Category Archives: Dining Out
Veg-Friendly Mezza in Mystic, CT
We visit Mystic fairly regularly since part of our family lives there. Our favorite restaurant is Mezza (formerly known as The Pita Spot). Not only is the food totally delicious, but it is healthy and much of it is vegan – because much of Middle-Eastern cuisine is plant-based. We have eaten in many, many mid-Eastern eateries around the world – including in Egypt and Israel. So we can safely say that Mezza produces some of the very best iterations of our go-to dishes – always with a little twist. The restaurant is casual, family-owned and family-friendly with inside and outside (streetside) dining
We always have an assortment of Mezze for the table to start – Hummus, Baba Ghannouj, Tabouli, falafel and more – with lovely grilled pita, The menu is marked with symbols for vegetariand an gluten-free – and where there’s dairy, it’s very obvious. Their falafels in pita come in four interesting versions and there is an amazing sandwich – Malfoof – marinated cabbage and all sorts of goodies between two pita halves and grilled – that is simply totally delicious. Mezza offers plenty of meat-options, too, including a secret family recipe “Lala” chicken if you are not a totally veg group. Their website is being shifted to their new name, but the menu (and management) is the same so try http://thepitaspot.com/uploads/Pita_Spot_menu_5-11.pdf.
Mala at Wailea Marriott – unexpected plant-based meal in a spectacular setting
Searching out plant-based, vegan options in Maui proved a positive and fun adventure. The biggest surprise, not listed anywhere, was the restaurant at our hotel. What a surprise! Mala has a separate Gluten-Free & Vegan Menu. Chef Mark Ellman and his business partner Shep Gordon teamed up with Top Chef Finalist Chef Sheldon Simeon (and one of Food & Wine 2014 Best New chefs) to create delicious, organic and locally sourced dishes that are an eclectic blend of Mediterranean and Hawaiian flavor profiles.
The setting is simply gorgeous. The upper level airy dining room features a clean, contemporary, teak-accented look with long, unobstructed water views. If weather permits, dine on the lanai.
On the Gluten-Free and Vegan Menu , there are four vegan starters, one salad, and a disappointing single entree. But we found that the server and chef were happy to work with us to create a second plant-based entree since we always share and prefer to taste a variety of offerings. We combined one of the starters with a few of the five vegan sides. Island Vegetables featured well seasoned cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots and baby bok choy on a bed of coconut peanut sauce ($28). We also sampled the fried local pickels ($7) and the Fried Tofu ($12).
Eating Plant-Based in the British Virgin Islands
Provisioning for a whole foods, plant-based diet is pretty easy in the BVI if you are on a charter yacht or staying in a villa. On Tortola, recently renovated Rite-Way about a quarter mile from the Moorings Charter Yacht Base (the largest in the world) has a good assortment of grains, beans, produce, some frozen veg entrees, soy milks and Bobby’s even has local tofu. You can buy home-made hummus at the Patisserie on the Moorings entrance road – and until recently they had a fab tofu salad (we keep asking when it’s coming back). There are tubs filled with a variety of pickles (delicious cornichons) and lots of olives. Even the little market in Leverick Bay Resort & Marina on Virgin Gorda – on the southern edge of North Sound – has frozen vegan entrees.
But if you wish to dine out, and have the full BVI experience, then things get a bit more challenging. Vegetarian is, of course, easier because chefs sub cheese for meat. It seems the higher end restaurants are beginning to recognize the sea change (and, of course, the Rasta eateries and stands are always ready with a quick meal). But we have ferreted out a few places that offer a lovely ambiance, spectacular views and offer at least one whole food, plant-based app and one entree right on the menu.
Saba Rock Resort in North Sound is accessible by their ferry from Leverick Bay or Bitter End Yacht Club or by dinghy from your boat moored right off this one-acre bit of paradise. Rooms are simple and immaculate and the menu offers several vegan entrees: For lunch at The Pub, try three black bean crispy tacos ($16.95) , Black Bean Veggie Burger ($14.95) or a vegetarian traditional West Indian Curried Roti. Everyday from 4-6pm, it’s Happy Hour with $2.50 Painkillers, Rum Punch & Carib Beer. For dinner, there’s an all-you-can-eat buffet that features a fresh salad bar and a wide range of hot entrees ($29.95) check to see if they’re vegan offerings that night. Among the a la cart entrees is a dinner size West Indian vegetarian Roti ($29.95) or Cuban-style Fire-Roasted Vegetarian Kebobs ($27.95) featuring mini black bean cakes – accompanied by the salad bar. Tables are literally right on, actually over, the water – so it’s easy to watch the large schools of Tarpon circling the underwater lights or look across the bay filled with yachts on moorings. Contact – (284) 495-9966 or VHF Ch. 16.
