This is 2nd street, where they often have festivals like they did on this day. There was tons of flea-market type stuff, but also lots of food. Pretty much every place serving savory food had a vegan option, and we were pretty blown away by that. We got some cauliflower asada and seitan wings with a few Yards each, because daydrinking in the summer at festivals is fun and I will be old someday.


We definitely hit the city hard trying out as many new places to eat as possible, but I have also been cooking when applicable. I want to make everything I haven't made from Isa Does It, and I still have about 30 recipes left somehow! My IG friend, @veganpastryschool inspired me to make everything from the book, as she is doing the same. She is better at making food look good in photos than me. Above is the Tempeh Orzilla, a recipe not new to me but I just really wanted to make it.


At the 2nd Street festival I got this pillow, because I really needed a new pillow and this one has Patti Smith on it and in the picture they are at Coney Island and I just had to have it. I am reading her book, M Train, now. Alex got it for me as an anniversary present <3.


I tried to eat healthy for a moment, and made this spiralized veggie salad with the peanut dressing from Isa Does It, but it didn't function quite like I'd hoped it would. I guess I just got the idea of rice noodles in my head while I was making this and then when it came time to eat the cold crisp veggie noodles, they didn't live up to my brain's anticipated rice noodle craving. At least there was avocado on it.


The internet says the best vegan cheesesteak in Philadelphia is at Blackbird Pizzeria. I got cheesesteaks at a few places and this was probably the best. I have a confession to make. As a non-vegan, I never would have liked a cheesesteak. I don't really like sandwiches... I hated anything I had to chew too much or that was too hard to bite through, and the idea of a steak sandwich would never have sounded good to me at any point in my life. I know there is no steak on this sandwich, and very thinly sliced homemade seitan, doused in a homemade vegan whiz sauce, and it was pretty good for what it was. But honestly, I just don't think cheesesteaks and me were ever meant to live happily together. I'm not actually from Philly, so hopefully they'll let me stay after having said that.


Green Eggs Cafe has three locations in the city, and one happens to be in my neighborhood. In my opinion, they do a great job making a vegan perfectly comfortable there, offering lots of options and variations of items to make them vegan. I got the breakfast burrito that had tofu, corn, housemade vegan chorizo and pico de gallo. It came with these amazing refried black beans that had great smoky flavor and a proper amount of guac. I loved my dish, but Alex didn't love his. He got the veggie burger that is listed on the menu as vegan, but when he ordered he was told that the bun wasn't vegan, and they gave him an option to have it on toast instead. He went with it anyway and unfortunately the burger wasn't good, they had buttered (with Earth Balance I think) the toast, which he really didn't like and doused it with chipotle mayo. He was really disappointed with it, so if you go, get the breakfast burrito!! Be aware that the portions at this restaurant are huge. Some of the plates I saw coming out of this restaurant had enough on them to feed about four people.


What is a Philly-Style Bagel? Well, it's a bagel that is boiled in beer before being baked! To that I say, Alright! Philly Style Bagels in Fishtown has a line out the door, amazingly nice people, great coffee, and great vegan options. They have two types of vegan cream cheese, earth balance, jam, cashew butter and almond butter. With Philly Style Bagels within walking distance, I want for nothing.



Don't think we haven't been putting our patio table to good use. We have been doing some evening drinking of Yards with friends out on our patio and damn do we love it.



The first visit, I ordered the Breakfast Burrito, because a restaurant is only as good as its breakfast burrito. This one was pretty standard, your tofu, cheeze, bacony bits and not much else. It was what you want from a breakfast burrito, and somehow I'm only just realizing now that I didn't douse it in guac, which is normal practice for me. Next time.


Alex, on both visits, got the chicken and waffles, as he is wont to do, and as he always did at Champs.


More from Isa Does It, this is the Trumpet Mushroom, Tofu and Asparagus Sauté over mashed potatoes. Okay, so I made a pretty giant vat of mashed potatoes and made four different dishes to go with them. This fit the bill, a veggie sauté with a fair amount of sauce to soak into the potatoes. I love mushrooms, y'all.


There's a Barcade within walking distance and they have 2 types of vegan tacos for $2 each and I'm unemployed so basically I have been here more than I care to admit this past month. The beer selection is great and on Fridays they have happy hour during which you can get 2 tacos, a beer and nachos (no cheese for vegans, but hey free chips) all for $10. Hipster Blue Plate Special.


West Philly seems pretty great. They are home to the only bodegas that I have seen in Philly and it pains me that I cannot walk two blocks and get bread, beer, vegan peanut butter cups and dish soap in one trip at 3am anymore. The institution of the Bodega is amazing, and I miss it. Check your boxes of pasta for maggots first, but besides that, I miss my bodega. I digress. This is what a Dottie's Donut looks like.


After Dottie's, we went to Philly Zine Fest. I picked up a few cute zines and got excited to make my own. I am currently in the process of making two!


Tonight  I made Chickpeas and Escarole in White Wine Broth from Isa Does It over mashed potatoes. They didn't have any escarole at Whole Foods (I miss my bodega) so I got a mixture of spinach and mustard greens instead. This dish was so amazing. It had lots of tang from the caper brine and a spicy hit of red pepper flakes. This read so authentically Italian for me. I want to make it for my father-in-law, who I always cook Italian food with. I think it want to marinate some tofu in roasted garlic and lemon, then grill it, and serve it over the top. Also, this was ready in 20 minutes. You can't beat that for Monday,

More Philly food and fun soon--
xo,
KZ