many levels. But primarily they are protein deficient. As part of my current diet, I have really had to search hard for low fat, high protein options. It's hard to do! Tofu has less protein than people realize (read a label), and good proteins, like peanuts, are too high in fat to use to attain your total needed for the day.

I decided to go on that little diatribe rather than recommend restaurants i know little about. Though I will say, I have NOT had good vegan food at Old Wives Tales. Ick!!! Beware.

I foresee you cooking amazing food at home, like that watermelon soup with peach you did for friends a while back. That pick on extramsg.com is AMAZING!

Enjoy nature's bounty, and good on you for doing this! I hope you have fun, and do keep us posted on your finds around PDX that are worth our time. Good food is good food. As long as I don't feel preached to, I'll give anything a try. I think Nutshell was the first place that had the right outlook on this subject. Hence they're closed. "Open-minded" Vegan PDX wasn't ready for good food. They'd rather eat the McDonald's of vegan processed shit. I hope you're able to prove me wrong during the month you're about to undertake.

PTH

[Prone to Hyperbole]

Oh, I'll recommend one, but I know you know it: Fat Kitty Falafal cart.

[nervousxtian]

I couldn't do it, you might get sick well attempting this too.

[loofahgirl]

Quote

Could people see through you?

Ha, I'm pretty transparent, no matter what I eat. And yeah, eating vegan or vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean healthy.

I second the Bay Leaf opinion. I didn't enjoy it, like, at all. The Farm is a good choice. Many places I know of have tofu scrambles, but I'm not usually a fan. You might end up trying all those different fresh tofu places, which can't be a bad thing!

[ExtraMSG]

Thing is: I don't really have time to cook for myself much. I'll be more likely to grab some fruit and nuts than actually cook.

[jdsconed]

Prone to Hyperbole, on Jun 29 2009, 03:02 PM, said:

Oh, I'll recommend one, but I know you know it: Fat Kitty Falafal cart.

has anyone seen this place open lately? haven't seen it at the thursday eastbank market or on division on the weekends...don't know if I'm just missing it on division during the day while I'm at work


that being said, his falafel isn't a favorite of mine. I think he only has non-vegan tahini, as well.