VEGAN/VEGETARIAN SUSHI? ONLY IN BERKELEY

There's a very popular Vegan/Vegetarian Japanese restaurant in Berkeley called Cha-ya that I've wanted to try for quite some time. However, the place is tiny and since it's located in Berkeley, it's also packed most of the time. We'd tried going there once, but the line was too long, and on other occasions, the restaurant's been packed.

So we were pretty surprised one evening while we were headed to a different restaurant that there were seats available at Cha-ya. We decided to take advantage and ducked in to sit at the sushi bar. Now, I knew that Cha-ya was expensive since I'd seen their menu previously, but it was really quite surprising how expensive it was considering that there was no fish involved at all. Many people assume that just because it's vegetarian, food will be cheaper, but I've founded that that is often not the case, especially up here in the Bay Area. Basically, the prices at Cha-ya were the same as if you'd gone to a nice sushi restaurant (and maybe a little higher, too).

At any rate, since the place was kinda pricey, I had to do some strategic ordering. I started off with a special. It's a tofu roll with corn that's wrapped in seaweed and deep fried. It served with a side of dipping sauce:

As you can see, they have very nice presentation here, and the tofu roll wasn't too bad. Meanwhile, Tom ordered a bowl of agadedashi tofu. (deep fried tofu in broth). It was quite good, and I ended up liking it more than my own tofu dish.

Then we each had plates of sushi. Here's mine. You can see that there's one cucumber roll, and then 3 pieces of nigiri - one with seaweed, the other topped with mushroom and the third with eggplant. Again, the presentation was really nice.

However, the sushi itself was pretty terrible. Or not so much the sushi, but the sushi rice. It was tough and underflavored and really not tasty at all. I soon discovered why. While watching the chef prepare sushi for another customer, I watched him take out a large plastic bag filled with rice. He then walked over to a microwave, nuked it, and used that for the sushi. This place charged so much money, and they didn't even make their rice fresh. That was just appalling.

Additionally, we didn't really start off the meal on a great note. We were basically ignored by the waitress for like 10 minutes, during which I was very tempted to just walk right out. Our dinner ended up costing $40, which is much more than we usually spend on a sushi dinner, and in the words of Sue Min, "It cost the same as regular sushi and there was no fish? Why bother?" and I'd have to agree with her.

GOING VEGETARIAN IN SANTA CRUZ

On our last day in Santa Cruz, we just had time for breakfast. My sister and her boyfriend had a long drive ahead of them, so not too much time to hang out. We decided to go to check out a local restaurant called the Saturn Cafe. I had checked out the menu briefly while at the beachhouse, and saw that they were well known for their burgers and late night scene.

It looks a little funky from the outside:

And is even funkier on the inside: (I'm pointing out their lighting here)

So apparently I hadn't looked at the menu close enough, because what we soon figured out was that this place was a vegetarian restaurant. And apparently what they're famous for our their veggies burgers. Since it was just for breakfast, it's kinda easy to go without meat. I just ordered chocolate chip pancakes:

And what can I say, they were pretty good. Just pancakes. Meanwhile, Tom was a little more adventureous and ordered something with "fakin' bacon" ie. bacon looking stuff made out of tofu. To be honest, it didn't taste that bad. The texture was just kinda strange. And he compared them to Bacos (which are also vegetarian).

The breakfast at Saturn was pretty decent. I enjoyed the funky decor and wouldn't mind going back to try out those famous veggie burgers.

UBUNTU, NAPA

Ok, I know you hear it from me all the time, but I've been really busy and it's been hard to keep up with the blog posts. I make up for this by doing a whole bunch on posts at once, so just get used to it- my busy schedule isn't going to be changing any time soon.

So about a month ago, my parents came up to Napa with their friends for the weekend. They initially were just planning on coming down to have dinner with us at some point, but then my dad decided he wanted to go golfing- and he needed my car. So Tom and I had to go up to Napa, give my dad my car and then spend the rest of the day driving my mom and her friends around. So to make the trip worth it, I made sure that I made reservations at a restaurant that I've wanted to eat out for some time, Ubuntu.

You may have heard of Ubuntu, because it's gotten amazing reviews since it opened at last year. It's the restaurant with yoga studio on top, well known for it's take on vegetarian cuisine. In fact, Frank Bruni called it the second best new restaurant in the U.S. this year. I was able to get us an early reservation, right when the place opened, so when we first arrived, the place was basically empty. Here's a shot of the interior.

Being a yoga studio, it had a zen-like feel, but I liked the high ceilings, stone walls and big windows. The restaurant is big into sharing, so I did the ordering for the table, starting with a number of small starters, continuing with entrees and then finishing with some desserts.

