down-home eatin' - the berkshires

There's no place like home, so Dorothy says, but sometimes you just want to go out. Out to eat, that is. And if you're a vegan in the Berkshires, that can be tricky.

Berkshire County, Mass., takes pride in being a destination for the artsy, cultural, yoga-loving type: We've got Mass MOCA, Kripalu, Tanglewood and all manner of art galleries, studios, theatre festivals, shops and the like. Often, such places attract vegetarians and vegans ... but I'm sad to say that most eateries in the Berkshires haven't gotten the memo. I've lived here for almost nine years, and I can rarely eat out without driving half an hour or more for vegan options. Those options are great -- don't get me wrong -- but I'd love to have something closer.

Here in my city, Pittsfield, smack between North County and South County, there are no vegetarian restaurants. We have Baba Louie's, where the soup of the day is always vegan and the pizza with its tasty, spicy tomato sauce can be made with Daiya; Flavours, a Malaysian joint with a plethora of fried foods and a chef who caters to each diner's preferences; Hot Harry's Burritos, where you can get a plain bean-stuffed burrito ... and that's about it. I've heard good things about Effendi's Oasis on North Street but haven't yet tried it. My one experience with the Marketplace Café ended in disaster when they forgot my party's order completely, served everybody else before us, made us late returning to work and got my order wrong (I'd paid extra for avocado on my sandwich and asked for no onions, but when I picked up the top slice of bread there were plenty of red rings of onion with no creamy avocado in sight).

Tomorrow we'll look further afield at North and South County, for those times when a Pittsfield vegan doesn't mind venturing away from home for a while.

Image: Moose in Lanesborough, Mass.; taken by me in April 2011.

munchin' in münchen - munich, germany

I haven't posted here in over a month, but that's just because I've been too busy racking up indelible foodie experiences. Sorry for the delay, and I hope to be more diligent about posting in the future.

I went to Munich last month for business, and despite the long work hours I got to sample the city's many vegan delights. Anecdotes from German friends and those who had visited in the past led me to expect meagre, hard-to-find vegan options ... but Munich turned out to be surprisingly vegan-friendly.

At first, though, I was worried. When my colleagues and I arrived, they wanted to stick together, and they wanted to visit a biergarten. So they dragged me to the Ratskellär right on the Marienplatz city centre, and although I had fun taking photos of the gargoyles and the architecture in the courtyard, watching everyone else imbibe and snack (I can't abide beer, and there was nothing vegan available) got a little old. They're a fun group, though, and I knew I could eat when I got back to our hotel; I had found online that there was a sushi spot next door with cucumber and avocado maki, so I thought I could make a quick meal of that and then crash under the weight of my jet lag. But when I arrived at the sushi place, I found that it was "running sushi," with the pre-made dishes circling diners on a conveyor belt -- you grab what you want and nosh right away. And there was nothing remotely like kappa maki on the belt. I tried to ask the waitstaff if I could have something made, but the language barrier was too great, and I gave up. I went back to my hotel room, cried for half an hour, ate some cookies and pretzels I had brought, and collapsed into bed for 11 hours. I could have tried to find a restaurant, but I was worried about going out exhausted with low blood sugar and didn't want to get lost. "What have I gotten myself into," I wondered as I cried myself to sleep.

But the next morning was sunny and warm, and I fortified myself with oatmeal I'd brought, mixed up with hot water from the sink, and headed out to work. At the end of the day, I told my two closest colleagues -- one of whom is pescatarian and likes veg food, and the other of whom is a foodie who wanted to try out some vegetarian meals to combat the ever-present meat and cheese in Germany -- that if I didn't get some real sustenance, I'd lose it. So they were happy to accompany me to Prinz Myshkin, a vegetarian restaurant not far from Marienplatz. And boy, did I need that meal: From the "Zen Sticks-Vegan," meaty chunks of soy on a salad of peppery arugula with a refreshing citrus dressing, to the "Ayurveda Thali," a smorgasbord of Indian morsels, everything hit the spot. I was so full as we staggered back to the station and the hotel, but it was exactly what I had needed.

