Restaurant Review: Hillel's Kitchen NOLA

This morning we had some symphony "kiddie" shows and we decided to have lunch nearby at Hillel's Kitchen, immediately after the shows. If you check out their website, you'll find a complete menu and it specifies exactly what is vegan and gluten free (V & GF). Though take note, the place opens at noon M-Th, NOT 10 am, as specified on their website. I noticed this on their current menu in the cafe today.

The cafe is inside Tulane University's Hillel Jewish center, which is a very new, bright yellow building. It's all very clean with wood floors and funky bright green chairs. The tables are all large, so you can't really grab a small corner table for one or two. We were in there around 1 pm and there weren't too many folks in there, so you could've taken a large table for yourself.

You order at the counter, pay, and wait for your number to be called to go pick up your order. The menu doesn't seem to really have any big entrees on it. It's mostly sandwiches and salads, with some great looking breakfast items, served all day (vegan granola, vegan bagels & cream cheese, etc.) and snack food like chips/salsa and guacamole.

I ordered the Roasted  Sweet Potato and Pesto sandwich (marked as vegan). It wasn't huge, but was quite enough. I don't usually eat that much bread anyway. Surprisingly, it came with some sort of a BBQ sauce on the bottom AND the pesto on the top. Just a hint of spiciness with a nice mix of sweet and salty. A very good sandwich! I'd order it again. It was served with a pickle, which to my surprise, was pretty darn sweet.  I wish they had some sort of whole grain bread, but it seems they only had varieties of white bread. Same with the pita, it seems (though the pita is straight from Israel).

S got the Roasted Beet and Lentil Salad (also vegan). I thought about ordering that too. Good thing I didn't...it had olive bits in it (I HATE olives). Wish they'd specified that on the menu. Anyway, he loved it. I tasted some of it..without the olives, and it was good. I suppose I could just order it without the olives now that I know they're in there.

For dessert,  I ordered the Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is both vegan and gluten free. I must admit, it was quite sweet. Much sweeter than I would normally eat, but once in a while is ok with me. It was very crunchy. Would have been nice with some coffee. The cashier did say there was some free coffee in the lounge, just around the corner (a few feet away). She wasn't sure there was any left and I wasn't sure how long it had been sitting there......so I didn't try it. Maybe next time. I think the cafe has almond, rice, and soy milks for their smoothies (according to the website), so I'm sure you could use some in your coffee.

I picked up a couple of house-made vegan bagels with some vegan cream cheese on the side to bring home. I was impressed that they made their own bagels (albeit white flour). That reminds me, I should make some bagels soon. I haven't tasted them yet, but I'll update this post when I do. I meant to try their roasted tomato soup (vegan) that was on the website, but I either forgot or didn't see it listed on their in-cafe menu. Maybe next time.

Overall, we had a good time. Good food, a nice, clean, atmosphere, not overly pricey. The chef, Harveen Khera, introduced herself to me while I was ordering. Very nice woman. You should read about her on the Hillel's Kitchen website. She even told me about tomorrow's vegan special...I think it involved quinoa and sounded amazing! Unfortunately, I can't go in tomorrow :(  I will, however, be following them on Twitter, to stay updated on their specials.

Don't be afraid to step into the Hillel Jewish Center. No need to make a face when you hear "kosher restaurant"! This place is coming along nicely. I'm excited to go back and try something else (or get that awesome sweet potato sandwich again!).  If you're in the New Orleans area, do stop in for some good vegan food!

Eat smart,
T.

New Kids on the Block

Nope, not the band. It's all about two new cool places that opened up in New Orleans: Cafe Carmo and Poeyfarre Market.

Both are in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Within blocks of each other. It was hot, but we walked it anyway.  First we stopped into Cafe Carmo for lunch since we'd heard about the awesome vegan options there. We ordered the special, in its vegan version:

It was some sort of Egyptian dish with lentils, chickpeas, vegan meatballs, with a little rice and pasta in there. It was pretty good! The tomato sauce had a great flavor. For me, I could have done without the pasta (white flour) and wish it had been brown rice instead of white.  But, still, it was good. I had to get the vegan dessert, which was some sort of banana cake:

REALLY moist and overly sweet. But, very good! Had to split it three ways :)

I will definitely go back. Everyone in there was really nice. Good service (though you order at the counter) and nice (but small) ambience.  It looks like they could be expanding next door...???? I saw some new French doors leading to construction. That would be great. If you're in the area, you should definitely check this place out. They did have a vegan potato salad too, which I didn't try. There are many other things on the menu that can be veganized as well. Go check it out!