Just across the Sound, the famous Bitter End Yacht Club resort is not so accommodating – and that was a bit of a shock. There are four eateries. We ended up with Conch Fritters on the premise that there is so little conch in conch fritters that it was irrelevant – and we needed something to sop up the wine and beer. They might have been able to rustle up a simple salad or a steamed/grilled veggie plate or white pasta with red sauce had we asked, but there is nothing on their menu that works (even modified) and we just weren’t up for another heavily oiled, uninspired veggie plate or pricey but lackluster pasta with tomato sauce from the kids menu – no matter how gorgeous the view. But if you are looking for fresh bread and other bakery items for the galley – head to Winston’s.
Around the corner, Leverick Bay offers three dining options. Chef George’s upper level fine dining room offers a tomato and mozzarella salad ($15) or Bruschetta ($11) that can be made without the cheese. For an entree, there’s a Creamy risotto, beurre blanc, seasonal vegetables and aged balsamic topped with crispy carrots (leave out the cheese and/or buerre blanc). The Cove and Bar offer more veg friendly options: Garden Salad ($12) or Hummus and pita chips ($12) to start followed by a Veg Pizza (skip the cheese $19). Entertainment is excellent. Michael Bean’s pirate bit Mon-Wed 5-7 pm is always well-attended and a family fave. We spent a week in their mooring field and never tired of his bits). Friday night’s the Beach BBQ (we found lots to eat on their vegetable forward buffet) that features the must-see Moko Jumbie Dancers and Thursday nights it’s the Salt and Pepper Shakers.
Around the corner, at Biras Creek Resort, we really loved the Fat Virgin’s Cafe overlooking the dinghy dock. Brightly colored picnic tables were awash in local specialties – so we always found something delicious to eat. Sadly, Biras Creek closed – we don’t know for how long or what happened to the cafe – so call.
Overlooking Manchioneel Bay, private, secluded laid-back Cooper Island Beach Club (accessible via their private ferry from Road Town or dinghy in from the mooring field) has been one of our all-time family favorites – and it just keeps getting better and better. But it’s been sooo discovered that getting a mooring requires a first-light run. The chef offers a Roasted Garlic Hummus Wrap with artichoke hearts and Cajun fries ($11) on their lunch menu. Unfortunately their Traditional West Indian Roti, which our son rates very highly, is made with chicken (maybe they will offer a veg alternative soon). For dinner they offer hummus as a starter and Penne with sauteed vegetables and a pesto-tomato Sauce ($20) as an entree. Another possibility, Eggplant Rolls filled with goat cheese and red peppers ($19), might be doable without the cheese. We understand that they will also accommodate gluten-free, so this seems a very real option. Happy Hour is 4-6pm with two for one drinks. Rooms are available at the Beach Club or around the island at Cooper Island Villas.
Vegetable Rotis, like the ones served at Saba Rock, are an authentic taste of the Caribbean that originated in Trinidad. It’s a a large flatbread filled with curried meat, fish or vegetable – kind of like a huge burrito. We are always on the look-out for the vegetable versions, not too hard to find, and one of the very best is served at the little Roti Palace, tucked behind Samarkand Jewelers on Old Main Street, Road Town Tortola ($10-25 for lobster). There’s a little dining area and an outdoor patio – or take-out. (They’re hand-made so be prepared to wait a bit.) If you want to be 100% sure there is no chicken or fish stock in your roti, look for a Rastafarian restaurant that serves I-tal food – which is strict vegetarian.
Pirates Bight Restaurant on Norman Island re-opened in December 2012 with a beautiful, brand new, larger facility. The dinner menu features a “Vegetarian’s Delight” ($28) that changes daily – hopefully their delicious West Indian Vegetable Roti filled with traditional curried spiced vegetables will be on the rotation. There’s also a trio of veggie salads: Greek Bounty salad – sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, olives, with fresh pita and home made hummus ($16), Garden ($13 ) and Fruit platter ($12). It appears that lunch is no longer served (there used to be a vegan roti, veggie burger topped with grilled pineapple, fresh tomato, lettuce and onions, and grilled veg panini). Thursday through Sunday, the music starts at 8 pm (and Wednesday is Karaoke). Happy Hour is 4-6 pm; the bar menu offers chips and salsa ($10), sweet potatoes and tania chips ($10), french fries ($10) and onion rings ($10).