The next evening, the three of us wandered to Vegelangelo, a tiny vegetarian restaurant that seats about 20 in all and only lets you in if you have a reservation; it's owned by one woman who runs the restaurant and does all the cooking herself and is only helped out by one waiter. Needless to say, perhaps, the meal took a while: Not only is table service far slower in Europe than we Americans generally expect, but because she was on her own cooking for us and everybody else in the place, we were there for hours. When it started to rain and they shut the doors, it was stifling, and we all got kind of woozy from heat and hunger, but once our food arrived it was worth the wait. I had never had flan before, so I tried the vegan beetroot flan appetiser, which came with a lovely complex salad -- the dressing was so intricate I wanted to lick the plate when it was gone. My entrée, a barley stew called "Grandmother's Kitchen," was the same way: Every mouthful a surprise, with tangy bursts I couldn't place waiting amid the hearty, savoury grains.

The following evening, I wasn't feeling well, so instead of trekking with my coworkers to an Italian place, even though they assured me there would be vegan dishes offered, I struck out on my own to visit Tushita Teehaus, an all-vegan teahouse that also offers pre-made dishes and baked goods. I don't know exactly what I ate, but it was a rice bowl with kumquats, veggies, tofu and some kind of lovely light sauce, and it hit the spot on a queasy evening. So did the desserts I carted back to my room, one for bedtime and two for breakfast the next day: chocolate banana bread with a hard chocolate topping and crushed hazelnuts, and two kinds of vegan cheesecake: raspberry-peach and strawberry. Both were light and summery.

On my last evening, I decided to play tourist in spite of protests from my feet; I just wanted to get some chocolates, visit the site of the 1972 Olympics (however briefly), and have a good meal. So I set out on my own again and hit up Princess Chocolate, an easy-to-find all-vegan chocolatier in a sunny corner of the city. I haven't been to Cocoa V in New York City yet, so this was my first foray into a chocolate shop where nothing is off-limits, and ohh, it was difficult to choose truffles and bites to bring home. Favourites were dark chocolate champagne truffles and rum truffles, both of which tasted just like my memories of their non-vegan counterparts. The rosewater was delicate and sweet, and the chili perfect spicy.

Bolstered by finding Princess Chocolate so easily, I headed for the Olympiapark -- and it was even easier to find! Just step off the train and stroll up the stairs, and you're there. So I got to snap some photos, wander briefly, and mosey on back toward the city center for my last sumptuous dinner in Munich. I still hadn't crossed off every vegetarian restaurant on my list, but my feet were screaming so I decided to revisit Prinz Myshkin for a light, tasty vegan margherita pizza.

Munich really is extremely easy to get around -- the subway system reminds me of the métro in Montréal. It gets you where you need to go, and if you're lucky enough to have a free pass (I did), you don't even have to worry about fares.

München, Germany
Best Bets:
* Prinz Myshkin: Vegetarian and vegan restaurant. Hackenstrasse 2, 80331 Munich, Germany. Web: http://www.prinzmyshkin.com/
* Princess Chocolate: Vegan chocolatier with baked goods. Haimhauserstrasse 3a, 80802 Munich, Germany. Web: http://www.princess-chocolate.com/
* Tushita Teehaus: Vegan teahouse with food and desserts. Klenzestrasse 53, D-80469 Munich, Germany. Web: http://tushita.eu/
* Vegelangelo: Vegetarian and vegan restaurant. Thomas-Wimmer-Ring 16, 80538 Munich, Germany. Web: http://vegelangelo.de/

Munich photos: Visit my Flickr account.

[Laur]

Image: Vegan beetroot flan from Vegelangelo, Munich; taken by me in May 2011.

business and pleasure - rochester, new york

You know how when you move away from someplace and then go back years later, nothing seems to have stayed the same? Well, I'm happy to report that wasn't the case in Rochester, N.Y., which I revisited this week on a business trip.

Sure, some things have changed. My favourite downtown bagel shop is now a money-changing hole, and the publishing company where I used to work now has a different name. But the changes at my favourite Wegmans location are all for the better.