Then we headed over to the new Poeyfarre Market.  Maybe not in the best area, from what I could tell, but still, quite a nice market.  There are a lot of warehouse condos here and so I'm sure this new addition will be great for the local residents.  It was very clean and nicely laid out.  Not at all crowded and cramped. They had some vegan cheese, including a vegan parmesan, lots of vegan/raw protein powders & bars. They even had kale chips!! I saw hemp milk and almond milk, and some gluten free products too, like brown rice pasta. There's lots of wine, and a big walk-in beer cooler in the back with a decent collection. Really nice market (wish it were in my neighborhood).

Other things I've been eating:

A variation of my Barley Risotto:

I made Ani Phyo's Love the Chicks Pate with some Red Enchilada Sauce:

And finally, we tried the Alexia Sweet Potato Fries. I had a coupon for them, so I purchased a bag a while back. I've gotta say....they were ultra greasy. The flavor was really good, but they were just too oily for me. It's probably just because I don't use very much oil anymore and I just wasn't used to it. Oh well. I won't buy them again. But....the flavor WAS very good (Chipotle):

That's all for now folks!

On another note, my husband and I are now teaching viola lessons via Skype! If you or anyone you know is interested, please check out the details here. Feel free to share this information with your friends :)

Eat smart,
T.

Two Restaurant Reviews

Last week, we had a concert on the Northshore in Covington, LA. I found a nice little place for us to eat afterwards: Toad Hollow Cafe.  It's right in the center of town and pretty small. They've got just a couple of outdoor tables, but they mostly seat only two and we were four, so we had to sit inside.

They seemed to have some nice vegan options on the menu, including hummus, miso soup, salads, tempeh tacos (w/o sour cream), and a few other items. The full menu is on their website. The tempeh reuben looked good, but I wasn't sure if it was vegan or not (ok, I didn't ask...). I ordered the Asian Salad, which was a pretty basic salad, not particularly Asian at all, outside of the peanuts.  The dressing was good. It was ok. No picture, because my phone took a really fuzzy picture of it (hahaha, it wasn't me, it was the phone!).  S ordered the tempeh tacos:

He liked them a lot.  I thought the tempeh filling was way too salty. But...I really loved the side of black beans and rice! (might just order that next time). I got a bottle of local beer, they had no taps, unfortunately, but it was still good:

And the dessert was to die for! VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!! Yup, oh so tasty. I'd go there just for that:

If I were in the area, I'd go back and have that mousse. I may even try something else, like the tempeh reuben, if it's vegan. The service was VERY slow, but it was pretty packed and the town had some big event going on. I'm sure it's not like that normally. The waitress was very friendly, so that helped.

Back in New Orleans, there's a relatively new Ethiopian restaurant in town: Cafe Abyssinia. We went there yesterday. It didn't open until noon, so we walked around for a while. We were the first ones in there and had our choice of tables. It's a pretty small place, and it did fill up by the time we left. There was also only one waitress, but she did an excellent job of taking care of all the tables! And she was very friendly and helpful.

We started by sharing the Beet Salad (vegan), which was delicious!

S and I shared the Veggie Combo (all vegan), which was served atop injera. Some extra injera also came on the side. Really excellent.....albeit a bit oily.

I believe they also have a few vegan appetizers....so definitely check it out if you're in town!

Hope you all had a nice Earth Day yesterday....you can celebrate all year round :)

Eat smart,
T.

More good eats, beets, & a new veggie dinner

So my SD card reader decided it didn't want to work today. I used to have this problem quite often.....but it hasn't happened in forever! Maybe later I'll go search for a cable, OR....use my laptop instead. So the TastyBite giveaway will have to wait a day or two. Sorry!

I hope you've all been having a nice holiday or winter break.  Mine's been pretty boring, but I've been able to keep up with my workout schedule and walking. The weather has been insane. One or two days in the 70's, then down to the 40's...then back up to the 70's...etc. I can't keep up!