Also in The Bight, just off Norman Island, the infamous floating “Willy T” (aka The William Thornton) serves Lunch (12-3 pm) and Dinner (6:30-9 pm) and offers a Veggie Burger ($9), along with fries/rice and coleslaw. They’ll also rustle up a simple romaine salad since it is the base for their meat and fish salads. Diving off the top deck (clothed or not) is a long-time tradition.
At Tortola’s West End in Sopher’s Hole, The Jolly Roger has been totally reinvented as the open-air Fish ‘n Lime Inn & Restaurant . For lunch Heather’s Mandarin & Cashew Salad, hold the feta ($16) and/or Hot Spinach and Avocado Cheesecake ($15) and for dinner Risotto Balls ($15) and Heather’s salad – no vegetarian entree option.
Other possibilities include: Mellow Moods Cafe, an Ital eatery at the Road Town round-about, Chic Gourmet at Fish Bay, Nature’s Way in Mill Mall also in Road Town (run by Seventh Day Adventists), gorgeous top of the pack Sugar Mill offers rotating vegetarian selections at lunch and dinner (min $35/pp count on $60/pp at dinner) and also offers Gluten free and two-for-one drinks as you watch the sunset.
What did we miss?
Maui – On the Road to Hana
We decided to drive the supposedly totally off-the-beaten-track but spectacular Road to Hana along Maui’s northeast coast. The warnings were universal – take lots of water and food, gas up the car – there’s nothing along the whole route – perhaps 55+/-miles with 58 bridges (many one-lane wide) and over 250 serious curves – plus untold vistas and one-car-wide pull-offs. So the estimate is about 4 hours to get to Hana and as long to get back – with stops at the top five attractions. The warnings also advised against taking the “dotted line” road back to Wailea that would complete the circuit – so we had to come back the same way or void our car rental agreement if we were found out…
Consequently, we wasted a good hour getting prepared for this major odyssey in our little fire-engine red convertible – about half the rentals in Maui are convertibles and most of them were headed to Hana at the same time we were. Many of the warnings proved over the top or just plain wrong. Except one – there are 58 bridges, most one-lane wide – and over 250 curves – so no wine and beer on this trip. But were were happy that we had provisioned at Down to Earth – an organic, all natural market just south of the Hana Road that makes delicious plant-based sandwiches ($7.99 each) – subs and wraps – and offers a wide range of “healthy” chips, drinks and well-priced water. downtoearth.org.
Maui’s Down to Earth store just south of the road to Hana
The drive was made far more interesting because we rented a GyPSy GPS program that provided fascinating commentary on what we were passing or stopped at – along with a lot of history and anecdotes during the long stretches of gorgeous scenery.
Our experience was that there are services along the way – but maybe not year round – so check. There’s a small cluster of shops and snack bars, tiny family-run roadside stands – some offering fruit, vegs, burgers or pastries. And there is a gas station in Hana along with some basic dining options, an “historic General Store” that has seen better days, and a resort. FYI: several people told us later that the “dotted line road,” which would have made this an even more interesting drive, is just fine at this time of year and we should have taken it.
For images of the Road to Hana, please see this link to Pinterest.
Plant-Based in Maui – don’t trust the web lists
Seeking out plant-based, vegan options in Maui started out as a positive and fun adventure. With only a few days notice, I searched the web and arrived with notes from Happy Cow, Vegan in Maui, and from various tweets and blog posts. “Vegan in Maui” recommended Margaritas (lots of plant-based Tex Mex options) in Kihei, a fifteen-minute drive. It sounded like a good jet-lagged choice, so we called for a reservation. The line was busy for more than an hour. So we put the address in our GPS and started off – we couldn’t find it, asked several locals – everyone looked blank. Finally someone told us it has closed, maybe, three years ago. So much for that list.
Tired and hungry, we landed at Maui Thai – a strip mall restaurant that proved more than adequate if not exactly what we had in mind. The staff was very accommodating (and knowledgeable steering us away from some of our choices – “that is made with beef broth”). We had a delicious modified Green Papaya Salad, a lovely veg curry and a heap of brown rice. Maybe best of all, it’s BYO and there’s a beer & wine shop in the same mall.