Now, if you don't know Wegmans, you're in sore luck. And you should find one post haste. Wegmans is a Northeast institution, based in Rochester, and from the outside you might think it's just a grocery store chain. But how wrong you would be. Wegmans is an experience -- you can find everything you need for any occasion there, and even their store brands are high-quality. Few other grocery stores can compete; only Whole Foods, which I love, comes close, and it's more expensive.

So Wegmans is the place to shop for food in Rochester, and the Monroe Ave location is the one to hit if you want a nice meal whilst you shop. I was thrilled to see that the hot bar/prepared food section had only grown in my absence, and even more thrilled to find that it now includes a pair of vegetarian bars with all manner of delights, from tantalising Indian curries to cool cucumber slices, from fresh fruit to chopped salads to Asian dishes. All clearly marked, too, with "vegan" or "vegetarian" and a full listing of ingredients. My coworker and I stopped in for lunch on our first day, and I enjoyed a spicy helping of aloo gobi with brown rice and some berries for dessert.

Monday night, we were faced with where to go for dinner -- and we had the age-old problem of one rental car for two people, one vegan and one omni. But as fortune would have it, my favourite spot from my Roc days was still there and thriving: Mamasan's, also on Monroe Ave (they do meat dishes but are very veg-friendly). The meal we ate that night was so good that we got the same dishes again on Wednesday. Mine was a hearty portion of steamed veggies and tofu with a light but rib-sticking peanut sauce, served over rice. The second time I requested some hot sauce to add a little kick, but it was perfect with and without the spice.

For quick downtown lunches, we hit up Hot Rosita's, a Mexican place where I grabbed tasty, highly filling veggie burritos with pinto beans, cilantro-lime rice, guac and pico de gallo.

It's sometimes unfortunate that I travel so much for work, because although I love trying new vegan options in new or old places, I tend to come back home a little heavier -- the jeans I'm wearing today are protesting the bigger-than-usual lunches in particular. But it was worth it, even if it's a change I could have lived without.

Rochester, NY
Best Bets:
* Wegmans: Grocery store with hot and salad bars. Various locations, but the best is at 3195 Monroe Ave, Pittsford, NY. Web: http://www.wegmans.com/
* Mamasan's: Vegan-friendly restaurant. 2800 Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY. Web: http://mamasans.com/
* Hot Rosita's: Mexican fast-food joint with vegan options. 17 E Main St, Rochester, NY. Web: http://hotrositas.com/

[Laur]

Image: Peanut Rice Dish at Mamasan's; taken by me in May 2011.

it's only natural - middletown, connecticut

Sometimes you find the most wonderful places just because you happen to be nearby.

That's how my wife and I found It's Only Natural (ION), a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in Middletown, Conn. I travel a lot for work, so one weekend earlier this year when she was dropping me off at a hotel near Bradley International Airport to await my 3 a.m. wake-up call, we decided to find a nice vegetarian restaurant somewhere in the vicinity. As always, we scoured Happycow and Google, and we came up with a short list of options. But although we appreciate it when omni restaurants present vegan options and even vegan menus, we do prefer to support wholly veg establishments. And after trolling the online menus we could find, we just had to go with It's Only Natural, even though it was more than a half-hour's drive from the hotel.

I mean, just look at their menu. Here's a taste:
Bullet-point descriptions below are from the ION menu.

APPETISERS
* Bread & Spread: fresh baked whole wheat bread & organic carrot-miso spread
* Chili: spicy vegetables & beans, tortilla chips, tofu sour cream, salsa & scallions
* Vegetable Dumplings: served with a tamari, ginger & garlic sauce

ENTRÉES
* Tempeh ‘Crab’ Cakes: with caesar dressing, sautéed garlic greens & sweet potato fries
* Pierogis: potato spinach dumplings with apple butter, caramelized onions, brown rice garlic greens & tofu sour cream
* Macrobiotic Plate: organic brown rice, legumes, sea & other vegetables & cucumber pickle
* Cajun Tempeh: with roasted red pepper sauce, caramelized onions, brown rice & garlic greens (also a sandwich with soy mayo, carrots, red onion, roasted red peppers & lettuce)

Hands down, their best appetiser is the Southern fried tofu, each breaded and deep-fried bite of which is a tender and crispy, savoury, spicy, satisfying complement to their tangy, garlicky caesar dip. Bring someone to share your meal, because the heap of tofu they serve with this could fill you up on its own. But of course you want room for a hearty entrée as well, and dessert.

