September 07, 2016
Anniversary Dinner at Vedge
September 07, 2016Alex and I celebrated one year of marriage this August! Since we are lucky enough to live a short cab ride away from the greatest vegan res...
Alex and I celebrated one year of marriage this August! Since we are lucky enough to live a short cab ride away from the greatest vegan restaurant in the country, we went to Vedge for dinner to Celebrate!
When we go to fancy places, we go all out. We don't go very often, so that financially allows us to do it right when we get around to going. Part of doing it right entails that you get cocktails. I got Baby Boomerang, which was kind of like sangria, with blood orange, black tea, rosemary, eau de vie and dry curaçao.
Alex ordered the Spaceball Ricochet, which had vodka, bell pepper, pineapple, Aperol, and citrus. It was very bell-peppery!
They brought us an amuse bouche, which was a watermelon gazpacho. This type of thing in the summer is always great. I want to try to make some gazpacho sometime! I feel like now is the time, since summer is fading.
We decided we should pick a bunch of dishes and share them all. The first dish we picked was called Indigo Rose Tomato, though we had a pretty difficult time deciding which one to pick. This one had summer squash, heirloom tomatoes, grilled bread, cured olives and lentils. It was super light and refreshing, a great first course pick!
On our first visit to Vedge, we got the tofu and seitan dishes on the menu, but that was about two years ago. We never could stop thinking of them, and had to order them again this time. The dishes had only slight variations from the last time we ordered them and were both just as good. The tofu, I feel like it was my fave, but that's only at this very moment-- it's subject to change the next time I see a picture of another dish from the night! The tofu was called, Spicy Ssamjang Tofu, with edamame pureé, yuba crackling, roasted miso and sea bean. It was a fantastic balance and I can see why it's remained on the menu just as is for so long. The texture of the tofu was totally perfect and it reminds me why tofu is my favorite of the "fake meats."
Alex's favorite of the "fake meats" is definitely seitan. This seitan is really remarkable. The texture is very much like grilled chicken, but better, since I never liked chicken! This is the Grilled Seitan with horseradish, pickled celery, and charred kohlrabi slaw. It was amazing and all worked well together. It's another one we couldn't go without.
For one of the sides, we ordered the Nebrodini Mushrooms. I am a giant mushroom fan, and Alex is not, so I'm not sure how I won this one over the broccoli dish, but I'm so glad I did. It had thinly shaved mushrooms, basil and fresh tomatoes. It was so classically Italian and I could eat this every single day. I only wish there was more of it!
It's hard to talk a person like Alex out of getting the potatoes. I would just as happily have ordered the broccoli or brussels sprouts, but crispy fingerling potatoes covered in creamy worcestershire sauce was not too bad a choice either. They were definitely delicious, but the least "wowing" item we ordered.
The last of the main dishes we ordered was the Eggplant Braciole. It had smoked eggplant, salsa verde and cured olives. I love eggplant so I knew it would be great, but Alex has been known to be a bit of an eggplant-hater, so I wasn't sure he was going to go for it. But actually, he had also been eyeing it while looking over the menu and wanted it as well. When we ordered, the waiter actually told us not to order this, and to order the wood roasted carrot instead. I would have obliged, because I'm sure everything on the menu is amazing, but Alex really wanted the eggplant and insisted on it! Very uncharacteristic of him! We both loved the dish and agreed that it tasted a lot like meatloaf, in a good way. It was incredibly meaty, and held together really well. I've never had non-vegan braciole, so I wasn't even exactly sure what we were going to get, so we swung and scored on this one.
Last time, for dessert, we got what was called "chocolate uber chunk," and when we saw "Uber Chunk" listed on the menu again this time, we pretty much agreed on impact that this is what we were getting. It was so insanely good. It was incredibly rich chocolate pudding with malt custard, chocolate ganache, peanut butter cream and pretzel crust!! SO GOOD. It was really smart to share, because it might have been too much for me to eat the whole thing by myself. I would have, but maybe it's best I didn't. I had juuust enough.
So much praise for Vedge, and also for their "sister restaurant," V Street, which I've eaten at three times already. I'm so happy I'm in Vedge's town and I can't wait to go back.
<3
KZ