We went to our CSA before Christmas and picked up a HUGE box:

Too much stuff to mention, but lots of greens, rice, coffee, tomatoes, and citrus!

I also recently tried a new frozen entree. Now I don't often eat these things....but once in a while when you're just not in the mood to cook and you want something with a specific amount of calories, etc.....found this:

Moo Moo's Poblano Chick(Pea) Patties. They're vegan and gluten free! And low in calories. Very tasty indeed! And they don't skimp....there was plenty of food in the box.  I'll let you know when I try another one.

And look at this cool cauliflower I found at the store. It was too colorful not to buy it. However, the color seemed to fade in cooking...sniff....as you can see in one of my Indian meals:

Oh, and there were beets in the CSA box.....and they came with all the greens. I had to cut them off in order to fit them in the fridge and needed to figure out what to do with them. Lindsay over on Twitter suggested I saute them with garlic and olive oil.  Thanks! I sauteed them in a little water, with some minced garlic. Then when it was done, I added just a tiny bit of Earth Balance on top. Delicious! I love beet greens...this was the first time I'd ever eaten them:

Ok, that's all folks. I will try to post that giveaway before the New Year....!!!! It's a whole box of goodies :)

One last thing...any thoughts on how difficult it will be to change the name of my blog? If people follow in a reader, how will I be able to tell them my new name & url??

Eat smart,
T.

Dining at Emeril's (don't do it)

About a week ago, a friend had a birthday lunch at Emeril's of New Orleans.  I scanned the menu a week before, wondering what I was going to be able to eat there.  I ended up calling them a few days before the reservation and asking about vegan options.  The woman on the phone was very nice and asked me to look over the menu and see what they could "veganize". Well, everything was served around some sort of hunk of meat or fish, so I picked out some items they were served with, like grilled vegetables, succotash, etc...and said they could base something around that. I also told her I didn't want any pasta (that seems to be the go-to vegetarian dish everyone wants to make, but it's just not that healthy and too high calorie for me).  She agreed and said she was making notes in the reservation, just to mention it to the waiter when we arrived.  No problem!

So, dining day came.....we arrived. Really nice looking place. They had a big table set up for 12 or so. It was all so fancy! They had some good beer and wine on the menu, so S ordered some of that to start. When the waiter came around to take our orders...we were last.  I mentioned that I'd called ahead and ordered two vegan dishes (I assumed he'd know or just check the reservation on the computer). He said "Ok, two vegetarian  dishes."  Again, I assumed he'd check, so I didn't have to re-explain they were to be vegan and what that is, etc...S said right away after he left that we weren't going to be getting vegan food. He thought that since the waiter said "vegetarian" it would be only vegetarian, and not vegan. I didn't think that at all.  I just didn't want to have to go through the whole explanation about what vegan is, so I didn't correct him. Like I said before, I thought he'd go check the "notes". We didn't order any appetizers or salads, because we knew we'd have to ask for no this and no that, etc.  We watched everyone else eat their soups and gumbos.....they enjoyed them.

The main courses arrived.  The waiter brought out two of the exact same dishes.....S was right.  They were NOT vegan. I saw right away there was cream sauce all over it and breaded this and that.  I asked the waiter, and he took mine away to be replaced. S ate his, because he hates being a pain in the butt at restaurants. As everyone was finishing up their meals, the waiter came back with my newly veganized dish of the same thing that S got. (and no apology) No breaded stuff, no cream sauce...yay! It looked pretty good, although not a ton of food.  I picked off the soggy sweet potato chips from the top of the cooked vegetables. They were tasty, but soggy.  I really did like the vegetables...they were a bit sweet, but had a nice flavor.  Then I put the spoon into the succotash and then in my mouth...oh.......the salt!  It was so salty I could barely eat it.  Is that their solution? If they can't put cream or butter on it.....they have to just add a ton of salt?  Very disappointing.  Anyway, S ate the rest of it, since he likes salt.  And those toasted bread slices......I think they had butter on them, so I didn't eat them.  When they came around to take dessert orders, the waiter immediately said they could make up a fruit bowl for me. So I obliged.  It was actually very good. Fresh apples, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. No added anything. Great just the way it was!