Oh, dessert. They offer a wide variety of vegan desserts as well, and I never can resist -- even though I'm always so full after the meal that the idea of another forkful is torturous.

I take figure skating lessons at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, and I happened to have won a free drink in one of ION's Facebook contests, so we dropped in for dinner after my lesson last weekend.

For my free drink, I decided to try the Lemon Drop, a freshly pressed carrot juice with loads of lemon and ginger. Then we started with the Southern fried tofu, of course, stuffing ourselves before we even got to the next course. ION's salads are generous, and we got the caesar, which comes with breaded, fried tempeh and perfectly crunchy croutons. Then we split a piece of chocolate velvet cake. The cake and frosting were the kind that could fool nonvegans, and the presentation included a drizzle of a tangy dipping sauce made from apples. With a chocolate cake, I would expect raspberry or strawberry or even orange in the sauce, but the apple was refreshing and even exotic.

Middletown is an eclectic-looking little town, kind of in the middle of nowhere, but trust me -- ION is more than worth the drive. So go ahead -- find yourself nearby soon.

Middletown, CT
Best Bet:
* It's Only Natural: Vegan and vegetarian restaurant. 386 Main St, Middletown, CT.
Web: http://www.ionrestaurant.com/

[Laur]

Image: Southern-fried tofu at It's Only Natural; taken by me in April 2011.

raise the red lentil: watertown, massachusetts

There's almost too much for a vegan foodie in and around Boston, and when my wife and I are only going to be in the area for a meal or two, whittling down the options can be nerve-wracking.

One eatery that tops our list is Red Lentil, which sits on a sunny street in Watertown, Mass. The portions are huge, the salads are crisp, and the appetisers -- oh, you crave the appetisers for weeks when you get back home.

If you're staying in downtown Boston, the sesame-encrusted seitan strips are reason enough to venture to Watertown: succulent and chewy, with a sweetish sauce that isn't too overpowering but instead is just right for the charred-tasting edges of the seitan and perfectly offset by tiny pops of sesame.

The zippy house-made barbecue sauce that comes with the soy chicken strips is pretty darn good too.

When we first visited last summer, my wife and I split a vegan caesar salad, two appetisers and an entrée. We walked out with takeout containers and enjoyed another hearty Red Lentil lunch the following day ... and don't get me wrong. We are both eaters. There was just way too much to finish in one sitting.

Red Lentil posts specials daily on Facebook and Twitter, and when you're there the owner just might stop by your table for a friendly chat.

Watertown, MA
Best Bet:
* Red Lentil: Vegan and vegetarian restaurant. 600 Mount Auburn St, Watertown, MA.
Web: http://www.theredlentil.com/

[Laur]

Image: Sesame-encrusted seitan strips at Red Lentil; taken by me in July 2010.

killer foodswings: brooklyn, new york

A friend of mine uses her Facebook page for sociological data-gathering, or so it seems, since she posts a poll question every morning. This morning, the question was: "Wings, how do you like them and where do you get 'em?"

Oh, I couldn't reply fast enough -- the buffalo drumsticks at Foodswings are to die for. The sauce is perfect, spicy enough to make your eyes water and tangy enough to make you drool a little just thinking about them. They taste just as bright as they look, which is exactly what you want in a hot wing.

Foodswings, for those who aren't in the know, is a vegan fast-food joint in Brooklyn. I've been known to travel hours by car and train just to eat there, and you should too. Unless you live in Brooklyn, in which case you probably live at Foodswings anyway. Also, they're open wicked late, especially to a girl who lives in the Berkshires.