For the small starters, we got a number of dishes:

Lavender dusted marcona almonds (though I didn't really taste the lavender)

Polenta fries (I liked the red pepper coulis it was served with)

And my favorite of the three starters, fresh veggies pickled in white wine. I like the sweet/sour/crunchiness of this dish.

Next up, I ordered two salads:

This is a beet salad with red quinoa. I liked the colorful presentation a lot. Plus, I'd never had red quinoa before- it was quite tasty and had a much better texture than the quinoa I make at home. It was much springier and I hope to find it and try to cook it myself at home. I also like the texture of the avocados along with the beets.
We also ordered a second salad, which I'm surprised that I didn't photograph because my mom's friend liked it so much that we ended up ordering two of them. It was a green salad made with a bunch of different baby greens and it also had strawberries it in. It was pretty tasty, since the greens that they chose were so flaorful and I did like it quite a bit.

And then I ordered three larger plates, which really weren't all that big, but along with everything else, it ended up being just enough. The first dish was a farro dish with peas. Again, it's a really lovely presentation, and I thought it was pretty good.
My favorite dish of all, though, was this mushroom pizza with an egg on top. You might think the egg sounds kinda crazy, but it tasted great when you cut the runny yolk and it gets all over the pizza. Plus, the mushrooms were super fresh and just very nicely done.
Lastly, we ordered their signature cauliflower dish, which is basically a mini cast iron pot filled with cauliflower in many different ways- making all different tastes and textures. Frank Bruni raved about this dish, but it wasn't my favorite thing. I guess having all those textures and flavors in one pot caused them all to just get lumped together. So even though it tasted good, I didn't find it as amazing as people have said it is.
We finished our meals with two shared desserts (no photos of that). Overall, I did like Ubuntu, but I won't be running back there any time soon. I found the food quite yummy, but was it amazing enough for a second visit? Not for me. I do like vegetarian stuff, but I guess I like more simple things, and maybe Ubuntu was just too innovative for me.

VEGGIE OPTIONS IN THE BAY AREA

Living in Northern CA, we have lots of vegetarian options. And many of them have been rather tasty. While working at the SF Chocolate Salon in Fort Mason a few weeks back, I was able to have a sandwich from Greens To Go, the take out arm of the famed Greens Restaurant. For those of you who have never heard of Greens, it's a vegetarian restaurant that's been around for almost 30 years and founded by the SF Zen Center ( I read an article about Zen dining and food yesterday, and it totally confused me) and it's known for having just really great food.
So I ordered a sandwich featuring an olive tapenade, arugula, yellow peppers and cheese.
It was actually quite tasty, but this tiny little sandwich cost $6, so not exactly the greatest value. I look foward to going back in the future, though. It's a beautiful restaurant with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the menu does look delicious.

Another vegetarian restaurant that we tried out recently is a South Indian restaurant called Udupi Palace. We learned about this restaurant after watching a local show that we enjoy called Check Please, Bay Area. It's a show where people suggest their favorite restaurants and after you watch this show, you can see why food is so good in the Bay Area. People are so demanding, vocal and passionate about their food, and they interview all locals and restauranteurs have to keep up to meet these tastes.

My high school friend, who was born in Qatar, is a vegetarian and attended both UCBerkeley as an undergrad and PhD student gave this place a thumbs down. He said we could find much better South Indian food in the South Bay, but we figured we'd try it out anyway, since we aren't really connossieurs of South Indian food and it's close to where we live.

We decide to go for an early lunch, and despite the restaurant being nearly empty, the servers were not very welcoming or friendly. It was our first time there and we were unfamiliar with their food, but they didn't offer to help us out at all. This place is famous for their dosas, so we each ordered one, and we also ordered some appetizers. We started off with this dish below, described as Fried Lentil Donuts served with Sambar &Chutney.
This was actually our favorite dish of the whole lunch. It was served piping hot and all that fried, crunchy surface along with the soft center made a tasty combination. Of course, I didn't realize until later that the bowl to the left was a soup and not a dipping sauce (it would've been nice had someone explained that to me).

I also ordered some potato samosas, which were ok. I didn't love the texture of the pastry on the exterior, but the flavor was pretty good.
Tom also ordered this big puffy fried bread called a partha. I only tried a little over it, because it was so greasy I just didn't find it too appealing.
And now for the main event. The dosas, are basically large pancakes stuffed with different fillings. We each ordered one and they were both huge. Here's Tom's dosa, stuffed with a potato mixture. He thought it was OK, enjoying the cripsy edges of the dosa, but there were too many potatoes for him and the pancake itself got very sticky and soggy after it'd cooled down a bit.
Here's my dosa, stuffed with potatoes and spinach.
I thought the filling was pretty tasty, but I agreed with Tom about the pancake, it just got too soggy and sticky and rather not enjoyable.

