blackbird pizzeria

blackbird pizzeria
507 south 6th street
philadelphia, pa
(215) 625 6660
www.blackbirdpizzeria.com

type of cuisine: vegan pizza!
culinary excellence: 9
vegan friendliness: 10
the bottom line: holy crap, best pizza ever!
*recommended*

luca wanted to stop at maoz for felafel on our way home from the tile store in south philly, but i managed to convince him to give this new place "blackbird" a try. it didn't help that he had bad associations with gianna's grille, the former occupants of this space, nor that the recommendation came from someone who rescues bugs from her salads, but man oh man did this place surpass both of our expectations. i can't even remember ever eating pizza this good!

luca got a seitan cheesesteak with french fries:




sorry the pictures suck - i took them hastily in bad light because i was seriously hungry when we got home. you can see much more appetizing photos on blackbird's website. regardless, the cheesesteak was outstanding. everything just melted in your mouth - totally savory and delicious, complete with mushrooms, peppers and daiya cheese.

the fries were also incredible. awesome consistency with just the right amount of salt. and they give you a giant portion for only $4. that's another thing about this place - the prices are entirely reasonable!

i got 2 slices of their specialty pizzas from the display:



the one on the left is a south philly, topped with seitan sausage, broccoli rabe, fennel, eggplant, red sauce and daiya. on the right is a yukon, topped with potatoes, rosemary, olive oil and sea salt. both were perfect. the combined flavors of the south philly slice were blissful and the yukons are melt-in-your-mouth good. i would have loved to try a haymaker - garlic butter, seitan sausage, onions, red sauce and oregano - but sadly they had no slices available when i went in.

for dessert, we couldn't resist some vegan treats:



can't go wrong with peanut butter tandy cake or peanut butter chocolate brownies. hell yes. perfect with a cold glass of soy milk.

i am definitely planning to return to blackbird for more delicious food and hopefully soon!!

cafe blossom

cafe blossom
466 columbus avenue
new york, ny
(212) 875 2600
www.blossomnyc.com/cafeblossom.php/

type of cuisine: organic vegan
culinary excellence: 5
vegan friendliness: 10
the bottom line: overpriced and mediocre

luca and i were on the upper west side last night and in the mood for seitan, so we decided to check out cafe blossom on columbus avenue. i had eaten at their chelsea location back when they opened and remembered it being pretty decent. unfortunately, the quality of the food just doesn't measure up to the prices.

we started off with some of their $7 juices - a pink lady for me and an adam & eve for luca. you really can't go wrong with beet/pineapple/ginger/pear or carrot/apple/ginger juice, but i wish they would have strained it. the bottom inch and a half was just froth.

for our entrees, luca got the lemon peppercorn seitan ($21) and i went for the southern seitan sandwich ($14) with sauteed greens on the side. we were surprised when the food arrived just minutes after we ordered it, leaving us to wonder if everything was pre-prepared and reheated. luca's dish was exceedingly bland. the potatoes had very little flavor and the pile of thin slabs of seitan certainly was not on par with the candle cafe's. my sandwich was also mediocre - like something you might get in a pinch but certainly not seek out. the rosemary focaccia was cold, the fried seitan itself was underwhelming and the greens on the side were too oily and smoky-tasting.

i was also disappointed with the cookie dough shake that we shared for dessert. i liked the idea of little bits of cookie dough to scoop out with a spoon, but it was all thoroughly blended together and had a syrupy sweet taste that was rather cloying.

so despite the friendly service and pleasant decor, i would not recommend cafe blossom when there are so many great vegan options in the city.

food for all

food for all
7127 germantown avenue
philadelphia, pa
(267) 297 7122
www.foodforallmarket.com/

type of cuisine: organic, allergen-free take-out
culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 9
*recommended*

food for all is a lovely little market specializing in products and prepared food for people with celiacs or other food sensitivities. everything in the shop is free of peanuts, gluten, soy, dairy and eggs, making it also quite vegan-friendly. although they do offer some prepared foods with meat, there are always good vegan options on the menu and plenty of inventively prepared vegetables. the other night luca and i got take-out. it was hella expensive, but incredibly tasty and filling. we sampled their bean and millet chili, which was hearty and hit all the right notes, stuffed acorn squash filled with jasmine rice, which had a slightly sweet, slightly smoky taste to it, oven roasted brussels sprouts, which were possibly the best brussels i've ever had - perfectly cooked and generously seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted carrots, an inspiring array of different colored carrots roasted much like the brussels. i also couldn't resist one of those heavenly cookie sandwiches that they get from sweet freedom bakery. perfect with a glass of vanilla rice milk, i think that is my favorite food.

the market is stocked full of interesting types of crackers, spreads, drinks, grains, frozen dessert products (dairy-free coconut bars!) and spices. they even have daiya cheese, which is more than i can say for weaver's way co-op. it feels good to shop in an independently owned neighborhood shop. the owners clearly care about their business and have high standards for it. well done!