And try the pistachio milkshake. Creamy and thick, it's the perfect cooldown after you gorge on the buffalo drumsticks.

BROOKLYN, NY
Best Bet:
* Foodswings: Completely vegan fast-food joint. 295 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY. Web: http://www.foodswings.net/.

[Laur]

Image: Drumsticks at Foodswings (buffalo on left); taken by me in August 2010.

returning to eden: bar harbor, maine

Finding food can be tricky when you venture outside vegan-friendly cities. But sometimes the trip you want to take isn't in New York or San Francisco, and then you have to do your homework.

When my agave and I got married in September 2008, we did the traditional "honeymoon immediately following the wedding" thing -- we got up the very next morning and drove several hours from the Berkshires to Bar Harbor, Maine. We had never been there before, but we had always loved Ogunquit and the southern part of Maine, so we decided to indulge our love of hiking and spend a week in and around Acadia National Park.

Internet searches had revealed very little in the form of vegan establishments. We had scoured Happycow and countless other sites in the hope of something special, but had come up empty-handed.

So we rented an adorable little cabin from Emery's Cottages on the Shore, which is a property that sits a few-minute drive from the park and has its own little beach; best of all, though, many of the cabins have kitchens or kitchenettes. We brought all kinds of foods to make ourselves -- pasta and sauce, cereal and almond milk, bread and peanut butter, fruits and snacks and so on -- and that really saved us.

Until the last couple of nights, when we discovered that Bar Habor actually did have a vegan restaurant. We were walking down the street when, lo and behold, we saw a sign announcing the presence of Eden, Vegetarian Restaurant. We went in for dinner that night, and oh, and it was fantastic: Gourmet but satisfying, starting with a delirium-inducing olive-fennel tapenade served with long crispbreads. The menu varied every night, but every dish we tried was infused with magic.

And then Eden closed. They were closed for renovations and then open again, and then closed again, and we never got to eat there after that trip. On our most recent Bar Harbor vacation, this past September, the restaurant looked like it might never open again.

But hurrah for good news: Now their website says they'll be open this June, so all you Bar Harbor-goers will be able to treat yourselves. I don't know when I'll next hit the good state of Maine, but I hope Eden is still around when I'm there. Get the good food while you can.

More to love
I just love the smell of a good natural foods store, and A&B Naturals not only smells great -- that combination of hippie teas, essential oils, herbs and nutritional yeast that you wear on your hair when you leave -- but it also offers up lots of tasty snacks, baked goods, smoothies and more. Great spot to pick up vegan moisturiser if you forget yours. Not that I would know.

As a natural café and market, Tamarind is laid-back, and the separate vegan menu is a welcome addition to the rustic town; Mt Desert Island Ice Cream makes amazing sorbets in cool flavours like blueberry-basil and peach-prosecco; Siam Orchid has drool-worthy fare that can be made vegan; and Café This Way does a good tofu scramble for breakfast, though tofu scramble is kind of a boring option. Reel Pizza Cinerama is supposed to be good for a vegan pizza (if only they would ever show anything I wanted to see on my trips to Maine so that I could check it out). Morning Glory Bakery is supposed to have vegan and gluten-free options, but when my agave and I were there in September 2010, they never had anything vegan any of the times we stopped in.

BAR HARBOR, MAINE
Best Bets:
* Eden: Completely vegan restaurant. 321 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME. Web: http://www.barharborvegetarian.com/.

* Tamarind: Natural foods café and market, separate vegan menu. 16 Mt Desert St, Bar Harbor, ME. Web: http://www.tamarind.me/.

* Mt Desert Island Ice Cream: Offers vegan sorbets. Two locations: 325 Main St and 7 Firefly Lane, Bar Harbor, ME. Web: http://www.mdiic.com/.

* A&B Naturals: Health-food store. 101 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME. Web: http://www.aandbnaturals.com/.

[Laur]

Image: Sorbet at Mt Desert Island Ice Cream; taken by me in September 2010.