Overall, I thought our lunch at Udupi Palace was pretty good, but I don't think we're be back due to the neglectful service which made for a rather unpleasant dining experience. But we'll continue exploring veggies restaurant in the Bay Area and will report back to all of you.

VEGAN ME?

No. I haven't become a vegan. I don't think I ever could. I, like many, often hold them in poor regard. I think because many of them do it without truly believing in the principles of veganism and aren't very well educated about it. They do it more to by stylish, trendy or to be like their friends or celebrities. That bothers me a lot. Like the people who come into the chocolate shop asking for chocolates that are vegan. When I point out that some vegans won't eat chocolate, they think I'm crazy...until I tell them that some cacao beans are cleaned or roasted over charcoal made of animal bones. But they just seem to dismiss that and buy the chocolates anyway.

But now that we have great fresh fruit and veggies year round, we are often eating vegetarian meals more and more frequently. I think it's just easier to be a vegetarian here. We always have a supply of fresh veggies with our CSA and supplement with additional stuff from the farmer's market or Monterey Market. And it's just been a lot less convenient to buy meat. As for the veganism, my cousin, who many of you know is sick, has decided to become a vegan. And since I cook for them all the time, I've needed to start experimenting with vegan recipes and I've even purchased a vegan cookbook.

The thing is, a lot of these things are tastier than you'd think. And it's actually not that hard to make versions of different recipes vegan. Like my veggie soups- now I'll just make them with vegetable stock rather than chicken stock. Or beans, lentils, pastas - all of these things I can make vegan versions and they come out rather nicely. So today I made vegan butternut squash and kale enchiladas. And I made this recipe because when I read it, I thought, hey, this might be a vegan recipe, but it sounds pretty great.

So here's the recipe below. Try it out sometime, and like me, you might find that not all vegan things are bad. Here's a link to the actual website. (I substituted the butternut squash for the potatoes cause that's what we had around).

Ingredients
For the Enchilada Chile Sauce:
2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
1 onion, cut into small dice
3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim or even Italian-style long green peppers), roasted, seeded, peeled (see page XX), and chopped coarsely

2–3 teaspoons chile powder, preferably ancho
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram or Mexican oregano (epazote)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (roasted preferred)
1 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2–2 teaspoons salt

For the Potato and Kale Filling:
1 pound waxy potatoes (Yukon gold or red)
1/2 pound kale, washed, trimmed, and chopped finely
3 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup vegetable stock or water
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds, page XX), chopped coarsely, plus additional for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

12–14 corn tortillas





Directions
Preheat the oven to 375°F and have ready a shallow casserole dish, at least 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.

Prepare the enchilada sauce first: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions is oil for 4 to 7 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and remove from the heat. When the mixture has cooled enough, taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Puree with an immersion or regular blender until the mixture is smooth and even.

Prepare the filling: Peel and diced the potatoes, then boil them until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cook the grapeseed oil and minced garlic in a saucepot over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is sizzling and slightly browned (be careful not to let it burn). Add the kale, sprinkle with a little salt, and raise the heat to medium, stirring constantly to cover the kale with the oil and garlic. Partially cover the pot to steam the kale until it has wilted, 4 to 6 minutes.

Remove the lid and mix in the potatoes, vegetable stock, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, and salt. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash some of the potatoes. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more salt or lime juice to taste.

Create an enchilada assembly line: Have ready a pie plate filled with about 3⁄4 cup of enchilada sauce, a casserole dish, a stack of corn tortillas, a lightly greased, heated griddle or cast-iron pan (for softening the tortillas), and the potato and kale filling.

Ladle a little bit of the enchilada sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish and spread it around. Take a corn tortilla, place it on the heated griddle for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat until the tortilla has become soft and pliable. Drop the softened tortilla into the pie plate filled with sauce; allow it to get completely covered in sauce, flip it over, and coat the other side.

Now, place the tortilla either in the casserole dish (the easiest way) or on an additional plate. Layer it with another heated, sauce-covered tortilla or just use one per enchilada; either way, run the potato filling down the middle and roll it up. Continue with rest of tortillas, tightly packing enchiladas next to each other.
Pour about a cup of sauce over the top (reserving some for later), cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tortillas poking out of sauce look just a little browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top individual servings with any remaining enchilada sauce, warmed slightly.