Stay tuned for some surprising finds….
Maui Thai – Green Papaya Salad, Vegetable Curry and Brown Rice
Maui Thai Vegetable Curry
- Maui Thai Dining Room
Artichoke – Vegan options at this casual eatery near the NYC HighLine
Artichoke Basille’s Pizza West (212-792-9200) at 114 Tenth Avenue at 17th Street in the Meatpacking District is ideally located just steps from an entrance to NYC’s HighLine park. The casual, tavern atmosphere of dark wood, marble tables, a comfortable booths with a long zinc bar.
For those of us on a vegan/plant-based diet, there are a couple superb choices. The super large signature Artichoke is stuffed with breadcrumbs, parsley & pignoli nuts ($15) swimming in a yummy broth and the family-sized Boxed Salad features a spring mix with artichoke hearts, red onion, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella & house dressing ($15 ) – just ask for the cheese on the side. And if you want more, Basille’s home made Garlic Bread Sticks with dipping sauce ($11) also works for dipping into the artichoke broth.
For your cheese-eating friends, the enormous 18-inch pizza is pretty amazing- packed with an array of unique mixes of ingredients – crab, artichoke, burnt anchovy, white pie ($28-30). Try the “wedge” ($15) that’s a third of that huge pizza (hoping that maybe they’ll consider a soy cheese pizza?).
And – good news – there’s an Artichoke Light in the Delta Airlines terminal at LaGuradia. Great for those of us who are Delta regulars.
Zitoune Moroccan Cuisine, Mamaroneck, NY – A host of Vegan Choices plus a Belly Dancer
Along a busy stretch of Boston Post Road – 1127 W. Boston Post Rd., Mamaroneck, NY 10543 (914-835-8350) – this charming, inviting small eatery belies its surroundings. The extensive menu of classic Moroccan dishes nets a very good selection of plant-based/vegan dishes.
On the App menu, we particularly enjoyed the Vegetable Cigars – Rolled, crisp Filo surrounds marinated Vegetables (Carrot, Zucchini, Red and Green Pepper) $6, a Lentil Tagine –
Lentils cooked in a traditional Tagine Pot with Onions and Tomatoes $7.50
Three soups – Chourba $6, Lentil, $7 and Harira $7.50 are all vegan. As were three of the salads – Zitoune $6, Mediterranean $7 (with no feta) and Mediterranean Orzo $7. Always ask about cheese – they sometime leave it off the menu description.
Among the Dinner entrees we found several enticing choices –
Berber Couscous $15.50 – Traditional Moroccan Couscous as it’s enjoyed in Marrakech, served with Seven Vegetables and an Aromatic Broth
Vegetable Tagine $9 – Saffron Vegetable broth, with Carrot, Potato, Pepper and String Beans served in a traditional Moroccan Tagine
Moroccan Stewed White Beans $9.50 – with Tomato, Olive Oil, and Moroccan Seasoning, garnished with Butternut Squash
Couscous el Fassi $16.50- Fez style with Caramelized Onions, Raisins and Chick Peas
There’s also a can’t be beat Early Bird Special 5-7pm for $15.95. An appetizer, entree with a glass of wine and coffee or tea. it’s likely that one of the choices will be plant-based – but no guarantee.
Lunch is served Monday to Saturday and brunch on Sunday. The all-vegan soups are only $4, the salad choices are more extensive ($5-8) and the entrees range from a Veggie Lovers Sandwich ($6) to a Vegetable Melange ($8), the Lentil Tangine ($7.50), and the Vegetable Berber Couscous ($9).
There’s also a Prix Fixe special at lunch (11:30-1:30) $11. A soup or salad plus an entree and coffee or tea.
St. Petersburg, FL Farmers Market – A Weekly Destination
St. Petersburg’s Saturday Morning Market – the largest weekly fresh market in the southeast US – is worth a detour. In season (early October to late May, 9am-2pm), a core group of food vendors and a rotating set of artisans fill 130 spaces that attract 8-10,000 visitors. If you want to get a handle on this energetic, revitalized city, this the the place to start. The market, with live music, dozens of ready-to eat vendors, organic farm stands, and craft vendors, is really the heart of St. Pete. Families, strollers and dogs crowd the aisles and the local musicians encourage dancing and hanging out. It’s a fun, joyous experience. From June through August, there’s a smaller market in Williams Park. See a whole flock of images on my pinterest board.