Filed under: News
No time for a full review today. I’ll be busy later this morning going to my local polling location where I intend to cast a vote for Barack Obama. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while, and hope I’ll be among the millions of Americans celebrating tonight.
I hear some of the schools where people will be voting, like P.S. 6, are having bake sales. If you’re stuck in line for a while, consider getting something delicious and supporting our educational system.
After voting, Annelies and I are headed to lunch; we’re not sure where yet, but I’m sure it will be veggie friendly, and maybe they’ll give a discount for wearing a “I Voted” sticker. National chains Starbucks and Krispy Kreme are doing that, with a free tall coffee and a free star-shaped doughnut respectively.
The very first place where I ate after arriving here in Park Slope was Bonnie’s Grill, an unassuming little place on 5th Avenue near Garfield. I found it just by walking down the street. Since then, I’ve been back a half-dozen times, so I know they’re doing something right.
The place bills itself as “Spicy American”. I love spicy. Right from the start, you find their tables well stocked with several kinds of mustard and hot sauces. For vegetarians, the menu has plenty of choices. They stay stocked with veggie chili, which I found hearty but not too spicy. It’s available on its own, as a side with the sandwiches, or triumphantly displayed on a bed of french fries with cheese.
Their mainstay is the veggie burger. Their version seems to be a Boca patty, but coated with a spice rub before being put on the grill. You can add all the standard toppings, you choice of three cheeses (American, Swiss, and Cheddar), and even some sliced and pickled jalapenos if you want. They also have a grilled portabella sandwich served with fresh mozzarella cheese, and a tasty haloumi cheese sandwich too with sundried tomatoes.
I really like the place. It’s not the best burger ever, but the service is friendly and I can really spice up my fries when the food arrives. Most items are $7-8 dollars, so you’re not out too much when you go. They have a nice bar to sit at as well as tables both in the front and back, and when the weather is nice, they open the front doors and let the breeze in.
I’m going to try to honor November as a NaBloPoMo writer, so here’s the first of a bunch of short reviews. Last weekend, Annelies and I visited Babouche, a Moroccan restaurant on 5th Avenue here in Park Slope. Their vegetarian entrees are a bit limited. They have a vegetable couscous ($17ish) and a vegetable tagine ($15ish). The couscous had lots of sweet cinnamon flavor with onions and sliced vegetables. The couscous wasn’t highly flavored, but the vegetable were sauteed in spiced oil, and it came with a tomato and chickpea broth on the side to be added to the dish. The tagine was a large clay pot containing fire-roasted winter squash, onions, broccoli, all in a tomato-lemon sauce. The flavors were strong and nice. The highlight of the meal, however, was the appetizer, Zaalouk ($8.75), a paste of eggplant, garlic, and tomato that reminded me of baba ganoush, but with a more delicate flavor. It came with ample pita slices and was served over arugula.
The entrees were a bit expensive, but they were prepared very well and the service was nice. It’s not a place I’d go every month, but if you want to try some Moroccan hospitality and have some nicely cooked veggies, I’d recommend it.
For the last few weeks, I often walked by s’Nice on 5th Avenue in Park Slope and saw lots of people eating sandwiches and drinking coffee inside. When I finally stopped in to see why it’s popular, I discovered an all vegetarian, mostly-vegan menu and some really good food.
I’ve been there twice now. On my first visit, I had their buffalo “chicken” wrap, which combines buffalo sauce-spiced seitan along with lettuce, blue cheese dressing, and celery into a cripsy, tasty sandwich wrapped in a tortilla. It comes with a small salad and costs $7.50, the same as all the other salads and sandwiches.
My second visit was with my fiancee. She got their Indian-style califlour wrap. It was a big sandwich and she had to save the second half for lunch on the next day. I had the “philly” style sandwich which also uses seitan, but this time in a more steak-like configuration. It comes with onions and peppers and cheese on a Italian roll, and while it wasn’t as good as the veggie cheesesteaks I’d have in Austin, it was still a pretty tasty sandwich.
I’m definitely going back soon. The food was creative and prepared freshly, the staff was very nice, and the price was good for an all-veggie place.
One of the main stories in this week’s Brooklyn Paper is about the upcoming Vegetarian Restaurant Week, running October 19-25 here in the neighborhood. The Paper isn’t very positive on the prospects for this event, in its second year, indicating limited participation among non-veggie places.
In addition to the main article, they also do a page of capsule reviews of all-vegetarian and all-vegan spots that’s worth referencing. Their list includes Bliss, Earth Tonez, Foodswings, Red Bamboo, Urban Spring, Vegetarian Ginger, The V-Spot, and Wild Ginger Cafe. I’ve only been to one of these so far, so I know I’ve got to get our more!
Filed under: News
My Brooklyn friend Siobhan has recently started an excellent blog about making delicious food called Pithy and Cleaver. She and her friend Maggie are writing about their favorite recipies along with some beautiful photography of the dishes, both in progress and completed. While everything isn’t vegetarian, many of the recipes are or can be easily modified. It’s hard to read their work without getting very hungry; a good starter entry is the description of making penne al fiorentino from earlier this week. It’s highly recommended.
The first week I was here, I was on the hunt for some free WiFi. Time Warner wouldn’t install a cable modem without also installing my TV box, and they needed a TV to do that, so I had to wait on the movers to arrive. In the meantime, I had work to do, and that meant dragging my laptop around. In doing so, I found this cute cafe, on 5th Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets. My first couple of visits were beverage only, but on Saturday, I went for brunch, a bit of karmic payback for the hours I’d spent at their counter sipping tea and surfing.
They’ve got a number of good looking vegetarian options for weekend brunch. I had the vegetarian reuben, a panini-style sandwich with avocado, sauerkraut, gruyere cheese, and Russian dressing. It came with a small side of corn and black bean salad. It was tasty; the dressing and the kraut gave it a nice tang, and the cheese was nicely melted into everything, and the avocado provided some creaminess. I found it enjoyable, but I also found it a little lacking.
Back in Austin, Magnolia Cafe had an amazing veggie reuben. The ingredients were almost the same, but Magnolia also added grilled onion and roasted red pepper, a combination that added a much needed savory and sweet side to the sandwich. Also delicious was the Mother’s Cafe version which came open-faces with tomato, sprouts, and black olives added to the mix. The Perch version needed some embellishment beyond the avocado to go from good to great.
I did like the black tea, and my fiancee found the ginger lemonade to be very yummy. If you go when they’re not crowded and want to do some web surfing, ask your server for their wifi key and setup instructions. They’ve got a lot of other veggie options; I think the next time I lunch there, I’m going to have to try the tart apple and cheddar Waldorf salad. There’s not as much for vegan customers, although I bet they could easily alter some of the dishes to leave out the cheese or butter.
Filed under: News
Hello, readers. I’m Ben Combee, and I just moved up to Park Slope from Austin, Texas. Back there, I ran a blog for several years called Veg Out! Austin; it’s purpose was to review restaurants and other eating locations from a vegetarian perspective. After a week trying out the eateries on 5th and 7th Avenues, I knew I’d have enough material to keep myself busy, so Veg Out! Brooklyn was born.
I’m planning on doing this blog-style, with brief posts about the places I visit written shortly after the visit. Don’t expect lots of formal newspaper like reviews, but I’ll try to include links to websites and contact information when I mention a place. I’m an ovo-lacto vegetarian, so I do eat dairy and eggs, although I also like vegan options when they’re available. My taste is towards the spicy more than the delicate, so factor that bias into my comments. Of course, I love to hear your feedback, positive or negative, and I’m always open to suggestions of new places to go.