You know.....I expected more. But maybe I shouldn't have.  It's a fancy restaurant and people enjoy the food there.  They don't even have vegetarian options on the menu.  I guess it's not their fault for what ended up on my plate.  They weren't trained to cook vegan/vegetarian food, so why should they make any?  I guess it's my fault for asking them too. They were only trying to accommodate me.  Well.....not really.  Something must have gone wrong between the conversation I had on the phone and the notes that I guess never got to the waiter or the kitchen.  So there was really no point in my calling in advance. It did no good whatsoever.

I won't make the mistake again of trying to get a fancy place to make me vegan food here in New Orleans. It's just not worth. It's not a vegan or vegetarian friendly town and I just have to get used to it.  I know where I can eat around town and how to order at those places.

(and S said his version wasn't good at all....cream sauce and all)

Sorry Dave!!! But thanks anyway, and we had a good time:)

Eat smart,
T.

My CSN product review: Zojirushi's Mr. Bento

So when CSN contacted me a few weeks ago about doing either a review or giveaway, I thought I'd do a review this time, since I'd already done a couple of giveaways.  I always drool when I go to their cookware site, because I pretty much want everything there. But I found this cool "lunchbox" type container made by Zojirushi. And since I already own a Zo rice cooker and bread machine and LOVE them both, I thought I'd try this thing out!

Zojirushi's Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar:

(photo from www.cookware.com) 

We often have to take food to work with us and this looked like the perfect thing to use, especially with the bag that comes with it. It has both a handle and a shoulder strap.  It's very Japanese, in that the containers are all quite small, but we were able to fit my food into the large container and S's into two of the smaller containers. And of course, our dessert fit into the tiniest container! 

All of the containers stack perfectly one on top of the other and are BPA-free (yes, I emailed Zojirushi directly to ask). They are also microwaveable, although I don't usually have access to a microwave at work, so I haven't tested that out.  The bottom two containers are supposed to keep your food either hot or cold (but not both).  My potato salad was still quite cold by the time I ate it, around 3 1/2 hours later. The bottom container is supposed to be for soup, but I just put more potato salad in it.  We don't eat a ton for lunch, but I suppose this would be better suited for one person. Maybe down the line I'll get another!  I was able to put a little apple on top of the whole container in the bag and close it up.  It also comes with a spork (not plastic!). I just added another fork of my own, as there's still room around the edges of the container inside the bag.  And all around the bag, on the outside, there's a pocket (though you can't close the pocket). I put a bunch of little salt packets in there (S loves salt).  You can pack some napkins in there too. And the containers were super easy to clean by hand. They are NOT dishwasher safe.

So I love this thing! But I think maybe I need my own :)  Well we do have another lunchbag we can use, if we need more space, I suppose.  Zojirushi is an awesome brand and they offer a few other kinds of these lunchboxes. So go check out CSN's cookware site, as they have them all.  And ordering there is really easy too. Lots of their items come with free shipping and it's very fast!  Go get your Mr. Bento :)

Giveaways:

Hurry up, there's still time to enter Bitt's Emmy's Organics giveaway, but it ends today!

A Vegan Essentials gift card giveaway!

Coming up: Chocolaty Baked goods

Eat smart,

T.

Upcoming CSN Review!

The kind people at CSN are giving me the opportunity to do a review about one of their items. I've done a couple of giveaways sponsored by them in the past and they've been really great to deal with.  They've got a TON of stuff, including bar furniture, cookware, home decorating items, and more!

So go check out some of their stores, because they have pretty much anything and everything you could ever need/want. And stay tuned for a review!!

Eat smart,
T.

My NYC TRIP!!!

It was pretty much a cram session. A quick weekend in Manhattan.  We tried to get in as much vegan food as possible in a short amount of time! So here it is:

Can you believe there's not a place to get coffee at all in the New Orleans airport, after security?? That was a real downer.  So I had to get some on the plane. Luckily, I had my SoyGo creamer with me:

Stop one: Candle Cafe

It was really crowded in there, although we didn't have to wait long at all. We got there around 1 pm.  Tables were pretty crammed in there. We were practically sitting on our neighbors' laps. Oh well. Welcome to NYC, right?