country life

country life
melantrichova 15 (plus other locations around prague)
prague, czech republic
224 213 366
www.countrylife.cz/

type of cuisine: healthy vegetarian, cafeteria-style
culinary excellence: 7
vegan friendliness: 9
*recommended*



country life is a chain of health food stores and cafeteria-style vegetarian restaurants in prague. we went to the one just outside of old town square and it made for an excellent lunch. could also be a fine light dinner, but they close fairly early. apparently everything they offer is vegan, but i didn't know that when i went, so i was a little nervous that my especially well-held-together veggie burger and buttery potatoes may have contained eggs or butter, even though the woman behind the counter affirmed that they were "vegansky." everything was tasty, but certainly the best items we sampled were the amazing hummus, loaded with tahini, my elderflower soda and luca's burrito. i wish i had gotten a non-blurry shot of the burrito, because it was really good. it had a soft flour tortilla, filled with hearty brown rice and some sweet tomatoey stuff around the edges. the veggie burger was cold, firm and a little disappointing.




all in all, though, a great place for a small or large meal full of whole grains, vegetables and non-animal protein. and elderflower soda!!

don pietro

don pietro
panska 18
cesky krumlov, czech republic
775 336 282
www.donpietro.cz/en

type of cuisine: pizza
culinary excellence: 5
vegan friendliness: 3

there was one restaurant listed on the cesky krumlov page at happy cow, but it was not in the town center and luca was concerned it would take too much time to walk there and back. so of course we spent twice the amount of time that would have taken to find a veg-friendly place nearby. ultimately we decided on this cute pizza place with outdoor seating, since the waitress told us they could do a cheeseless vegetable pizza. luca sipped his spectacular passion fruit mojito while we waited and i sipped my imaginary guava colada:




after a long while, the waitress brought out our pizza, but it was covered in cheese. she realized this as soon as she set it down and it was another 10 minutes before she brought it back, sans fromage. it seemed like they just took the cheese off, since there were still little traces of it, but for me that was preferable to wasting the whole thing. anyway, the corrected pizza was pretty good. it certainly could have had more seasonings and a few cloves of roasted garlic, but the assortment of vegetables - broccoli, corn, spinach, mushrooms, onions and peppers - worked nicely. the crust was soft and tasty.



just make sure you have some cash, as don pietro does not accept credit cards.

hotel cerna liska

hotel cerna liska
mikulasska 2
prague, czech republic
224 232 250
www.cernaliska.cz/restaurant.html

type of cuisine: international
culinary excellence: 4
vegan friendliness: 4

i am pretty annoyed as i write this review, because apparently i did not go to the "vegetarian" restaurant at the hotel cerna liska. i saw this place listed at happy cow and it sounded really great, but when we got there, there didn't seem to be much in the way of vegetarian food. as it turns out, i don't think we were at the right place. there is apparently an underground restaurant in a "vaulted cellar" serving "renowned vegetarian food." that certainly would have been a lot better than the crappy meal we ate upstairs! i only wish that our waiter had noticed that we ordered only vegetarian food and guided us to the proper place. unfortunately, he did not seem to be much interested in our patronage at all, let alone attentive enough to spot our mistake.

this was one of the worst meals of our trip. i got a plate of warm vegetables with avocado - just the kind of dish that a restaurant that knows nothing about vegetarianism would serve. the peppers were undercooked, the zuccini and eggplant were ok but too oily and i really don't think avocado should be eaten warm.




luca had only a few bites of his non-vegan pasta pesto because it was swimming in so much oil. instead he munched on french fries that tasted like they were brought in from mcdonalds. just awful! so learn from my mistake and ask to be seated in the gothic cellar.

gopal

gopal
nerudova 32
prague, czech republic
604 434 931
www.gopal.cz/indexuk.html

type of cuisine: indian
culinary excellence: 8
vegan friendliness: 9
*recommended*

gopal is a lovely hare krishna restaurant in a beautiful section of prague, offering daily plates of wholesome, indian-style vegetarian food. if you are vegan, simply let them know that when you order at the counter and they will make sure your meal is dairy-free. the guy who took our order was super nice and it didn't take long before our food was brought to us in the outdoor seating area. on the day we went, the meal looked like this:



everything was delicious and fresh. delicate basmati rice with potatoes, chickpeas and zucchini in a mild tomatoey sauce, spicy apple cinnamon chutney, a salad of lettuce and tomato in a salt-water-like dressing and delicious "halva." i'm not really sure how that had anything to do with halva as i have known halva to be. it was more like a a course, mildly sweet mush with peanuts. whatever it was made of, i loved it. the meal was also accompanied by some cold minty spiced tea with lemon, a pleasant counterpoint to the flavors in the meal. i highly recommend paying gopal a visit if you're in prague. it's perfect for lunch on an active day.