We ate lunch here.  I ordered the Butternut Squash Soup, which was delicious and a very large portion:

S ordered the Classic Ceasar Salad:

I ordered the Tuscan Lasagna, which was out of this world. It was huge (luckily, S ate some). Greens were a bit garlicky, but quite good nonetheless:

Dinner: Franchia

Check out the ceiling in this place:

I really wanted to try this place having found it online. I hadn't seen anyone talk about it nor had anyone suggested it to me. I'm SO glad we went. The ambience was perfect. Tables were far enough apart, spread out on 3 levels of dining.

I started with some Persimmon Leaf Tea (the waiter suggested it), which was delicious:

We ordered some Spicy Kimchi dumplings (steamed) to start. They were not at all spicy, but really tasty:

S ordered the Franchia Roll with brown rice. It was quite good:

...and I ordered the Pumpkin noodles salad. I was kind of expecting noodles made out of pumpkin, but alas, they were real noodles (pumpkin flavored). Still delicious though and not drenched in dressing, which was nice:

Luckily, we had a Keurig coffee machine in our hotel room (I have one at home!), and so all I had to do was run around the corner to Starbucks, grab an oatmeal, come back to the room and make myself a cup of coffee with the soy creamer I bought at the grocery store nearby (yes, we had a fridge):

A few sights:

A few bedbug mishaps, changing of hotel rooms.....etc......and then we continue....

Angelica Kitchen:

Setting was nice, not too crowded or small.

We started with the Ruby Kraut, which actually came out with the rest of the meal. Was good, pretty mild:

S ordered the Thai Mee Up, which was delicious (can't go wrong with kale!):

I got a basic Combo Bowl with brown rice, steamed vegetables (kale, bok choi), and sea vegetables. The waiter suggested the Black Sesame Sauce, which was amazing:

Red Bamboo:

There was a short wait for this place. Although it was small and crowded, it was set up nicely. You weren't able to hear your neighbors' conversations. That's always a plus!

I knew I was going to get dessert here, so I didn't get an appetizer or a beer, both of which looked quite appealing.

S ordered the Portabella Mushroom entree, which he loved. I agree, it was pretty good, but I liked mine better:

I ordered the Bamboo Curry "Chicken". It was awesome! I don't often eat "fake meat", but this was really delicious. Great sauce, nicely cooked vegetables:

Thanks to Lindsay at Happy Herbivore for the suggestion of getting dessert here! I ordered the Pumpkin Cheesecake, which was absolutely out of this world! So rich and creamy....could NOT have been low calorie :)

Was definitely worth the splurge of sweetness! And the prices are pretty reasonable for NYC. Big portions too.

We stopped at two takeaway places during the weekend. First, Babycakes, since we were at MooShoes and it's just around the corner.  You know, I wasn't too impressed.  It was a small place and there was quite a line.  They do have a large choice of cupcakes, including several gluten free options. I got a pumpkin cupcake (or was it carrot?? I can't remember) and a small brownie.  They were just ok.  I've had better vegan cupcakes for sure.  Maybe some of the other flavors are better?  Not bad though.  I wish they would've tasted better, for the price I paid.

Then we stopped in at One Lucky Duck.  That place is tiny too! And there was a line. I couldn't even see what to order until I got to the front. I wish they had a board up, or at least menus at the entrance.  All 3 chairs were taken inside, so there was nowhere to sit. They had shelves filled with raw foods, but no prices! I picked up a couple of bags of things, but then realized they were probably too expensive, so I put them back. They really need to put prices on that stuff! So the place needs some work. But, I read that the Mallomar is a must, so that's what I got! And boy, was it tasty.  Wow! Highly recommended:

Very expensive, but that's why we didn't eat at Pure Food and Wine, which is the sister restaurant just around the corner.

A few more sights:

(that's me!)

We stopped at Heartland Brewery for a sampling:

Went to Le Pain Quotidien for some lunch. I got the Six Vegetable Quiche, which is vegan. It was really good:

This was my first time at Le Pain. We went to one on the Upper West Side and I really liked the ambience. You can sit outside as well. I love the wood floors and the really long communal table in the middle!

And then there was.......the wedding!

(S out on the balcony at Studio 450)

(the chuppah)

(the bride)

(under the chuppah)

Congratulations, Bill & Meira! It was a beautiful wedding :)

That's it for the whirlwind tour of Manhattan.  We were staying in Midtown and walked EVERYWHERE! No subways or cabs for us.

PS-we brought back some Murray's Whole Wheat Everything bagels!

Eat smart,
T.